RCA Special Bonus Briefing Interview with James Marrelli 2006

1. As an organization, the National Association of REALTORS® is a voice for real estate that aims to provide substantive value for its members; the Commercial Division and the Realtors Commercial Alliance focus in particular on being a voice and creating value for commercial practitioners.
2. One objective is to increase the network beyond the 200 hubs (commercial structures) that currently exist around the country to make the network richer and deeper.
3. The second objective is to deliver products and services of value to the commercial sector.
4. The third objective is to be the effective, collective voice for commercial members so that their perspective will be heard by state and national legislatures and regulatory agencies.

1. RCA is an affiliation of the five commercial member-partners of NAR—CRE (Counselors of Real Estate), CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member), SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®), IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management) and RLI (REALTORS® Land Institute), a total of about 40,000 professionals.
2. Another 60,000 commercial members of NAR are non-affiliated with the five commercial organizations, making the total commercial membership of RCA about 100,000—or about 9.4% of the total membership of NAR.

1. RCA is in the second year of a three-year business plan and is already delivering a number of products and services.
2. The RCA Technology and Intelligence Report (which this interview is part of) is a quarterly publication that briefs members on what is going on in commercial real estate through interviews with key people in the industry; members get insight into the minds of key thought leaders.
3. Hot Topics reports are quarterly offerings that focus in depth on a major issue facing commercial practitioners, such as “Tenants In Common,” “Base Realignment and Closures” and “Eminent Domain.”
4. A commercial real estate virtual convention and trade show which debuted in June 2006 and was a big success.
5. Commercial Real Estate Outlook is a quarterly research report that looks in depth at the segments of commercial real estate in various regions/cities.
6. The RCA Report keeps members aware of industry news; a Commercial Report goes to commercial association executives to enhance their understanding of changes in the industry and how to better serve their members.
7. The Signature Series is a speaker bureau run in collaboration with the commercial structures to bring national level speakers to members all around the country.
8. More member benefits are being developed.

1. NAR’s effort to address the needs of commercial members is reflected internally in the restructuring of the staff organization and the recruitment of experienced professionals from the commercial industry.
2. The three guiding principles of the Commercial Division are: (1) to know its members, (2) to make what it does relevant to the business of members and (3) to remain focused on bringing plans to fruition.
3. Externally, NAR’s Commercial Division is creating a safe haven for members to network and do business.
4. Because the reach of the organization is nationwide, NAR can listen to issues across geographical boundaries and commercial specialties and focus one, collaborative voice on Congress and regulatory agencies; the organization can also serve as a watchdog for the industry.

1. NAR is taking a three-pillared approach to developing a commercial technology platform: that is, to create (1) a market-maker/listing service, (2) an integrated decision-support system and (3) a personal business development area.
2. Marrelli is working to create a safe haven and hub for data to be moved within the industry—OSCRE (Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate) is one aspect.
3. What is compelling about a national CIE for members is that it facilitates the development of networks and referrals and will raise the bar for practitioners’ personal business practices—sharing and cooperating should be one of the goals of a professional association.

1. The book "The World Is Flat" provides a good context for evaluating what is occurring in that part of the world.
2. The tremendous amount of building going on in Chinese cities is certain to have repercussions for energy demand worldwide; energy conservation and development of viable alternatives for sources of energy should be a world priority.
3. The vast extent of commercial real estate development in China represents long-term opportunity for commercial agents in the US to participate in accommodating Chinese businesses that eventually will want to expand to this nation; the US industry should attend to opportunities to integrate with this entire new market.
   

• The role of an association is to create and give value to members within an industry, much as individuals nurture within a family; the essential service is to help people see that they are all connected and have responsibility to each other.
• In that vein, NAR’s Commercial Division and the RCA should provide best practices, facilitate communication, help to organize markets and provide a voice for practitioners.