Remembering New Orleans

I was curious about the number of anticipated attendees for the annual NAR convention this week in San Diego. I heard unofficially from someone at NAR that it was around 18k. The highest attendee count so far is New Orleans with 25k, although at the time we were hearing 30k. I think 25k to 18k is not a bad drop at all, considering how hard the economy has been.

The NAR conference in New Orleans was right after Katrina. I remember being scared to go, scared of what I'd see. I've lived through a couple smaller hurricanes so I knew that real life was far worse than what you see on the news. Obviously we were not exposed to the hardest hit areas (my mom's best friend Renee' lives in Eastland, MI and she lost everything) but we did see some of it.

If you know me at all you know I talk to everyone. I love meeting new people, hearing their stories. I talked to anyone and everyone who would talk to me during that trip. What I remember the most is how thankful and gracious everyone was to us. From the maids in the hotels to the cab drivers to the other drunken fools out at night. The National Association of Realtors Annual Convention was the first major event in New Orleans after Katrina. They needed us, they needed us to have faith in their ability to rebuild.

So as I'm preparing to pack up and head to San Diego I'm remembering New Orleans. I don't really care if the number was 30k or if it was 25k. We did something good for the city when the city needed us.

As I was in the airport heading home two ladies in front of me were leaving on a business trip. They asked me why I was there. When I told them they both smiled and said, "thank you for coming to our city." No, thank you for setting the example for us and for welcoming us. Just another reason I love what I do.