Matt; I think that NAR leadership was sensitive to the daunting application process, and thats why they’re reaching out as they are. I am so excited that so many new faces will be in the mox, and will have the opportunity to participate- and I look forward to NAR leadership working in the direction that that have been working on through Presidents Gaylord and McMillan and our incoming President Vickie Cox-Golder (all of whom have been instrumental in this process of change and engagement.

Bill – Perhaps one of the things NAR could do to improve volunteerism is to push this new idea as well as making the committee sign up seem a little less daunting. I wanted to give committee membership on the national level a try, but unfortunately it seemed that the cards were stacked against me in terms of experience on the state and local levels. I can see why NAR would prefer someone with some experience in these areas (much like being President, it’s obviously preferred if you’ve done some government work on state or local levels before you get there). That’s why I didn’t volunteer this year, but instead worked to move into state and local. I’ll be curious to see if the national work I do gives me a boost to the other two (I would suspect it would).

As for the Ethics issue regarding Jim’s comment, I would like to see the questions become a little tougher. I took my quadrennial online class and found it to be pretty easy. Ethics is a difficult area and perhaps we should be tested at a higher level in order to raise the ethics to a higher standard. Perhaps if you fail, they can push for a mandatory class that you must take or a more in depth class lasting longer and covering more points of ethics would be made available to help strengthen those skills for the future. I would gladly welcome a change like that.

Jim – I admit, I’m not a huge fan of the online courses overall after having taken one. I found it to be a little too easy. I do see Bill’s point though that admitting to it (whether bragging or not) on a public forum doesn’t look good. Instead of laughing at it and mocking it, perhaps you can speak with Bill about things to do to make it better. I know Bill listens to a lot of ideas and he’s one of those that would love to see the Realtor® public come away better, smarter, and more ready to take on the world of real estate.

Look forward to seeing you at the national meetings –

Jim; Why would you brag about avoiding the quadrennial ethics training? During your 8 years in the Association, there have been lots of changes to the code of ethics- In fact I am in Chicago this weekend working with a sub-committee that crafts those changes and discuses them with the Professional Standards committee during the annual meetings. So why is avoiding that requirement something that you would boast of in a comment? Don’t want to pick a fight about it, but if you’re proud of being a professional (as you seem to be) why wouldn’t you want to be current on those things?