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NAA 2002 Education Conference in Orlando

Neil and Carol presented "Emotional Intelligence: What is it and how do I use it?" at the National Apartment Association 2002 Education Conference in Orlando. The notes utilized by Neil and Carol at their presentation are available for download.

MHW 2001 in Orlando

The annual Multihousing World Conference is a worthwhile networking and educational event. For more details online go to www.mhw.com.

Carol Levey participated in a panel of industry marketing experts - "Marketing for Little or No Money." Learn inside secrets from the industry's best. For an outline of Carol's comments click here. (Adobe Acrobat format)



Now available. Click here to download (11Mb) the powerpoint presentation that was authored and presented by panel member Tracy Hopkins. Click here to download (4Mb) the powerpoint presentation that was authored and presented by panel members Esther Bonardi-Basden and Kate Good along with Carol. The panel was moderated by Jon Barrett for a packed crowd eager to hear from these marketing pros. (Note: These powerpoint presentations are large so will take some time to download for those without high-bandwidth connections.)

Click here to see images from this session.

Neil Fjellestad facilitated a professional growth workshop - "Planning, Positioning and Marketing Mixed Use Developments." A panel of professionals walked through the process of creating the optimum balance of commercial, retail and multifamily tenants and presented ideas on how to prepare and execute an effective marketing and leasing plan. Presentations were followed by a 45-minute Q & A session that was very insightful for the 75-100 developers, architects and marketing directors that were in attendance.

NAA 2001 Educational Conference in Las Vegas

Billed as "Simply the Best" this event certainly lived up to the hype. It was the biggest national conference-expo ever and everyone left fulfilled and exhausted. For details online go to www.naahq.org.

Carol Levey conducted a session, "The Assistant Manager: Leadership in Progress," highlighting specific practices that will help the assistant manager understand and establish his/her leadership role.




This session was especially geared for anyone with the responsibility to mentor an assistant manager. Materials for this session STILL AVAILABLE for download from this location. Click here for the 19 page PDF. (Adobe Acrobat format)

Neil joined an elite panel of four industry experts that addressed the topic "Why E- commerce? Ask the Experts." Unlike some technology-geared seminars this was developed around the specific focus of outlining the key issues facing industry companies when making technology decisions. Panel presenters prepared by gathering together the primary customer concerns and stumblingblocks that they have encountered during the application and integration of various marketing, operational and customer communication technologies. They brought their experiences to the panel so that common priorities could be established. Then each took an assignment that would compliment the panel's objectives. The result was that attendees left the session with a framework through which they can filter product information on emerging technologies and make informed evaluations of alternatives.

Besides Neil Fjellestad of I.T. Partners the panel included the following individuals: Bob Milhoan of Handysource.com, Todd Katler of Viva.com and Tom Shuler of SiteStuff. The outline materials developed and used by this panel are available here for easy download. PDF version, click here. Power Point version, click here (600Kb).

Neil and Carol joined the Association Executives Council leading a discussion on the topic - "Taming Technology". The session was highly interactive and well received by the association executives gathered from across the country. Everyone left with some concrete ideas for improving the application and integration of emerging technologies within their respective local organizations. The material developed and used for this session can be downloaded from this location. PDF version, click here. Power Point version, click here.

The next day the same group of Association Executives gathered for a discussion led by Neil Fjellestad. This presentation emphasized the importance of thinking through their association website. Neil conducted a mini-workshop on the elements of a successful website and reviewed sites on the internet to illustrate the importance of - strategy, marketing, design, content and tracking. Click here to download PDF version of material discussed.

NAA offers Train-the-Trainer at the Conference...

Carol and Neil were recruited to conduct a half-day Train-the-Trainer workshop on Saturday morning of the Conference. Over 50 key topics were discussed pertaining to preparation, environment, interaction and attitude. An extensive I.T. Partners handout including a wealth of information was given to each attendee.

