President's message: CAN-AM Program

By: Michael Johnson I am pleased to report that the first CAN-AM Conference was a successful event! It was great to make new friends with some of our colleagues in Canada. Many thanks to education chair Bob Giniecki, CCIM, SEC for setting up the program. Bob and I have been talking about starting this program for several years, so it was great to get the event off to such a great reception. I also want to thank Nick DeMarte, Bob Strell and James Walker for assisting with the sessions. The conference was sponsored by the NYSCAR, Society of Exchange Counselors, Upstate N.Y. CCIM Chapter, and Central Canada CCIM Chapter. The event was co-hosted by WNY Chapter NYSCAR. On Sept. 24, Ken Vidar, CCIM, SEC, president, Vidar Cos., taught Creative Solutions (7-hour c.e. course). This eye-opening course demonstrated how to turn formulas into real estate, and real estate into dollars. Attendees enjoyed networking at the CCIM Cocktail Reception at the conclusion of the course. On Sept. 25, attendees continued networking and had the opportunity to present their properties for sale or exchange. Attendees seemed to really enjoy the event, including Chris Suozzi (Genesee Economic Development) who said he "thought the event overall was terrific - The 'live' marketing session expediting the connections" and John Gallagher (Cirrius Realty Inc., Brokerage) who said "It was a pleasure to meet everyone and it was a very well organized and informative event." NYSCAR Meeting Update We are pleased to announce that there will be a "Syracuse Region" chapter of NYSCAR! The NYSCAR board approved the application for the chapter which was presented by Dana Crocker (Hunt Real Estate, Manlius). Also at the recent NYSCAR meeting, the following members were elected to serve as officers of the association in 2013: president, Michael Johnson; first VP, John Lavelle; second VP, Brian DiNardo; treasurer, Guy Blake, CCIM; and secretary, Alan Hendrickson. Governors: Gordon Furlani, Mark Rohlin, Robert Strell and James Walker. Shown (from left) are: Gary Nusca, CCIM, past chairman, CCIM Institute International Conference; Michael Johnson, NYSCAR president; Eavan Travers, CCIM, Central Canada CCIM chapter president; Ken Vidar, CCIM, SEC, instructor, Wyoming; Ed Gallacher, CCIM, president-elect Upstate N.Y. CCIM chapter; James Walker, president, H.V. chapter and Darryl McCullough, CCIM, SEC past-president Central Canada CCIM chapter, Ontario. Code of Ethics - Deadline: December 31 Realtors are required to complete ethics training of not less than 2 hours, 30 minutes of instructional time within four-year cycle. The training must meet specific learning objectives and criteria established by the NAR. The current four-year cycle will end December 31st. Effective January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2004, and for successive four-year periods thereafter, Realtors are required to complete quadrennial ethics training of not less than two hours and thirty minutes of instructional time. Realtors completing such training during any four-year cycle shall not be required to complete additional ethics training in respect of this requirement as a requirement of membership in any other board or association. Failure to complete the required periodic ethics training shall be considered a violation of a membership duty. Failure to meet the requirement will result in suspension of membership for the first two months (January and February) of the year following the end of any four-year cycle or until the requirement is met, whichever occurs sooner. On March 1 of that year, the membership of a member who is still suspended as of that date will be automatically terminated. http://www.realtor.org/MemPolWeb.nsf/pages/CoEContinuingEd?OpenDocument Michael Johnson is the 2012 president of NYSCAR and is a licensed associate real estate broker at Realty USA, Lewiston, N.Y.