Early fall is my favorite time of year, crisp air and blue skies. What's not to love about early Fall in New England. Fall also means it's time for the New England Real Estate Appraiser Expo. Many of you are probably reading this as a result of being at the Expo. Welcome! The Mass. and Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute is proud to once again partner with the Mass.Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA) to bring you this event. The Expo is the premier networking and educational opportunity for valuation professionals in the Northeast. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming but I also want to say THANK YOU to all of the volunteers who worked so hard to coordinate and present these programs. You cannot begin to understand the effort it takes to put on an event of this size and scope. As valuation professionals I'm sure you will benefit from the educational programs offered here today. Take a minute to ponder the word "professional". Merriam Dictionary defines professional as, "relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill". There is a point coming, I promise. I want to take a minute to share with you a recent experience. I attended our chapter meeting at the Save the Bay facility in Providence where a high caliber panel consisting of brokers, an architect and a builder discussed high performance housing. The program was phenomenal for its content but based on some audience questions I left feeling that more education is necessary to adequately tackle valuations of this nature. I've heard that "the data isn't there to support paired sale adjustments". I'm not saying all costs translate into positive value contributions but I believe there is sufficient data to competently analyze a property. Paired sales analysis is not the only technique for supporting an adjustment. The reality is relatively few valuation professionals have invested the time to try and understand the issues and intricacies of these property types though you are bound to USPAP to be competent. The MA-RI chapter put a full court press on providing "green" oriented educational offerings this year. Green technology is not "coming" its here. Those of you who missed our Sept. 9 Introduction to Solar seminar in Boston or the Sept. 16 Chapter meeting missed two great, and inexpensive, opportunities to broaden your knowledge base regarding valuation of green buildings. Speaking of education your chapter is offering a two-day seminar, Residential and Commercial Valuation of Solar, on October 27-28. You want to be viewed as a professional in the eyes of your client. Invest the time to get competent. Affiliating with a professional organization like the Appraisal Institute gives you access to quality education and programs. Stop by the booth or check out our website to learn about membership. Circling back to the changing season, I generally use this time to start setting personal and professional goals and planning for the next year. Candidates for Designation should consider investing some time to set their goals for 2015. If you're unsure what your next steps are contact your advisor or reach out to the national office. Thank you all. Enjoy the Expo! Joseph Comperchio, SRA is president of the Appraisal InstituteMass.and R.I. chapter, Malden, Mass.