September 11 Meeting will be an exciting program and dinner meeting. Elyse Poppers, private investigator with the James Mintz Group and former art appraiser will share real-life art investigations, research techniques, and tricks for locating lost art, tracing provenance, and finding experts, witnesses and other resources.

Thursday Sept 11, 2008 6:00 pm (mixer) 6:30 (dinner)

Place: L’Olivier Restaurant, 465 Davis Court, San Francisco in the main dinning room. (415-981-7824) The restaurant is easily accessible via BART (Embarcadero Station) and $5 valet parking is available.
Board Meeting 5:00 all members are welcome to attend

NOTE: The dinner is being partly subsidized by the chapter, so the cost is a low $35 (including tax and tip!). RSVP please by September 4 to Secretary Gil Mitchell at gil.e.mitchell@gmail.com and let him know you are coming.

Founded in 1994, The Mintz Group is an investigative team that includes former investigative reporters, federal investigators and prosecutors who have the expertise and worldwide resources to handle a broad range of fact-gathering assignments.

Jim Mintz has been a corporate investigator for almost thirty years. He helped pioneer the use of sophisticated investigative resources by law firms in the late 1970s as an in-house investigator at a Washington, D.C. law firm. Newsweek said of this unique in-house group, “What sets [them] apart-and a few others around the nation-is their ability to take comprehensive looks at complicated situations and make sense out of them.”

Fortune Magazine has called Jim Mintz “The Purist” of the corporate-investigative field.

Elyse Poppers has been a private investigator with the James Mintz Group since 2007. The Mintz Group’s clients include private collectors, museums and dealers. Elyse previously worked as a third generation art appraiser and appraisal assistant on cases involving litigation, insurance fraud and forensic appraisal. She is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and completed levels 1 and 2 of Principals of Personal Property Valuation through ASA.

Elyse will present three case studies with research tips you can use, and share some additional resources with us. This promises to be an intriguing program!

Remember: Gil Mitchell gil.e.mitchell@gmail.com needs a head count for the restaurant by September 4. Please do not reply to the newsletter address.

President’s Message

I have two news events to share with you from the past month.

Leadership Retreat

On the local level, many of your chapter leaders and activists participated in a one-day Leadership Retreat on August 15 to focus on goals and objectives for the coming year, as well as programming. We had 17 participants at the retreat from all disciplines and geographic areas.

The result, in a word: FANTASTIC! We have some dynamite chapter leaders and participants!

The retreat was held in Discovery Bay, and hosted by Karen Mann, ASA, who is a former San Jose Chapter president. The retreat was facilitated by Sharon Jenks (www.thejenksgroup.com) a nationally recognized behaviorist and group facilitator. Her firm works with a wide range of businesses to assist them with strategic planning and problem solving. Her skills were put to use with great effect on August 15. She kept us focused and on-message, and we could never have accomplished so much without her skills!

What did we accomplish? On a personal level, I certainly hope we all came to understand ourselves a bit better. Everyone attending was required to undertake a DISC and Motivation analysis, which analyzed individual management styles and motivations. The purpose was to understand both ourselves and those around us, and how we can work together more harmoniously towards common goals. Because we all agreed to come to the retreat, we obviously have some shared common goals, but we all may perceive these goals a little differently. We may have different perceptions about what paths to take to accomplish them. But by having a greater understanding of each others’ motivations and styles, we can hopefully attain those goals more efficiently and effectively for the benefit of the chapter.

On the programming level, we set our calendar for dinner meetings for the coming year! That was quite an accomplishment. Each discipline stepped up to the plate with great ideas. We have dinner speakers for every month going forward this coming year, culminating in our June Candidates Night and Annual Membership Meeting. We are publishing our agenda for the coming monthly meetings in this newsletter, with updates to come.

