Newsletter of the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association

In This IssueIn This IssueIn This IssueIn This IssueIn This Issue

Fall TrendsConference Slated

President's Message

MIT/UW Team WinULI Competition

UW Program Update

Real EstateClub Update

Dianne M. OrbisonScholarship RecipientNamed

Names in the News

Equity Kicker

The Equity Kicker is publishedbiannually by the Wisconsin RealEstate Alumni Association, Inc. forthe benefit of its membership.

Executive Director and EditorChristine DicksWREAA, Inc.Pewaukee, WI

PresidentGary Dreher

TOLD Development CompanyPlymouth, MN

Vol. 23 Issue 1 Spring 2009

Fall Trends Conference SlatedFall Trends Conference SlatedFall Trends Conference SlatedFall Trends Conference SlatedFall Trends Conference SlatedRRRRRegroup, Regroup, Regroup, Regroup, Regroup, Rebound and Rebound and Rebound and Rebound and Rebound and Reinvesteinvesteinvesteinvesteinvest

Now is the time to regroup, reboundand reinvest. Economic condi-tions are temporary. Strong

character, bold leadership and innovativethinking are long-lasting. The WisconsinReal Estate Alumni Association will hostthe 2009 Wisconsin Real Estate TrendsConference addressing critical issuesfacing the real estate industry. The eventwill take place September 16-17 inChicago beginning with a WelcomeReception sponsored by Bascom North-west. This year’s Welcome Reception willtake place at Trump International Hoteland Tower located in downtown Chicagoon September 16, and will provide anunrivaled opportunity for networking. Theprogram will continue on Thursday,September 17 at the Chicago CulturalCenter.

Valuation issues, asset management,workout opportunities including tenant and

By Michael Hershberger,Conference Program Chair

2009 Trends Conference SponsorsAcknowledged With Appreciation

Patron Sponsors Cape Advisors CBRE

Freddie Mac Invesco Irgens Development Northwestern Mutual Life Prudential TOLD Development Virchow Krause Wrightwood Capital

Event Sponsors Bascom Northwest CapitalSource

landlord issues,and the art ofdeleveraging dealswill be among thetopics coveredduring this year’sprogram. Inaddition, industryexperts willdiscuss the manyopportunities thatlie ahead given thelikely redistribu-tion of wealth thatthe economy willproduce.

Watch for detailson this timelyprogram as they are released and don’tmiss out on this fantastic opportunity toset the cornerstone for future success.

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WREAABoard of Directors

Executive CommitteePresident Gary Dreher (952) 278-0114Vice President Jeff Cavanaugh (949) 718-2012Secretary/Treasurer Christopher Kelly (212) 321-7213Executive Director Christine Dicks (262) 746-9030

DirectorsColorado/Texas Dan Metzger (303) 953-3844Northeast Brian Berry (202) 420-2180Illinois Robert Walter (312) 344-4429Minnesota Robert Perry (952) 984-3251Southern California Gary Duff (310) 788-2253Northern California Brandon Buza (415) 956-3100Pacific Northwest Greg Van Patten (206) 373-7108Eastern Wisconsin Kristine O'Meara (414) 443-2526Western Wisconsin Mike Hershberger (608) 576-9200Southeast Aaron Goldman (404) 881-0766Immediate Past President Michael Komppa (303) 796-2000At-Large Director - Membership Shari Crivello (847) 698-8265At-Large Director - Fundraising Brian Eisendrath (310) 228-2125At-Large Director - Student Interface Sharon McCabe (608) 263-2045

Administrative Office

Executive Director Christine DicksAdministrative Assistant Tracy Wundrow

Wisconsin Real EstateAlumni Association, Inc. P.O. Box 307 Pewaukee, Wisconsin 53072 Website: www.wreaa.org

Telephone: (262) 746-9030 Fax: (262) 746-9031

A limited number of Wisconsin Real Estate Trends Conference SponsorshipOpportunities are available for individuals or organizations who wish to gainexposure for their company throughout the Fall Trends Conference, whilesupporting the UW Real Estate Program. To learn more about sponsorship,please call the WREAA Administrative Office at (262) 746-9539 or visit theWREAA website at www.wreaa.org.

