I could go on and on with the clichés about how its been a long, trying year, everyone is Zoomed out, etc etc. It’s not that those things aren’t true, because they are. However, our AZREIA members know that we give it to you straight. We’re moving back to in-person meetings.
That doesn’t mean we won’t still have online options available. We do the polls each month. We hear you, and we understand. COVID is not over, and many new members are remote and attending live meetings aren’t an option. We are working to accommodate everyone to the best of our abilities. However, I know you have all heard me say at least once that, while online networking has been going well, there is nothing like networking in person.
For many of our members that have been with us since before the pandemic, this is a sigh of relief. They understand there is a huge difference when attending an in-person AZREIA meeting. The energy, the relationships, the fun, it’s a whole new ballgame.
For those members who have joined since we’ve been strictly online, this may seem exciting but may also seem like a chore to some. It’s been nice staying at home being able to tune in while snuggled up on your couch and you don’t want that to change. However, we encourage you to come to at least one of our in-person meetings. You will understand that you and your investing will benefit so much more when participating in these events with others. We wouldn’t have been around for almost 20 years if it didn’t.
In order to get the best of both worlds, we have a plan for AZREIA moving forward. Here is what you can expect: Once a quarter we will have our large in-person monthly meetings just like before COVID with timely education content, Market Update, Market News and a trade show of our Business Associates. The other eight months of the year, we will have these monthly meetings online. These meetings will still provide the market update and news because we understand this information is crucial to your businesses. We will also be joined by local speakers during these online meetings so that you may expand your repertoire of local resources.
Our Phoenix Real Estate Club networking meetings will still happen each month (except July and December), but they will all be in-person. Again, the in-person networking is crucial, and we are bringing it back. Each of these meetings will have the Haves & Wants, Power Networking, Market Discussion, and potentially a guest speaker.
Our Subgroups will continue to have the option to meet each month either online, in-person, or both with a hybrid model. We leave this up to the leaders to decide how their community will best benefit.
We will be implementing a Haves & Wants forum that anyone can participate in at any time. This way those who cannot make the in-person networking meetings can still network with the community and get their needs met.
Overall, this is still over 65 meetings a year you have access to with your membership plus 24/7 online access to Haves & Wants. It is our hope that this new format will help provide a better AZREIA experience for everyone. We are always trying to be flexible with our business to provide the best we can for our members. We are also still being mindful of the safety of our members and will provide our in-person meetings with necessary safety measures as long as needed during the remainder of the pandemic.
Smarter Investing,
Alan Langston, Executive Director
