West Coast Swing / Upcoming Workshops / Felix Weiner in the New York Post

West Coast Swing

The rest of my West Coast swing ended late Thursday night when I flew back to North Carolina from Vancouver, British Columbia where I was working with a client.  It was the first time in a long time that I was in a city that I hadn’t been in before.  Other than a lot of cloudy days, I’ve never heard anyone say anything but good things about Vancouver.  Have you?  While there really wasn’t any time to see the city or take any side trips I was reminded that the Alaska cruises begin there.  I’ve never been on a cruise but for many years have wanted to take one of those cruises – simply because the photo on the ads looks so wonderfully inviting (see below).

This trip started in Laguna Beach, CA and took my partner Liz and I to Los Angeles and San Francisco.  We conducted workshop in all three places – both Women’s Leadership and Behavioral Presentation Coaching.  A major milestone was reached by us when we conducted our first in-house Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop for a public pension plan!

Over last weekend, taking a little break, I visited my old stomping grounds, Napa, CA, where I had lived from 1999 – 2012.  I had meetings with a few local real estate developers and then had a chance to visit with my old friend, Christophe Gerard.  I met Christophe many years ago when he was the head chef of a Napa restaurant my former wife and I used to frequent.  Recently, Christophe joined the team at the newly opened Restaurant at CIA Copia (Btw, CIA stands for Culinary Institute of America vs. Central Intelligence Agency). While I didn’t have time to eat there on this trip I know it’ll become a ‘go-to’ restaurant in Napa very shortly.

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Felix / Weiner Professional Development Workshops

We’ve been getting more and more great feedback from the attendees of our workshops.  While it’s very nice to get glowing commentary, it’s more important that people care enough to give us ideas on how we can improve our workshops – we take that to heart.  One request that has surfaced multiple times from women who have attended our Women’s Leadership Workshop: “It’s great that you’re giving women more insight into how they can develop more professional presence.  But what about the men?  Don’t they need to understand more about the challenges faced by women in a male-dominated industry like commercial real estate?”  The answer is a simple YES! 

We have run one ‘co-ed’ Senior Executive Workshop to date which was focused on “Unconscious Bias.”  With that experience under our belt (remind me to tell you about it one day) we have rolled our that program and will be posting dates soon.  We know that having women and men from the same company participate is a win-win; what we’re not certain about is whether that type of workshop would be beneficial if attended by people from different companies (Your thoughts are welcome and encouraged!).

On February 22 in New York City we are launching a workshop that I've had on my mind for more than 10 years:  Moderator and Panelist Coaching Workshop.  With more and more events embracing the 'Pay-to-Play' model for moderators (and panelists), the moderator may not have much experience (or training) in how to mange a panel so that the audience gets the best takeaways.  We'll be simulating panels in the workshop and having participants playing roles of both moderators and panelists.  In the test run it was both a lot of fun and we received excellent feedback on the value.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you

Liz and I are so grateful for all the firms that have lent us conference rooms for our open-enrollment workshops (some with absolutely spectacular views).  It’s truly a testament to the interest commercial real estate firms have in providing professional development programs for their team members.  I’ve watched this industry evolve for more than 30 years and, while the underlying principles of making money from commercial real estate have not changed, a lot has changed.  Just go to certain industry events these days and you’ll see more and more women and more and more younger professionals.  It’s great to see that so many folks have chosen the commercial real estate industry.  We are a fortunate lot – there are a great number of wonderfully smart, talented and friendly people in the global commercial real estate community and, you, those who have followed my adventures through this column, are a particularly special group!

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Felix / Weiner in the New York Post!

Thanks to my long-time friend, New York Post Commercial Real Estate columnist, Lois Weiss, for recently publishing an article in the Real Estate Board of New York insert.  It’s titled:  How To Own The Room During A Speech or Presentation.  It’s our first ‘feature’ story in print and we were pleasantly surprised when we learned it had been published.  Here’s the link to the article.

