Cuba, Close the loop...please!, Networking, The Flying Wallendas

An article this week about a new law that was passed in Cuba last November reminded me that are some things that we take for granted in the 'developed world.' One being the ability to buy and sell a house or apartment that you own.  While this article described the 'hot' real estate market in Cuba, it's not what one would necessarily imagine.  "While the new market dynamics may help some, many worry they will do little to solve the housing problems faced by many Cubans, whose wallets would not stretch even to buy a $3,000 one-bedroom apartment." "....an average of three buildings collapse in Havana each day, victims of neglect, overcrowding and improvised construction. Well over 100,000 people are waiting to move to government hostels."  A government estimate suggests that it would cost about $3.6 billion to build the 600,000 houses Cuba needs. Independent estimates are more than double that. The creation of construction and housing cooperatives is one step being discussed: such arrangements would reduce building costs and allow groups of individuals to build, say, a small apartment block."

Of all the markets in the world, I have not heard anyone in the institutional real estate world yet utter the word "Cuba" except for those who have gone there to party.  And, if you look at the yellow or red flags that might be raised when you are considering where in the world to invest, government instability is definitely one of them.  So, while entering 'emerging markets' is not for the faint of heart, if I were a betting man, I would  bet that somewhere, behind closed doors in a fancy high-rise office building in some city in the world, there are people, right now, talking about the real estate opportunities in Cuba.  Who in our industry will be the first to dip their toe on that long-troubled island in  the beautiful Caribbean?

I'm wondering if any of you is also experiencing this phenomenon:  you have a conversation(s) with someone, on a rather serious subject. Or you may have several interactions, in person and on the phone.  And then you never hear from the other person again, like they drop off the face of the earth but you know they didn't.  As as student of people I can't for the life of me comprehend what those people are thinking (or perhaps they're not thinking).  Does this type of behavior leave me with a feeling that they are really professionals?  People of character?  Someone I'd want to do business with?  I don't think so.  I believe that we all are just looking for the same thing from someone in these situations:  close the loop.  If it's not something that's going to move forward have the common courtesy to tell the other person.  With all the talk about 'lessons learned' over the past four or five years and the word 'transparency and open, timely communications' flowing off every powerpoint slide in every presentation I've seen, as well as out of people's mouths, don't people realize, after all that's gone on, that you actually have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk?  Our industry is a very small one, even on a global scale.  Our reputation is everything.  I'd suggest that some people look at themselves in the mirror tomorrow morning and do a self-assessment about certain things, before it catches up with them.  

Someone asked me recently about how you go about networking when you're at some type of event and you don't know too many or any people?  How do you approach those people?  Are there any tactics or standard lines that have proven successful?  It got me thinking about the times that I've been in that situation (yes, it still happens).  I don't think there are any secret tactics or magical words.  No one really likes approaching someone or a group that they don't know and that doesn't know them.  This is especially true if body language and/or facial expressions suggest they don't want to be approached (or include you in their group).  


However, I have found it easier to approach a group than certain individuals, those who make an attempt to look at your badge and if you don't resemble somebody they 'have' to meet", they'll just walk away or walk past you without even cracking a smile (and remember, these folks are at events where people are supposed to be interested in networking!).  Now, there are 'Networking Rules" that I've accumulated and make my best effort to go by. But getting back to the uncomfortableness of 'cold networking:'  It's all a matter of one's threshold for 'pain' in those situations.  However, much as I am 'inclusive', there are sometimes when someone who has joined my group ends up being really obnoxious, or someone who is trying to hard-sell someone I'm talking with or is a glommer (der.  spammer:    Someone who finds a person who knows a lot of people and hangs with them or follows them around expecting to be introduced to all the people that they know.  And, while, thankfully, that hasn't happened too many times, I've generally found that a smile and a "howdy-do" works in more cases than not with people you don't know.   Probably worth a try. 

Achieve Your Dream:  Nik Wallenda, a seventh-generation circus performer, has been granted permission to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  Mr. Wallenda, 33, has called his ultimate professional dream. “I had a few tears, but it hasn’t sunk in,” he added. “We were told by not one, not two, but probably 50 people: ‘This is impossible, not going to happen.’ This is to prove that if you pursue your dream and never give up, you can achieve your dream.”  (Note:  The Flying Wallendas is the name of a circus act and daredevil stunt performers, most known for performing highwire acts without a safety net. Sadly, they may have had their most publicity as a result of tragedy. Karl Wallenda developed some of the most amazing acts like the seven-person chair pyramid. They continued performing those acts until 1962. That year, the front man on the wire faltered and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing two and leaving one paralyzed.  But, for performers, the show must go on. If you want to see something that will give you goosebumps (in a happy way) watch this video. 