The participants learned by example as well as precept that the adult student must be treated like a customer. Furthermore, the real value of the classroom is only discovered when everyone contributes.

In addition to those that experienced this educational event firsthand, the workshop was video and audio taped for the ongoing benefit of local associations around the country and the trainers that teach NAA's designated courses.

The final hour was conducted by Carol Levey who co-authored the text and has taught more NALP students than anyone in the country. She highlighted points of emphasis within the new NALP curriculum, had discussion on the marketing survey requirement and made suggestions for promoting a successful course. In addition, the new CDROMS containing the entire NALP student outline were introduced by Julie Irvin who donated her skills as a multimedia presenter so that NAA could offer this additional resource. Julie also spent a portion of the workshop to give suggestions to attendees so their powerpoint presentations could be more professional

Technology Skills for Property Management

NOW AVAILABLE. I.T. Partners has been developing workshop material designed to meet the growing demand for technology training within the multihousing industry. We wanted to deliver tailored workshops that teach on-site and other industry employees how-to fully utilize computer, e-mail and Internet skills in their daily assignments. This kind of material has been in high demand by property management employees across the U.S. that we have surveyed while delivering other interactive training. Uniformly, technology skill training is viewed as an important employee benefit and key to advancement opportunities.

During the first quarter of 2001, Neil Fjellestad field-tested several approaches to instructor-led courses using this material. Local associations are finding these courses to be an excellent resource especially as continuing education for CAM, NALP and CAMT designees. Relying upon the enthusiastic response along with valuable feedback from attendees, we refined the content and delivery for several important half-day workshops. These workshops laid the foundation for additional coursework that will be designed in the near future along with some distance learning alternatives. Click here for descriptions of Computing Fundamentals and Property Management on the Net. Generally, E-mail Essentials will be included with one of the other workshops, but can be given separately.

Just-In-Time-Orientation for the Multihousing Industry

NEW RELEASE! Ten things you need to know about a revolutionary solution to a longstanding industry-wide problem. Click here to download. (Microsoft Word format)

Bridging the Distance Learning Gap

These are quotes from Douglas D. Chasick's article that appeared in the UNITS: November/December 2000 issue. We have highlighted items throughout this article and linked them to resources, products and services available through I.T. Partners that you might want to access online.

National AE Council




Carol Levey and Neil Fjellestad were invited to conduct a mini-workshop for a luncheon gathering of local association executives attending the recent NAA Assembly of Delegates in San Francisco. The subject was "The Challenge of Change."

The highly interactive presentation was well received by this group of professionals. The discussion included the "Change Reaction," which is put in motion when our intellectual acceptance of change comes into conflict with our emotional needs to trust our environment; maintain our freedom to make choices and stay in control. Unacceptable behavior and poor performance will result from this natural conflict unless "change management skills" are employed. Several simple but effective skills and techniques were explored.

Debbie Hicks, Executive Director for the Apartment Association of the Tennessee Valley summed up her reaction in this unsolicited note of appreciation, "Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed meeting you, and most of all, express my appreciation for all of the time you took to teach the A.E. on "Change". I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas".

The Association Executive Council is a respected group within the NAA organization. Barbara Herring, AE from Oklahoma City and this year's AE Council President introduced Carol and Neil. It was obvious from comments at the Delegate's meeting that this has been a progressive year for the council.

NAA/IREM Annual Education Conference and Expo

"Marketing at the Improv"
Carol Levey, Kate Good and Mindy Williams joined forces as a panel of leading marketing gurus to conduct an interactive session where over 250 attendees were given opportunity to receive help with their most difficult situations.







For an hour, there was a continuous line at the open microphone. This session was one of the highlights of the conference. Demonstrating the excitement that can be generated by simply offering something extra the audience was told that there were ten lottery tickets distributed throughout the room and attached underneath their chairs. The room was alive as the search commenced. Many attendees were on their knees as they searched for the tickets.