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Congratulations to my friends…

 Rob Bilse who has joined Patrizia Property Inc.

 Briana Succop who joined Abacus Capital Group

On the Road…

Feb 8: London:  Behavioral Presentation CoachingWorkshop

Feb 10: London: Women’s Leadership Workshop

Feb 13 -15: New York

Feb 16 -17: Chapel Hill, NC; To be a judge in the UNC Kenan-Flagler Real Estate Development Case Competition

Feb 19: Asheville, NC: To see Umphrey’s McGee in concert

Feb 21: New York City:  Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop

Feb 22: New York City: Moderator and Panelist CoachingWorkshop

Feb 23: New York City:  Pension Real Estate AssociationConference

New York City,  Feb 24:  Women's Leadership Workshop

San Diego, CA: Mar 1-2: NAREIM's Executive Officers Meeting

Dallas, Texas, March 9 -10:  To conduct a private Women's Leadership Workshop

April 5 - 6: Los Angeles: PERE Global Investors Conference

May 11: London: PERE Europe

June 25 - 27: Newport, Rhode Island:  IMN U.S. Real Estate Opportunity and Private Fund Investing Forum (I'll be moderating my 'signature' panel: "A Day in the Life of an LP")

CBRE lent us their main conference room for our Women's Leadership Workshop in their spectacular Glendale, CA office

Cruise from Vancouver to Alaska (I'm going to go this year!)

IMN Conference - Laguna Beach California / Felix Weiner Professional Development Workshops - in a city near you

This past week IMN attracted more than 900 commercial real estate professionals to their Opportunity and Private Real Estate Investing Forum in Laguna Beach, CA. Liz and I were fortunate to be invited to attend and also got to run our eighteenth Women’s Leadership Workshop – exclusively for women in the commercial / institutional real estate industry.

It always nice visiting with some long-time industry friends some whom I only get to see once a year – at this event.  And that’s terrific.  

Although, the great thing for me is meeting new people - and that was the case at IMN.   

The word 'networking' is thrown around a lot. I don’t know about you but I’m a little tired of hearing the word ‘networking.’  To me it minimalizes the underlying theme – people meeting people, understanding people and perhaps starting what will develop into a business relationship (and even sometimes a true friendship). 

This IMN Event is one of a series of three similar events that IMN runs annually.  The next one is June 25-27 in Newport, Rhode Island.  I’ve just been invited to conduct one of my signature panels, “A Day in the Life of an LP” in Newport. For the panel I invite four of my pension fund friends and they talk candidly about things such as how they like to be communicated with (and how not to), what they look for in a new real estate manager / partner, etc.  I haven’t been to Newport in many years – it’s a beautiful area and I’m totally looking forward to it.  I encourage you to check out that event. 

Some takeaways from the Laguna conference…

• Surprisingly, there were only a few comments about how the new U.S. administration will impact the commercial real estate industry (even though the forum was competing with the inauguration the main session room was full. What does that say?)  Clearly, none of us knows anything for sure about what President Trump will do.
• Still a lot of money chasing deals – Competition getting hotter and hotter in the lending world with more players seeing the opportunity of providing capital in ‘The Stack.’
• "We're at at true inflection point in the debt market area."
• "Investors are interested in shorter duration fund life - 1 to 3 years and out in no more than 5."

I learned about a way that companies in California can get reimbursed by the state for training that their employees engage in (apparently it’s been an under-the-radar thing).

Also spent some time with my friends Michael Dombai of Courtland Capital Market Services and Ron Kaplan of Cohn Reznick.  Ron offered me some great advice on how to market our workshops.

Had an interesting conversation with someone from a company that sells private jets who told me that if you fly more than 250 hours a year, your company should consider buying their own plane.  The rep mentioned the risk of using ‘time-share’ jets regarding the condition of the plane, maintenance, etc. 

