I spent the latter part of last week near Staunton facilitating a two-day planning retreat with Harrisonburg/Rockingham County REALTOR® leaders. The committee did great work charting a course for their 380-member association for the next three years or so. While what follows here is only a draft at this point, but thought you might be interested in their strategic goals (I’ve eliminated the actual objective below for brevity’s sake).

MISSION (Why we exist):
HRAR fosters its members’ career success by providing services, training, and information that enhance their professionalism and credibility in our community.

ENVISIONED FUTURE (What the future will look like with the implementation of this plan):
• HRAR is truly seen as the voice for real estate in the Central Shenandoah Valley.
• The public views HRAR members as professional and competent community leaders.
• Members view HRAR as an irreplaceable business resource, are proud of their association, and are actively engaged in its programs and activities.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (Our plan of work):
I. COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AND INVOLVEMENT / HRAR advocates for members’ and consumers’ interests through interaction with the public, policy makers, civic organizations and the media.
II. MEMBER PROFESSIONALISM AND CREDIBILITY / HRAR members conduct themselves in the highest professional manner and are respected by their peers and the public.
III. MEMBER COMPETENCE / HRAR members have the training and skills necessary to meet the evolving needs of today’s consumer and achieve business success.
IV. TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM / HRAR members are served by innovative technology tools that maximize their productivity and business success.
V. ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS / HRAR operates in an efficient, effective, proactive manner with a focus on delivering value to members and ensuring the association’s viability.

Find the complete draft here: hrar-draft-plan.doc

In coming weeks, they’ll be sharing the plan with their members and seeking input before they actually finalize and adopt it. Thanks and congrats to HRAR President Steve Hill for his leadership on this project.

“Hello.  My name is Jeremy, and I was a cynic.”

I’m admitting in front of the world that when I first joined VAR five years ago, I was a cynic when it came to Association membership.  Groups I had been involved were riddled with problems; poor membership involvement, unclear directions, take your pick.  Membership in a trade association was, in my eyes, a waste of time and money.

Notice I said WAS.  This week, I’m at VAR’s Legislative & Education conference in Richmond and I’m admitting I’ve been  converted.  Today alone, I’ve  met with state Delegates and spoken at length about issues important to the real estate industry, had very honest and candid discussions with peers from around the state, and sat in on committee meetings that have inspired and educated.  I’ve got to tell you, I’m more and more impressed with this Association every day.  Things like VARBuzz.com and Ten Things To Know About VA’s Real Estate Market are helpful to us as agents, but they’re a small part of what’s happening here in Richmond.  Now that I’ve seen firsthand the vision VAR has for our Association, and the remarkable abilities of those here at the conference, I’m certain of it - VAR is setting the standard for real estate associations across the country.

Don’t believe me?  The National Association of REALTORS is here this week to watch and learn what your Association is doing, and they’ve certainly been taking a lot of notes.

Are you involved?  Beyond paying , are you getting involved at the local and state level associations?  If you’re not, you’re missing out.  I know I was.

I just finished a delightful/grueling couple of days in Lexington facilitating the Strategic Planning process for one of the smallest local associations of REALTORS® in Virginia (one with quite possibly the longest name….take a deep breath): the Lexington /Buena Vista /Rockbridge Association of REALTORS®. It’s an association of about 120 – an association that’s never had a strategic plan – and it was quite possibly one of the most personally rewarding (to me, I mean) sessions I’ve ever been a part of. In Lexington, and found a committee of 16 energetic, well informed REALTORS® of every demographic stripe who were passionate in their desire to chart a new course for their association. In two days, they managed to challenge my assumptions about what makes an association great (it’s NOT its size; bigger isn’t always better), about the nature of association cultures (insularity is always a risk, but there’s something to be said about the warmth and familiarity of a close-knit community), and about the power of new ideas to energize organization leaders (wait ’til you see their plan!). The proof will be in the implementation, of course, but I suspect Lexington REALTOR® leaders can serve as role models for other local associations of REALTORS® who want to improve the value proposition they offer members…and who are willing to commit themselves to a plan for doing so.

The LBVRAR membership will get a first peek at the proposed plan in a series of upcoming Town Hall meetings and can offer input; the final proposed plan will be voted on in April. For now, here’s a sneak peek at sme parts of the plan…the mission, envisioned future and broad goals their Strat Planning Committee will propose (wish I could take credit for it, but I can’t):

MISSION (Why we exist):
The LBVR promotes its members’ success by providing quality services and support that enable its members to serve our community with professionalism and integrity.

ENVISIONED FUTURE (What the future will look like with the implementation of this plan):
• Members are actively involved in and proud of their local association
• Members trust and support LBVR leadership.
• The public values and respects the services LBVR members provide.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES (Our plan of work):

1. COMMUNITY PRESENCE AND INFLUENCE / LBVR actively participates in the community in ways that benefit its members and their customers and clients.

2. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / LBVR will provide educational and professional development opportunities for its members in order for them to demonstrate competence and integrity to their customers and clients.

3. BUSINESS TOOLS / LBVR will provide business tools and resources to optimize its members’ business effectiveness.

4. EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION / LBVR maintains a viable organizational structure and systems that benefit its members and encourages member engagement.

Stay tuned. This is an association that’s going places….

At the Lexington-Buena Vista-Rockbridge Association of REALTORS®, we’re a small Association, only about 192 members including primary, secondary, and MLS only. We’re a rural association. We don’t fit the demographics of the larger more urban associations. Most are baby boomer generation, some older, a few younger; perhaps 10 percent own laptops, most own computers; between two and five percent have smart phones, most do have cell phones; most have e-mail but some don’t; most get by with technology – just don’t make any changes or add anything new.

None of the listed items are meant as a criticism: it’s just who we are.

I’ve just gone “live” with a gift to my local Association – a private social media network just for members of Lexington-Buena Vista-Rockbridge Association of REALTORS® but hush please don’t tell anyone this could be a “viral, social media event”. For now let’s just call what it is in plain terms - it’s a communication tool for our association members, leadership and committees to keep in touch & work together.

This is the message I sent out to our membership:

I am honored to be part of your 2008 Leadership Team!
During the last few months I have researched many different
venues for improving our association communication.
I have talked with association leaders about tools
they have found effective. By far the best rated has been Ning.

I’ve designed a private site for LBVRAR as a place for
all members, committees & leadership to share information,
photos, files, links etc. This is a work in continual progress!
It is your site! Play with it - you can’t break it! Have fun!

Right now I’m toggling between writing this post, checking email responses, and visiting the site to welcome new members personally. Yes, I’m nervous! I’ve been accurately “accused of being into that technology stuff”. And yes, I am trying to drag about 150 or so folks along with me ;~).

Guess what – 30 minutes after invite and I have about 20 members that have accepted my invite to the site! They’re excited, I’m thrilled. Now to keep the momentum and participation up!

I think we’re on the way to my goal of expanding the sense of community within our Association by improving communication and with that gain more trust in one another.…..to be continued….

Together WE Can…..