Over 240 members and guests turned out to hear Paul McNeive, former managing director of Savills and now a well known business development consultant and motivational speaker, who addressed this year’s IPFMA Annual Members Lunch.
In his entertaining after lunch speech Paul McNeive said that he “suggested that recessions are the best times for companies to make strategic moves as competitors become ‘bombed-out’”.
“Inspiring your organisations to provide outstanding customer service is the key to success and usually costs nothing”, Mr. McNeive told members. “But don’t try to change the world overnight”, he added. “The key to success is a plan of small steps, which quickly add up to huge achievements”. Paul McNeive’s remarkable autobiography, entitled ‘Small Steps’, has already become a bestseller since its recent publication.
Also addressing the lunch, the IPFMA’s biggest social event on its calendar, was the Association’s chairman Sean Aylward, FIPFMA MSCSI MRICS, Centre Manager of Nutgrove Shopping Centre at Rathfarnham, Dublin.
He announced that the IPFMA, committed to furthering educational qualifications and as part of its efforts to ensure on-going training for the sector, is currently developing a joint IPFMA/DIT CPD in Strategic FM, as a post graduate part-time course.
Sean Aylward pointed out that CPDs will become mandatory next year for all PSRA licensed property professional disciplines and that the IPFMA is in a strong position going forward as it has been holding a very successful on-going series of mandatory CPD seminars for members over the past number of years.
Details of a ‘Super Seminar’ on many aspects facing the residential property manager, being held by the IPFMA in Dublin on Thursday, May 23 at Bewleys Hotel, Ballsbridge, were announced by the IPFMA chairman Sean Aylward.
He said that this residential seminar will be of great interest to all practitioners in property management, in particular those involved in the management of Multi-Unit Developments (MUDs).
“The timing of the seminar is appropriate at it will be some two years after the commencement of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 and immediately prior to the deadline for the first renewal of the property service providers licences with the PSRA”.
“In keeping with these themes, we will have experts speaking on professional indemnity insurance (a requirement for licence holders) and conflict resolution. There will also be a speaker from the PSRA discussing general PSRA requirements, a solicitor talking about MUDs two years on and a barrister dealing with collection of service charges, who will take a joint questions and answers session”.
“Hopefully”, he added, “some light relief and mutual therapy will be enjoyed in ‘Property Management a day in the life……’ where managers will share their more unusual experiences and display exactly how diverse the issues that we face on a daily basis can be”.
Also on the residential front, the IPFMA chairman Sean Aylward spoke of the new Guidance Handbook on Service Charges in Multi Unit Developments, currently being finalised by the IPFMA and due to be published shortly.