Carole, Bruce, Gil and Bruce at Retreat

In upcoming meetings, we will also be scheduling workshops and seminars that could range from ½ day to two days in length. We already have several in our chapter ready and waiting to go with one day, ½ day seminars, etc. Dave Lewis, Emily Newell, and Nancy Stacy are just a few. We will take this up in our September meeting to try to put some dates to seminar topics, and identify any others. We need to act quickly to have enough lead time to organize from an administrative and marketing point of view. We now have a newsletter format that is one marketing channel, and we need additional outreach through other venues and channels.

Our retreat was a resounding success! Going forward? This is the real trick, isn’t it? We can sit around and congratulate ourselves on what a wonderful retreat we shared, the great start we made, and leave it at that. And quite frankly, from past experiences, that is just about what happens MOST of the time. Great Expectations fall flat on their faces. But I have a sneaking suspicion that our chapter group won’t settle for high 5’s and let it go at that.

We have a good chapter action plan going forward that needs implementation. Some work is involved, but if we share it amongst all of us, it will get done without anyone bearing the brunt of doing all the work alone. So, do we want to talk, or do we want to buckle down and with some effort, create and realize the success potential we hold as a chapter? It’s not for nothing that 17 members of this chapter gave up a day to attend this retreat. And it’s not for nothing that we can’t accomplish what we set out to do on Friday.

And we are still open to more volunteers and participation! This chapter has so much potential and so much talent. We need ALL of you!

So, to this chapter: I DARE YOU! I dare you to be the best you can be, and to fulfill who you are as a person, participant and leader. I dare you to follow through on ALL the goals we set for ourselves, and even some we haven’t really discussed yet. And I DARE others in our chapter to join us and move forward into the future.

One of my personal goals for this chapter is to grow the chapter resources and brand image, through seminars that appeal to a wide range of appraisal professionals, not just in the Bay Area, but nationally.

To all those who participated in the retreat: THANK YOU for your support and participation in our chapter. I look forward to a fantastically productive year in which we grow and strengthen our chapter, provide valuable services to our members, and go forward to build the ASA brand.

Finally, thank you ever so much to Karen Mann! Not only did Karen offer up her house as a retreat facility, but she and her husband Scott made sure we were all properly fed and pampered all day long, too. (OK. No more caffeine and sugar for me in the mornings!) Scott could be seen quietly scurrying around behind the scenes setting up lunch, snacks, etc. Thank you, Scott.

International Conference

Matt Bruck, RICS Americas, and Pres. Robin Erdmann

The second news event that I want to share with you is the recent Minneapolis ASA International Conference, held early in August. This conference may be one of those “historic” events that will go down in the annals of the appraisal profession as being a watershed in terms of the profession going forward into the future.

Some of you may be aware that an effort to unify the professional organizations starting with the Appraisal Institute (AI), ASA, and the American Society of Farm Managers & Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA), failed to come to fruition last November. At the 11^th hour, the Appraisal Institute backed out. The ASA Board of Governors subsequently passed a resolution to cease negotiations with the Appraisal Institute, but we will continue to cooperate on projects of mutual interest.

However, the refusal of AI to go forward has not dimmed the future of the various appraisal organizations to work together. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), an internationally renowned multi-disciplined organization with approximately 138,000 members globally, stepped up to the plate to replace AI. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in Minneapolis with the leaders of all three organizations—ASA, ASFMRA and RICS—at the Town Hall luncheon. In fact, the head of RICS International flew in from London to be part of the signing ceremony!

Chapter President Robin Erdmann, Judy, Philadelphia Chapter President, and Ron Seaman, ASA President

One of the benefits of attending a national conference is networking opportunities. Not only did I have a chance to sit down and talk with John Willey, the outgoing International President, but also with many of the movers and shakers in this organization, other chapters, and many in the brain trust that is moving this profession forward.

