Embracing differences, Playing the game?, Charles Angoff

Ok, so this morning a random driver, arranged by the hotel, drove me to the airport. As I had adopted from Gerald Hines many years ago, I sat in the front passenger seat with the driver.  He was from Pakistan, about the same age as me and we had a lively conversation.  His name is Abdul.   We talked about a lot and found that we agreed on many things.  He used two good sayings and I thought I’d relate them to you.  One, in regard to the massive amount of debt that people in developed countries have taken on, he said (and maybe he didn’t originate these but I hadn’t heard them before):  “I don’t agree with the philosophy of ‘buy now, pay later.’  I believe many people have adopted the attitude of ‘buy now, pay in the next life.’  And the other one, in relation to the sub-prime mortgage situation (how about the news this week that Bank of America is setting aside $12Bn to pay fines!) he said, “When the ship is going down, I’m going to look out for myself.  For all I care, the captain can go down with his ship.” 

One of the wonderful things about leading a serendipitous life is experiencing random interactions of this type.  But, you also have to be open to them.  I’ve long believed that while I don’t believe that the world will ever experience ‘peace on earth’ (for reasons that I’d rather not discuss here) we can bring the world closer together, one person at a time, by taking time to engage people.  We can learn from each other and, like with Abdul this morning, we can appreciate that we are all members of the human race and value and respect our differences.

Most of my career has been spent working for entrepreneurial type companies.  A couple of times I have worked for larger firms like A&P supermarkets & Midlantic Bank.  But I have been a real estate consultant rather than an employee to more larger firms such as (you’ll excuse the reference to some long gone) Chase Manhattan Bank, Bankers’ Trust, Chemical Bank, Mass Mutual, John Hancock, Kohler Co., Merrill Lynch Smith Barney, The New York Urban Development Corporation.  I have also had the privilege of being, for lack of a better term, the ‘industry shrink’ to a number of real estate investment management firms, which, in some ways, would read like a who’s who of that industry.  And, as an independent trusted advisor I was brought into the inner workings of a company to provide consulting and coaching services (I forgot if I wrote this to you recently but a friend of mine educated me on the differences between coaching and consulting.  A consultant provides ideas and solutions; a coach asks questions…it’s up to you to find your own way.    When she told me that I simply shook my head in agreement.  I may be getting a little off the path here but that’s nothing new, right?  

When I worked for Herb Kohler in Kohler (next door to Sheboygan, Wisconsin) I was brought in to provide consulting services on one project but as time went on I was ‘dragged’ deeper and deeper into the company and sometimes the politics started taking a toll on my ability to perform my services.  On a number of occasions during my two year engagement I went downstairs in the Kohler Design Center to watch a multi-media presentation about the history and future of Kohler (the company and the town) and it helped me remember that a lot of what was being done there was working towards the realization of a visionary, Herb Kohler, and didn’t necessarily need to make economic sense.  And, on two occasions I went to visit the man himself.  After he asked me how things were going (I used to see him monthly in the real estate committee meetings as well) he asked me why I was there.  I told him that I was being dragged into departmental politics and it was both draining and distracting.  He simply told me, “Steve, one of the reasons I wanted you here was that you can keep yourself distant from those things; you aren’t an employee and you can operate on a different plane.  Don’t let them suck you in.”  I left those brief meetings both energized and with more reinforcement of my involvement and how I could help Herb, in some small ways, achieve his dream.  That was probably the deepest corporate political doo-doo that I’ve ever experienced.  But many large companies (large being relative) seem to suffer from the drain of bureaucracy, politics, insecurity, fear and jealousy.  And having been both a coach and consultant to firms in North America, Europe and to a small degree Asia I can validate the negative impact that those things have on a company, on the morale of the people and on the price of gaining desired results.  The amount of time wasted, the games played, the failure to stay focused on the mission but rather on keeping your job (or doing your darndest to help someone fail at theirs and watch them pack up their stuff in a box and walk out the door.)  As Bill Withers sang, “We all need someone we can lean on and baby you can lean on me.”  I have found that to be more and more true as time goes on and am grateful for the friends and colleagues I have that I can lean on from time.  