Solutions by Steve Felix Update:  Thanks to all of you who have sent me congratulations and good wishes on the launch of my new consultancy.  It's off to a good start.  Having operated consulting businesses before I know that the key is to get two or three 'retainer' clients to give the venture the financial foundation it needs.  I have a couple of prospects in that area but, while those evolve, I am doing work for several clients.  Two involve facilitating brainstorming sessions on how to raise capital in this market, how to market to investors and consultants where there is no prior existing relationship, review, discussion and reworking of presentation materials and ways to educate rather than sell.  For the other client I am doing some research that will help them be more efficient in the growing of their investment management business.  While my official press release is still a few weeks off, it's been heartening at the reaction I've received already:  almost everyone I speak with has something they need help with and, either me or a member of my Consultants Collaborative, may be able to provide just the kind of expertise that the doctor ordered.  Stay tuned!

Congratulations to my friend, Eyal Bilgrai, who is joining the consulting firm Wurts & Associates. 

On the road...

Feb. 21:  San Francisco

Feb. 28-Mar.1:  Scottsdale to attend the NCREIF Winter Conference

March 13-15:  Boston to attend the PREA Spring Meeting

March 29-30:  Philadelphia, PA to be a judge in the Villanova University Real Estate Case Challenge

April 24-25:  Los Angeles for the PERE Global Investors Forum 2012

May 17-20:  North Palm Beach, FL to attend the annual meeting of The Homer Hoyt Fellows


Special note to Kal:  Are you happy now?!

Aisle of Solutions, RREEF, World Trade Center

Walking the aisles of one of the large chain "pharmacy" stores this week and seeing the signs above the aisles got me thinking:  wouldn't it be great if there was a place like that where we could find cures for our real estate ailments?  Need a tenant to fill a long vacant space:  Aisle 1.  Trying to find some gap financing to close a deal:  Aisle 7.  Feeling under the weather because your key first close investor just told you they were going to wait a little longer:  Aisle 2.  You get where I'm going, right?  Maybe some of you reading this are saying, "Well, there are firms that offer solutions to problems like those."  And you are right, they're called "Service Providers."  And while solving one of these problems doesn't happen as quickly or reliably as, say, taking aspirin for a headache or rubbing Ben-Gay on a sore shoulder or gulping down Vicks Forumula 44 to stop your cough, there are people out there who have proven to be good at delivering "a cure for what ails you."  But, try as we might to find simple, quick and painless solutions, sadly, it's rare in our industry that there is one.  

This week, roaming the streets of New York and speaking to a number of people from all different parts of the commercial and institutional real estate world one thing is clearer than ever before:  Things are not clear by a long shot when it comes to us knowing what we'll find around the next curve in the road.  We have a lot more questions about our careers, our businesses and our personal lives.  There is a lot of stress out there and we can hope that things will just get better.  But, remember how the hopes fans in the famous baseball poem, "Casey at the Bat."  (Ernest Lawrence Thayer, 1888) were dashed in the end:

Oh, somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; 

But there is no joy in Mudville-the Mighty Casey has struck out.

Even if you don't know anything about baseball, the phrase 'struck out' is easy to understand.  We're all trying to either 'get to first base' or 'hit singles and doubles' or 'make the big play' but success is not guaranteed, not by a long shot, no matter how hard we try and no matter now much success we've had in the past.  Some firms have or have had their own "Mighty Casey" who were relied upon to make things happen, to bring home the bacon.  But those folks are not magicians.  So, when we're faced with situations where we've run out of brilliant ideas or we keep talking and talking and talking and coming back to the same old thing, it's sometimes helpful to bring in an objective, knowledgeable third-party to help you get 'unstuck.'  In line with my policy of full disclosure, this last sentence is somewhat self-serving as I have been working with clients in this capacity for years, with good results and excellent feedback.  You know why it's helpful:  people that work together, just like couples in a committed relationship, sometimes have difficulty being open about things with each other and the conversation slips into a finger-pointing argument which does no one any good.  When an intermediary joins the party, they bring one really important thing to the table:  they are only interested in helping; they have no axe to grind, no hidden motive, no issues, no politics to play....just helping their clients find a solution to what ails them or at least bring to the surface the root of a problem.  Maybe it's something to think about next time you're in a similar predicament.