What is happening on the national and international level is mind boggling. It will affect each and every one of us, no matter what discipline. We cannot turn a blind eye to those events that will guide the future of the appraisal profession. It IS important at the chapter level. Our Regional Governor Jim Brown’s report and recommendations on chapter structure and function is just one indicator. He had seven recommendations on the future of chapter structure. His report and findings can be found obtained by either calling me or the national office.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by ASA, ASFMRA, and RICS, may have monumental implications for your designations, professional branding, and public recognition that will affect your business prospects on many levels. In a few years, we could end up converting our designation to something entirely different – or not. Our chapter structure and organization could change—or not. We could end up with virtual chapters – or not. We could end up with no chapter structure – or not. Each discipline may become more internally focused to the exclusion of the others, especially with National’s goal of a discipline-centric organization. I really don’t know what this will mean, but you should all be aware that change is happening, because it WILL eventually affect you directly, and consequently this chapter, as well.

Finally, I had the chance to sit down with the VP of the Southern California chapter – separate from the Chapter Officer Orientation meeting, along with Karen Mann and Nancy Stacy. We talked about joint activities or promotional efforts each of our chapters could undertake to promote ASA statewide, share seminar topics and speakers, etc. In fact, over this weekend, Nancy has been doing just that.

This is what it means to be active and aware at the national level, and that doesn’t even take into consideration the need to meet the National Office staff and learn how to take advantage of their skills and services. Thank you to Nancy Stacy who literally took me by the hand and led me around to meeting EVERY staff member at National. (The best I could do to return the favor was to introduce Nancy to Steve Runyon, the ASFMRA National President, who turned out to be an old family friend, and has done appraisals for her family’s agribusiness operation, not to mention they are both Cessna 172 pilots).

In short, what this means in the immediate future of our chapter, I don’t know. We have to continue going forward to focus on the needs of providing services to our members as best we know how, but to be aware of how to leverage national’s resources to their fullest extent, and how working with other appraisal organizations can expand our local member’s opportunities. To ignore these events, organizations, and activities is to spite ourselves.

Left:

Napoleon Forte, ASA, Karen Mann, ASA,
Incoming ASA VP Mike Evans, ASA,
Nancy Stacy, ASA and
NorCal Chapter President Robin Erdmann, ASA at the Conference Welcome Reception

Random Notes from the Editor

Things I learned at Conference:

Chapter attendance: Nation-wide, only about 15% of members attend chapter functions, yet most feel satisfied with their chapter membership. (We’d like to do better here in NorCal!)

Professional development: Members receive 1 hour of Continuing Education credit for every Chapter meeting they attend in the fiscal year, except for the second one. The second meeting attended in a year received four hours of credit!

Robin Erdmann, Karen Mann and your Editor at Conference

IT upgrade: ASA is investing in a massive update of our hardware, software and website technology, on the valid theory that it is the primary means of delivering services to the members, chapters and disciplines. New servers have already been installed and the server-room made more computer-friendly. The current list-serve software has been “cleaned up” and made ready to accept a major upgrade. Much of the work is being done at night and on weekends in order to minimize disruption of services.

The Japanese Appraisal Association (J-Asia) and ASA have a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperative efforts in place. ASA already has 28 Associates in Japan, and they are currently a Branch of the NorCal chapter. As soon as the Associates advance to Member, they will have their stand-alone chapter. (We already have several offers from NorCal members to be goodwill ambassadors to our Japanese Branch!)

A friend I met while teaching in China, Dr. Chengjun Wang, former Director of the China Appraisal Society, attended Conference. He owns his own appraisal firm now, and was awarded his ASA in Appraisal Review and Management.

ASA Brand: Standardization of the ASA logo, tag line, and colors can lead to heightened brand image that will benefit every member. Look for the ASA Branding Policy to be posted on the chapter website in the next few days.

Things we did at the Leadership Retreat at Discovery Bay:

Suzie, Maury, Emily, Bruce, Gil, Doug, Sharon, Robin, Roger, Bob, and Dave (where’s Karen?)

Who Attended?

· Robin Erdmann

· Doug Baxter

· Gil Mitchell

· Bob Lentz

· Napoleon Forte

· Sharon Jenks

· Bruce Leister

· David Lewis

· Karen Mann

· Raymond Mattison

· Emily Newell

· Roger Rapport

· Carole Richbourg

· Suzie Roget

· Paul Rowan

· Nancy Stacy

· Maurice Woulf

What we are working on

How to better serve our members:

· Regular dinner programs on a variety of appraisal subjects

· Seminars, workshops and field trips on subjects that will benefit members’ professional development

· By-laws date from 1968. A committee was formed and is working to update

· Inviting potential client groups to attend our meetings (attorneys, insurance professionals, trust officers, etc)?