When I started college, at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU)in Rutherford, NJ, I was fortunate enough to be assigned to a freshman English class with a professor named Charles Angoff.  Our FDU campus was close to Manhattan and was able to attract teachers of a higher quality, who lived in NY, than you might expect from a relatively obscure (except in New Jersey) university.  Angoff was one of those special ones.  He was an accomplished author and editor.  I don’t know what got me thinking about him recently but I bought a book written by someone who knew him well:  The Man From The Mercury:  A Charles Angoff Memorial Reader.  Edited and with an Introduction by Thomas Yoseloff.  Among other stuff it contains one Angoff short story titled, “The Tone of the Twenties” (as in 1920’s).  There are a bunch of quotable and notable things but the one that struck me and that I want to share with you is this: “Times of vital leaping imagination are not times of unalloyed happiness.  No happiness is ever unalloyed.  The sense of fleeting time and the apparent purposelessness of the entire scheme of things surround all calm and all joy with an inaudible sigh.  This seems to be the divine plan.”

Heavy eh?

Congratulations to Richard Lowe, new editor of IPE Real Estate.

Congratulations also to Martin Hurst who has assumed the COO role at IPE.

Congratulations to Mike Stratta who has joined the Aviva Investors Real Estate Multi-Manager group.

To all Americans, enjoy the Independence Day weekend.  To everybody else, enjoy your weekend.

On the road….

July 1-7:  Northern California
July 10-12:  Beverly Hills to attend the NMS Real Estate Roundtable
July 14:  Bistro Jeanty,Yountville, CA to celebrate Bastille Day.  A friend of mine plays the accordion to add to the festivities.  Sounds like it'll be a fun time.
July 18-21:  New York

These are my views and not that of my employer.

How little we need, The Big Man, RCA's Rooftop Party

Recently, I packed for a business trip that was supposed to be four days.  I used my small suitcase which I typically don’t do, generally favoring to have too much stuff rather than too little.  So, left out were things like my sneakers (running shoes to Canadians) and other accessories that I could use to either exercise or just take a simple walk in the park.  But, for various reasons, the trip kept getting extended.  I washed my underwear in the sink, used the services of a reliable and reasonably priced dry cleaner to keep recycling my shirts ($2.00 per shirt delivered to my hotel!) and suits and pretty much made do.  Throughout this trip, which at its conclusion lasted 14 days, I realized how little I need to get by.  Of course, there were some exceptions.  Whereas I normally travel with my childproof bottles of a few daily drugs I take, this trip I just took enough for the trip+one day so my wife, on two occasions had to ship them to me.  Other than that, I bought a pair of walking shorts ($16.99), a t-shirt ($9.99) and a pair of sandals of sorts ($9.99) but also had to buy a box of band-aids ($3.99) as the sandals rubbed one of my toes (I know, “Poor baby”).  I refused to buy another pair of sneakers as I have four pairs at home (one cross-training, two tennis and one fashion (Hi-Black Cons) but in hindsight I should have and then left them in my office for future trips (I will be bringing a pair and leaving them in the office after this trip that I’m on).  Oh, I almost forgot that I needed to buy another t-shirt ($9.99) for the second weekend.  This wardrobe experience was both severely limiting and liberating at the same time.  It’s gotten me thinking about exactly how few things, of any type, I really need.  