Trends Conference Sponsor OpportunitiesStill Available

WREAA Presents ScholarshipsDuring Annual Program

More than 70 people, including scholarshipdonors, student recipients,faculty, and staff gathered atthe Fluno Center on the UWMadison Campus for theWisconsin Real EstateProgram’s Spring Scholar-ship Breakfast. This specialannual gathering providesan opportunity to recognizedonors for their generoussupport and to honorstudent scholarship recipi-ents.

Chris Dicks, ExecutiveDirector of the WisconsinReal Estate AlumniAssociation, presented several WREAAScholarships during the Breakfast, with theGraduate Scholarship Award of $5000going to Daniel Soyka (MBA, 2010) andtwo undergraduate scholarships of $2000each going to Brett Nelson (BBA 2009)

and Bruce Klink (BBA 2010). WREAALeadership Awards were presented to the

Real Estate Club Co-Presidents EricKomppa (MBA 2009), Tim Bruss (MBA2009), Ashley Anderson (BBA 2009), andDan Phillip (MBA 2009). These scholar-ships are made possible due to the generos-ity of members who make donations to theWisconsin Connection Fund and theWREAA.

Be sure to update the WREAA Office with new employment and contactinformation by visiting our website at www.wreaa.org and completing amembership update form, or send a fax with your updated information to(262) 746-9031.

Help Us Keep in Touch

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Gary Dreher, PresidentA Message to Alumni and Friends

These days asking the question “Howare you?” to those in our industrycan illicit a variety of responses. Up

until a few years ago the answer wasinevitably “Great”; few people respondwith “Great” these days. Everyone hasbeen significantly impacted by the currenteconomic conditions; many are looking forwork, others are dealing with troubledassets and companies, and everyone isworking hard to figure out how to succeedgoing forward. It is during times like thesethat involvement with the WREAA isperhaps most beneficial to our members.Please know that the Board of Directorsand market representatives have redoubledour efforts to support our members byoffering quality regional and nationaleducational programs and networkingopportunities, as well as enhanced memberservices. The focus of all events will be onnavigating these difficult times andsucceeding in the future. Though we arestill in the middle of this downturn wherethere is enough negativity everywhere youlook, we are determined to focus onmoving forward.

Perhaps no service that we offer is asimportant as local educational and net-working events. More than 20 regionalevents have been hosted since the start ofthe year, with an equal number anticipatedfor the remainder of the year. The majorityof our local events combine an educationalopportunity with networking. I inviteanyone with an idea for a local event tocontact their market representative with thesuggestion and feel free to volunteer to

manage theevent.Project tours,roundtablediscussionsand featuredspeakers areprovenevents, butfeel free tothink outsideof the box.

Save the dates of September 16 -17 for theReal Estate Trends Conference to be heldin Chicago. This will be our seventh TrendsConference, with the 2007 conferenceattracting 200 attendees. This year’sconference will feature panels and keynotespeakers that will focus on transactionsgetting done today, capital markets,valuation issues, and landlord/tenantrelations. You will be receiving additionalinformation on the conference in thecoming weeks. This promises to be a greatevent.

We are currently in the midst of developinga new website that will be a far better toolfor members. The site will feature a user-friendly online directory that will allowmembers to pay online, directly updateinformation, and easily sort and navigatethrough the member directory. The websitewill embrace professional and socialnetworking and provide members with theability, at there election, to provide detailedinformation on there professional focus andpersonal information. Some other features

of the website that are being exploredinclude providing blogs to encouragediscussion of relevant topics, and theestablishment of online sub-groups toencourage interaction by graduation year,professional focus, and region. The websiteshould be up and running by late summerand promises to be a great new tool formembers.

These are exciting times for the real estatedepartment and the Graaskamp Center. Inrecent weeks the department hired a sixthfaculty member and the center has hired anew executive director. These additions arethe direct result of the efforts of TimRiddiough and Francois Ortalo-Magne, thesupport of Dean Knetter, and the financialsupport and personal involvement of somany alumni. The momentum and energywithin the department and center arepalpable. These recent faculty and staffadditions will allow the department andcenter to enhance their current efforts andundertake new initiatives.

Again, I invite all alumni to take advantageof all that the WREAA has to offer and tobecome involved, or re-involved, with theassociation. One of the greatest benefits ofour real estate education at Wisconsin isthe knowledge that our fellow alumni areamong the best and the brightest in theindustry. We all still have much to learnfrom each other as we chart a course tosucceed in the future.

On Wisconsin!

