President's Message

Greetings to the AI Family,

Last week's Joint Region Meeting and Chapter Leadership Program reminded me why the Appraisal Institute has been the driving force in our profession for 92 years. Our members are dedicated to the profession and to this organization. This is not the first time we've faced rough waters and have met the challenges with determination to get to higher ground. We have great opportunities ahead of us! Let's work together to empower our members.

At those meetings in Kansas City, John Udelhofen, Interim CEO, shared his vision to move us forward to achieve our top strategic goals. John comes from a background of technology and entrepreneurial growth. In his short time at AI, he has identified inefficiencies that technology will correct. A new Zendesk system will improve the member experience by promptly responding to phone calls. The days of hearing that the mailbox is full and being transferred to several departments with no answer are over. This is only one example of where we are headed with his leadership.

John's vast experience as an entrepreneur and as a consultant to growing companies will benefit us in many other ways as well. "Lunch and learns" will be presented to give members tips on how to grow their businesses.

John and I attended a chapter meeting and a residential roundtable where the issue of appraisal fees was raised. My strong belief is that appraisers need to charge what they are worth and not a penny less. John added that his experience proved that being the lowest bidder is not a path to a successful business. John's advice: Charging what you are worth won't win you every assignment, but it will prove the best business decision you'll make.

Patrick Brown and Lin Schulze were instrumental in organizing the residential roundtable that brought several appraisers that were not members. As two of the young attendees left, they told us they wanted to join AI as Practicing Affiliates. Roundtable events at local coffee shops or a brewery are great ways to encourage nonmembers to attend and learn more about us.

Our new event planner Naihal Almoghrabi joined us last week. She will be planning meetings and special events. Naihal will be working with Maritz Global Events, the consultant partnering with us on the annual conference. It takes months of planning to put on a successful conference. The right venue, the best dates, sponsors and exhibitors of interest to attendees all need to be arranged. Think how valuable it will be to have users of your services at the conference with you!

Another new staff member will be joining us this month to lead our communications and public relations efforts. This will be the first time in more than a year that AI will have a professional spotlighting the AI brand to the users of our services, other organizations in the real estate industry and appraisal profession and the public. This media outreach is vital for an organization of our size to thrive and grow.

During the Kansas City meetings, Alissa Akins, Director of Education, demonstrated some of the new technology being used to make on-demand education more engaging and less text-focused. Alissa and her team are working hard to implement new technology and processes to bring timely new education offerings to the market more quickly. If you are interested in developing a new class on a hot topic, please submit a Content Proposal.

During the Joint Region meeting, the Officers met with the Region Reps in breakout sessions to answer questions they had about changes at AI. President-Elect Paula Konikoff and I are ready to attend chapter meetings virtually or in person to answer questions and share information. Please let me know if your chapter would like one of us to be there. Our chapters and members are vital to the growth of the organization, and we are here to support the chapters. Attracting new members takes personal connections and offering a compelling reason to join. Chapters provide the best opportunity to make those personal connections, while our credentialing and education, with the ability to be a part of our brand, offer compelling reasons to join. Around 70% of residential appraisers in the US are not affiliated with valuation organizations. Opportunities are in front of us, and it is up to each of us to help attract new members and make our voice advocating for the profession even louder.

We are moving forward with our initiatives to meet the needs of our members and of the profession. We continue to burnish our brand to benefit you - the most important part of AI, the members!

Your friend,

Sandy Adomatis, SRA