Last week Clarence Clemons, sax player in The E-Street Band died.  Last week I watched my first Lady Gaga video-Edge of Glory -which includes Clarence.  He also performed the song with her on American Idol.  She salutes him, simply, a couple of times during the performance and at one point, it’s a little reminiscent of the cover of “Born to Run.”  But, it’s a great song and a great final tribute of sorts to “The Big Man.”  I have a tape somewhere of a show that Bruce did at The Bottom Line in like 1974.  He’s a great storyteller, that Bruce is.  So, with a simple drum click and piano behind him, he tells this story (shortened here).  “So, we finish a gig at The Student Prince in Asbury Park (NJ); we were told that the manager of The Byrds was going to be in the audience.  He didn’t show up.  We had a nine-piece band back then.  The band split $42 bucks that night. Two guys quit.  Next week I had a seven-piece band. I started walking home on the boardwalk.  It was a rainy, windy and foggy night.  I was alone, at least until, in the distance, almost too hard to make out, I see a figure walking towards me.  As the figure got closer I started to get scared.  It was a man, a large man and I could see he was dressed all in white.  I looked around but there was nowhere to go.  We got closer, closer, a little closer.  I saw in one hand he was holding what looked to be a walking stick.  But then, I saw it was a ….....Saxophone!” At that, the band breaks into “Tenth Avenue Freezeout.”  There are other stories about how Bruce and Clarence met and which one is true doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that they did meet and the serendipity of the moment and of the timing is what is important.  A lot has been written about the two of them, the impact he had on the band as a musician and as a person but right now, the loss to his family and friends is what is heavy.  That’s sometimes the problem with a public figure dying (the NY Times gave Clarence a three or four column obit) and for many of us, he was a public figure as his being part of The E-Street Band is part of our history, those of us who love music, who have driven with the top down and the radio on and who have danced in the moonlight.  A reminder, once again, of how fragile it all is.

Congratulations to my friend Mark Roberts who has joined RREEF as managing director and Global Head of Research.

RCA held it’s first “Rooftop Party” in New York the other night on the roof of the building where their HQ is located.  While tornadoes were circling around the suburbs, it only rained a couple of times but when it did, the crowd just huddled up under the tents and everything was fine...nobody left.  RCA’s get-togethers are always an eclectic mix of commercial real estate people.  But the thing that stood out to me was the number of younger people at the party; the future of the commercial real estate business.  RCA employs some of the brightest, most enthusiastic people I know and I’ve feel proud to have seen them grow as the founder, Bob White and I were introduced just a few months after he launched RCA almost 11 years ago.  Anyway, not to get too nostalgic....but it was not only a lot of fun but I got an education in the student housing business from one of the most active developer/operators and also my long-time friend, Rich Kelly who works for France Publications who publish Student Housing Business and also run Student Housing Conferences . It’s a very interesting niche.

Congratulations to a close friend who got accepted into the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) this week.

 Photo:  Baby frog in the pond at our house.

On the road….
June 25-29:  London
July 1-9:  Northern California
July 10-12:  Beverly Hills to attend the NMS Real Estate Roundtable
July 14:  Bistro Jeanty,Yountville, CA to celebrate Bastille Day.  A friend of mine plays the accordion to add to the festivities.  Sounds like it'll be a fun time.
July 18-21:  New York

These are my views and not that of my employer.

 

Lower East Side, Fathers' Day, Other Stuff

There seems to be a bunch of real estate hiring announcements coming out these days.  Not surprisingly, a number of them relate to senior investment types in Asia.  It's not hard to see by this where institutional money sees the future.  It's also interesting to see the amount of movement.  But, in an industry where pension funds, endowments, foundations and their consultants put a premium on stability of investment teams, I wonder what some of the ramifications of all these changes will be?  

Last Sunday’s NY Times had excerpts from some of the commencement speeches given at U.S. colleges and universities this month.  Please allow me to share some of them with you:

“I won’t detain you long today.  We have research from the department of psychology at Harvard that if a college commencement speaker drones on for more than15 minutes, only about a quarter of students continue to pay attention; another quarter drift off to sleep and the other half-those being undergraduates-engage in sexual fantasies.”

“We’re now supposed to apologize to you because it doesn’t work the same as it used to anymore.  You won’t inherit the S.U.V., which was way too big, or the McMansion that was way too big or the corner office that was way too big.  But I suggest that this is a moment to consider what “doing better” really means.  If you are part of the first generation of Americans who genuinely see race and ethnicity as attributes, not stereotypes, will you not have done better than we did?  If you are part of the first generation of Americans with a clear understanding that gay men and lesbians are entitled to be full citizens of this country with all it’s rights, will you not have done better than we did?  If you are part of the first generation of Americans who assume women merit full equality instead of grudging acceptance, will you not have done better than we did?”