MIT and UW Madison TMIT and UW Madison TMIT and UW Madison TMIT and UW Madison TMIT and UW Madison Team Weam Weam Weam Weam Wininininin7th Annual ULI Gerald D7th Annual ULI Gerald D7th Annual ULI Gerald D7th Annual ULI Gerald D7th Annual ULI Gerald D. Hines Competition. Hines Competition. Hines Competition. Hines Competition. Hines CompetitionA plan drafted by a team of students fromthe Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySchool of Architecture and Planning andthe University of Wisconsin School ofBusiness Real Estate MBA Program toredevelop a site within the Denver DesignDistrict (DDD) has been selected as thewinning scheme in the seventh annual ULI(Urban Land Institute) Gerald D. HinesStudent Urban Design Competition. Teams

were challenged to redevelop the DenverDesign District (DDD), a 75-acre parceljust south of downtown, while incorporat-ing essential aspects of sustainablecommunity development in urban design asidentified by ULI. The winning plan wasselected by the competition jury over planssubmitted by other finalist teams includingthose from Columbia, Kansas State, andthe University of Miami.

Graduate student, Eric Komppa (MBA2009), represented UW Madison's RealEstate Program on the winning team. The$50,000 prize will be shared among thefive team members. A portion of the prizewill be dedicated to support the James A.Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at theUniversity of Wisconsin School of Busi-ness.

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An Update on the Real Estate ProgramFrancois Ortalo-Magne, Chair, UW Real Estate Program

Our goal is to be the world leader inreal estate education. In the pastfew months, we have achieved a

set of successes that will enable us toachieve this goal faster than I originallythought. I would like to take this opportu-nity to share some of our progress withyou.

Two New Faculty MembersAbdullah Yavas, currently Elliott Professorof Business Administration and ResearchDirector of the Institute for Real EstateStudies at Penn State, will join us thisSeptember. Abdullah Yavas has wonteaching awards for his real estate coursesat Penn State. He is widely published inacademic journals and beyond. Currently,his research focuses on the economics ofintermediation broadly defined with aspecial focus on real estate brokerage. Healso uses laboratory experiments toadvance our understanding of investors’deviations from the predictions generatedby rational models. On this front, he is theleading researcher in the field of commer-cial real estate. Abdullah Yavas also serveson the Monetary Policy Committee of theCentral Bank of the Republic of Turkey.

Erwan Quintin, currently Senior Economistand Policy Advisor at the Federal ReserveBank of Dallas, will join us in January2010. Erwan Quintin has demonstratedexcellent teaching skills in economics andfinance as a visiting professor at SMU andat the University of Texas at Austin wherehe won a teaching award. He sharesresearch and policy interests with everyone of us currently on the faculty. His mostrecent work focuses on debt contracts andmacroeconomic fluctuations. He shareswith Morris Davis the same FederalReserve Bank experience that has provenso valuable to the program. He shares withme the same PhD advisor in the EconomicsDepartment at the University of Minnesota.While we are not from the same region ofFrance and our French accents are differ-ent, we do understand each other perfectly.Erwan’s position is a net addition to our

department; the first time in memory aDean has authorized the department toexpand from five to six faculty members.The sixth position is financed primarily outof the $85M Wisconsin Naming Gift thatDean Knetter championed in Fall 2007 andin part by your generous financial support.Dean Knetter’s commitment of newresources to our department reflects hisappreciation for your efforts and his trust inour ability to achieve together the goal weset.

Domestic: Strategy in Place, MovingForwardThanks in no small part to the contributionsof the members of the REPAC committee,we have developed a domestic industrystrategy supporting our overall goal: toprovide best-in-class lifelong learningopportunities to the best real estateprofessionals, with an initial focus on theMidwest. In line with this objective, we areramping up our Graaskamp Center Boardmeetings to make them best-in-class. JimCurtis (MS, Real Estate ‘76), Jim Smith(BBA ’75, MS, Finance ’77), and HughZweig (MBA, Finance ’83) organized anexcellent April meeting that will serve as atemplate for future meetings. We alsointend to expand the board of theGraaskamp Center to draw in even moretop notch real estate professionals.

As a first necessary step in the implementa-tion of our domestic industry strategy, weare in the process of hiring an executivedirector for the Graaskamp Center. Withthe support of the WREAA office, JimSmith and Jim Haft (BBA ’80, MS ’82,Real Estate) have already identified a shortlist of highly qualified real estate profes-sionals for this position. We are currentlyplanning campus visits for each of theshort-listed candidates.