Met some terrific rising stars eagerly looking for opportunities in the industry.  Our industry continues to be very competitive at the entry level. Offering to be an intern (paid or unpaid) still sounds like a great way to get into a company, get some experience and, who knows, if you do a good job and are a good fit they may find a job for you.  It’s not easy out there and we have an opportunity to reach out to help the next generation of commercial real estate professionals begin or further their careers.

Note on internships:  If your firm is looking to hire one, please let me know by replying to this email so I can refer folks to you.

Some of our presentation coaching clients were panelists - Liz and I were so proud of them – they all did a great job!

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The weather in Laguna Beach was crazy – almost hurricane-like on Thursday.  With that comes a certain beauty, the ocean waves crashing over the rocks (one of my favorite things to see), the palm trees bending to the wind and the sound of the rain on the roof.  California’s beaches are all public access and the pathways on that section, between the Montage Resort and the ocean are beautiful, winding pathways with lush local vegetation (although I don’t think any of it is edible!).  You’re able to walk down about 40 steps to the beach itself.  I did this on yesterday, just before hitting the road.  I was the only one there – other than some seagulls.  It was very special.

On the Road…

Jan. 24:  Los Angeles to conduct our 19^th Women’s Leadership Workshop. Women from 87 different commercial real estate industry firms have already attended one of our workshops.  Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $479

Jan. 26: San Francisco to conduct our 20^th Women’s Leadership Workshop. Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $479

Jan. 27: San Francisco to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop.  Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $679

Jan. 27 - 31:  Napa, CA

Feb. 1 – 3: Vancouver, Canada

Feb. 5 - 10: London, UK

       Feb. 8: London, to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop. Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration. 

       Feb. 10: Conducting our 21^st Women’s Leadership Workshop. Clickhere for information and registration.

Feb. 16 – 17: Chapel Hill, NC to serve as a judge at the University of North Carolina – Keenan Flagler Real Estate Development Case Competition.

Feb. 20 - 24: New York City

Feb. 21: NYC to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop. Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $679

Feb. 22: NYC to conduct our Moderator & Panelist Coaching Workshop (the day before the PREA conference). Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $679

Feb. 24: NYC to conduct our 22^nd Women’s Leadership Workshop. Click here for information and registration. 4 hours / $479

Mar. 1 - 2: San Diego to attend the NAREIM Executive Officers Spring Meeting

Mar. 4 - 8: New York City

Mar. 9 - 11:  Dallas

Waves, Laguna Beach, CA

 

Cool rock formation, Laguna Beach, CA

New Year, New Website, New Workshops

New Year, New Website, New Workshops

Those of you who have launched a new website or worked on a website renovation may agree – it takes longer than you think.  However, I’m excited that we launched our new website on December 30 – meeting our deadline by one day. Here’s the link. If you’re so inclined would love your candid feedback / suggestions as we continue to build and expand the site.  Thanks.

Today Liz and I sent out an email blast announcing our Professional Development workshops for Jan / Feb 2017.  In addition to our Behavioral Presentation Coaching and Women’s Leadership Workshops we’ve added a new workshop:  Moderator and Panelist Coaching for those of you who participate in those roles at industry events and would like to learn the tricks of the trade from someone who is considered pretty good at it (That would be me!).

Please take a look at the On the Road section below for upcoming workshops, cities and dates. As always, feel free to pass this information along to other industry professionals who might be interested.

Tips on Networking

We’ve been asked several times lately to coach people on developing networking and relationship building skills.  Apropos, here’s a piece I published in this column in 2011.

Thanks to my friend, Tom, I offer you the following "Tips on Networking" previously published in the Wall Street Journal

·      Have a Solid Introduction: First impressions count heavily. Make sure your attire, attitude and overall appearance are the best possible before introducing yourself to someone.

·      Don't Confuse People with Your Pitch:  No one needs to hear your entire work history upon meeting you. If someone asks you to tell him or her a bit about yourself, your explanation from start to finish shouldn't take more than 30 to 60 seconds.