“People think passion is something you either have or you don’t.  People think passion is something that has to manifest itself in some kind of explosive and emotional format.   It’s not.  It’s the thing that you find in your life that you can care about, that you can cling to, that you can invest yourself in, heart, body and soul.  Finding passion is kind of your job now.”

“I do have a few bits of advice:  Acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them and move on; don’t be afraid of new ideas; be afraid of old ones.  Be faithful to your family and friends.  You’ll get the same in return.  Tell the truth and always play by the rules.  If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.”

I was saddened to see that Kevin Kavanaugh died last week.  He was part of the original Jersey Shore music scene along with Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Steven Van Zandt and others.  I didn’t meet Kevin until the 1990’s when he was playing with Bobby Bandiera at McLoone’s in Sea Bright and Bobby invited me up to sit in for a song or two.  Kevin was a great musician and a gracious guy. 

“I’m way more worried about the downside than ever before. It’s tempting today to get into deals, but I worry about how to exit them down the line.”  Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital speaking at a hospitality industry conference in New York this week.  

The name’s the same:  Congratulations to my friends at Clarion Partners who have taken their name back after completing their management buyout, with partners Lightyear Capital, from ING. 

Doug Ayers died this week of cancer at age 50.  Doug headed a residential real estate brokerage company in Chicago.  I didn’t know Doug but in reading a short piece about him in a real estate publication, one of his colleagues said, “Doug had a talent for bringing out the best in others.  Though real estate was his passion, his gift was the ability to encourage and develop people. He helped us to be better, kinder and more global in our thinking, lessons that reached far beyond real estate.”  To me, this is a really special tribute.  How many people put their energy, their belief in other people?  How many walk the walk and don’t simply talk the talk?    I’ve long felt that the most valuable thing that I can invest in anyone or anything is my time.  Money?  Its just currency.  But time, is fleeting; each of us only has so much of it and we don’t even know how much that is.  But, it sounds like this fellow Doug recognized that he could make a difference in the lives of those around him and maybe, just maybe, those he helped to be better and kinder will ‘pay that forward’ as well.  

Fathers’ Day is Sunday and while I believe that it’s a commercialization creature it’s still celebrated worldwide.  I’ve always loved being a father to my two sons.  And, I’ve always tried my best.  But, when both my sons and I were younger I wasn’t always an easy father to be around.  Some of those feelings were memorialized in an essay written by one of my sons when he was in college.  When I read it, I both shook my head in agreement and tears came to my eyes.  After living an oblivious life for 38 years, and aided by a health scare which led me to the book, “Type A Behavior and Heart Disease,” I started making changes in my behavior which, I believe, my sons will say were both positive and visible.  Fortunately, my boys have taken the best characteristics from both their mother and me.  After blaming my parents for lots of things for a long time, I finally came to the realization that they were only doing the best they could as my parents.  And in looking back at how they each grew up you could see where things had started.  And so, I forgave them and moved on, more aware than ever before.  I am pretty sure that my sons have forgiven me for being the way I was (which happened to be more self-destructive than anything else) and we have really good father/sons relationship.  I believe the best we can do is learn from the past and decide whether we want to emulate something or discard it.  We all make those choices whether it be in parenthood or anything else.  And, while Sunday may be the ‘official’ Fathers’ Day, I have enjoyed celebrating fathers day many times over and the pride with which I see my sons, from the very beginning, is a feeling I would not trade for anything in the world.  

Restaurant of the week:  Gentleman Farmer, 40 Rivington Street (Lower East Side), New York.  A teeny, tiny place with a wonderful and eclectic menu.  Also had a small world experience.  The tables are close together and the couple sitting next to us was quite chatty.  After a short time of talking about various stuff, the talk turned to children.  One of her four sons and one of my two sons both work in the TV business.  Both have been working on reality shows.  And, get this, both are currently working on the new season of “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”  They know of each other but because one works in New York and the other in Atlanta they haven’t yet met.  I love this serendipitous stuff!  