International: Industry Visibility andEducational PartnershipsAs I described in the last newsletter, wehave signed a partnership agreement witharguably the top business school in Europe:

HEC Paris. Tim Riddiough and I startedteaching an introductory real estate financecourse at HEC in April. The course is asuccess and I am excited to report that weare now working on the next steps of thispartnership. I hope to have somethingmajor to announce to you within the next12 months.

Our partnership with MIPIM has neverbeen stronger, thanks in large part to theefforts of our first-year MBA students andthe staff of the Graaskamp Center. Thestudents provided significant content to thefirst keynote “wrap-up” lecture in thehistory of MIPIM. The slides and video areavailable on the Graaskamp Centerwebsite. In light of the success of thelecture, MIPIM organizers sent a link tothe slides to all MIPIM participants. Realestate professionals around the globe arebecoming more and more familiar with ourlogo!

At the request of the MIPIM organizers, wealso produced a white paper onsustainability and urban planning that isbeing sent to the mayors of major metro-politan areas around the world. I havenever worked our students so hard on a tripand our students have never delivered somuch and so well.

I am confident the additions of professorsAbdullah Yavas and Erwan Quintin aregoing to help us significantly on theinternational front. Abdullah Yavas ishighly respected in the Arab world. ErwanQuintin brings with him strong connectionsin a number of Spanish speaking countriesof the Americas as well as relationships inIndia.

What Now?We face a major challenge in the immedi-ate future: there are no jobs. We haveexcellent students at both the undergradu-ate and MBA levels, who have all had thebest training. I ask that each of you

(Continued on Page 7.)

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Real Estate Club UpdateDaniel Phillip & Ashley Anderson, Co-Presidents, UW Real Estate Club

Despite the declining economy anddismal real estate market, the UWReal Estate Club is still flourishing

with its mix of graduate and undergraduatemembers ready to take over in the upcom-ing year. This semester we had fourspeakers and one panel discussion as wellas our biannual field trip. Additionally, wemade a few changes to the operations of theclub.

We recently held club elections for nextyear’s officers and would like to congratu-late our winners. This election marks thethird year in row where a pairing of anMBA student (Tom Gershman) and anundergraduate (Brandon Winter) won thebid for presidency. In keeping with therecently created constitution, we would alsolike to congratulate our new Social Chairs,Josh Mesner and Jihad Alaily; the newMarketing Director, David Greenhalgh; andour new Secretary, Jordan Weigelt. Thechanges made this semester in the RealEstate Club were based on creating

financial guidelines and controls to ensurecontinued success and access to resources.We implemented regular financial reviews,reimbursement sign-offs, an annual budgetand budget review. We hope that these new

guidelines will make the entireexecutive council more aware of thefinancial position of the Real EstateClub, enabling all executive membersto make educated decisions regardingthe funding of future activities.

This semester we brought in speakersfrom Northwestern Mutual, State ofWisconsin Investment Board, UrbanSolutions, Fiduciary Real EstateDevelopment, Corum Real EstateGroup, Canada Pension PlanInvestment Board, and AtlanticPartners. We sincerely appreciate the timeand effort these companies and individualshave donated to our club, which have madefor excellent and exciting learning experi-ences. These individuals have enhancedthe educational experience for our mem-bers. Their support and dedication to theclub and program truly speaks to theinnovation and idea creation valued by theReal Estate Club.

San Francisco was the Real Estate Clubtrip destination this semester, and includedover 40 student participants and tencompany visits. Brandon Buza (North-

western Mutual), a Wisconsin Real EstateAlumni Association board member, andJohn Simerlein (Bristol Group, Inc.),helped organize and make this one of theReal Estate Club’s most outstanding trips.The trip had an underlying theme ofredevelopment with tours of the Presidio,Pier 1 redevelopment, Ghiradelli Square,and the Joie de Vivre hotel developmentstrategy.

Thank you to everyone who helped makethis semester successful. The support ofour alumnus makes our organization andthe real estate program first class. As weapproach graduation, we look forward tohonoring this tradition and giving back tothe program in the same ways that youhave supported our educational experi-ences. We would also like to thank thecurrent executive council and facultyadvisors for their continued support anddedication to the Real Estate Club. Wealso extend a special thanks to Chris Dicksand the WREAA for all of their commit-ment to the club and their continued helpand support.

