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Women’s Council of REALTORS®, California, 2019 President Fiona’s Welcome Message

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Happy New Year!

I am excited, thrilled and honored to serve you as your 2019 State President.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your commitment to Women’s Council of REALTORS®, California. The 2019 leadership team and I are looking forward to watching you experience growth this coming year as a leader. 

TEAM; California State and Local Networks cannot effectively function without everyone working together and stepping in to assist.  With everyone performing in our roles and duties, we will achieve our goals and accomplish great things.  2018 was a year of exciting changes for the Council.  There is much work to do in 2019. 

The only constant in life is change.  This is a time of growth for us all.  For the majority, this is the first time that we perform in our 2019 leadership positions.  Women’s Council is a safe place for us to learn and grow. Perfect is a tough act and is subjective to the eyes of the beholder.  As we go through the year, please remember that my perfect does not match your perfect, and vice versa. Learn with grace and allow others to make mistakes without judgement. 

Safe travels to Indian Wells in a few weeks.  We have a great Agenda, fabulous speakers and an exciting venue for our Welcome Reception at Tommy Bahama’s at The Gardens on El Paseo.  Other updates will follow as we draw closer to our event. I look forward to seeing you there!

You can sign up for the Winter meeting (early bird ends 1/21), Installation and room block (ends 1/11) at www.wcrcainstallation.com.

With love and gratitude,
Fiona

Message from President Cheryl

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My Women’s Council of REALTORS®, California family & team, a heartfelt thank you for each and every one of you! You have enriched my life and made this one incredible journey.
What an amazing year this has been. We all worked together to make a few strategic moves that would strengthen our California network for years to come. Creating a better future and world and creating a positive ripple effect through our individual efforts. Before we move into 2019, let’s take a look at what we accomplished this year.
At our Winter meeting we had the opportunity to present to you a sensational National speaker, Anese Cavanaugh. She spoke to us about the 5 steps to emotional impact and much more. I heard from so many through the year on how much Anese impacted your life.
We also had a fabulous “Own It” Leadership panel with our special guest speaker Elizabeth Mendenhall, 2018 President of the National Association of REALTORS®. Elizabeth’s message as the 6th woman president in 110 years was “Own it” which is an attitude and an action. We need to be prepared to take charge.
Part of being a leader is recognizing that when we can mobilize around common causes and a common vision, we are unstoppable.
“At the council, we absolutely have the power to make a difference.”
Our Spring meeting was unstoppable and full of changes as we moved our Leadership elections from the Fall meeting to the Spring meeting to dedicate the Fall meeting to Leadership training. Our key note speaker was the unstoppable empowerment coach Debra Trappen. Debra embraced our Leaders Made Here training and spoke to us about embracing the leader inside you.
Our Fall Leadership Summit was a huge success. We gave you 13 hours of training instead of 3-4. We plan to continue to improve the summit next year. Preparing all California leaders for success in their positions and contribute to individual network growth is our number one goal. All of these new changes will help us grow as an organization and provide
continued member value. Together Leaders are Made Here, together we
are California Strong.
We welcome Gold Country, Metro L.A./Beverly Hills and Tulare to our family. We have 34 networks, and members at large and 1650 members.
I asked each of you at the beginning of 2018 to create a positive ripple effect in your network and your world. Our teams purpose is to support each of you at the local network. To encourage excellence in serving our members and to develop strong leaders for the Council, the profession and the community. Our leadership team was so very proud to watch this happen throughout the year. Watching your accomplishments and growth is our greatest gift.
On a personal note. I will never be able to Thank all the people that helped me to personally grow on this absolutely incredible leadership journey. I am very grateful to have such wonderful mentors that I now call my friends! A huge Thank you to Linda Lee, Cecily Tippery, Theresa Wilson, Fiona Theseira, Eileen Oldroyd, Rosanna Garcia, Kay Merg, Jamie Saltman, Heather Ozur, Tammy Newland, Rebecca Thompson, Cindy Decoster, Sheila Stanush, Erin Barry, Marianne Osberg, Nina Dosanjh, PJ Johnson, Betsy Fried, Kelly Resendez, Anese Cavanaugh, Lu Jayo, The Monterey Network for all their assistance with the 2018 installation, Barbara Clemons, Lizzy Lewis, All the 2018 Governors & District Vice Presidents and all of the 2018 Local Network Presidents and their teams. Cheers to each of you.
I wish all of you, success and happiness and always.
We are a network of successful REALTORS ® , advancing women as business leaders in the industry and in the communities we serve
Live, Love, Lead,
Cheryl
2018 President

Winter Meeting and State Leadership Team Installation by Fiona Theseira

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Can you believe that we are just over a month away from our first meeting of the New Year?  2019 is getting close and now very quickly! Your 2019 State Leadership Team is busy putting together the finishing touches for the Winter Meeting!
We are excited to announce that we have an installation specific website that is up and running – www.wcrcainstallation.com.  Sign up for the Winter Business Meeting and 2019 State installation, and book your room. I encourage you to revisit as we are a work in progress in receiving collateral from our sponsors and 2019 strategic partners.  
Heather Ozur, 2019 National President of Women’s Council of REALTORS® will be attending the meeting and will be an installing officer. Elizabeth Mendenhall, 2018 President for the National Association of REALTORS®, will also be speaking and an installing officer.  We have other amazing leaders who will be part of our Winter Meeting and Installation.
Our Key Note Speaker for the 2019 Winter Meeting is Susan Packard, entrepreneur, co-founder of Scripps Networks Interactive and former COO of HGTV.  Susan writes, speaks and mentors women and men wanting to grow their potential.
We have education and leadership training opportunities available for you in Indian Wells. Included are Position Specific break out sessions, where you will receive more information to help you with your position in 2019. Tech Talks will provide the opportunity to have a better handle not only on how you can communicate with your members, they will also give you ideas that you can implement in your own businesses.  We will also share best practices for successful Network Leadership.
Women’s Council of REALTORS®, California, does have a meeting scholarship available to Networks in need. Here is the link for you to submit a request.
Be prepared to Network (bring lots of business cards), learn, share and meet new friends. See you in Indian Wells!

