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More than 7,000 members took part in TREB’s seventh annual RealtorQuest conference held in May at the Toronto Congress Centre. The conference featured Canada’s largest real estate trade show with more than 225 displays. A health and wellness fair offered by TREB and its insurance partner, TREB Member Benefits, was one of the trade show’s popular destinations, featuring complimentary massages, bone density testing and an oxygen bar among its many attractions. OREA’s Centre Stage at the heart of the trade show was the place to take in information and entertainment throughout the two-day event, including the popular Realtor game shows Is Your Price Right? and Variable Rate.

Centre Stage was also the place to hear the results of a poll undertaken by Ipsos Public Affairs for GTA Realtors. John Wright, senior vice-president for Ipsos Public Affairs presented the results, which indicate that 70 per cent of Torontonians approve of the overall performance of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, and that 65 per cent believe that Toronto City Council is on the right track managing taxpayer dollars.

Poll results also show that that 75 per cent of Torontonians support Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s commitment to repeal the Toronto Land Transfer Tax.

The Continuing Education component of the conference, Learning Quest, featured 17 complimentary sessions in five different streams: technology, general interest, condominium, legislative update and commercial. Featured speakers included Joel Burslem of 1000watt Consulting, who offered insight into real estate marketing on the web and Doug Devitre, who spoke about integrating video into marketing initiatives.

At the General Meeting, OREA president Barb Sukkau and CREA president Gary Morse offered updates on initiatives on the provincial and federal fronts. Members also ratified TREB’s 2011/2012 operating budget and voted in favour of a $35 dues holiday for all TREB members of record (excluding non-active sustaining members) as of July 1, 2011.

TREB’s participation in the OREA Foundation’s Every Realtor campaign will continue for the fourth consecutive year, as members voted to make a contribution of $12 per member to the foundation. TREB presented Realtors Care Foundation grants to 35 different shelter-related charities throughout the GTA last year.

The Commercial Division Annual Merit Award was presented at TREB’s General Meeting to Joe De Leo of Intersite Realty Inc.  A 23-year member, DeLeo served on the Executive Council Commercial Division for 16 years and previously represented the council on TREB’s Board of Directors.

The meeting also included a panel discussion about Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and Virtual Office Websites (VOWs), prior to the news that the Competition Bureau was launching a complaint against TREB for its current VOW policies.

 

 

Source: REM