On May 4 and 5, TREB hosted its 16th annual REALTOR® QUEST real estate trade show and conference, the largest of its kind in Canada. Approximately 8,000 attendees took part in this year's event.
Annual Meeting
Proceedings officially began the morning of May 4 with TREB's Spring Annual Meeting (SAM), which had 1,000 Members in attendance and featured an informative keynote address from renowned tech experts Amber MacArthur and Marc Saltzman. President Mark McLean and CEO John DiMichele also provided highlights of TREB activities over the past year and were even accompanied onstage by a drone!
During the SAM, several awards were presented to outstanding TREB Members: Ann Hannah, TREB Past President and Presidential Award recipient; David Rossi Committee Service Award winners Heather Fuller, Past Director, TREB and Keith Kwan, Sales Representative, Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage; Community Service Award recipients Wasim Jarrah, Sales Representative, Royal LePage Your Community Realty Brokerage, Willie Reodica, Sales Representative, RE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc., and Peter Tarshis, Sales Representative, Right at Home Realty Inc., Brokerage; and our Commercial Award recipient and Past Director of TREB, Cynthia Lai.
Also at the SAM, our 2016/2017 Board of Directors Election results were announced: Larry Cerqua, President; Tim Syrianos, President-Elect; Mark McLean, Past President; Howard Drukarsh, Paul Etherington, Don Kottick, John Lusink, and Nito Morcos-Brown, Directors-at-Large; Paul Baron, Central Brokerage Director; Lisa Patel, Central Non-Brokerage Director; Garry Bhaura, West Brokerage Director; Michael Collins, West Non-Brokerage Director; Dick Briscoe, East Brokerage Director; Michelle Makos, East Non-Brokerage Director; Ron Abraham, North Brokerage Director; and Peter Burdon, North Non-Brokerage Director.
Day One came to a close with a fun networking event, called Make the Connection. Featuring the sounds of Shakey & the Bluenotes as well as up-and-coming country artist Augusta Ray, the reception gave conference attendees a chance to unwind and connect with colleagues old and new in a relaxed atmosphere.
Professional Development Sessions
This year, the focus was on technology and innovation and Learning Quest featured 38 other professional development sessions with some truly amazing speakers, including Lynda Reeves of House & Home; D.A.N.G.E.R. Report author Stefan Swanepoel; disruptive thinking leader Luke Williams; Fab Dolan, Head of Marketing, Google Canada; Greg Witz who discussed bridging generations; and entrepreneur and highly lauded salesperson, Leigh Brown.
Trade Show
The trade show offered over 275 exhibitors, and an exciting new addition this year was theInnovation Centre, where attendees could watch live drone flights or immerse themselves in virtual reality and Internet of Things experiences. Another highlight of the trade show and conference included Health Quest, which featured massage therapy, a golf swing analysis and even an oxygen bar. Centre Stage was not to be missed and was full of entertaining games and informative sessions. My Favourite Apps,hosted by TREB Director Sandra Rinomato and TREB Social Media Coordinator Genevieve DeBellis, was certainly a hit!
The trade show and conference also made a big splash on social media, with 6.7 million impressions over the two days and an average of 670 mentions per day! The top influencers? Amber Mac and Stefan Swanepoel.
Prizes
Two lucky Members won a free TREB Membership for the 2016/2017 year: congratulations to Martin Talavera of HomeLife/Cimerman Real Estate Limited, Brokerage and Lung Chiu of Re/Max Crossroads Realty Inc., Brokerage.
We'd also like to congratulate Jackal Chan of Century 21 King's Quay Real Estate Inc., Brokerage, who won our Grand Prize giveaway comprised of FitBits, Apple Watches and Virtual Reality goggles.
REALTOR® QUEST 2016 was an event to remember, and TREB would like to thank all who attended. We hope to see many of you at our 2017 trade show and conference!