Gary Bourque
Gary Bourque is a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser and President of Central Mass Appraisals, Inc., a real estate appraisal company specializing in residential valuation since 1986. He is also President of Bourque Realty, Inc., a real estate sales firm located in Leominster and servicing buyers and sellers for over 27 years.
Gary is a past Board member of the North Central Massachusetts Association of Realtors and currently serves on various committees including Finance, Education, Real Estate School, Professional Standards (Chair), and Orientation where he is also an instructor for the Code of Ethics and many other real estate and real estate appraisal classes.
He is also a certified instructor for qualifying and continuing education at many state boards including Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Gary is also a Nationally Certified AQB USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) instructor by the Appraisal Foundation instructing appraisal classes in multiple states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
Gary was awarded the North Central Massachusetts Association of Realtors Instructor of the Year for 2004 & 2005 and was awarded the Massachusetts Association of Realtors Instructor of the Year for 2008.
A Cum Laude graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a concentration in Economics, Gary is a licensed member of the Appraisal Institute and the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers and a designated member of the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers. Gary can be contacted at gary@appraisalman.net |
Amy Chorew Amy Chorew is a national instructor highly experienced in helping managers and agents maximize the opportunities that technology offers them. Her knowledge of the industry and the latest technologies available along with her unique ability to translate it all into easy to understand language make her a consistently top-rated trainer throughout the country. She teaches CE, GRI and skill development courses across American and Canada delivered live and through webinars.
In 2009, her expertise in the area of Social Networking and the tremendous impact it is having on the industry has given agents and brokers the tools to move from traditional marketing to Web 2.0 marketing. Amy has created a webinar and coaching series that companies are using their agents to help thrive in this market.
She shows agents how online video, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts and other multi-media tools are an effective way to capture today’s buyers and sellers.
Amy is president of The Techbyte, delivering technology training to companies and sales associates. She is also Learning Director for SMMInstitute – the Social Media Marketing Institute – a two day designation for social media – using it ethically and responsibly.
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 Andy ConsoliAndrew has been teaching real estate and first time buyer classes for over 15 years. He is the owner of a state licensed real estate school (ABC Real Estate Training Institute). He is a certified real estate instructor in New Hampshire and Massachusetts as well as the owner of ABC Home Inspection, Inc. He is a member of REEA (Real Estate Educators Association) and NEARST (New England Association of Radon Scientist). He has received Official Citation from Massachusetts State Senate in recognition for years of support in first time buyers education, nominated real estate instructor for the Massachusetts Board of The REALTORS® in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Andrew has written over 20 courses for real estate and home inspection professionals. Also, produced the ABC Real Estate Salesperson CD Course. He teaches the New EPA-HUD-RRP course for contractors. Andrew holds several state licenses. He is a licensed real estate Broker in MA & NH, exterminator, construction supervisor, air conditioning technician, heating technician, 203 K consultant, Title V inspector, real estate instructor, home inspector, certified home improvement contractor, certified lead safe renovator and supervisor moderate risk deleader, MCAD certified fair housing instructor. |
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Ron France
Vice President of Industry Relations, Realtors Property Resource
Ron is a second generation Realtor and a broker in NYS. He was a pioneer with Realtor.com where he worked for 10 years as the Eastern Regional Sales Director and Major Accounts Executive.
Ron was also the Eastern Regional Manager for Realty USA, the largest independent real estate company in New York State, where he managed two award winning offices.
He later became an Industry Relations Manager for Cyberhomes.com and now has joined his former Cyberhomes and Realtor.com counterparts at the National Association of Realtors, Realtors Property Resource where Ron is Vice President of Industry Relations.
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David Friedman 
David Friedman is the President and Founder of Boston Logic Technology Partners, Inc.
His company’s mission is to help Real Estate businesses succeed by leveraging the web with software, online marketing, web design, and strategic consulting services. David’s success and seasoned expertise in these disciplines has set him apart as a uniquely insightful and strategic player in the web 2.0 space.
David has served on panels around the country, and has spoken to groups large and small for an array of diverse audiences including lawyers, real estate agents, internet entrepreneurs and senior business executives. A dynamic speaker who specializes in helping professionals stay competitive online, David makes it his personal mission to empower his listeners with tangible ideas.
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Jared James
As a Realtor, Jared James built one of the largest and fastest growing teams in the country, was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for the world’s largest real estate company, wrote a best-selling book and was even voted by the over 2 million readers of the international publication REALTOR Magazine as their #1 Realtor in the country under the age of 30… all before the age of 28.
Currently Jared James is the CEO & Founder of Jared James Enterprises (JJE) and travels around North America and Europe speaking to and training Realtors on how to remain relevant and increase their incomes in today’s market place.
He is a featured speaker for RE/MAX International’s Coaching Hall of Fame Series alongside Brian Buffini and Richard Robbins and runs regular Webinars and training for nationally known organizations like NAR, CRS, Yahoo Real Estate and Zillow.com as well as the members of one of the largest real estate blogging and networking sites in the world, ActiveRain.com
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Anita Hill
Anita Hill is the owner of Anita Hill Training & Seminars and has spent over 31 years establishing her credentials in the field of real estate with an emphasis on training and education. She creates and presents educational programs that are current, relevant, and innovative to a variety of organizations and companies throughout New England.
Anita’s in depth knowledge, skill at conveying a concept and easy manner make her a much sought after instructor.
