Quite an event!

Source: ACAIQ

Over 350 participants attended the fifth edition of the ACAIQ Education Event held on April 29, 2003 at Laval’s Centre des congrès. This event, which gathered members of the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec held under the theme Education a continuing benefit!, was organized as part of the organization’s annual general meeting.

The day was kicked off by Larry Smith, president and publisher of The Gazette and former president of the Montréal Alouettes. Kickoff is the right term for this former middle back whom, in his fifties, shows no sign of slowing down. As he entered the room, he dropped to his knees in front a female participant, apologizing in a colourful French for being “the only bloke in the room”. Throughout his address, Larry Smith ignored the podium to crisscross the room, often at a run, simulating a footballers’ feints.

Meanwhile, he gave a veritable human resource management course, drawing from his experience with the teams he knows best, i.e. that of the Montreal daily he runs (approximately 650 employees) and that of the Grey Cup winning Alouettes, which he resuscitated during his term as president. In fact, three of his active players took part in this conference, i.e. receiver Sylvain Girard and halfbacks Bruno Heppell and Éric Lapointe.

The second speaker of the day, Guylaine Barakatt, professor at Université Laval’s agri-food economy and consumer sciences department, demonstrated, using examples and statistics, the impact of service on the expansion of one’s customer base. She put forth that the value-added professional services provided by a real estate agent, combined with the fact that residential real estate is very close to people’s hearts, are almost surefire success factors.

For the third and last address of the day, François Pigeon, ACAIQ syndic, and Me Jean-François Savoie, legal advisor and trainer with the Association, reminded participants, using concrete illustrations, of the basic principles of real estate advertising. Ads that use comparisons, contests and promotions, “Sold” ads and business cards are common ways to communicate with the public, but whose content is often a problem. In fact, Assistance ACAIQ regularly responds to queries on this topic by people in order to avoid errors.

As in previous years, the annual general meeting included a short presentation on the Association’s activities in 2002 by Chairman Serge Brousseau and President and CEO Robert Nadeau. With no contentious topic on the agenda, the meeting flowed quickly and ended with the appointment of the firm Harel Drouin, PKF as auditors of the organization for the year 2003.

In the early evening, the traditional Chairman’s Dinner was highlighted by the presentation of the first edition of the Québec Real Estate Brokerage Award. Surprised and visibly moved, Paul E. Myre, of the firm Myre Pageau & associés, was presented with a bronze medal symbolizing elevation, cooperation and success by Keith Collins, president of the jury. Popular Québec humorist François Morency topped the evening with a most entertaining show.

The 2003 ACAIQ Education Event also included an exhibition by a dozen or so suppliers and event sponsors. Booths included Bell Mobility, Telus, Multi-Prêts Hypothèques, the Canadian Real Estate Association, Collège de l’immobilier, e-list Canada, Prospects Immobilier, Services de titres FCT, Stewart and l’Académie de l’entrepreneurship québécois.