One more thought on this general topic.  There's someone who's website bills her as "America's #1 Female Talk Radio Host" who, after listening to one of her callers tell a story of relationship woe, told that woman, "Whatever you're doing is just not working!"  None of us is happy when we admit that what we've been doing is not working but it's a very important step in finding something that will work.  We need to remind ourselves from time to time that doing things the way we used to do them won't work in a world that is changing around us.  More and more people are talking with me, seeking a different way to do something, particularly in the area of raising capital for real estate funds, joint ventures, etc.  The appetite of the many investors has changed and you need to change your menu to give them what they want.  Change is not easy but change is good and those that recognize the need for change are the ones who will be the winners.  If things aren't happening for you, slow down, take a break, get away from things for a day and think.  Or find a confident to brainstorm with.  As Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  

There's lots of talk on the street about the future of RREEF.  From what I can tell, the only people who really know what's going on are those people directly involved in the discussions.  I'm not a rumor guy; I don't start them and I don't pass them along but society is built on them.  The media is grasping at straws, hoping that something that someone told someone else has an ounce of truth in it.  But, until it's a done deal (or until some 'Deep Throat" source leaks the news), we'll just have to sit and wait but, like with lots of big corporate stuff, we aren't alone as employees of companies involved in M&A deals are kept in the dark and learn about things at the same time as the rest of the world.  For the sake of my friends at RREEF I hope something definitive happens soon so they can get on with business and with their lives.

You know how sometimes you'll walk by a place hundreds of times and never go it?  Then one day, for some reason, you do and you say, wow, this place is great, why didn't I go in before?  Well that happened to me this week when a good friend of mine invited me to join him for breakfast at Casa Lever in New York (390 Park Avenue [entrance is on 53rd St.).  It's a great room and the food is really good.  (Note:  It gets busy for breakfast starting at 7:30 and I'm told that lunch is crazy so make a reservation).  

Early in the week I was driving back to Manhattan on the New Jersey Turnpike. It was a beautifully clear night as I got to the part of the turnpike approaching the Holland Tunnel.  The World Trade Center jumps up like a proud child saying "Look, here I am."  It's an wonderful sight to see; construction lights blazing from bottom to top; it's the most massive and dramatic structure in the New York skyline.  Yes, it's taken way too long for this building to be built and that's a sad commentary on politics.   But it's now at 90 floors and it is a sight to behold.

Phrase of the week:  "Brand Guardian."  A strong brand identity is more crucial today than ever before.

Always the last to know:  Today I became the 417,795,817th person to watch this cute video.

On the road...

Feb.  13-17:  San Francisco Bay Area

VIP, Brainstorming, Accelerated Disintermediation

This week, IREI held it's annual institutional real estate industry 'homecoming', VIP.  More than 350 people were there.  Lots of people who knew each other and lots of people looking to meet people they didn't know, particularly if those people were institutional investors and especially if they had money to invest.  VIP has grown exponentially since Geof Dohrmann and I launched it six years ago.  Yes, there was a lot of good content offered but the most interesting time for me to both participate in and observe are those when people have the opportunity to "network."  The participation part for me is easy as a bunch of those attending knew me or knew of me.  The difference this time was that, having recently launched my new company, Solutions By Steve Felix, I too had something to promote.  So here are a few of my takeaways:

• Things are going well-in the context of 'the new normal.
• We don't like investing where there's a 'leap of faith' involved.  (Comment about investing in certain emerging markets)
• It's the uncertainty in the Eurozone, not how horrific the situation is, that is causing investors to sit on their hands.
• The most danger to the U.S. recovery?  U.S. Political Gridlock and Uncertainty (Audience Quick-Tally Response)
• One year from now there will be fewer countries in the EU.
• I don't believe that Greece runs out of money on March 20th.  I believe they're out of money now!
• 2012 will be the worst year for commercial real estate loan defaults.
• Investors just don't invest in assets that are over-leveraged.
• Some of the best opportunities today are in preferred equity but off-shore investors have to be educated.
• Accelerated disintermediation of the sale of loans via an eBay type auction process has become an extraordinarily powerful tool in selling loans.  This could be the thing we look back on and say it was a game-changer for the commercial real estate industry.
• Tenants don't like being called tenants anymore but they are the people who truly Occupy Wall Street.
• The Greeks invented defaulting on debt.

Restricting Retail?

