Yesterday I spent the entire day in Lake Havasu City. The first annual meeting for the Western Arizona REALTOR Data Exchange (WARDEX) was held in front of a group of about 40 or so Members.
I'm not going to bore you with the details of the meeting, but I did want to share some feelings.
There are many people that were involved in bringing together an effort to provide REALTORS in Mohave County a regional Multiple Listing Service (MLS). It was late summer of 2005 when I attended a local Kingman/Golden Valley Association of REALTORS (KGVAR) Brokers Council meeting when the idea was shared that it may be time to coordinate an effort to combine three different local Associations MLS' into one large organization to serve the REALTOR Members in Mohave County.
Since that day (fateful day maybe??) there has been an ongoing and constant endeavor that many volunteers collaborated on that produced where WARDEX is today. There were way too many challenges to remember along the way, but somehow the fine people involved found a way to navigate through those fiery hoops and over the hurdles. There still is a long way to go to make WARDEX a fine running machine, I won't kid anyone with anything otherwise.
The first challenge for this group was a prevailing attitude that three different Associations (the Lake Havasu, Bullhead City, and Kingman/Golden Valley local Associations) could or would work together and unite for this change. Apparently there has been a bit of a rivalry at times between the three Associations over different issues in the past. However I was not aware of these rivalries and did my part not to let past issues stand in the way. Luckily, the hand of fate brought together a diverse group of Members from each Association that wouldn't let the days of yesterday interfere with the needs of today and tomorrow.
I believe the group knew going in that change in of itself is not permanent, but change is. We all knew that change would be difficult when it was imposed on many people but change is constant for the REALTOR Members of Mohave County. Take the real estate market itself over the course of the last five years... it equals constant change in one direction or the other.
Probably the main challenge for WARDEX was that we combined three different data sets into one, and it simply was not a pretty sight when it was first implemented. Today, the 'pretty sight' may not be perfect (and it may never be) but it is getting better all the time.
Sometime in 2006 WARDEX formed a nine Member Board of Directors with three Members representing each local Association. That group of nine has been together since then, but sadly some of those Members will be leaving the Board of Directors as their terms are up. The nine of us have sat together for many marathon meetings and have had many teleconferences. These folks helped create something from nothing and we all have experienced something new together. There have been rough moments and heated disagreements but those often led to something positive. I'm simply proud to have been lucky enough to serve with those other Members.
Beyond the nine original Directors for WARDEX there were others that contributed along the way, the following is what I hope to be a very inclusive list of folks that I remember having a hand in the formation of WARDEX. This is my way of thanking them, and if you are a REALTOR Member of WARDEX and happen to come across any of these folks on the list, please thank them for their efforts.
From the Arizona Association of REALTORS
Michelle Pepper, Region 1 VP of the Arizona Association of REALTORS
Ron LaMee, Vice President of Information Services
From the Bullhead City Association
Evan Fuchs, 2007 President of WARDEX
Nancy Ryan, 2007 Director of WARDEX
Greg Bishop, 2007 Director of WARDEX
Stephanie Lance, BHCMHAR Association Executive
Toni Parker, former BHCMHAR Association Executive
The staff at BHCMHAR
Nola Charles, Member of the original steering committee
Jennifer Collins, Member of the original steering committee
Ann Pettit, Member of the original steering committee
From the Lake Havasu City Association
Cheryl Westwood, 2007 Vice President of WARDEX
Paula Singleton, 2007 Director of WARDEX
Lori Doerfler, 2007 Director of WARDEX
Ken Standahl, LHCAR Association Executive
Pat Killoch, Staff LHCAR
The staff at LHCAR
From the Kingman/Golden Valley Association
Ben Gangloff, 2007 Secretary/Treasurer of WARDEX
Wayne Wissenger, 2007 Director of WARDEX
Frank Lessing, KGVAR Association Executive
The staff at KGVAR
Karen Smith, Member of the original steering committee
Bill Barnes, Member of the original steering committee
Rita Zumwalt, 2007 President of KGVAR
The 2006 KGVAR Board of Directors
The 2007 KGVAR Board of Directors
From WARDEX
Jack Best, CEO of WARDEX
Joan Day, Compliance Department of WARDEX
Oh I'll bet that I left out some other folks that have had a positive hand in the creation and implementation of WARDEX, and for that I apologize for that... but I also thank you for the contribution.
I'm proud to serve on the WARDEX Board through 2008. There is still much work to be done and I am looking forward to it.
Cheers to all!!
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