LAI KeyNotes: November2007

Reflections and More Photos from the Land Economics Weekend in Los Angeles

The Land Economics Weekend/Biennial Congress in Los Angeles was truly a marvelous experience. The local chapter provided superb hospitality in social events and accommodations. The tours were extraordinary!

Disney Hall

Disney Hall

The Staples Center

We were able to see a number of places that are normally off limits to visitors, like the Rand Company's "green" buildings and grounds as well as projects on the drawing boards that will transform the civic and cultural districts of downtown Los Angeles. During these two days of tours, led by very knowledgeable guides, augmented by local chapter members, the attendees were given an incredible overview of the enormous amount of development underway or planned for Los Angeles and its nearby communities. Transportation improvements and "green" buildings were high on everyone's list of things to learn about. And we saw many examples of efforts/plans to deal with ever increasing transit challenges and to achieve a higher standard of "green".

Union Station ceiling	Del Mar Station, Pasadena	Pasadena Hotel
Hollywood Walk of the Stars	Retail, Hollywood style	U. of Southern California
Condo converted from a hotel	City Hall	Performing Arts Center

Well done, Los Angeles Chapter, and many thanks for all the time and effort you all put in to make it such a delightful learning experience!

/s/ the Scribe as a "Member" observer.

Letter from the Immediate Past President

Dr. James A. Fawcett

This is my final column as your international president and I want to use the space to tie up some loose ends as I clean out my Lambda Alpha desk. First, I want to thank the marvelous Executive Committee with whom I've had the pleasure of working for the past two years. The group is large and very committed to the success and advancement of Lambda Alpha. Over the period, we have made progress in administration, finances, communications and chapter outreach, chapter development and the Land Economics Foundation. None of that could have happened without a great deal of hard work from your Executive Committee with the cooperation of many chapter leaders.

In the administrative realm, we put together a comprehensive chapter organization manual thanks to the efforts of Ian Lord and Terry Stevenson. With it, chapters now can look up standard procedures for all manner of things, assisting them to more easily manage chapter affairs. In Finances, David Lachoff and Phil Kolbe have worked diligently with our management company to trim costs as well as to keep a sharp eye on our finances, where we now have achieved our goal of one year's management fees in reserve. Bravo!

Our communications and public relations program is a critical part of chapter outreach. Helen Sause has taken our communications effort and turned it into a science. Her PR/Publications Committee has all sorts of ideas for even better communications outreach for the next two years and I'm looking forward to those innovations. When our newsletter, KeyNotes, became electronic a few years ago—an innovation suggested by our former International President, Larry Lund—it changed from a quarterly publication to a monthly schedule, one that requires a lot of writing and production work each month. Helen is now an expert at making that process work smoothly and I am delighted that she has agreed to continue as our International Scribe for the next two years.

Keeping information flowing between the International and our chapters is essential to our success as an organization. Of special note in chapter outreach has been the success of David Greenwood keeping in close touch with the nine chapters in the West Region. Similarly, David Callies has worked hard to bring our Tokyo colleagues into the fold. In chapter development, our London/Europe team led by Dr. Karen Sieracki has done a great job of bringing LAI to the Emerald Isle. We look forward to establishing one and maybe two chapters there in the near future.

In Ottawa, Les Pollock and I were very pleased to spend a day with the Executive Committee working toward a strategic plan for LAI. The efforts paid off and we now have guidance for the International Board of Governors as we move ahead over the next few years. One of the objectives was to identify where LAI needs to be represented so that we can encourage chapter development there. Both members and prospective members have contacted us about a chapter in Atlanta, one of the cities identified in our planning effort. We'll pursue that interest as well as other "target" cities in Dallas, Denver, Calgary/Edmonton and Ireland.

Through the diligence of its president, Ron Buss, and the help of our International Secretary, Ian Lord, the Land Economics Foundation is now on solid footing with a new set of by-laws and a renewed mission to support projects of excellence in the land economics realm. Steve Gragg will lead the Foundation over the next two years assisted by Ron Buss. We look forward to their good efforts.

I am pleased to turn over the reins of LAI to Les Pollock. It's been a pleasure to work with him over the past many years and especially the last two. Having been an essential part of our planning efforts and a member of the leadership for a number of years, I am confident that LAI will be in steady hands.

So, with that, I will take my leave as your president. It's been a distinct privilege to work with so many good people and I am honored to have had the chance to make a contribution to Lambda Alpha.

