IREM Greater Rhode Island Chapter 88 offers quality professional seminars and workshops through its half day and full day seminars and its new program Brown Bag Workshop Sessions. These Workshops are held during lunch for a minimal registration fee. Participants bring their lunch and in a relaxed and informal atmosphere while listening and discussing important topics that affect property management. Topics have included R.I. tenant/landlord law, the value of a CPM designation, and the problem of bed bugs.
Looking ahead the chapter is offering a full day training seminar with Michael Gantt on Sept. 14. Property managers will have the opportunity to increase their knowledge of HUD's REAC inspections and better prepare their properties. Michael is the director of training at The Inspection Group, owner/president at REACSolutions. Two brown bag workshops are currently scheduled for August 10 and October 4. In August, Gisela Medek, CPM and chapter 2nd vice president will present and lead a discussion regarding HUD's EIV system. In October Jake Karger, a management consultant and executive coach, will present a workshop on the topic of dealing with difficult clients. Since 2005 her company, Just Tell Me How To Manage Inc. has advised CEO's and senior level managers with one-to-one coaching and customized consulting offering guidance and expertise in every aspect of management.

IREM ED is Instituted to fit a Property Manager's Schedule
IREM has developed education opportunities to fit anyone's schedule. A new array of delivery options for its many course offerings ranging from traditional classroom to the latest self-paced learning formats available 24/7 is being rolled out by IREM, a leading provider of professional development resources to real estate management professionals around the globe.
"Our newly upgraded education program, which we call 'IREM ED,' recognizes changing life styles that in turn are changing how people can and want to learn," said IREM president Ronald Goss, CPM. "IREM ED presents wide choices of what content students can study, the time schedule they prefer to access that content, and the information channels through which they'll get it. It's all about empowering students to progress with more flexibility in their property management careers by tapping into the contemporary knowledge delivery media that are most compatible with their life styles that best address their career opportunities, that make the most of their time availabilities, and that most easily match their learning-style preferences. Indeed, we view IREM ED as a significant step forward in maintaining IREM's reputation as the "gold standard" in real estate management education," covering the core competencies for maximum performance of investment real estate," said Goss.
IREM ED was designed for access through laptops, e-readers, iPads and mobile phones. So students can learn at home, at work or while commuting or traveling. They can study at their own pace within generous time frames. They can study via instructor-led classrooms or instructor-led online courses as well as in self-paced home study or self-paced multimedia select course settings. They also can participate 24/7 in a community forum tied to each course and be further engaged by course content that has been enhanced with embedded video, more dynamic PowerPoint presentations, and other contemporary, visually compelling instructional material. For more information about IREM ED and the full course schedule, visit www.irem.org/education.
Richard Hitt, CPM, is a senior property manager with Phoenix Property Management Inc., Warwick and is the president of IREM-Greater R.I. Chapter No. 88, Providence.