"E-Commerce 101"
Neil moderated this informative session where the basics of e-commerce were discussed along with its impact on the multi-housing industry. The session provided a checklist for evaluating the effectiveness of a commerce site. Attendees were eager for additional industry-specific examples and requested future seminars on this topic.

"Coping with Change: Effective Strategies"
Carol and Neil were on hand to team teach this important topic. They took a close look at techniques to challenge perspective, control negative influences and accentuate positive performance during personal and organizational change. In addition they reviewed leadership skills needed to help others. This was a needed workshop and very enthusiastically received at the conference.

Click here to download the Power Point presentation authored and used by Carol and Neil at the conference.

IREM Award for JPM Article

Neil and Carol were awarded second place for their contribution to IREM's Journal of Property Management in the category for non-members. Their article "Web Leasing -- Help or Hype?" was deemed outstanding in terms of originality, quality of communication and value to real estate managers. IREM National President Alan Huffman presented the award at their annual conference. Click here to download this award-winning article.

The IREM awards event was a chance to visit with good friends like IREM National Senior Vice President Carolyn Emery.

Neil Encourages Virginia Tech Graduates

While at the NAA Conference Neil Fjellestad took time out for an early morning meeting with a small group of students from Virginia Tech. They are preparing to graduate from an unique college experience- a B.S. Degree in Residential Property Management combined with some intern experiences within their chosen discipline. Needless to say, upon graduation they are sought out by some of the leading companies across the country. The program has creative support from an Advisory Committee composed of industry leaders that contribute time and means to accelerate the students' career path. Neil shared experiences from his real estate career. Like these students Neil had decided on a real estate career before graduation. With this decision he reworked his accounting degree curriculum to include all the real estate and finance courses available at SDSU. That was 32 years ago and still believes that he made the right choice to go into the real estate business after graduation. He advised the students that they always respect those that make their career path possible while they work to create an entirely changed approach to their chosen industry. Modern technology can build new pathways toward customer satisfaction, workplace collaboration and investment return.

Washington D.C. Legislative Conference

Carol attended the NAA/NMHC joint legislative conference in Washington, DC. She sits as a member of the National Education Committee that heard and discussed the merits of several major proposals. As a co-author of the original text, Carol was asked by NAA to review the content of the proposed updates to the NALP text. In addition, she met with several other industry leaders as part of a NAA Presidential Task Force to review member satisfaction within the national organization and discuss methods to enhance the level of service. Click here to visit the NAA website.

Annual Conference at Colorado Springs

Carol and Neil join Toni Blake at the annual Education Conference and Expo conducted by the Apartment Association of Colorado Springs under the executive leadership of Raquel Dukeman. This year's theme "Shoot for the Stars" was well received by the attendees as was I.T. Partner's presentations on Team Building and Creating Customer Loyalty.

Multi-Housing World 2000 - An Event Like No Other




Conference: March 16-18
Exposition: March 17-18
The Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

The industry's top multifamily professionals attended the leading educational and networking event for the industry. Multi-Housing World 2000 was an event like no other with top educational sessions, unlimited networking opportunities and an exposition that offers unsurpassed supplier information.

Read about the sessions Neil and Carol presented.

Midwest Education Conference

Carol Levey and Neil Fjellestad were featured speakers at the 1999 Midwest Multifamily Exposition and Education Conference held in Indianapolis. Attendance was well over 1000 at this annual event hosted by the Indianapolis Apartment Association of Indiana. There was standing room only at the Awards Banquet that gave special recognition to Jerry Gorup for his many years of dedicated service. Neil and Carol presented sessions on Outreach Marketing and Repositioning a Vintage Community.

Yardi Users Conference

I.T. Partners was invited to provide their Hi-Tech, Hi Touch view of Customer Relationship Management and Employee Recruitment. Carol and Neil joined Yardi's professional staff at their first Annual Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference. Yardi Users from across North America attended over 50 education sessions broken down into three distinct tracks — Property Management, Asset Management and Technology.

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