(Note:  My father grew up for a time right nearby this restaurant on Orchard Street.  They moved frequently, like when the rent came due and they had no money so they just left and moved somewhere else.  Actually, not a unique situation in the 1900's.  While the neighborhood has changed, many of the old tenement buildings (i.e. cold water flats) still remain.  Altman Luggage, which had been on Rivington Street has now moved to a much bigger store on Orchard Street.  Just before they closed, I walked in and asked one of the people there if they remembered where "Doc" Rosens' shoe store was.  He walked out side with me and pointed across the street.  He said, "It was right there."  This was the son of Mr. Altman.  We used to go down on many Sundays to visit my father's old friend, "Doc", and I can remember helping the stock boys go into the basement to find a pair of shoes for a customer.  It certainly brought back a lot of good memories.  

Photo:  Orchard Street, Lower East Side, New York (Dolce & Dolce was Doc Rosens Shoe Store)

On the road...
June 22 and 23:  New York
June 24-29:  London
July 1-9:  Northern California
July 10-12:  Beverly Hills to attend the NMS Real Estate Roundtable
July 14:  Bistro Jeanty,Yountville, CA to celebrate Bastille Day.  A friend of mine plays the accordion to add to the festivities.  Sounds like it'll be a fun time.
July 18-21:  New York

These are my views and not that of my employer. 

Polar Bears, The Monkees, Ted Kraus, Bob Dylan

From all I see and hear, the commercial/institutional real estate industry is doing its darnedest to find a place that resembles 'normal.' This week in New York was "REIT Week" as NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) has one of their two major events and basically the REIT industry converges on the historic Waldorf Astoria hotel, which really has outgrown it's functionality for an event like this. I didn't formally attend the event but did meet someone the other evening for a drink and ran into some REIT-types who were attending. I've never really gone to any events where I wasn't registered, just to loiter in the lobby and pick people off but I love being an observer and there was a lot of frenetic energy on display. Talking with a friend who is a REIT analyst, he said that it was amazing to him as to how upbeat everyone was, sort of a reinforcement of my idea that we are just an optimistic industry and trying to put things behind us.  

Last Friday, workers at the Central Park Zoo euthanized one of its most popular and beloved residents: Ida, a 25-year-old polar bear who had suffered from liver disease. It was a painful moment for her keepers, who were given time with her before she was put down.  But Ida also left behind Gus, her companion for 24 years. Now, Gus, the zoo’s only other polar bear, is alone.  They’re monitoring Gus closely for signs of depression.  The photo accompanying the article, which was taken in 2002, is very sweet (see below). 

The Monkees was a TV show in the mid-1960’s.  It was a goofy show about a make-believe band.  Donny (as his friends called him) Kirshner aka “The Man With The Golden Ear” was hired by the shows producers to deliver ‘hit’ songs for the group. Kirshner enlisted songwriters like Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, Boyce & Hart and Harry Nilsson to provide the hit songs but one of the Monkees, Mike Nesmith, wrote several as well.  The show was a huge hit.  On the records, the ‘band’ didn’t play instruments as, except for Nesmith, they really couldn’t play.  But, based on the success of the show, the band went on tour after months of rehearsals.  I just read that the Monkee’s reunion tour is in full swing (minus Nesmith whose mother btw discovered Liquid Paper).  Kirshner died this April. The Monkees apparently live on.  I wonder what the make-up of the audience is at these shows?  Pop culture...amazing!

In 1987, shortly after Al Gore invented the Internet, Ted Kraus launched  Dealmakers.net, which hosted the first and still operating free real estate forums where retail real estate dealmakers communicate about, what else, deals.  Peter Pike who launched a website sometime in the mid 1990’s was also, to use a real estate related term, a ground-breaker with his commentary and efforts to build an interactive community.  But, try as he might, Peter was never really able to engage our industry in dialogue.  BTW, Ted also wrote a column called, “My Way” a few of which are posted here.  Ted was an outspoken expert on the shopping center industry and anything else you might ask him.  You will both get a kick out of these blogs and also learn about some history of the shopping center industry.  After being introduced by a mutual industry friend, Larry Pinilis, and meeting for breakfast one Saturday morning at the diner on the Somerville Circle in New Jersey, Ted and I became friends for the rest of his life.  Actually, we almost went into business together but that’s a story for another time.  I miss him as does the industry.  He was a one of a kind guy.

