IREM president's message: A reflection on the past year

Tempus fugit! Wasn't it only yesterday I wrote my first article for New England Real Estate Journal on the wonderful itinerary the Institute of Real Estate Management's Boston Metropolitan chapter 4 had in store for our membership in 2009? Now it is already 2010, our 2009 schedule fulfilled, and my year as chapter president completed. We started 2009 with an aggressive set of goals for our chapter which included an impressive schedule of educational, networking, and marketing activities. Although we were a little nervous with the status of the economy and the health of our industry at the time, we forged ahead and committed to make 2009 one of our best years ever for our membership. Looking back over the year, we are pleased that we were able to meet and exceed our membership's expectations. In 2009 IREM Metropolitan Boston chapter 4 strived to positively promote the goals of IREM including credential awareness, recognition as an industry leader in education, regional leader in providing networking opportunities, and provider of the industry's best practices, while providing for meaning membership experiences. Beginning with our first offering of the year, our annual Economic Forecast breakfast held at Sheraton Needham Hotel featuring Stephen Andrews, senior vice president of Sovereign Bank - Capital Markets through our annual awards ceremony held in November at Anthony's Pier 4 where we recognized Edward Fish with our first Lifetime Achievement Award, our chapter never lost sight of what was of interest, importance, and support to our membership. As such, in 2009 we experienced growth in credentialing of our membership; most notably, in our Accredited Resident Manager (ARM) and Certified Property Manager (CPM) designations, a significant increase in both educational and meeting attendance, and quite successfully launched our first IREM's Professional Group which coordinated four, separate networking and outreach activities to promote networking for industry practioners. Thank you to our membership, friends, sponsors, and IREM Metropolitan Boston chapter 4's association executive, Kelley Hannon, officers, and executive councilors for all your tireless efforts, optimism, and support that made 2009 a very successful year. Although I am saddened that my presidency is now completed, I am excited about the incoming leadership for our chapter in 2010: *Rob Crowley, 2010 president, Peabody Properties; *Jeanmarie O'Brien, president-elect , Corcoran Jennison Management Company; *Jonathan Donahue, vice president, Barkan Management Company; *Lisa Maguire, treasurer, Corcoran Management Company; *David Barrett, secretary, American Property Team Management. Executive Councilors: Colleen Costa, The Hamilton Company; Candice Thayer, Thayer & Associates; Thomas Sullivan, Adamsworth, LLC; and Peter Lewis, Federal Management. I am confident that together they will serve our chapter's membership well in 2010 and continue to grow our Chapter in Region 1. On behalf of IREM's Metropolitan Boston chapter 4, best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2010! Kathleen Franco is the 2009 president of IREM Boston and director of property management at MB Management Co., Braintree, Mass.