Dr. James A. Fawcett
Immediate Past International President
fawcett@usc.edu

Editor’s Column

Helen Sause

For some of us an exciting event occurred before the tours started Friday morning. Okay, so perhaps I am easily excited by things that seem to strengthen the LAI organization! ☺The first ever LAI Orientation for "Incoming Chapter Presidents and Administrators" was held. This started out to be a briefing on the draft Chapter Manual and services that the LAI offices can provide. Fortunately, there was a small attendance but the interest was high and those attending had numerous questions and suggestions that led to a very lively discussion and valuable input. During the next few months, working with Terry Stevenson, we can publicize the good information we developed as well as working through answers to questions.

Hopefully, we can do another session in Phoenix, AZ during the Spring Land Economics Weekend, April 30 - May 4, 2008. So in addition to the meetings required to conduct LAI's business and excellent tours we will offer a Chapter President and Administrator's seminar/discussion. Being new in these positions or not makes NO difference! We can all learn from Terry Stevenson, the officers and each other. Learning of unmet needs or services offered or anything else that makes the job of leading a chapter easier and will strengthen the organization. Reinventing wheels is an activity none of us have time for. So start saving your $$$ and time for the Phoenix meeting. Professionally you will have a great opportunity to learn from the Weekend sessions and your colleagues as well as ways to make your leadership role easier to carry out.

The following issues were discussed in the LAI Presidents and Administrators seminar.

The draft Manual was praised for its existence and all the information it includes. Some suggestions offered to make it an even more ready reference for chapters:

~ Place in the front of the Manual all the issues pertaining to the LAI organization :
• a map showing the locations of the Regions and Chapters
• easy and clear access to information sources such as the web site and its content
• contact information of current officers, regional and chapter officers and administrators. This information exists but having it in this one easy reference place would be helpful.
• Send annual updates by email to keep the Manual current.

~ The practical "how-to's" need to be first in the Manual, putting Chapter 10, "Board Policy Builder" re- titled as "Chapter Organization Builder" first in the Manual. Include in this part, information that directly pertains to daily operation of the Chapters.
~ The other information in the Manual is great and may be more easily accessed by making information likely to be used infrequently as appendices in the Manual.
Augmenting or revising the Tri-fold brochure when it is reprinted by offering a concise Policy Statement —maybe in bullet point form—of what LAI is and what is and what it does. Also include current issues the organization is addressing, useful information for members and potential members.
Administrators: All but about five chapters now have Administrators. This is a significant step forward in the maintenance of chapter organizational issues. Smoothly accomplishing transitions, this is especially effective if the Administrator's position requires them to devote a specified number of hours to carry out chapter duties rather than relying on the generosity of a member's staff.
Record Keeping: This requires good communication between the LAI office and the Chapters. The Chapters are the position to report on membership issues and by doing so in a timely way, dues records etc. are current and accurate. Chapters need to advise the LAI office as to transferring members, updating changes in officers with contact information as quickly as these occur.
~ Link the chapter's web sites to the LAI site. If the chapter does not have a website they may want to consider applying for an LAI grant. LAI is vastly improved with better communication.
~ Look into how the retired or members no longer active are listed. (We are members forever but those not participating by paying dues need to go into a separate category). It was suggested that the chapter Historian and Administratror can team up on this.
~ Establish a Chapter Chat Room for discussion of issues such as these.
Calendar: Chapters need to send meeting notices to the LAI office ASAP so that they can be listed in a timely manner.
What do chapter presidents do? We need to formulate a check list of Chapter Presidential duties to aid incoming presidents. This checklist would be helpful to include in the manual.
Suggested duties for administrators: A link to an example of this is in the October KeyNotes. This may be a useful addition to the Manual.
Where does one find a good speaker? Develop a national speaker's bureau listing areas of interest, providing names, contact info and a brief bio of expertise.
Organizational Changes? A national chart of current Chapters officers and their terms is needed. The LAI Board may want to work toward term uniformity to ease dues collection, informational seminars and having all officers working on the same schedule.
Dues policy and collections would be facilitated by being uniform. This will require the LAI office and chapters working toward instituting a policy.
Chapter size: The goal of a 100 membership minimum was stressed as essential to keep a chapter viable. The nominating committees need to be aware of the members retired or inactive in order to maintain a positive membership number.
Outreach: In all cases we need to find ways to tell our stories better, LAI members strengthen the professionalism of the real estate economics field and this is a too well kept secret.

These discussion points are a mixture of ideas, suggestions to do, to think about and to work on. Communication is key to all of these issues. Take these in the free flowing spirit of the discussions and add your thoughts/suggestions either to Terry Stevenson, Executive Director or to me.

I am greatly honored to have been elected as LAI scribe for another term (2008 - 2009) and look forward to continued dialogues and building relationships. Deep appreciation for Terry Stevenson, Michele Meng and Kathy Keler who make all this work!

Till next time!

Helen Sause
International Editor
helensause@alamedanet.net