After a prayer and the pledge, the Realtors stated their name and company, but not without a little fanfare last month.
“R. D. de Carle with Florida Realty...”
“U-S-A!” the Realtors excitingly shout before de Carle finishes.
“Hi, I’m Carolyn Minor of Homes and Land Magazine.”
“Yee-haw!” the crowd again shouts.
Clearly some of the members of the Beaches Council of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors need no introduction. But the group of more than 40 members who meet weekly, like telling each other of their businesses, networking and socializing together.
“There are so many agents that miss the opportunity to get that perspective,” said Beaches Council chair Paul Gruenther. “This is something that helps with attitude.”
When Gruenther started running the council two years ago, Linda Sherrer of Prudential was the NEFAR president. Her theme for the year was “The Art of Professionalism.” Gruenther said he didn’t want rules to mandate the meetings, but wanted to maintain professionalism within them.
“You can’t legislate or litigate professionals with people,” he said. “So we started a thing where the rules were, there are no rules. Professionalism comes from within you. We’re here to enjoy ourselves and have good camaraderie.”
The Beaches Council meet in a conference room at the Beaches Baptist Medical Center and completely fill the room. They sip morning coffee, hear from guest speakers and later caravan the Beaches area looking at houses on the market.