May 2023 - Nuggets - Celebration of Excellence

It’s ironic! During the Covid era 2020-2022, we saw real estate affected in ways no one would have expected. In spite of the challenges of meeting buyers and showing property, except for the first couple of months, April and May 2020, prices soared and sales volumes set new records. And yet, due to Covid, we were unable to celebrate the successes and achievements of our salespeople. We simply couldn’t hold group meetings and celebrations.
 
Well, thankfully that is behind us now. And so early this spring, after a 3-year hiatus, we were once again able to hold our Annual Awards Gala and celebrate the sales achievements of 2022.
 
Once again, the event was held at Club Roma. The second event we’ve enjoyed since the easing of Covid restrictions. We had our Christmas Gala there this past December, again after a pause of a couple of years. 

Rachel Wilcox again worked her magic with the creation of beautiful and unique centre pieces for each table. Those, along with the table settings, the bubble wall, the awards table, the stage, the buffet sporting an excellent assortment of culinary delights (the roast beef was amazing), and the video screens. It was all set up to be a wonderful night. And wonderful it was. The bar opened at 6:00 pm and it didn’t take long for the room to begin to fill up. Our salespeople and staff are more than coworkers, they are good friends. They enjoy the opportunity to mingle, and the fact we have been without these celebrations for so long made the event all the more synergistic. 

Dining began pretty much on schedule at 7:00pm and as we’ve said the feast was excellent. Roast beef, chicken, pasta, salads, potatoes and of course our traditional 17th Street Winery pecan pie.

 
Right after supper we got into the awards. First recognizing the sales volume achievements for the past year. Levels which began at Executive Club recognizing sales between 2.5 million and 5 million, all the way up to Diamond Club, which has an entry threshold of about 50 million in annual sales. At the same time, we honour the achievements of our sister company, D.L.C. Easy Street Mortgages, which has somewhat parallel award levels ranging from Sales Achievement Award recognizing between 5 million and 10 million in mortgages placed, all the way up to Legend Award, which requires about 100 million in mortgage volume.
 
After the annual awards, we moved on to Career Awards. These celebrate the cumulative earnings of a realtor or mortgage consultant during their entire career with the company. Amazing numbers were recognized for both RE/MAX Garden City Realty and Dominion Lending Centres Easy Street Mortgages.
 
Next, on the real estate side, we honour the top 5 individuals and top 5 teams based on sales volumes. Up to this point there were no surprises. Everyone knew what achievement level they had accomplished the past year. But the top 5 is always kept secret until the announcement is made at the Gala. We have so many outstanding salespeople it’s hard to draw the line at 5, but we do.
 
And last but not least is the Rookie of the Year award. This award recognizes the individual newly licensed, who achieved the highest volume in their first full year at RE/MAX G.C.. So, in this case the winner would have to have been licensed in 2021, making 2022 their first full year. Here again it’s a surprise, and over the years we’ve had some amazing success stories among our Rookies. People who have gone on to be rockstars in the real estate industry.
 
The room was set up so that Deb Quirk, Corporate Administrator greeted, hugged and handed out 

then actual awards. Our Broker, Wayne Quirk posed with each winner for a photo and a handshake or a hug, and Jim Holiko, Director if I.T., MC’d the events and announced each new award as their picture appeared on the big screen.
 
Immortalizing the entire event were Chris and Lucas from Giant Shoe Photography. Not only did they do an excellent job of capturing the awards presentations, but they also told the whole story, start to finish, with well over 300 photos.
 
We’ve included some of those photos here. If you were there, enjoy reliving the moment. If not, we hope through these pictures you get a bit of an idea of how the event and the evening unfolded.