Fiona   

Handy Tips and List of Forms Required to be Submitted by Local Networks by Eileen Oldroyd

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Submit Your Winning Program!

It’s that time of year again to submit your best industry programs so State can choose the top ten to be considered by National for awards.
Women’s Council recognizes networks that have provided exceptional value to their membership through effective programming that positively affects the member’s business performance. Effective programming criteria is defined as timely, issue driven, member revenue-generating topics. We also factored in REALTOR® attendance, attendee evaluation scores and creativity in the planning and presentation. Please forward to me, Eileen Oldroyd, prior to January 15th, 2019 at [email protected]
Program Submission Form

Top Tip!

Use an evaluation form at your industry events. In order for you to improve your events, you need to know how you are doing. National has an evaluation form template Evaluation Form to use for Local Network Program attendance statistics. If you prefer to design your own form, use the text we provided to ensure consistency of evaluations “ Women’s Council prides itself on providing exceptional value to its members through effective programming.” And “Please rate relevancy of this program to your business from 1 to 5.”

Third Quarter Report is now due

This one page form contains all the information that will be requested quarterly for each event. The President should appoint a member to complete the form after each program/event and give to the President or make accessible online. The link for the Quarterly Report is emailed to the local network President in the week following the end of each quarter.
Link to Third Quarter report

Strategic Partner Brochure Template

Morgan Janney from Greater Palm Springs created a stellar Strategic Partner Brochure. She is generous to share it with all of us. Here is the link in Canva where you can download it and customize it for your own network.
Link to Partner Brochure in Canva

Report Your 2019 Officers to National
Deadline was November 1st..
Don’t forget to report your 2019 Officers to National in order for your team to have full access. Link to jotform

Boston National Meeting and Installation Recap by Rosanna Garcia

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This year’s National meeting in Boston was stellar.  Not only did we have the usual great education sessions and speakers, but we as California members, were proud to see our own Heather Ozur installed as the National President. We ran/walked a 5K for the Realtor Relief Fund as a Women’s Council team. Not to mention, we were present when the Red Sox won the World Series, so we were able to witness the celebration in the city. 
The meetings were held at the Westin Waterfront, a hotel directly connected with the convention center. This made for easy access for our members to attend the NAR expo and education sessions. Women’s Council also had great presentations which included a panel with our National line officers. They outlined the upcoming year’s strategic plan and gave members insight into positive changes being made for our networks. For example the website is getting revamped and we updated our Mission & Vision statements.  

The coming year will also be the first year National will start a Leadership Institute. The first year will be by invitation only.  15 members chosen from across the country will begin the Leadership Institute in Chicago in March, and then classes will coincide with meetings in Washington D.C. And then at National in San Francisco.
We also had breakout sessions over the 4 day conference which were led by
members and guest speakers alike. Topics included: “Advocating for your
Career” presented by Tami Bonnell and “Lead Authentically” and “Identifying Future Leaders” presented by Ginger Downs. 
The 5K walk/run was chilly and rainy but our Women’s Council Team showed up and we ended up having the 2nd largest team. Everyone finished the race, and no one got hurt so all in all it was a great success and Realtors raised over $100,000!

The installation had a great turnout and a good time was had by all. California represented well and the room was filled with many well wishers and dignitaries. The CA leadership team was asked to present to the audience a speech of congratulations to Heather, unfortunately our President Cheryl Keller missed the event due to a broken ankle. President-Elect Fiona stepped in and did a great job. We waved our CA flags proudly.  Heather’s presentation was cutting edge and was filled
with positive energy.

The food was great and the gifts to attendees were blue and yellow polka dot scarves for the women and the gift for the men was same colored ties.  There was an after party which included champagne and wine and a live three piece band. The members danced the night away. 

The conference, installation and visit to one of America’s finest cities were all wonderful. As usual we spent time networking with our CA peers, and other members from across the country, the relationships you forge at these meetings are priceless. The networking and referrals that result from it all are just a bonus.
See you all soon in Indian Wells for another great meeting and our CA leadership team installation.
Rosanna

Treasurer’s Chest by Kay Merg

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Yes, 2019 is just a few short days away and it is time for all local networks to start preparing their financial check-up reports, audits and budgets. Please see the list of required reports and due dates that each network is responsible for completing.
All local network financial documents should be stored on Dropbox or Google Drive for local network document archives.
Please send all required completed reports directly to your designated District Vice President or Governor.
We have set up a Facebook Page for 2019 Local Treasurers at fb.me/treasurerchest.

SAVE THE DATE! Women’s Council of REALTORS, California Local Network Treasurer Conference Call scheduled for January 17th at 9 a.m.
Call In details will be sent directly to all Treasurers.

Thank you for your commitment to Women’s Council of Realtors!
Kay Merg

Financial Reports/Link       Form Due Date
2019 Annual Budget            12/31/2018
2018 Network Audit             01/31/2019
Insurance/Taxes                   Annual
Expense Forms                    All Expense Reimbursements