A critical part of risk management involves ensuring that succession plans are in place. A majority of the time, the need for a succession plan is foreseeable, normally after an announced departure. While change is hard, unexpected change is harder. Brienza reports on a mobility industry organization that underwent an unforeseen need to quickly address the sudden loss of its leader.

This article offers insight into Winkelmann Realty’s current leadership, and features current President & CEO, Karen Edmonds, as well as, Broker, Michael Silvas.

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For nearly 50 years the name Winkelmann Realty has been synonymous with a commitment to our customers and expertise in the relocation industry. It is widely known that our company’s endurance is directly attributed to the tenacious spirit and can-do attitude of its founder, Gloria Winkelmann.

And, at Gloria’s side for more than 30 years was Linda Hawkins, who in recent years led the company with a quiet grace that inspired and encouraged those who met her. As Gloria neared retirement, she and Linda developed a strategic long-term business plan that included readying Karen Edmonds to lead Winkelmann Realty. Friends for more than two decades, Gloria was keenly aware that Karen shared the same goals as she and wholly trusted Karen to carry on her life’s work. With her many years of professional experience in the building and housing industry coupled with Gloria and Linda’s support, Gloria knew Karen would be committed to ensuring Winkelmann Realty’s continued success.

Gloria and Linda have left a legacy of professionalism, leadership and integrity that now sits in the very skilled and capable hands of Karen Edmonds.

Karen is looking forward to accepting the challenges that lie ahead in our ever changing industry.

The week-long series of four conferences in one boasted a noteworthy line-up of over 150 speakers from within the real estate industry and beyond, who addressed a broad range of topics relating to real estate management, technology, marketing and business development. Keynote presentations included former White House Director of Economic Policy Todd Bucholz; Scott Belsky, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People; real estate coach and generational expert Jared James; Michael Tchong, founder and trend analyst of Ubercool, Inc.; Brian Solis, best-selling author of Engage; Alex Charfen, CEO of The Distressed Property Institute; REAL Trends Editor Steve Murray; and Brian Boero of 1000watt Consulting. Also featured were Michael Staver, chief learning officer of Institute 2.0, LeadingRE’s new online learning community, and Institute faculty members Steve Harney and Matthew Ferrara, all leading business coaches and consultants.

Other conference highlights included the Awards Gala, which honored top performing members in various areas of brokerage achievement, and the closing event with a “Club Vegas” theme. Earlier in the week, hundreds of LeadingRE members participated in separate conferences: MarTech for marketing and technology managers, the Luxury Portfolio Top Sales Associate Summit, and the LeadingRE Sales Manager Leadership Symposium.

“As reflected in the theme – ‘Engage. Innovate. Lead.’ – the conference focused on ways participants can elevate performance standards and respond to ongoing shifts in the housing market,” notes Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® President/CEO Pam O’Connor. “By offering insights on new ways to connect with and serve today’s home buyers and sellers, the conference program provided insights and inspiration to this group of top real estate professionals.”

The service recognition program formally acknowledges contributions such as committee and board involvement, presentations at network conferences, and service in various network capacities. This program offers three levels of awards based on cumulative points earned through service activities: the President’s Service Award, the Chairman’s Service Award and the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Hall of Fame Award.

“We are thankful for the active involvement of our Service Recognition Award nominees within our network and are honored to recognize them for their many contributions,” said Pam O’Connor, president/CEO of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. “The success of our network is due in large part to the generosity of these members, who are so willing to share their time and expertise with other affiliates.”

Fullerton, CA (Monday, July 13, 2009) – New technologies in mobile phones have transformed the way we accomplish many day-to-day activities, and now your phone can even help you look for a new home. Winkelmann Realty recently announced that they are offering a mobile site that can be accessed from any web-enabled phone. By visiting http://winkrealty.com, potential buyers can instantly view a home’s price, description, photos and realtor contact information.

“This new resource is helping to transform the home-buying process,” said Linda Hawkins, President of Winkelmann Realty. “It gives buyers more control, putting all the information instantly at their fingertips rather than requiring them to hunt it down through multiple agents. Our hope is that this easy access will give buyers more options and help them make the best purchasing decision.”

Through WinkRealty.com, buyers can search by address or street to view the details of a specific property or by city or Zip code to view a full list of available properties in a specific neighborhood. Realtors will also find this new resource helpful for performing quick preliminary home searches for new potential clients they may meet out of the office.

To power its mobile site, Winkelmann Realty chose Aumnia. Winkelmann Realty and Aumnia worked closely together to integrate the WinkRealty.com website and new mobile site to provide consistent property information on-the-go. “Our goal was to extend WinkRealty.com, so users can easily access it using any web-enabled mobile device” said Gregory Borodaty, President/CEO of Aumnia, Inc.

For more information on this new service or any of the properties you find online at www.WinkRealty.com, call Winkelmann Realty at 1-800-397-3562 or visit their office located at 114 North Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, CA.