by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Big gatherings at Alltel Stadium usually involve a football game with most in attendance on the same page.
Thursday, more than 1,200 members of the region’s real estate industry will converge at Alltel for the 2005 Realtor Builder Trade Show & Luncheon, all with different agendas based on a common theme. The annual show — this is the 27th — is organized by the Northeast Florida Builders Association in conjunction with the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.
Bryan Lendry of Lendry Homes is president of the builders association and Prudential Network Realty President and CEO Linda Sherrer is president of the Realtors association. Both will be on hand representing their respective groups.
This year’s theme is “Selling North Florida to the World” and while everyone in the industry and at the trade show are — at heart — on the same page, the real estate industry is as varied as a football crowd. Think of real estate in terms of a wheel. At the core is the home and the spokes are represented by the builders, lenders, brokers, agents and everyone else involved in the construction or sale of the home from start to finish.
“There will be almost 100 booths with everything involved in real estate and the allied industries,” said Melanie Green, director of communications for NEFAR. “There will be builders, underwriters, appraisers, pest control, design groups, lawn maintenance — everything. They will be showcasing their wares to over 1,200 people.”
The show runs from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and features booths, lunch, giveaways and the opportunity to network with representatives from every facet of the industry. Green said local government leaders also tend to show up because many of them are in real estate-related fields.
Co-chairwomen Amanda Dandy and Alayna Kimball have been working on the show for months, coordinating everything from the buffet lunch to volunteers.
“We started in February,” said Kimball, an account supervisor with Morgan & Partners Inc., an advertising agency in Southpoint. “It takes more time as the trade show gets closer. We meet once in February and March, twice in April, May and June and then every other Thursday. The past two weeks I have spent a huge amount of time on the trade show finalizing details.”
This isn’t the first go-round for Dandy and Kimball serving as chairwomen. In fact, they did it last year, too, and the builders and Realtors associations were so impressed that they asked Dandy and Kimball to serve again.
Kimball was with Davidson Realty World Golf Village last year during the trade show and has since switched jobs. Part of the deal with Morgan & Partners, she said, was assurance she’d be able to fulfill her duties as co-chairwoman.
“I work for an advertising agency that specializes in real estate, so it’s good for the company,” said Kimball. “It is certainly something that I had to put into my agreement. I wanted to be sure they would allow me to fulfill my commitment and spend the time the trade show takes.”
Dandy is co-chairing her third trade show and only stepped in this year after someone else had to step down for personal reasons. Somehow she finds the time to manage the Ponte Vedra office of Prudential Network Realty and its 57 agents and help organize the trade show.
“I work a lot of late nights and there is lots of note-taking,” said Dandy. “Having a wonderful group of committee members to work with makes a huge difference. Also, I have a great staff in the office that knows my schedule. Plus, I love what I do.”
Dandy said all the work is more than worth it.
“I think it’s so vital to bring every facet and all the occupations within the real estate industry together,” said Dandy. “From the vendors of home warranties to the people that sell bug spray to the site agents, this is the only venue in which you can get them all together. Everybody learns from everybody else.”
Jean Seely of NEFBA said the annual trade show is about networking in the same manner NEFBA’s monthly Sales & Marketing Council meetings at the University of North Florida are, just on a much larger scale.
“Trade show goes way beyond SMC,” said Seely. “The total community of people involved in real estate, from new construction to resales, will be there. The real estate market is good in our area and it’s good to see what’s going on in other places.”
Seely said a majority of the sponsors and attendees will be from Duval, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns counties. However, she expects folks from Southeast Georgia and even Flagler County. Seely also said that because the local real estate market is so spread out geographically and so diverse professionally, the trade show also functions as a pseudo reunion.
“Both the real estate market and building industry have grown a lot and are strong in this area,” she said. “It’s good to see people that you started with years ago who have moved up the ladder. The trade show is highly anticipated and people look forward to setting up their booth and meeting and greeting people.
“Everybody benefits. New agents and people new to the area get a broad view of the local industry. It’s not overwhelming, but kind of inspirational. It’s hard work that takes a lot of time, but it pays off.”