A proposal is being considered in New York that will limit the ground-floor width of all new stores to 40 feet (and new banks to 25 feet) on two major streets on the Yupper West Side, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues.  "Across New York City, the proliferation of chain stores, banks, pharmacies in the past decade or so has robbed many neighborhoods of the quirky one-of-a-kind shops that give those places their distinct personalities and where customers can form a relationship with their shopkeepers."  In Napa, California, there is a group called, "Napa Local" that was formed to protest against a Starbucks leasing space at the corner of First and Main (really!).  They want the city to adopt an ordinance controlling "Formula Businesses," i.e. chain stores to "preserve the unique quality that is downtown Napa."  Hmmm, let's see, in both cases, as a landlord, you would be restricted from who you can rent to.  While tenant mix and use-clause restrictions have been used in the shopping mall industry (where one landlord controls the whole shebang), trying to stop individual landlords, who own a building, from renting their space is not a good direction to be going in.  Can you imagine the lawsuits that would be filed against municipalities if they were successful in enacting this type of legislation?  Also, to me it's pretty simple why the independent retailers have disappeared from the landscape:  customers don't support them.  People talk about having quaint shops and no chains but if you can't pay the rent, how are those specialty stores going to stay in business.  It'll be interesting to see what evolves.  By the way:  the 'unique quality' of downtown Napa is vacant.  While there have been some wonderful additions in the past years, including a new hotel and several 'celebrity chef' restaurants, if you drive down First or Second or Third Street you'll notice that there are so many vacant or 'fake' storefronts you'd scratch your head...maybe.  In Napa Valley, the town that has the 'one of a kind shops' is  St. Helena and those merchants have chosen to open stores there because people who spend money go there.  I spent many years in the shopping center, shopping mall and outlet center industry.  At one point, I developed the "Everything's Big/Everything's Small" theory of retailing.  I won't bore you with it now but when reading about these cities (and how many others may be talking about it) it's like you're trying to control things a little too much and, if you look back in history, there are serious prices to be paid when that starts happening...it may be only the beginning.  

I've always been a proponent of value of brainstorming.  I found this comment from a piece I read this week particularly

enlightening.  Early brainstorming advocates strongly recommended that the "Do Not Criticize" rule made those sessions more effective.  But recent studies suggest differently:  "....debate and criticism do not inhibit ideas but, rather, stimulate

them....imagination can thrive on conflict....dissent stimulates new ideas because it encourages us to engage more fully with the work of others and to reassess our viewpoints....maybe debate is going to be less pleasant, but it will always be more productive."   Pretty interesting, huh?  It comes down to the idea that we can't get bent out of shape when someone comments on an idea we have but rather take it as contributing to the group goal of coming up with the very best idea or solution.   Sometimes easier said than done.

Wouldn't it be great if our memories only remembered happy things?  But that's not the way it works.  Yesterday, the weather was really nice where I live, probably about 65 degrees in the afternoon.  I was driving somewhere and out of the corner of my eye saw a dad and his son throwing a baseball back and forth.  What jumped into my mind was a day, a long, long time ago, when I was throwing a baseball back and forth with my older son.  It was obviously a moment which I have never truly forgotten. It had been sitting in my sub-conscious all these years. Funny how the mind works isn't it?

More kids:  Congratulations to my nephew and his wife on the birth of their little girl.  Our family now has five cousins born within less than three years of each other!  Are they going to have fun or what?  

With gratitude:  Thanks to all of you who sent me notes (or talked with me in person) about last week's story of my friend in Geneva. It meant a lot to me. 

Final item:  Angelo Dundee died on Wednesday (90).  If you aren't a fan of boxing (or in my case grew up in a boxing family) you probably don't know his name.  For 60 years he was a trainer and manager of professional boxers, the two most well known are Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) and Sugar Ray Leonard.  My uncle, Barney Felix, the senior boxing ref in New York State at the time, was in the ring when Clay took the heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in Miami Beach in 1964.  Barney told us one story about that bout that never made it into the papers.  One day, when we're having a drink together make sure to ask me about it..... 

On the road next week...

Feb. 6-10:  New York

Go Giants!

He not busy being born is busy dying

"He not busy being born is busy dying."  Bob Dylan from It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). 


In the spring of 1992, when my mother was dying of brain cancer, I watched as she used her brain to try to fool the doctors.  They would ask her questions, "Good morning.  Can you tell me your name?" (Her name was Lorna).  And some days she got that right.  But as she deteriorated, often she couldn't answer that one, or what day it was or what month or what year.  Yet my mother was a very sharp cookie.  When asked questions she rambled around, telling the doctors about a variety of things, most of it not making any sense depending on which electrical impulses happened to make their way through the frayed wires of the plugs in her brain that used to fit in the right sockets.  It was heart-breaking.


While in London this week I took a planned side trip to Geneva to visit my old friend Deb.  She was my brothers' first girlfriend when we were all in summer camp.  We reconnected after many distant years in 2003 at a camp reunion.  My wife and Debbie hit it off and a couple of years after that took a "Thelma & Louise" road trip through the Southwest U.S. which they documented with some incredible (and funny) photos.  