· Demographics research to select meeting locations so more members from outlying districts can attend-

Rotate meetings?

Select a more central meeting location?

Hold meetings where attendance is best?
Teleconference some Board of Directors meetings?

· BOD Administrative Assistant for better member outreach and promotion of events? Feasibility study underway

· We have a small Chapter budget of $20/year per member. But with a dedicated group of Officers, Directors and Leaders, we strive to provide each member with services far exceeding their monetary investment. If you would like to join this group of leaders, please contact President Robin Erdmann.

Carole, Bruce, Gil and Bruce at Retreat

Member Input

Your Board of Directors would like guidance from you:

· What needs do members expect the chapter to fulfill?

· Are there services that you expected to receive from the Chapter that are unfulfilled?

· Is attendance at chapter program meetings and events a matter of geography, interest or program content?

· Does chapter partial subsidy of the meal make you more inclined to attend chapter meetings?

· Do you think you benefit from understanding appraisal from the perspective of other disciplines and specialties?

· Do you need a mentor to expedite you advancement in ASA?

· Do you have a website for your appraisal practice?

· If no, would you like suggestions on how to set up a starter website?

· If yes, have you established a link to your website on the ASA International website and the NorCal website?

· If no, do you know how to do this or would you like to if you had instructions?

· Are you utilizing the NorCal website (see sidebar) to promote your practice and to receive Chapter information?

Will, Paul, Nancy, Suzie & Doug at the Retreat. The colors of the leis represent our leadership styles.

· Are there educational programs that you t

· hink there is enough local interest to support and that you would like the chapter to provide?

· To register your opinion on these and other Chapter matters, please contact the editor and I will see that they are brought to the attention of the Board of Directors.

Legislative Corner

Non-discrimination in government appraisal contracting has been a specific goal of ASA for at least the last three years.

It seems odd that membership in any specific organization should be a pre-requisite for bidding a governmental appraisal assignment, but that's how it has been Sometimes the requirement has even been explicitly written into the minimum qualifications for the job!

We got our non-discrimination bill to the governor at the last minute last year. There was some misunderstanding about its purpose and scope. It was vetoed.

This year we are involved in the budget train wreck. Our bill has passed both houses without opposition. And the governor says he will veto anything that comes to him before the budget. While our lobbyist, Don Reisner, hopes he has addressed the governor's office concerns about the issue, that doesn't exempt us from the veto threat.

We'll see how it plays out, and keep ASA members posted.

- Charles Warren, ASA

http://www.charlesbwarren.com

Upcoming Events

Volunteer to Visit Beautiful Monterey!

September 25-28 Once again, the Northern California Chapter will be hosting an Exhibitor’s booth at the California State Bar Association Annual Conference. This year the conference will be in Monterey, September 25th through September 28th. Volunteers are needed to staff the exhibitor’s booth on Friday, September 26th, and Saturday, September 27th. This is an excellent opportunity to market yourself directly to attorneys who hire ASA appraisers. Just one new client could make the whole trip worthwhile! If you can help staff the booth, please contact James McCann by email, at: jmc1492@yahoo.com (and maybe spend and extra day or two in Monterey!)

October 9 Meeting “Trouble with Easements” by David Lewis, ASA, author of the book by the same name. More to come on this later, but save the date!

November 13^th Dinner Meeting CARB and the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition will fill us in on government standards that may affect us more than we now realize. (See Chuck Warren’s lead article.)

