For my loyal fan base out there you may know that my last article was spent discussing the aspects of volunteering and education associated with CCIM. The rewards on both are great and to my loyal fan base I say, "I am bigger than John Lennon." However, rather than stroke my fictitious groupies' egos, let's talk today about one of the cornerstones of the CCIM Program: Technology.
During the first week of February a group of CCIMs, non-CCIMs, chapter members and non-chapter members, met up in Portsmouth to review the Excel templates that are given to us by national as part of our dues. When the program was first started, class takers used the old fashion Elwood Tables to graph out what a discounted cash flow would look like. Analyzing the mortgage constant and back tracking into the discounted value of the investment would take you all morning. Since that time the 12C and 10B II have sped up the process. Excel and its macro's sped up the math even more, and now you can even download a calculator to your Smartphone! Now we run our annual spreadsheet review to keep our members up to date on all the latest and greatest that the CCIM program has to offer for user or investor decision making. Hope to see you next time.
The technology that is part of the CCIMs Networking, Education, Technology, and Social (NETS) program goes well beyond the Excel files. For members of national, you know that you have access to the STDB site, which is loaded with demos, aerials, floodplains and more. Not to mention discounts on other vendors that are affiliates of the CCIM Institute. Another great tool that is available on the site is a trial version of the REI Wise platform which is a step up in terms of investment decision making software. For those who are not national members, inquire at our chapter on how you can get a lite version of the website for just $99!
For the more tech savvy, use your username and password to check out what else is available on CCIM.com. Mailbridge templates to network, personal URLs and even social networking are all the norm at the national and chapter level. We hope you can partake and look forward to training on all of these programs throughout the year as we make the most of our CCIM education!
For more information please visit www.neccim.com.

Chris Norwood is president of New England CCIM and NAI Norwood Group, Bedford, N.H.