As a group, we counselled each other (not the summer camp variety but the kind that good friends do for each other).  Deb has always been a brilliantly talented writer (and deft Scrabble player) who for the past number of years has been living in Geneva and working for Rolex, creating and editing some of their most prominent and visible marketing materials.  Before taking that job, she was free-lancing as a web music journalist and interviewed some very well-known names in rock, blues and jazz.  Music has always been a strong bond amongst our camp friends and her appreciation and love of music even led her to taking up blues harmonica which she played with friends in her adopted country of Guatemala (Debbie grew up in Montreal).  We've all seen each other through some of life's growing pains and soul-searching times.  Deb is a breast cancer survivor which is one reason why her current condition is so sad.  She is suffering from Glioblastoma, an inoperable and except in rare circumstances, incurable brain tumor.  More than a year ago doctors gave her three months to live.  She embarked on a series of experimental chemotherapy and while it hasn't been any fun (the side effects and what-not) she is still with us.  But, her brain is messing with her too.  


My wife and I call her periodically and on those calls she sounds extremely lucid and her memory seem phenomenal.  She sounds up-beat and tells us of the books she is reading, the writing she is doing and other stuff that had us feeling more hopeful.  But a few weeks ago, one of her sisters' told us that all Deb was telling us was fantasy.  Well, I witnessed that first hand yesterday and today at her bedside.  Yesterday, her 59th birthday, she remembered me as soon as I walked in the door.  But this morning she didn't know who I was at first and as the time wore on, she knew me and called me by name.  She drifted in and out of making sense or talking nonsense.  At times, she used a word that she knew was wrong and tried desperately to correct herself.  This morning, a doctor and his colleague came in to talk with her about how she wants to live the remainder of her life.  The "living will" stuff.  And while Deb gave some conflicting answers (I think I would have too if I was her) she did tell the doctors that her best friend was the one who knew her wishes and should be the one to have the legal authority in such circumstances.  It was a heavy scene for me to observe.   


The weirdest thing was that during the time I spent with her she got two phone calls and was talking as lucidly (or perhaps even more) than you or I.  She remembered projects she'd worked on, the names of children and grandchildren.  She said some random things which I told her I'd make into a song and send her the demo.  The first line (all her) is "You can't take the sunshine with you no matter where you go."  We had a great time writing those lyrics together.  The brain is an unbelievable thing; how it works and how it fails to work in almost the same moment.  


She is in the palliative care unit of a wonderful hospital just outside Geneva.  It's for end of life care, usually very short term, but she has fooled them.  There are people who have helped her draw her will for the first time and prepare for death.    To some of us, death comes sudden and without warning.  The rest of us don't want to admit to ourselves that Bob Dylan's lyric is totally true.  And who is to say that we will be given the luxury, of sorts, to have the time to wrap things up in a tidy package and say, "There, I've done what I wanted to do and I am at peace."  Deb told me that she's heard how some other patients answer the question, "What do you dream of?"  One said, "To swim with dolphins."  Deb's dream is simply to see another spring.  I don't know that she will.  Do we know how many springs we will see?  Does anybody really know what time it is? Shouldn't we start caring?




On the road....


January 30-February 1:  Scottsdale, Arizona:  IREI's VIP Conference
February 6-10:  New York
(NEW) February 15 & 16:  London and Frankfurt to moderate breakfast briefings for RCA (Real Capital Analytics).
February 23 & 24:  Chapel Hill, NC to be attend the UNC Kenan-Flagler Real Estate Conference and be a judge at their case competition.
February 25-26:  Asheville, NC
March 29-30:  Philadelphia, PA to be a judge in the Villanova University Real Estate Case Challenge
April 25-27: Vienna, Austria to attend the INREV Annual Meeting
May 17-20:  North Palm Beach, FL to attend the meeting of The Homer Hoyt Fellows.

