Holiday periods seem to pass so quickly, and we are all full steam ahead to another year. I think everyone had a pretty tough 2010 so let’s look forward to a great 2011.
The RMBF provides a number of opportunities for members to take advantage of. I strongly urge all members to participate in two big RMBF events this year — our House of the Year and Commercial Projects Awards in association with PlaceMakers (applications open now) and our annual conference in June.
Both events are extremely popular with a solid core of our membership. Obviously, the members who regularly attend conference and enter the awards competition do so because they get a lot out of both. Those who don’t are, in my opinion, missing out on a couple of big opportunities.
It has proven that once members attend or enter once, they keep coming back for more. Both events provide great opportunities for networking, for sharing problems and ideas, for demonstrating quality, for learning, for meeting and socialising with others and for improving and marketing your business.
I have attended every RMBF annual conference since 1997. I have enjoyed every one, and taken advantage of the varied venues and the time away with family.
We do our best to put on a great couple of days for our members, their partners and our loyal sponsor family. At every conference I have met someone new and learnt something new.
This year our conference will be held on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 of June in Auckland. We are combining with Buildnz, New Zealand’s largest building and construction trade show, so it will be a much larger event than in previous years.
We’ll be putting together a top line up of speakers as well as our legendary social events.
Likewise, my company has been entering House of the Year events since 1994. We have enjoyed our fair share of success, with a number of national finalists and a national winner in 2003.
It is a fabulous competition. To succeed, the standard of an entry has to be very high. It seems to me that those members who enter regularly learn a lot and begin to understand what is required to be successful.
It is no coincidence that those members start to become highly successful year after year. Not only do these members know what the judges expect and look for, they also find that the high quality standards required filter through their business.
Their customers benefit from the pride and raised standards that become instilled in their carpenters, suppliers and subcontractors. There is a cultural change within the business.
The standards are high. But in saying that, the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards provide the opportunity for most good quality entries to do well and come away with an award. A Bronze is deemed to be at least 50% above industry standard, so never underrate that achievement.
Once an award is won it is up to you to maximise the marketing opportunities presented. The quality marks are continuing to gain traction in the marketplace. You will regularly see homes being marketed as award winners in real estate advertisements.
So, if you are committed to being successful and innovative for years to come, I urge you to do two things this year.
Attend our annual conference in June and enter one or more projects in our House of the Year and RMB Commercial Project Awards, entries for which close on February 25.
Have a great 2011!
