MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT, GARY LONGOBARDO...

What a great time we had at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas on April 29-30. In attendance at the REALTY WORLD International convention were representatives from across the U.S. and as far away as Mexico, Costa Rica, and Turkey.

Everyone enjoyed our Day One Keynote speaker, Mr. Howard Brinton. Howard shared many ideas and techniques being used today by many of the country's top producers. The other high point from Day One was the Member Appreciation/Vendor Expo that featured the REALTY WORLD version of Jeopardy, aptly named "The Right Player Makes All the Difference in the Game". Everyone had a lot of fun playing and we also paid special tribute to our many vendors who help support us at the convention and throughout the entire year!

Day Two featured broker and agent panels with discussions on the REO Market, Property Management, and the latest trend in real estate, "Going Green" To view short videos of the panels and other convention highlights, please go to our You Tube link on the front page of www.realtyworld.com.

Naturally, the highlight of our two days together was the Awards Ceremony on the evening of Day Two. It was indeed an honor and privilege to present trophies and plaques to the REALTY WORLD brokers and agents who proved to "Be at the Top of Their Game" during a challenging 2008. Congratulations to all of our REALTY WORLD award recipients!

Please join us next year on March 9-10th in Nashville, Tennessee. We will be meeting at the world famous Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. For those of you who have never stayed at this hotel or visited Nashville, you will not want to miss this opportunity. For those of you who have stayed at the Opryland, I am sure you will agree with me, that it is well worth a return visit.