2012: The Year of Caution? The Corner Office. Apple's Obsession

Resigned is not a particularly positive word.  The thesaurus suggests submissive, reconciled, accepting, stoic, long-suffering, prepared to accept.  Well, some of these are even less appetizing.  But resigned is the word that came to my mind this week about the state of things in the commercial real estate industry (perhaps throughout the business community in general).  While we were all waiting for things to revert to normal, the normal that we wanted it to be, it hasn't.  It's been a while now and I believe we've all accepted that we may not see a time like the last 'normal' for a long, long time.  But what's interesting to me is that there are groups, not long-time real estate investors but rather private equity firms, hedge funds, etc. who have seen the light and see that there is opportunity in that there real estate business.  And, they've started building real estate investment groups within their companies.  They're hiring top talent and throwing dollars at, hopefully, doing it right.  Some, perhaps most, of the money these firms manage is not institutional in nature and yet, some of it is.  And, at a time when many investors are staying close to those managers with whom they've had a good relationship with and who have proven trustworthy and putting new money out with them, either in the form of a separate account or a joint-venture or a club deal, there are some investment fiduciaries who have been successful in raising good-sized commingled funds.  That's what makes this time in the history of our industry so fascinating to me.  We are living through change and it's not a change that has been thrust upon us by an alien force, it's an organic change that develops based on the fact that any company that launches a new product or service either has to fill a need or solve a problem.  And if you can bring that to the table, whether you are an investment manager, a manufacturer or a consultant or any kind of service provider, there is business to be done.


A weekly column called "The Corner Office" interviews executives and asks them a few questions.  I thought this one was pretty good:  "If you could ask someone only two or three questions to decide whether you would hire that person, what would those questions be? (1) What idea is driving you right now? (2) What’s on your mind about any aspect of life that you’re really excited about? (3) Tell me about that."


CBRE published its' The Global View 2012 this week.  Here are the bullets from their executive summary:

• Macro-economic and political landscape uncertainty across the world suggests that a cautious outlook in local property markets is likely to persist into 2012.  While 2011 is in the past, many of its challenges continue.
• Corporate occupiers in 2012 will continue to exercise caution in their decisions, and demand for space will remain moderate.
• Investors in Europe and the United States will therefore tend to adopt more defensive strategies, focusing on high-quality buildings in prime locations within the most liquid and transparent markets.
• Asia has not decoupled:  Occupiers and investors are becoming more cautious in many markets across Asia due to slowing economic growth in China and concerns about the global impact of the economic slowdown in Europe and sluggish growth in the U.S.
• High-quality real estate assets in prime locations should continue to perform well compared to secondary real estate and very competitively with regard to other asset classes.  From an investment point of view, secondary property will continue to underperform.
• A lack of new construction in many markets globally will boost the performance of existing prime properties.

In line with my first paragraph, note these words sprinkled about in their executive summary:  uncertainty, cautious, caution, defensive strategies, cautious.  It appears that we may be resigned to accept that 2012 will be The Year of Caution.  But, it sure sounds to me like there is opportunity out there, ready to be mined.

I've only had a few of my friends become published authors.  The latest, a long-time friend and the drummer in the first real band I played in,  Ken Segall's.  His book, Insanely Simple:  The Obsession That Drives Apples' Success will be released on April 26th.   While not suggesting that you do it, I've pre-ordered it for my Kindle.  Ken is a veteran advertising guy on the creative side.  He has been behind some of the most recognizable advertising campaigns over the past 30 years including some of Apple's major ads and branding stuff.  He's a brilliant guy and pretty funny as well.  I am sure this will be a good read and not just for core Apple fanatics. 

On the road...

Jan. 23-25:  London to attend the INREV Winter UK Seminar 2012 and the Thompson Reuters Global Property Outlook 2012 

Jan. 30-Feb. 1:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend IREI's VIP Conference

Feb. 6-7:  New York

Feb. 8:  Baltimore, MD to speak with students in the Accelerated Masters of Science Real Estate Program as Johns Hopkins Carey Business School about careers in commercial real estate.

Feb. 9-10:  New York

Feb. 23-24:  Chapel Hill, NC to attend the University of North Carolina Keenan-Flagler Real Estate Conference and be a judge at their real estate case competition.

Feb. 25-26:  Asheville, NC

Feb. 27-29:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend the NCREIF (National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries) Winter Conference

March 29-30:  Philadelphia to be a judge at the Villanova University Real Estate Case Challenge

April 22-25:  Chicago to attend the CRE Mid-Year Meetings

April 25-27:  Vienna, Austria to attend the INREV Annual Meeting

May 17-20:  North Palm Beach, FL to attend the Hoyt Fellows/Weimer School Annual Meeting

Visualizing woodpeckers, One moment of insight, TV Dinners

One thing that has been coming up more and more in conversations is the idea of raising capital for private equity real estate funds from smaller pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices.  There are investment managers who have been doing this for years.  But, as more and more of the big boys are sitting on the sidelines, managers are looking for alternate sources of capital for their commingled funds.  

Historically, if you raised money from a family office or just plain ol' rich people, the institutional investors did not relish being in the same fund. I wonder if that will still be the case as we move into a new world order in the institutional real estate investment industry.