On Wisconsin!

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WREAA Honor Roll Sustaining Members($250 to $499)

Cornerstone Members($500 and above)

Michael Arneson, MS 1982Michael Casey, MBA 1983Jeffrey Cavanaugh, MS 1983Marc Cella, MS 1982Alan Chesler, MS 1987Kevin Coffey, MS 1987Scott Dixon, MS 1987Gary Dreher, MS 1994Brian Eisendrath, BBA 2000Rod Engel, MS 1989William Evans, MS 1984Michael Feiner, MS 1970Jerome Fink, MBA 1990Paul Gilbert, MS 1974Brett Grasse, BA 1987Dale Gruen, MS 1980Michael Hoffmann, MBA 1985Nicholas Howard,Bruce Johnson, MS 1972J. Peter Jungbacker, MS 1976David Kim, BBA 1989V. Michael Komppa, MS 1975Wendell Kurtz, BBA 1978Jeff Lenz, MS 1997David Lenz, BBA 1973James Martell, BBA 1974Kim Miller, MS 1979Charles Murphy, MS 1987Arthur Pasquarella, MS 1980Milo Pinkerton, MS 1979Gregory Reed, MS 1988Paul Rezents, MS 1986Alan Rudikoff, BA 1991Malcolm Sina, MS 1979Jon Spoerri, MS 1983John Stathas, MS 1987Edward Suharski, MS 1979Patrick Waite, MS 1992

James Ablan, MS 1976Maurice Adams, MS 1967Mitchell Adams, BBA 1993Robert Aldrich, MS 1982Alfred Anding, BBA 1964Aaron Anding, BBA 1993Ray Anilionis, MS 1971Samuel Ankin, BBA 2002Greggory Applefield, BBA 2004Bret Backus, MS 1994James Balsbaugh, BBA 1988Brett Barr, MS 1993Shannon Bauer, BBA 2000Michelle Bella, MS 1992Robert Bergenthal, BBA 1984Arun Bhatia, MS 1974Shampa Bhattacharya, MS 2002Blaine Bish, MS 1990Francis Brzezinski, MS 1974Steven Buss, MS 1994Brad Calbert, BA 1975Michael Cantwell, BA 1972Timothy Carew, MS 1980Ted Carlson, BBA 1999William Carlson, BA 1972Charles Carpenter, MS 1982Christopher Casey, MS 1984Joseph Chang, MS 1989Susan Chapman, MBA 1998Adam Cibik, MBA 2007David Clark, MS 1975Kevin Coakley, MBA 1987James Cope, MS 1989Stephen Cortese, MS 1986Shari Crivello, MS 1996Kevin Crummy, MS 1989Jeffrey Davis, MS 1976Patrick Dempsey, MS 1988Robert Derse, MS 1989Margaret DeWoskin, BBA 1992Paul DeWoskin, MS 1993R. Tyler Edgarton, BBA 1987John Ehle, BA 1992Ann Pieper Eisenbrown, MS 1993Stephen Elpern, MS 1974Jaime Fink, MS 1997John Flad, MS 1972Ryan Freedman, BBA 2004Marc Freschl, BBA 2001Michael Fruchtman, BA 1988Robert Gersch, BBA 1999Peter Gloodt, MS 1982Michael Goetz, BBA 2000

James Graham, MS 2002James Haft, MS 1982Jenny Hall, MS 1997Jon Hammes, MS 1974Scott Haskins, MS 1993Jill Hatton, MS 1982Charles Heath, MS 1983Michael Hershberger, MS 1988Andrew Hess, BBA 1999Stephen Jarchow, MS 1976Daniel Jeserig, BBA 2001William Johnson, MS 1975Scott Kaufmann, MS 1999Andrew Kerwin, BBA 1987John Kiernan, MS 1987David Krueger, BBA 1994Raymond Mun Lam LO, BBA 1975Ryan Mallery, BBA 1999Craig Manske, MS 1981Brett Matzek, BBA 1995James Muir, BA 1969Martin O’Connor, BBA 2003Michael Olson, MS 1995Todd Parker, BBA 1989Howard Paster, BA 1991Robert Perry, MS 1992Christopher Pitts, MS 1986Gabriel Pozo, BBA 2001Janine Punzel, BBA 1995Catherine Quinn, MS 1980Steven Rasmussen, MS 1986James Rawson, BA 1975C. J. Raymond, MS 1972Timothy Richey, MS 1988Jim Ring, MS 1988Eric Rogers, BBA 2003Stephen Rozga, BS 1983Robert Ryan, MS 1989Richard Schaller, MS 1981William Schalmo, BBA 1979Gregory Schmitt, BBA 1973Robert Schwarz, MS 1989David Sliwicki, MS 1988Roy Splansky, MS 1986Kendra Stensven, BBA 2000Frank Stumpf, MS 1987Sunny Tong, MS 1979Marc Warren, BBA 1985Daniel Webb, MS 1990Jonathan Weerts, BBA 2000Brian Wirtz, BBA 1985Raymond Young, MBA 2000Stuart Zadra, MS 1985