Hold the Date! 2009 International Appraisal Conference July 12-15, 2009; Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida

Course Offerings

New POV Courses

Appraisal Review and Management (ARM)

Manhattan Beach, California

September 25 to September 28, 2008

3-Day Courses Including a Half-Price Offering of ARM202 (RP)

With the current economy and increasing regulation to prevent further abuse, appraisal review is becoming a very important valuation specialty. This is creating demand for professionals trained in scrutinizing current and past appraisal practices and procedures. Similar legislation in the European Common Market will create demand for appraisal review professionals in Europe, as well.

The American Society of Appraisers is pleased to announce a new series of four courses in Appraisal Review and Management (ARM), designed for appraisal managers and the users of appraisal reviews, among others. The four courses will address report requirements for Real Property, Machinery and Equipment, Gems & Jewelry, Business Valuation, and Appraisal Management disciplines. This is the only formal valuation program that collectively touches on all of these specialized fields.

These classes will be of interest (read entire article)

Santa Rosa Junior College is offering Real Estate Economics this Fall semester. For information go to www.santarosa.edu; the section number is 1466. As soon as the current Summer semester ends the "Section Home Page" will be updated for the Fall offering. This is an excellent way of obtaining CE credit.

Information provided by: David Lewis, ASA, SR/WA

Between September 25th and 28th, ASA will offer the following courses in Los Angeles: BV201, BV203, ME201, 15-Hour USPAP Course , ARM 201 (Machinery & Equipment/Personal Property/Gems & Jewelry Appraisal Review and Management) and ARM202 (Real Property Appraisal Review & Management.)

ASA ARM201 (M&TS) Reviewing Personal Property, Gems & Jewelry, and Machinery &Technical Specialties Appraisals in Manhattan Beach, CA September 25-28; Instructor: Les Miles, ASA. For description and registration go to ARM 201

ARM202 (RP) - Real Property Appraisal Review and Management will have its first public (beta) presentation in Manhattan Beach, CA September 25-28; Instructor, Barry Alperin, ASA. For description and registration go to ARM202

Saturday, October 25 G&J Workshop: Conquering Comps – G&J Market Modeling one-day workshop in San Francisco, selecting relevant comps, adjusting for value of the dollar and value characteristics, analyzing results, reaching an opinion of value and writing a persuasive narrative. Instructor: Nancy Stacy, ASA

8:00 am – 4:00 pm at L’Oliver Restaurant, 465 Davis Court, SF in the main dinning room. (415-981-7824) The restaurant is easily accessible from the SFO airport via BART (Embarcadero Station) and $5 valet parking is available. $225 non-members, $195 members (includes lunch)

Tech Tips

Business a little slower than usual? Here are some ways to make to work for you:

First, don’t panic. I have learned over the years that business waxes and wanes, but always comes back. I’ve also learned to appreciate the slower periods, and to use the time for things I usually don’t have time for.

1. Improve your website. Update the information, be sure the links are working, add some helpful tips that your clients and potential clients can use. If you don’t have a website, take action now. Start tracking your client referrals if you don’t already. You’ll be surprised how many find you via the Internet.

- If you are an ASA member, ASA will host a small, free website for you and you can link it to your own website when you have one. Go to www.appraisers.org and log on to the Members Only area and go to Create/Update Your Own Web Page. There, you can either fill out ASA’s questionnaire to create a website, or you can upload a web page you created on your own computer and saved as an HTML document.

-To have your own website, you need to buy a Domain Name and select a Website Host. Do it now—it only takes a few minutes and at least you will have started. Work up a simple home page for starters, with information about yourself and your service. A human face always attracts attention, so I recommend including yours.

2. Advance. If you have not yet advanced to the next stage of ASA membership, take some of this time to work on that. If you need a mentor, contact an appraiser that has already been through the process and ask for some help. If you don’t have one, call 1-800-ASA-VALU and ask for a Candidate’s Accreditation Guide (or go to the chapter website at www.appraisers-NorCal.com and download one from the Members Only page (no password required.)

3. Improve yourself. Sign up for a course that will help you with your academic credits requirements. You need to do it regardless, so why not take the time now when you can compress your work schedule and probably not miss any new work?