Presentation Suggestions (There's obviously a story behind his comments but the main thrust of his suggestions are what grabbed my attention:  

The unexpected will rivet audience attention. Breaking a pattern is a very basic way to grab attention. How can you break a visual or sensory pattern in your next presentation to grab attention and get your audience to take action?

Be careful with negative instructions. If you don’t want your audience to do something, don’t even put the idea into their heads. If I tell you to NOT think about woodpeckers right now, guess what you’re going to do? You’re visualizing woodpeckers right now, aren’t you? Yet, you had no intention of doing so… until I told you NOT to do it.

Take words seriously. If you want me to take your words seriously, how about making your font size huge and clearly visible? What about placing your sign (or your PowerPoint) almost smack in front of me, instead of making me peer down a gully or around a post or from the side or through someone’s head?

I've been reading some good books lately-ones that get you thinking about important things.  And I was talking with someone this week who said that they'd like to make a contribution to the world and 'leave something behind.'  Then yesterday I read this obituary about Dr. Mary Ellen Avery, a medical researcher who helped saved hundreds of thousands of premature infants with a single, crucial discovery about their ability to breathe.  Her principal contribution to medicine was in finding out why so many babies died at birth. The answer: their lungs lacked a foamy coating that enables people to breathe. “There was one moment of insight,” she said. “And that was it.”  

When Dr. Avery started her work, as many as 15,000 babies a year died from the syndrome. By 2002, fewer than 1,000 did. Estimates of lives saved exceed 800,000.  One moment of insight.  Such a humble statement about something that has had such an enormous and, in a way, miraculous impact.  Very few of us will leave a legacy of this stature.  But there is something we can each do that will make a difference.  Of course, it'll involve the one thing that I feel is the most valuable thing we have in our lives:  time.  My proposition to you:  make time to spend with an industry person (or someone not in our industry for that matter) who is out of work, or looking to get into the business for the first time or is trying to figure out how to make a career change and get future employers to see them as a whole individual rather than just labeling them by the title of their last job.  Most, perhaps all of us, has been in one of those situations in our lives.  Remember what it feels like?  In learning about what makes me tick, I am clear about one thing:  if I can help just one person every day, even in some small way, then it's been a good day for me.  We all need each other lean on from time to time.  We are all part of a global commercial real estate community (or as Seth Godin calls it 'a tribe.')  I can almost guarantee that you will feel better about yourself when you help someone else.  P.S.  I've been working on a plan to create someplace where we can all gather together and help each other.  Stay tuned!

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) always has a cool exhibition in Terminal 3 in the main walkway to the majority of the gates.  The current one is on the history Television or TV as we know it.  Not only do they have TV sets dating back to the early days, they have games that were spawned by TV shows, lunch boxes (did you have one?) and other sorts of branded stuff. It's a walk down memory lane:  We had a black & white TV set.  My father and I used to lay on the floor on our left elbows to watch the shows.  For some reason the channel dial was funky and periodically my Dad, using his right foot, had to jiggle it a little to get the picture clear again.  We lived in a simpler world.  There wasn't much fear in America in the Post WWII years (except when we got frightened by who knows who and people started building bomb shelters in their basements).  TV was our friend and our nemesis as people bought frozen TV dinners and either set up TV tables or rolled the set into the dining room.  So that was our technology addiction.  How innocent!

Note:  Please feel free to tweet this column. 

On the road....

Jan. 17-20:  New York

Jan. 23-25:  London to attend the INREV UK Winter Seminar 2012 and the Thompson Reuters Global Property Outlook 2012

Jan. 30-Feb. 1:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend IREI's VIP Conference

Feb. 6-10:  New York 

Feb. 23:  Chapel Hill, NC to attend the University of North Carolina (UNC)/Kenan-Flagler Real Estate Conference 

Feb. 24:  Chapel Hill, NC to be a judge at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Real Estate Case Challenge

Feb. 27-29:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend the NCREIF Winter Conference

March 29-30:  Philadelphia to attend and be a judge at the Villanova University Real Estate Case Challenge

April 22-25:  Chicago to attend the CRE Mid-Year Meetings

April 25-27:  Vienna, Austria to attend the INREV annual meeting

May 17-20:  North Palm Beach, FL to attend The Hoyt Fellows/Weimer School Annual Meeting

New Year, New Band, New _________

In 1975, legendary bluesman, John Mayall, released an album called, "New Year, New Band, New Company."  If you haven't heard of him, perhaps you've heard of some of the musicians that have either  recorded or toured with him:  Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Mick Taylor, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Dr. John & Paul Butterfield (a seriously partial list).  Well, this week that title suits me pretty well also:  New Year (duh), New Band (I sat in last week with a group and they've sort of asked me to join them.  they're now called "Four Shotz" and are rockin' blues band) and New Company.  This last category is a curious one at this exact moment in time.   While I am involved in a couple of serious dialogues regarding new 'jobs', nothing is definite yet.  So, as I've done for many years, I'm offering to provide fee/assignment based services as a management consultant.  


