April 6 – 22, 2010
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6 LIVE Webinars That Will Strengthen Your Business
The Presidential Online Seminar series will encompass 6 LIVE, one-hour webinar sessions. Each seminar will include a 30-minute presentation by a leading expert followed by a 30-minute LIVE Q&A forum.
Sign up today for sessions on construction finance, marketing and operations. Have your questions answered in real time and gain usable strategies for surviving this challenging business climate. Best of all — registration is FREE.
Seminar Series Program
Tuesday, April 6
Seminar I: The Healthiest And Weakest Home Building Markets For 2010
Boyce Thompson, Editorial Director, BUILDER
David Berson, Senior Vice President, Chief Economist and Strategist, The PMI Group, Inc.
Where will the housing recovery take root first? Which markets are likely to recover last? Boyce Thompson will present an overview of the healthiest and weakest housing markets in America. In addition to providing an update of housing forecasts for 2010, Thompson will discuss the types of projects that appear to be selling well despite the housing recession.
Boyce Thompson is editorial director of the BUILDER group of magazines published by Hanley Wood, LLC. He also directs the company’s editorial council. Thompson has 26 years of experience writing and editing articles about home building, architecture, and retailing. He earned a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri.
As Chief Economist and Strategist at The PMI Group, David Berson’s is responsible for analyses and forecasts of the economy, housing, and mortgage markets and he is a spokesperson on topics related to global economic housing, and mortgage market conditions, prospects and policy. Berson previously was Vice President and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, Chief Financial Economist at Wharton Econometrics, visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and assistant professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School. His government experience includes staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisors and economic analyst at the Treasury Department. He has a doctorate in economics and a master's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.
Thursday, April 8
Seminar II: PANEL—How To Use Energy-Efficiency As A Competitive Advantage
Michael Dickens, Co-Founder, IBACOS
Additional Panelists TBA
Marketing energy-efficient homes is a sure-fire tactic for successfully competing against resale homes. By focusing potential buyers on low, long-term operating costs, it turns the attention away from discounts and foreclosures. The panelists will discuss how they successfully tweaked the energy efficiency of their homes to make them stand out in the crowd, and what you can do to achieve the same result.
Tuesday, April 13
Seminar III: Capitalizing On Growth Opportunities In 2010
Martin Freedland, Founder & CEO, The Berke Group
With the housing market set to rebound, builders need to rekindle their entrepreneurial instincts to make the most of today’s opportunities. This session will discuss how leaders need to mobilize their people to get the most out of 2010. Do you have the right processes, people and product at the right price? Freedland will arm you with the insights needed to answer these questions.
Martin Freedland is founder and CEO of The Berke Group. For over three decades, Freedland has been committed to helping organizations continually improve the way they recruit, hire, train, manage and motivate their people. Freedland has worked with hundreds of client companies throughout the US to assist them in increasing profits and productivity.
Thursday, April 15
Seminar IV: Capitalizing On Social Media
Mollie Elkman, Vice President, Group 2 Advertising
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Learn how to capitalize on these social media to create a buzz around your homes and communities and get people into your models.
Mollie Elkman is vice president of Group Two Real Estate Marketing and Advertising, one of the largest homebuilder marketing and advertising agencies in the United States. Elkman developed the first exclusive social media marketing program for builders entitled, "You. Twit. Face." She also authors Modern Marketing, a blog hosted by BuilderOnline.
Tuesday, April 20
Seminar V: What First-Time Buyers Want
Paul Cardis, Founder & CEO, AVID Ratings
The first-time buyer is something of an enigma—a different generation that is more tech-savvy and worldly. But how does that translate into what features they want—and don’t want—in a house? This session will provide an exclusive focus on first-time homebuyer trends as Paul Cardis reveals the results of The 2010 AVID Home Design Driver Study. The survey reveals over 100 home and community features that buyers either must have, desire, or are willing to trade or eliminate.
After receiving dual master’s degrees in Psychology and Research Methods, Paul Cardis founded AVID Ratings in 1993. His goal was to help homebuilders measure, understand, and change their organizations to improve customer satisfaction and increase company profitability. AVID has grown into a leading full-service customer loyalty management firm, providing enterprise-level surveys, organizational strategies, employee training, and proprietary solutions that increase profitability and help builders create their own avid homebuyers.
Thursday, April 22
Seminar VI: PANEL—Small Homes With Big Paybacks
David Kosco, Senior Designer, Bassenian Lagoni Architects
Bill Devereaux, Principal, Devereaux Architects
Boyce Thompson, Editorial Director, BUILDER
A new generation of small, more space efficient home plans are making all the headlines—and the profits. Two of the nation’s premier production architects will analyze what it takes to make a best seller out of a small plan. This session will provide guidelines for creating new flexible spaces, smaller bedrooms that aren’t cramped, and small homes with great circulation but no wasted space.
David Kosco is a Senior Principal at Bassenian Lagoni Architects and is responsible for research and development as well as overseeing residential design projects ranging from single-family detached homes to multi-family residences. Kosco is a registered architect in the State of California, holds NCARB certification, is an active member of The American Institute of Architects, served as a judge for the Denver MAME Committee, and has been a guest speaker at numerous industry events.