May 2010

What do the following have in common?

• The Boy Scouts of America
• Tour de France
• 36,525 days
• Black and Decker
• And the Atlanta Board of REALTORS®

All these organizations or time periods will be 100 years old in 2010. And, this year, 2010, our Board celebrates 100 years of history.

A little history lesson here…

In 1910, at the Piedmont Hotel downtown, Ralph O' Cochran and eight men met for lunch and created the Atlanta Real Estate Board. Unfortunately, the long term vision these men had for the organization was never recorded and has been lost in the annuals of history. One thing however is clear…a group of commercial real estate brokers got together, saw a need, created an opportunity and ran with it. Something all realtors can relate to – whereas, it is what we do every day.

So thanks to those nine men we are now a 100 year old organization. To fully appreciate where we are today as an organization let's go back 20 years.

In 1989 the Atlanta Board of REALTORS restructured into two separate Boards. Outside of that first meeting at the Piedmont Hotel in 1910, this time period was one of the most dramatic changes that our membership has ever experienced.

When the Atlanta Board restructured, we created the Atlanta Society of Commercial REALTORS and the Atlanta Society of Residential REALTORS; two separate divisions within the Atlanta Board. Local Boards across the country followed this same direction, realizing the importance of separate services for the commercial and residential members. In 1992, the National Association of REALTORS provided the opportunity for strictly commercial Boards to exist and Atlanta was the first Board in the country to make application to NAR. On March 15, 1993, the Atlanta Board of REALTORS officially separated into two separate associations; the Atlanta Commercial Board of REALTORS and the Atlanta Board of REALTORS (residential). Since that time and today, the leadership of both the residential and commercial Board work together very closely in regards to the Atlanta REALTORS Center building, our real estate School, the Georgia Institute of Real Estate and our staff. The relationship is as strong as ever and has been a true key to the success of our entire operation.

We clearly have evolved.

Over the next two decades through the leadership of our past presidents the leadership embraced change and new innovation offered by our members. 

What do the following organizations have in common: Fannie Mae AIG, GM, Chrysler, Wells Fargo, GMAC, CitiGroup? They went from great organizations to struggling ones.
Great organizations don't stay that way by resting on their laurels. Why do great organizations fail? They fail because they don't change with the times. They are asleep at the wheel, oblivious to their own reality, living on the hard work of others and most importantly they don't open their eyes to change and new innovations in their world.

Our organization will continue the success of our past not by doing what worked in the past, but by knowing what will work for the future.

We won't be passive and live off our past success.

As the 2010 Commercial Board president I challenged all of the Atlanta REALTORS to jump in the pool…pick a part of our organization that they are passionate about, contribute and challenge the status quo. The members have graciously accepted this challenge and are making an impact with new ideas and concepts that will help our organization survive the next 100 years. This quote by Teddy Roosevelt puts our challenge in to more eloquent words:

"Credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms and devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

By accepting and embracing this challenge we have indeed honor those nine men who 100 year ago stepped out, took a chance and made a difference.

On April 22nd, over 600 REALTORS and friends gathered to pay tribute to our 100 year anniversary and it is a great honor for me to acknowledge the Historical Committee for their tremendous efforts in making our centennial celebration a success. It was a magnificent occasion to celebrate our 100 years of history and the contributions of our members to our great city. We are all provided such great opportunities in our business and we owe a debt of gratitude to the industry leaders, visionaries, past presidents and hard working volunteers who came before us to establish the Atlanta Board and the Atlanta Commercial Board as two of the finest Boards in the country.