But, the reason I brought all this up, relates to my own experience with this column, especially in the past ten days or so.  In that time, as many of you know, I started a LinkedIn group for OTR (thank you to all who have joined) as I believed that my ‘normal’ method of delivering this to you was ‘broken.’  So I reached out to some of my smart, younger, friends asking for advice and got some excellent ideas.  The one which I’m struggling with a little is the idea that I try a little more to create a global, commercial real estate online community.  To get people engaged in posting comments about something I write or a question I pose on a real estate related subject.   I’ve always like the ‘community’ concept although I understand that it is now a passé concept, at least in terminology if not in actuality.  But, to me, and I think to those of you who have written to me over the years, what makes OTR different is the personal connection that we have with each other.  As I sit at a desk in my hotel room at 4:44 on Tuesday morning I can tell you that hearing from you, whether it be a comment or criticism or a heartfelt note about something I wrote that struck a nerve with you, has been one of the most meaningful and important experiences in my entire life.  So, I’m a little afraid to mess with it.  But, if using LinkedIn (which I still have not really spent much time with), is a tool that you guys think could be used for ‘public’ dialogue on subjects, let’s try it.  If you have any thoughts, please write me, as always, here.  Thanks.

At the suggestion of my brother, this week I watched both Parts I and II of “No Direction Home” a wonderful biopic, I guess you’d call it, of Bob Dylan, directed by Martin Scorsese. Dylan is interviewed throughout the movie and two of his comments struck me:  “You’re constantly in a constant state of becoming and as long as you stay in that realm, you’ll sort of be all right” and “You can’t be wise and in love at the same time.”

Congratulations to a friend (and former neighbor):  Bob Lieb and his partner, Michael Seeve of Mountain Development Corp. in New Jersey who were honored last week at a luncheon sponsored by The American Conference on Diversity (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) which holds an annual real estate industry event.

Thanks to all of you who signed up for the OTR Linkedin Group and to those of you who wrote me very nice notes. I apologize in advance if you get deliver of this column from more than one source-I'm still trying to figure the whole thing out.

Happy birthday Sean Felix....2 today!

Photo:  Gus (right) and his longtime companion, Ida at the Central Park Zoo (2002)

On the road...
June 15-17:  Santa Barbara, CA to attend Opal’s Investment Trends Summit
June 25-July 1: London
July 12-13:  Beverly Hills, CA to attend the NMS Round table (Endowments & Foundations)

These are my views and not that of my employer.

OTR-NEW LOCATION

OTR can now be found here

Last week's OTR

Hi.  Last week, my OTR did not get sent out to you.  I've tried everything, including trying to contact Google (whose Feedburner service is the distribution vehicle) which appears impossible to do.  So, I don't know if this will even get to you (if you have an interest you can read OTR here.  


Thanks.
Steve


For those of you in the U.S.  I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend.

Managing Expectations

I published this column last Friday, as usual but there was some problem in getting it delivered to you. I'm trying it again now (Tuesday afternoon CA time).
Steve

Many years ago, I decided to lower my expectations about most things in life.  With regard to business, when I attend an industry event, if I leave, having met one person with whom I know I’ll have a long-term connection, I’m happy.  If I leave having met someone where there may be actual business to conduct, I’m ecstatic.  Disappointment is part of life but that doesn’t make it any easier.  This past week, I had to cancel my trip to London in early June where I was going to moderate a panel at the PERE Forum.  It was a decision that I made for reasons that I’d rather not discuss. Regardless, I was disappointed but happy with the logic of my decision.  PERE has recently announced that they will be holding a Global Real Estate Forum in September in Amsterdam and I am going to that one.  In addition to the benefit of moderating a panel there, I have some friends to visit with, notably Marinus Dijkman in The Hague.  When I was working on launching The Institutional Real Estate Letter- Europe, Marinus, after an introduction from Onno Husken, founder of The Ibus Company who left us too soon, was very helpful; I probably would not have been successful with that launch without him.  Marinus is the publisher of a series of beautiful and informative directories such as Europe Real Estate.  He and I have become close friends.

