by Fred Seely
Contributor
ORLANDO - With dozens of friends and family cheering him on, Watson Realty’s Wendell Davis challenged leaders of his state association — Florida’s largest — to get closer to the membership and to strengthen the profession’s brand among consumers.
Davis was installed as the Florida Realtors president Saturday evening in an impressive three-hour celebration at the Renaissance Orlando Resort as the association concluded its annual Mid-Winter meetings.
“I have four goals for us,” said Davis. “We must educate and endow our members, we must connect with our members, we must raise the visibility of the individual Realtor and the Florida Realtors brand, and we must encourage our members to do their part in public policy.”
Davis, a vice president of the giant Jacksonville-based real estate firm, was surrounded by family and friends — and even a former college football coach — and the evening became a Northeast Florida affair.
The family led the Pledge of Allegiance, a dozen or so taking the stage along with the family patriarch, and former state presidents Russell Grooms (Watson Realty) and Cathy Whatley (Buck and Buck) had prominent roles as the state officers and committee leaders were installed before about 500 at the banquet.
The association was formerly known as the Florida Association of Realtors and is struggling to get its new, year-old name across as more than just a generic term. That will be one of Davis’s challenges in the year ahead, as well as keeping the association on course to serve its 115,000 members, biggest of any profession in Florida.
In his acceptance speech, he sounded like the football coach he once was.
“I’ve seen it all, or I think I have, and I think the most powerful motivator on earth is the human soul on fire,” he told the 500-plus in the ballroom. “In a word: passion.
“It is critical that you bring passion to your profession this year.”
The evening had the same upbeat tone and there were no references to the continuing slump in the real estate market where Realtors are battling tightened consumer belts as well as an aging inventory of homes to sell.
Davis was lauded by numerous speakers as a man to lead the way.
‘“Wendell is our coach,” said President-elect Pat Fitzgerald of Jupiter. “When we have a meeting, you know that he’s the man who will lead.”
And his employer, Watson Realty Chairman Bill Watson, said, “If you have Wendell Davis, you have a loyal leader.”
In addition to wife Jackie and their three children, the head table included Tom Moore, who was head coach at The Citadel when Davis was an assistant coach.
“He hasn’t lost the fire,” said Moore. “He’s a leader, and everyone seems to know it.”