Congratulations to Lydia Bennett, CCIM and Jerome Fiume, who have won their registration fee back in the CCIM Live! raffle.
If you register for CCIM Live! by tomorrow, you’ll have two chances to get a free registration. The Institute will hold a drawing at the end of August and September, and winners will have their CCIM Live! registration fee credited back. Register today to increase your chance of attending this all new CCIM experience for free.
In just a couple of months, hundreds of CCIMs will descend on Phoenix to meet at the Arizona Biltmore, one of Phoenix's Points of Pride and an amazing architectural masterpiece.
The Biltmore, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in 1929 during less than auspicious times. The country was on the cusp of the Great Depression, and political leaders wrestled with the best way to manage our way out of an economic downturn. During this time, a small group of architects were beginning to break the mold on conventional design.
Wright was a transformative architect who shunned neoclassical design. In a world where Frank Gehry buildings are highly sought after, it has become commonplace to see unconventional designs. When the Biltmore was built, neoclassical designs ruled the day after being rediscovered at the White City world's fair in Chicago in 1893. Architects raced each other to design new buildings with Greek columns and Roman arches.
Wright pushed his profession to incorporate nature into design because he felt nature was the key to the future of design. He believed that incorporating natural light, and the shapes and textures of nature into building would provide durable, attractive structures for working or living.
Hopefully you are reading this with enough advance notice to plan extra time to visit more of Wright's architectural wonders that are only a short drive away from the Biltmore:
Located in Tempe on Arizona State University's campus and close to the Phoenix International Airport, the Grady Gammage Auditorium is an amazing performance arts venue designed by Wright. Its roundness resembles the Guggenheim museum in New York City, another one of Wright's buildings. The Gammage is supported by fifty columns and flying buttresses that provide a clear-span auditorium. Wright designed over 1,000 projects in his lifetime, and the Gammage was one of his last.
If you want to learn more about Wright, Taliesin West, his winter retreat, is an easy drive from the hotel. Wright and his students stayed at Taliesin West while they worked on other design projects in the Southwest. Typical of his design, Taliesin West—the counterpoint for Taliesin East, his Wisconsin summer home—has low horizontal lines, local stone finishes, concrete, and splashes of his signature Cherokee-red paint. The camps became famous not just as a place to stay but also as place to learn, commune, and share.
Of interest to fellow Albuquerquean's is the fact that the hotel's grand ballroom was designed by the well-known architectural firm Flatow, Moore & Bryan architects.
Even if you don't have the time to take a tour of the area's architectural gems, at least share a toast with a good friend in honor of the Biltmore's 82nd anniversary and contemplate the impact of good design on our day-to-day life.
Finally, if you are feeling past your prime, keep in mind that half of Wright's designs came after he turned 60. So come to Phoenix to emerge from the ashes of the last couple of down years and be reborn at CCIM Live!
As business becomes more virtual and socially networked, CCIMs continue to benefit from attending in-person events, such as the upcoming CCIM Live! conference. Go to a commercial real estate event, and you'll likely leave with new knowledge about industry trends. You'll probably connect with someone who's working on a solution to a business problem that's similar to yours. Attend a couple conferences, and you'll start seeing familiar faces from your market and other markets around the globe.
In the May/June 2011 issue of CIRE magazine, CCIMs shared their reasons for attending commercial real events.
I like meeting fellow CCIMs from other parts of the country and finding out how their markets are doing. I also like finding out how they are doing deals in this market. Most of us had to reinvent ourselves.
— Stephen V. Jacquemin, CCIM, SIOR
I recently went to an SIOR lunch conference and met a fellow CCIM who is a receiver for a 32,000-square-foot office building in a great location in Miami. We submitted an offer and expect to be under contract soon.
— Danny Zelonker, CCIM
I attend the CCIM spring and fall business meetings and conferences in an attempt to brand myself. I want my CCIM peers to know that I am located in Charlotte, N.C., and that I specialize in retail brokerage. If they ever have a need, or hear of anyone seeking assistance or property in my market, I want to be the one they call.
— Eddie Blanton, CCIM
I attend the CCIM conferences because they allow me the opportunity to see friends and colleagues from around the country that I do business with.
— Nicholas L. Miner, CCIM
My session, Technology Social Networking Tools for Today's Real Estate Professional, will focus on expanding your marketing efforts further into the digital realm. Topics will benefit the novice to the veteran and include:
If you have been sitting on the fence about whether to tablet or not, know that a majority of this session will be presented live from an iPad2. Take a sneak peek at my short list of must–have apps for the commercial practitioner.
If you need a technology primer before the session, check out NAR Commercial's 55–minute Webinar that I hosted, which focuses on why the Internet has finally become the common connection for every businessperson worldwide.
Finally, be sure to leverage technology to make the most of the CCIM Live! event before you arrive by:
Thanks to the Institute for providing such a versatile technology platform from which we can make the most of the fall conference experience.
Todd Clarke, CCIM