I was sitting alone, outside at a restaurant, at lunch today and couldn’t help hearing other people’s conversations (without trying…honest injun!).  One table of three guys next to me me were talking business; actually it turned into some discussion of real estate; actually it wasn’t a discussion-pretty much one guy doing all the talking…trying to sell is guests on something or the other.  Then there was the couple behind me.  I’m positive that she is a residential  real estate broker and perhaps her husband is also.  She was talking about who bought what house and why she didn’t want to show someone a different house, etc.  Very snooty.  Sorry, but I have never had any tolerance for residential real estate brokers.  Interesting stuff to amuse oneself when you're along.

 I’ve always been open to spending time with someone who is looking for a job.  Recently, I’ve spent more time with people who are in or coming out of graduate real estate programs.  All of these folks are passionate about the industry and a good number went back to graduate school, after working in the industry for some number of years, to hone their skills in finance, etc. so as to make themselves more attractive to developers, investment management firms and the like.   There aren’t a lot of jobs (or internships) available to them right now and in many cases it appears that employers who are looking to hire someone are looking for someone who has exactly the same experience or skills that they believe they need for that job.  I’m not sure whether there’s a right or wrong in this but I feel that some employers may be passing over people who could really add value to their organizations by not looking at people ‘holistically.’  And, as a good friend said to me today,  “I’m not always right but I’m always certain."  It’s been particularly rewarding for me to spend time with those looking to enter or re-enter the industry or change jobs.  I learn something from each person about them and about myself.  I’d encourage you to open your schedule, for just 20 minutes, and meet with people who are looking to learn more about your take on the industry.  You never know, you may meet someone who you want to walk down the hall to meet with one of your colleagues because, even if you weren’t actually looking to add someone, there’s a spark that comes out of a meeting that may light a fire and result in a valuable addition to your firm.  

One of my colleagues attended the ULI conference this week and sent along some interesting notes.  Here are a few things that he took away that I pass along to you:  Old age isn't what it used to be. Rising longevity changes everything.  New living arrangements are waiting to happen.

Some random thoughts on leadership: Learn from other's best ideas; humility and honesty; courage, to stand your ground for the right thing; visionary, relentless, creativity and innovation.

Some random thoughts, period: Don't sell buildings sell experiences (SF note: Read “The Experience Economy." Tenants are rethinking physical space; want flexibility; space per employee dropping by half. Obsolescence is a big risk.  Get people out of their cars; build near transit.  New anchor tenants will be government, education, healthcare.  The most precious commodity is time.  iPad was said 50 times a session on architecture (SF:  What's with that?).

The seventh annual IPE Real Estate Awards, which was held at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam this past week, attracted 220 representatives from 18 countries.   I attended one of the awards programs a few years back and it’s a very impressive event.  Other than an INREV conference, there is no other place where more European pension funds gather.  If you are serious about doing business with European institutional investors, you must attend this event next year.

Expectations and Market Reality in Real Estate:  2011 was recently published by Deloitte, Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC) and Real Capital Analytics (RCA).  It’s a good piece. See if you can get your hands on a copy (if I knew how I’d let you know).

Congratulations to friends:

Rob Bilse who joined Prudential Real Estate Investors

Tiffany Thomas who joined Aviva Investors Real Estate Multi-Manager Group

Zack Streit who has joined Streit Management Corp

Garrett Zdolshek who has joined Investors Diversified Realty 

And, congratulations to the Stanford Women's Water Polo Team who captured the 2011 NCAA Championship this week.  The team, which was started by the class of 1976 has included Megan Edwards, Jacqueline McCook, Wendy Bardet, Kathleen Prior, Nancy Patterson and Nori Gerardo-Leitz.

On the road....

June 1-2: New York to moderate a panel at IMN's Opportunity and Private Funds Forum

June 15-17:  Santa Barbara, CA to attend Opal’s Investment Trends Summit

July 12-13:  Beverly Hills, CA to attend the NMS Roundtable (Endowments & Foundations)

 Photo:  Sean Felix who will be two in a few weeks!

These are my views and not that of my employer.