The Realtors of the Year from all the states were introduced and appeared on stage.  The NAR Officers presented different parts of the program including Arizona’s own Vicki Cox-Golder our new President-elect.  I wasn’t aware that President Gaylord had recorded 19 pod casts this year.  For example this is NAR’s call to Congress for additional immediate work on another Stimulus package and NAR’s 4 point plan http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1870915382/bctid1870898540

The Good Neighbor awards were announced and once again they were moving, inspirational, and humbling presentations of the work done by the 5 recipients.  John Hall’s own Reita Hutson won for her work with Gabriel’s Dream.

Lance Armstrong was the featured speaker and he covered his battles with cancer and winning his 7 Tour de France’s.  His inspirational message basically mirrored his book “It’s not about the bike” I highly recommend his story of survival.  Also it’s incredible to see how he leveraged his fame and cancer survival to raise close to $70 million dollars in 10 years.

The # of attendees was presented all over the place from the 30,000 like Vegas last year to 20,000 to mid teens.  I thought the sessions were not full and the Trade show was easy to get around and see anybody you wanted to.  I think the real number was closer to 10,000.  But was it worthwhile?  ABSOLUTELY.  In fact NAR has TOO MUCH to grasp.  Lots to cover and review and basically it’s overkill for your attention.  For example the new study of Home Buyers/Home Sellers was released-great information regarding who’s buying and selling.

You can’t say enough about the classes presented at NAR.  Over the 3 ½ days they present over 120 sessions on everything from an Economic forecast, How to sell Resort properties, commercial topics, property management, time management, the list goes on and on.  We should have the recordings ready for review starting 2 weeks from today.  I think anybody in real estate could find at least a dozen classes that would be extremely informative for you.  Keep it in mind and watch for further posts.