In Appreciation

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We Need Your HelpThe Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association is proud to continue the tradition of thisimportant scholarship begun by Dianne, one of the many ways she found of ‘giving back’.Will you help as we work to increase this endowment fund by raising $50,000 so that thisaward can become a permanent tribute to Dianne? Donations to the Dianne Orbison RealEstate Scholarship Fund should be made payable to the “UW Foundation” and maileddirectly to the WREAA , P.O. Box 307, Pewaukee, WI 53072. Please make a notation onthe check that the gift is to go to the Dianne Orbison Real Estate Scholarship Fund.

Dianne M. Orbison ScholarshipAward Recipient Named

Mara Merutka, an undergraduatestudent who will graduatefrom the UW Real Estate

Program in 2010, was named the secondrecipient of the Dianne M. OrbisonMemorial Scholarship Award during theUW Real Estate Program's Annual Scholar-ship Breakfast. Mara was chosen amongseveral well-qualified applicants followingthe review of a submitted application andessay. The essay asks candidates to reflectboth on the qualities of a successful lifeand how a Wisconsin Real Estae Degreewill help to advance their personal andcareer goals.

Mara, a resident of Illinois, submitted anessay response that reflected her commit-ment to giving back to her community andthe world and her passion to help others.While travelling the world through aprogram called Semester at Sea through theUniversity of Virginia, Mara was left witha strong understanding of the need faced bySouth Africa. She has since become asponsor of a child named Musa in Malawithough World Vision. She has also becomefascinated with the efforts of a handful ofnot-for-profit developers who are workingto rebuild the Townships of South Africa

into livable, safe neighborhoods. Aftergaining some experience, it is her goal tobecome involved with these efforts.

While in India, Mara learned aboutmicrocredit and its ability to lift communi-ties in third-world countries out of povertyby making small loans to grow localbusinesses. There she became a strongadvocate of the microcredit movement andnow donates directly to third-worldentrepreneurial ventures through an onlineprogram called Kiva.

Mara is also involved in several campusorganizations. Currently she is a memberof the UW Real Estate Club, member ofthe Investment Banking Club, VicePresident of Finance of Alpha Chi OmegaSorority, a member of the USC Interna-tional Real Estate Case Competition,participant in Badger Business Buddiesand a member of the Society of PersonalInvestments.

Mara's internship experience includes asummer with Credit Suisse. Plans for thesummer of 2009 include an intership withHarrison Street Real Estate Capital inChicago.

consider hiring one of our students for thesummer as an intern. We understand thecrisis is impairing your ability to hire; ourstudents understand this as well. Manystudents are willing to accept unpaidpositions in order to gain further trainingand new relationships and who better toshow them the ropes than fellow Wisconsingrads. Visit “The Real Estate Connection,”the Wisconsin Real Estate Program’sonline newsletter for more information onthis initiative at http://www.bus.wisc.edu/wcre/connection/. Please follow up.Dean Knetter said: “Alumni engagement iswhere the Wisconsin difference begins.” Itoo believe this and hope that we cancontinue to work together to reach ourgoal.

On Wisconsin!

The WREAA Staff has been working hardto create and launch an online membershipcommunity that will replace its existingmembership system and website. The newsystem will provide a number of beneficialfeatures to alumni and affilialte members.The new website, scheduled to go live thissummer, will provide the opportunity formembers to create an online memberprofile featuring all of their relevantinformation, their photograph, the opportu-nity to particpate in group blogs, uploadtheir resume, search the career center forpostings, and conduct member searches.The enhanced website and social network-ing features are intended to provide aincreased value to the WREAA network.Members will receive an invitation to visitthe site once it is launched, and asked tocomplete their profiles and to get involved.

