The New Year is here and many are calling it, “The Year of Perfect Vision.” Predictions are being made about what the year 2020 will bring - advancements in science and technology and increased efficiencies that will greatly impact the way we live in the years to come. As we close out this decade and set our sights on what the new year and new decade will bring, now is the perfect time to reflect on how far we have come so we can get really clear on what it is we will discover in the years to come.
For Valcre, 2019 was all about charting new territory. Within the first few weeks of 2019, we announced a new partnership with the Appraisal Institute that would offer its 18,000 members discounted access to our industry-leading appraisal software. As a result, we gained Valcre users in new states and on new continents. Most notably, we expanded our product offering to Australia, where Valcre now works with leading organizations like Charter Keck Cramer , Australia’s most trusted and innovative property group. One of our long time users, Chris Ponsar, MAI, SRA of Ponsar Valuation , based in Honolulu, Hawaii shared the inside scoop on what it’s like to use our software.
Conferences and events continue to be an integral part of connecting with our users. In 2019, Valcre had the pleasure of attending and sponsoring 12 different events, several of which Valcre had attended in 2018 and many of which we had never attended before. In January, Valcre sponsored the North Texas Realty Symposium in Dallas, Texas. In the spring, Valcre sponsored the 2019 San Diego Market Symposium: What’s New in Your Neighborhood Conference. Later in the spring, our CEO, Lucas Rotter, attended LDAC in Washington DC and also spoke on a panel during the AIDC’s 2019 Metro DC Appraisal Conference in Washington DC about cutting-edge developments in report writing technology for commercial appraisers.
In July, Valcre sponsored the 2019 Appraisal Institute Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. And then in the fall, we sponsored the 13th Annual Fall Real Estate Conference hosted by the Seattle Chapter of the Appraisal Institute , 2019 Annual Central Florida Real Estate Forum at The Country Club of Orlando , the New England Appraisers Expo in Boston , Fall Real Estate Conference for the Greater Oregon Chapter of the AI and the 19th Annual State of Atlanta: Living on the Edge Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. In all, we estimate that Valcre engaged with more than 1,000 commercial appraisers across the USA. We can’t wait to try and top that in 2020.
One of the highlights from our time in Denver at the 2019 Appraisal Institute Annual Conference was hosting our second annual Happy Hour event with the CompStak team. It’s always a fun opportunity to connect with our users, meet new appraisers and mingle with others in the industry. The 2020 Appraisal Institute Annual Conference is slated for August 3-5 in Orlando, Florida. We look forward to the conference every year!
Rae Nomura, moderate an all women panel during the Fall Real Estate Conference in Portland. She was joined by other Portland retail leaders to discuss trends in the retail market. In a historically male-dominated industry, the Valcre team looks forward to more opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of our peers. Speaking of peers, our team grew exponentially in 2019. We added a senior software engineer, a customer support specialist, several sales associates around the nation and five new members to our software team.
Finding a healthy work-life balance was an important topic of conversation for Valcre in 2019. Moving in to 2020 we’re excited to continue the conversation with commercial appraisers about prioritizing work and play and ways that Valcre can support these efforts. We are excited to roll out several software updates in 2020 that will affect Valcre’s ability to support different property types and features that will increase speed, improve workflow and contribute to greater efficiency. Phone and tablet support and integrations with other services are all in development, which will allow our users even greater flexibility. As we look forward to a new year and the unknown territory that comes with it, one thing we are certain will stay the same is Valcre’s mission - to revolutionize real estate technology for everyone.