·      Don't Tell a Sob Story: No matter how tough it's been, you need to paint a positive picture when you're making new connections. Potential employers want people who project a good, can-do attitude, and who will be energetic and excited about the position not people who are just excited to have a job.

·      Spend More Time Listening Than Talking:  The old adage is true: People were given two ears and one mouth, and you should use them proportionately. Once you have truly understood what drives this person, then you can introduce yourself and tell your own stories in a way that best fits their specific needs.

·      Avoid Being Socially Inept: There's a fine line between being friendly and personable and being awkward. You do not want to be the latter.

·      Don't Overstay Your Welcome:  Taking up too much of someone's time is almost as bad as ignoring him or her entirely.

·      Hand out Your Business Card, Not Your Resume:  It's not ok to pass along an unsolicited resume. Offline or online, you need to work on forming a relationship with someone before you ask them for anything at all. Many people overlook this professional courtesy, and ask brand new connections to serve as a referral when submitting a resume or application.

·      Follow-Up and Follow-Through:  Perhaps the "Cardinal Rule" of networking is that once you've planted the seeds of a new relationship, you must follow up to maintain it. Whether it's a business referral, job lead, or a professional connection, get in touch – within 24 hours – to say you enjoyed meeting them.

So true although I've allowed myself 48 hours to follow up with everyone whose card I get at any event with a simple email.  At the same time I enter them in my contact database with a notation of when and where I met them and anything else that I learned (or that I can remember!).

Although it's not acceptable in many Asian countries, the first thing I do when I meet someone is keep their business card out in case I need to make a notation (which I generally do after we've shaken hands and gone our separate ways).

Oh, one more tip.  For those of you who are shy when attending an event and don’t feel comfortable approaching a group during the ‘networking / coffee break / cocktail time’ I suggest you start out by approaching someone who is standing by themselves (although not someone standing by themselves who is on their phone).  It’s easier to do that than trying to break into a conversation - and the individual you approach is often happy (sometimes noticeably relieved!) that they now are engaged in a dialogue. I have developed three long-time industry friendships by doing just that – one of them when attending an event years ago where no one was interested in talking with either the other person or me!

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On the Road…

Jan. 9 – 13: Chicago

Jan. 16 - 20: Laguna Beach, CA

       Jan. 18: Conducting our 18^th Women’s Leadership Workshop in     conjunction with the IMN Winter Forum on Real Estate Opportunity and Investing.  Click here for information and registration.

       

       Jan. 19 – 20:  Attending the IMN event

Jan. 21 - 25:  Los Angeles

Jan. 23:  Los Angeles to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop.  Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration

Jan. 24:  Los Angeles to conduct our 19^th Women’s Leadership Workshop. Women from 87 different commercial real estate industry firms have already attended one of our workshops.  Click here for information and registration.

Jan. 26 - 29:  San Francisco

Jan. 26: San Francisco to conduct our 20^th Women’s Leadership Workshop. Click here for information and registration.

Jan. 27: San Francisco to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop.  Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration

Jan. 27 - 29:  Napa, CA

Feb. 5 - 10: London, UK

       Feb. 8: Conducting our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop.  Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration

       Feb. 10: Conducting our 21^st Women’s Leadership Workshop. Click here for information and registration.

Feb. 20 - 24: New York City

Feb. 21: NYC to conduct our Behavioral Presentation Coaching Workshop.  Attendance is limited to 6 people.  Click here for information and registration

Feb. 24: NYC to conduct our 22^nd Women’s Leadership Workshop. Click here for information and registration.

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Mar. 1 - 2: San Diego to attend the NAREIM Executive Officers Spring Meeting

Mar. 4 - 8: New York City

Mar. 9 - 11:  Dallas

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A rare view:  NYC. View from Madison Avenue looking East. View of Chrysler Building and Grand Central Terminal for first time in a long time due to demolition of old buildings and new construction of One Vanderbilt a 1,400 foot, $3Bn office tower to come online in 2020!

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