WREAA To LaunchOnline MemberCommunity

(Continued from Page 4.)

Upcoming EventsJune 25WREAA Northern California Golf Outing

July 22Minnesota WREAA Boat Outing

September 16-17WREAA Trends Conference, Chicago, IL

Names in the News

Names in the News is aregular feature of the EquityKicker. Please submit news ofyour promotion, change inemployer, or address change forinclusion to WREAA, Inc., P.O.Box 307, Pewaukee, WI 53072or visit our website atwww.wreaa.org.

Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association, Inc.P.O. Box 307Pewaukee, Wisconsin 53072

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPewaukee, WI

Permit No. 72951

Congratulations to Shannon (MS 2003)and Sean Van Gemert who welcomedtheir son Jack born on November 10, 2008at 8 lbs., 21 inches long. Shannon can bereached at Shannon.VanGemert@cbre.com.

Pablo Fuenzalida (MBA 2007) hasjoined JCR Capital at 1225 17th Street,Suite 1850, in Denver, Colorado. He canbe reached at pablofuenzalida@jcrcapital.com.

Joel Bartis (MBA 2007) has joinedWachovia Securities as a Senior Associatein Charlotte, North Carolina. He can bereached at joel.bartis@gmail.com.

Giuseppe Infusino (BBA 2008) has joinedBank of America as an Officer in Charlotte,North Carolina. He can be reached atgfinfusino@gmail.com.

Dean Huber (BS 2000) has joinedPhoenix Capital Partners as an

Independent Consultant in Purchase,New York. He can be reached atdeanjhuber@yahoo.com.

Ryan Watts (BBA 2000) has joined CBRichard Ellis as a Senior Associate inBloomington, Minnesota. He can bereached at ryan.watts@cbre.com.

Elizabeth Massey (BBA 1998) has joinedTerra Venture Advisors as President inMadison, Wisconsin. She can be reached atbeth@tva-llc.com.

Peter Margolin (MS 1996) has joinedArbor Commercial Mortgage as a Directorin Deerfield, Illinois. He can be reached atpmargolin@arbor.com.

Congratulations to Sharon McCabe forbeing honored by the students living inUniversity Residence Hall. UniversityHousing announced that students inresidence halls cited Sharon as an instruc-tor who makes them want to learn more,makes a difference in their college career,challenges them to think in new ways, andis simply one of their favorites. Go Sharon!

Adam Firsel (BBA 2001) has joinedCrossroads Development Partners, LLC inNorthbrook, IL as a Principal. He can bereached at afirsel@xrdevelopment.com.

Dan Metzger (BBA 1998) hastransitioned from his career at LoweEnterprises to a new opportunity atDividend Capital Total Realty Trust inDenver, CO. He can be reached atdmetzger@dividendcapital.com.

Peter Norenberg (BBA 2006) has movedto Moscow, Russia to join Amstar GlobalAdvisors. He can be reached atpnorenberg@amstarglobal.com.

Nathan Podratz (BBA 2000) joined ThePrivate Bank in Chicago, IL as Head-RealEstate Syndications. He can be reached atnpodratz@gmail.com.

Pat Connolly (MS 1998) and his wifeEmma welcomed a baby girl, MatildaLouise Connolly, born on April 13, 2009 at7 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. Pat saysMatilda has her mom’s beauty and hisheight. Congratulations to the Connollyfamily! Keep in touch with the family athttp://matildalouiseconnolly.blogspot.com.

Congratulations to Elliott Ross (Friendof the Program), President of Ross Realtyin Clearwater, Florida, who received aPinnacle award from the Florida GulfcoastCommercial Assoc. of Realtors, recogniz-ing top producing realtors from regionaland national companies. Ross can bereached at Ross Realty Group by email atelliottross@rossrealty.com.

Kendra Stensven (BBA 2000) and JeffMacDonagh (BS 1998) welcomed a babyboy, Emmet K.M. Stensven, born onJanuary 20, 2009 at 10 lbs, 6 oz, and 21inches. Kendra returned to her position asProject Manager at Jonathan Rose Compa-nies in May 2009, and can be reached atkcstensven@uwalumni.com.