In preparing to 'hit the road' I've ordered some new business cards  which have this as the headline:  "Solutions by Steve Felix" and my contact information.  I'm trying to follow all the things I've been reading, and passing on to you guys, about keeping things short and simple.  I've also sent this email to a number of my former clients and industry friends:


Dear Friend:


I am offering my consultative/solutions services to a few companies.  

One of the services I could provide is to facilitate an internal senior level strategic discussion about how to grow your business.  Using a knowledgeable, third-party facilitator like me helps open the conversation and take it to areas that might not be discussed when a meeting such as this is 'moderated' by someone in the firm.

I can also help you in the following areas:

1.    How to make your client events more memorable and effective

2.    How to improve your presentation books & marketing material

3.    How to make your face2face presentations more effective

4.    How to improve your communications with clients

5.    How to address certain client feedback about your services and client care

6.    How to expand your net of potential new clients/investors

7.    Providing internal career coaching to help you retain your best people and understand what their aspirations are.

8.    Providing recruiting services.

Anyway, if this has piqued your interest, perhaps we could set up a phone call to discuss.

Thanks.

Steve

So, please let me know if you or someone you know may have an interesting in talking with me.  Thanks.  P.S.  I've received some requests to set up calls starting next week and have sent out my first proposal to facilitate an internal product strategy meeting!

Vis a vis last week's career thoughts I was reminded that one very important thing (how could I have forgotten this one) is finding the right people to work with.  This involves confidence and trust.  Twice in my career I was in a position where I needed a job to support my family.  In those instances, I took jobs with people that I didn't trust and didn't like but thought, "Hey, maybe I'm wrong,"  But I wasn't and both ended in less than a year.  When it comes down to it, it's all about the people, isn't it?  Thanks for reminding me, Albert.

I've been putting some down time to good use updating and adding to my contact database.  While doing this I found a site that has Career Advice for Real Estate Professionals from some industry heavyweights.  I offer a few of them here:

-Get a Solid Education: When you enter into real estate, you may work in only one area, such as property management or brokerage, but it's important to have an educational overview of the entire business to guarantee your long-term success.

-Maintain your Education: Have a commitment to keep abreast of all the changes in the industry by attending conferences, educational programs, and by reading and writing for business and academic literature.

-Have Perseverance:  One of the most important skills that you need to be successful in business is perseverance. Quite often when you start down a path, you're naive about what it takes to get there. So you can be surprised to keep running into problems. But, you just have to stay with it until you find solutions to move forward.

-Know What Matters: You must be able to look at many complicated issues and see what really matters. People often get caught up in the preciseness of the numbers and the methodologies instead of finding what really matters. And if you can simplify things, then you can make better decisions, and you can also explain things to your clients.

-Measure the Risk: Risk is an essential element in the business. So learn to manage risk. The key to risk is to do extensive research so that you can carefully consider, creatively integrate, and rigorously test information, before making a decision.

Good stuff, right?  Pass it along.

Congratulations to my friend Dietrich Heidtmann who has joined Grosvenor as Managing Director of Client Services.

On the road....

Jan. 11-13:  Chicago

Jan. 17-20:  Laguna Beach, CA to attend IMN's Ninth Annual Winter Forum on Real Estate Opportunity and Private Fund Investing

Jan. 23-25:  London to attend the INREV UK Winter Seminar 2012 and the Thompson Reuters Global Property Outlook 2012

Jan. 30-Feb. 1:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend IREI's VIP Conference

Feb. 6-10:  (t) New York 

Feb. 23:  Chapel Hill, NC to attend the 2012 University of North Carolina (UNC) Real Estate Conference 

Feb. 24:  Chapel Hill, NC to be a judge at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Real Estate Case Challenge

Feb. 27-29:  Scottsdale, AZ to attend the NCREIF Winter Conference

March 29-30:  Philadelphia to attend and be a judge at the Villanova University Real Estate Case Challenge

April 25-27:  Vienna, Austria to attend the INREV annual meeting

May 17-20:  North Palm Beach, FL to attend The Hoyt Fellows/Weimer School Annual Meeting