4. Promote your business. Promotion is advertising you don’t need to pay for. Write an article for a newsletter, trade magazine or other publication. Volunteer to give a luncheon or dinner talk to an organization of potential clients. Be sure to take along handouts that include your contact information.

5. Organize your office. Go through and shred files you no longer need or are not required to keep. Clean junk our of your desk drawers. Get additional bookshelves if you need them. De-clutter your desktop and work surfaces. You’ll feel better for it, and your office will have a more professional appearance.

6. Volunteer for a holiday—join other motivated chapter leaders for a day between September 25-28 to meet and greet potential attorney clients at the CA Bar Association annual conference in Monterey. Contact James McCann by email, at: jmc1492@yahoo.com No point off for having a good time!

7. Made reservations for the Dinner Meeting on Thursday, September 11 gil.e.mitchell@gmail.com (707) 342-4223

Board of Directors Meeting

The Board of Directors met briefly after the Retreat to approve the advancement of a candidate. Our next scheduled meeting at 5:30 prior to the September meeting. All ASA members are welcome.

NorCal Officers

L to R: Bob Lentz, Treasurer, Gil Mitchell, Secretary; Robin Erdmann, Chapter President, Jim Brown, Region 5 Governor, Will Schnitzer, Immediate Past Chapter President, Doug Baxter, Chapter Vice-Chair

Chapter officers:

Chapter President Robin J. Erdmann, ASA (RP)

Chapter Vice President Douglas S. Baxter (PP)

Chapter Secretary Gil Mitchell, ASA (MTS)

Chapter Treasurer Robert P. Lentz III, ASA (BV)

Chapter Past Chair William C. Schnitzer, ASA (RP)

Discipline Directors and Associate Directors:

      Business Valuation     Jim Schilt, ASA           / Alan Karbousky, ASA
          Gems & Jewelry     Nancy Stacy, ASA      /           Maury Woulf
                                   Master Gemologist Appraiser
                         MTS     Gil Mitchell, ASA         /                        tba
       Personal Property     Roger Rapport, ASA     /                        tba
             Real Property     Will Schnitzer, ASA      /                        tba

Anyone interested in being an active participant in the chapter should contact Robin J. Erdmann, MAI ASA at robinerdmann@comcast.net

Calendar

ASA NorCal Events Calendar 2008 – 2009

JULY 2008

31 – Aug 6 ASA Conference

AUG 2008

15 (Fri) Retreat – Discovery Bay

SEPT 2008

11 (Thur) Chapter Dinner Meeting Elyse Poppers, private art investigator with the James Mintz Group

22 – September Newsletter

25-28 Monterey CA Bar Association Conference ASA Booth

OCT 2008

9 (Thur) Chapter Dinner Meeting

“Trouble with Easements”

25 (Sat) Tentative Event: G&J Comps Seminar

NOV 2008

13 (Thur) Chapter Meeting - Erik White: “CARB Diesel Changes & Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition”

DEC 2008

10 (Thur) Chapter Meeting – “Appraising Churches”

JAN 2009

8 (Thurs) Chapter Meeting – “Appraising Silver”

FEB 2009

12 (Thur) Chapter Meeting - Gary Zimmerman: “2009 Economic Outlook”

MARCH 2009

7 (Sat) Tentative Event: G&J Craftsmanship Seminar, LaShawn

12 (Thur) Chapter Meeting – “Aircraft Appraisal”

Event: ASA Filoli Program

APRIL 2009

9 (Thurs) Chapter Meeting – Gems & Jewelry topic

MAY 2009

14 (Thur) Chapter Meeting – “Appraising Yachts”

JUNE 2009

11 (Thur) Chapter Meeting – “Candidates’ Night”

JULY 2009

ASA Conference, Orlando FL

9-11 ASA Executive Meetings

12-15 Conference Ed Sessions

No Chapter Meeting

AUG 2009

14 (Thur) No Chapter Meeting

TBA Leadership Retreat

SEPT 2009

10 (Thur) Chapter Meeting

Images

Robin Erdmann & Karen Mann at the ASA Conference

Doug Baxter rehydrates during the Leadership Retreat