First Canadian CREW Roundtable Convenes in Calgary; Canadian Chapters in the Spotlight.
CREW Network hosted its first delegate meeting on Canadian soil in Calgary, Alberta June 5th and 6th, 2008. Members enjoyed the best networking and professional development opportunity of its kind.
CREW network now has over 8,000 members in 66 major commercial real estate markets and is rapidly growing in Canada. Chapters in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal have a united membership of 400 committed to the success of women in commercial real estate. This vision led to the first CREW Canada roundtable attended by 46 industry professionals on June 5th 2008.
Guest speaker Victoria Joly, Partner with Brookfield Financial facilitated an excellent interactive session on improving tangible networking skills. Participants were invited to self-score their networking ability and then create a mini action plan for improving personal networking results.
Of particular interest was the exercise in which attendees wrote down the names of 10 CREW members who have most inspired them and the specific reason for the inspiration. I challenge you to take a few minutes do the same – you will not only see how much you get out of CREW (or that you need to put in more to get better member benefits!) but also which connections have helped you the most.
Our president-elect Michèle Boutet (CB Richard Ellis) provided all attendees with a glossy Canadian CREW directory. The directory includes a chapter profile, lists each Canadian CREW member and is available to members on-line via your local CREW chapter website. CB Richard Ellis also provided a great Canadian market outlook that was appreciated by all.
The networking cocktail that followed the Canadian session was attended by more than 150 participants from the 58 chapters represented in Calgary and provided a great backdrop for the exchange of information and business cards. Later in the evening, more intimate dine-arounds provided in-depth networking opportunities between the Canadian CREW members.
You can see that these Network meetings are important opportunities for self-improvement and networking. So if you missed Calgary, come to Houston and be amazed by being one of 1 000 real estate professionals just like you!
And remember, the CREW Network organization supports the careers of its members through its industry research initiative, delivery of targeted educational and professional development sessions, business networking forums and more.
Whether you’re looking for the right team to close your next commercial real estate transaction or you’re looking for the right organization to advance your business or career, look to CREW Network!
Alison K. Chave, C.App.
President CREW Montréal
Alisonk.chave@desjam.com
June 2008
CREW NETWORK Delegates Convene in Calgary; National and Local Reporting Positive Growth in All Areas
In spite of the challenging economy, the CREW Network organization and its chapters are experiencing tremendous success in terms of membership growth, programming and fundraising efforts. This was the key message delivered by CREW Network national leaders and leaders from the chapters represented at the 2008 CREW Network Spring Council Meeting recently held in Calgary, Alberta.
CREW Network continues its focus on the development and delivery of tools to attract young women to the industry. Applications for the 2008 CREW Network Scholarship Program were accepted through June 20 and up to 10 qualified applicants will be awarded a maximum of $10,000 each. In addition to the scholarship program, CREW Foundation is continuing its commitment to developing a first-rate eMentoring program to support women new to the industry. A professional video series was developed earlier this year to introduce women to various careers in commercial real estate. These videos reside on the CareerZone section (www.crewcareerzone.org) of the CREW Network Web site. Members are encouraged to share these videos with anyone looking to pursue a career in commercial real estate.
Delegates were provided a bird’s eye view of the new technology upgrade currently underway at the national level and how this will enhance every chapter’s membership reporting practices. Ginger Bryant, Technology Task Force Chair, walked delegates through a mock demonstration of the capabilities this new technology platform will afford chapters. Bryant estimates the implementation of this new program to be approximately 10 months from completion.
The delegates were offered a chapter leadership session on best practices in member services and recruitment. CREW Montréal Director of membership Sandra Bizier (TD Financial Services) and Director of Events Nathalie Bedard (Donati Maisonneuve) participated in this session; I have no doubt that our chapter will be benefiting from the knowledge gained from other chapter leaders.
The professional development training session allowed delegates to build business skills with guest speaker Lee Miller's "Break through Influencing Strategies". Participants learnt how to listen effectively and to clarify client needs by completing negotiating exercises in pairs, where one delegate was the client and the other the business provider – and neither had all the information at the outset to conclude a satisfactory transaction. Slides will be posted on the website as soon as available.
The next opportunity to live this experience is in Houston in October. I encourage you to participate in this exceptional event. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Alison K. Chave, C.App.
President CREW Montréal
Alisonk.chave@desjam.com
NEWS TO CREW MONTREAL MEMBERS FROM THE NETWORK DELEGATES CREW Network held a delegates' meeting on February 7th – 8th in Phoenix Arizona, attended by your delegates, the undersigned (President) and Michèle Boutet as President-Elect.The purpose of these council sessions is to provide a rich environment in which delegates can exchange best practices, including governance and leadership, and participate in professional development programs. In keeping with this concept, the Network provided an excellent 6-hour session on “Powerful Presentations”; slides will shortly be available on our chapter's web site. The Network also updated us on an upcoming Paper on how to negotiate better salaries / compensation, a topic which we are sure will be of general interest to you all. We will share this information with you as soon as it becomes available.Chapter presidents were also given a leadership session that focused on strategies, goals and tactics for moving our association forward and to make sure that we remain relevant to our members in today's rapidly changing environment. Our chapter remains firmly aligned to the Network's philosophy of achieving parity for women in real estate and advancing women in the CRE industry.I cannot adequately convey in words the quality, enthusiasm, generosity and sincerity of the women in the other 65 chapters and the excellence of the Network leadership. Every single delegate and Board member is supportive and committed to mutual assistance. It is the establishment of these meaningful relationships that drives the Network and our own chapter and makes this association unique in the industry.Having been inspired by the Phoenix meetings there are two important messages that I wish to convey to you in this article, namely the relevance of the Network to CREW Montreal and the important role that the Network is committed to play in strengthening the Network in Canada.First, as to the relevance of the Network to CREW Montreal please consider the following few examples which underline the importance of the Network to CREW Montreal. The Network provides:- Credibility and visibility with an internationally recognized banner that helps CREW Montreal to achieve its vision as an association of power and influence;
- Chapter access to professional training programs (professional development tools on the website and access to delegates meetings) to enable you to advance your career;
- High-quality convention programs so that CREW Members have strong market knowledge that helps you to succeed;
- Chapter access to professional training so that CREW Montreal can have strong governance and leadership.
In the US, the Network (8,000 members) is well on its way to becoming the most preferred association for women of commercial real estate. CREW has national recognition and is branded as a premier organization in the industry.Secondly as to the role of the Network in strengthening the Canadian chapters I am excited to report that the Network is very mindful of the need to enhance the stature of the association in Canada, and of the need to provide the top-quality programs from Canadian-based platforms so that all Canadian members can benefit. I am therefore pleased to announce that the Network delegates meeting in June will be held in Calgary and will be open to all members. You will soon be provided with details of this meeting and I strongly encourage you to take this opportunity to participate in a CREW Network event. Until then let me know your ideas and thoughts on how we can make the Calgary meeting particularly relevant for you.Alison K. Chave
President
(514) 285 7983
alisonk.chave@desjam.com |