She has been a guest speaker at several Massachusetts Association of Realtors, New Hampshire Association of Realtors and Vermont Association of Realtors conventions and educational conferences. She is an Instructor for the Certified Buyer Representative (CBR) and the Accredited Seller Representative (ASR) course, a GRI instructor for New Hampshire Association of Realtors and teaches their new agent training program entitled “Real Estate Professional Series”, an instructor for the Real Estate Brokerage Professional Ethic s course for the Vermont Association of Realtors and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. She is an instructor for the “Realty Guild”, a group of independent offices in Massachusetts.
Anita is a member of the Real Estate Educators Association, as well as a past member of the GMAC National Training Advisory Board.
She has served as an advisor and chairperson for the Continuing Education Development and Review committee of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers & Salespersons. For over 20 years, Anita has participated in writing test questions for the Massachusetts real estate exam and in June of 2007 participated in writing test questions for the National Real Estate Exam.
As the former director of professional development for Carlson GMAC real estate, she developed training programs for new and experienced agents and managers. She is the author of seventh and eighth edition of “Massachusetts Real Estate Practice and Law” published by Dearborn Real Estate Education.
Anita has been named Educator of the Year by the Realty Guild, the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors, and the Northeast Association of Realtors.
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Jeff Holmes
In his position as Regional Director for the East Region, Jeff maximizes his 15 years of Property and Casualty sales experience specializing in all lines of coverage. He has held various positions with local Homeowners Associations, and is currently pursuing his CPCU designation to even better serve his clients. He has a solid understanding of identifying exposures and developing risk management programs to reduce claims. In addition to his professional liability expertise, Jeff has affinity relationship experience with associations throughout New England.
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Linda Kody Linda is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Massachusetts as well as New Hampshire, and has her CBR. A licensed Instructor of Real Estate and has instructed such classes as MAR’s Loss Mitigation Certification Class, First Time Buyers certificate class and courses at Northern Essex Community College
Linda is a member of North East Board of REALTORS® and a Certified Corporate Property Specialist with over 22 years residential sales experience. Linda is the Chairperson of Professional Standards and was REALTOR® of the Year, NEAR 2006 and in 2004 Educator of the Year, NEAR. She is a broker owner of Kody & Company, Inc since 2000 and also owned Corporate Preferred Realty, Inc from 1992 - 2000.
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Heather Logrippo
Heather Logrippo is an advertising, marketing and social media expert. Having helped grow an internet company from $1 million to $500 million dollars, she leveraged her experience to grow her own company, Distinctive Homes Magazine into a flourishing multi media advertising solution for the Real Estate industry. Heather is also the President and CEO of Expose Yourself Public Relations firm, a company that helps businesses leverage the power of the media to help grow their brands.
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Tom Matthew & Joanne Paleo Taranto
The Tom and Joanne Team
Tom Matthews and Joanne Paleo Taranto joined Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty with 8 years of experience and over 193 successfully closed transactions. Prior to joining our team, Tom and Joanne were recognized by the Prudential Real Estate Network for their level of service and production, and were given the President's Circle award in 2009, an honor awarded to less than 5% of the 64,000 agents in North America. The team has become successful in three niche markets, sellers that have been unsuccessful selling (expired listings), first time sellers moving up to their dream home, and first time home buyers all within 10 miles of Weston. They also specialize in luxury real estate in the Weston area. A large portion of their success is contributed to their hard work, persistence, and involvement in Business Networking International (BNI). Tom is the immediate past President of the Minuteman Chapter in Concord, MA, and Joanne is the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Cachet Club in Wellesley. Tom and Joanne's tagline is, 'Creating Clients for Life'.
About Tom
Tom Matthews was born in Newton, MA. He graduated from Acton-Boxboro High School before attending UMass Amherst and graduating Magna Cum Laude. He has been a top Producing Agent for the past eight years. Tom continually strives for improvement, as is evident by his accreditations and education. In 2007, he participated in an invitation only Leadership Training Program of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Additionally, Tom completed the course work for the CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) designation which is held by less than 4% of Realtors nationally. Finally, Tom is a certified real estate trainer and in 2007 completed the Instructor Training Institute (ITI) program.
About Joanne
Joanne Paleo Taranto came to the New England area from Chappaqua, NY to attend Boston College as a division one scholarship athlete. While in college, she pursued a degree in communications and was a varsity swimmer for four years. Upon graduation, Joanne decided to stay in the area and immediately chose a career in real estate. After forming the team, Joanne became a top producer very quickly. She is committed to furthering her real estate education and currently holds her ASR (Accredited Seller Representative) designation, ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative) designation, and the LMC (Loss Mitigation Certification) designation. Joanne is a tremendous residential Realtor and also the team’s marketing director. She has designed thousands of unique marketing pieces to better position their seller clients in this competitive real estate market. Joanne is very involved in both the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) and the Greater Boston Association of Realtors (MAR). She is an active member and has served as a past President of the GBAR Community Service Committee where they run an annual Furniture Drive to collect household goods to benefit the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. She is currently a part of the, by invitation only, MAR Leadership Academy class of 2011.
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Michael McDonagh
Michael is Associate Counsel for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®.
Mike was been with the Association since 2001. For four years Mike worked as the Legal Assistant, working to support our Legal and Government Affairs efforts. He has also worked for two years as the Legal & Legislative Affairs Coordinator for the Association working on grassroots efforts for both state and federal issues affecting the real estate industry.
Mike is a graduate for Providence College, and the New England School of Law where he served as an editor of the New England Law Review.
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Meli Morash
Born and raised Istanbul Turkey and Real Estate Agent since 1992 in Western MA.
Almost 20 year experience Meli earned ABR, CRS, CIPS, GRI, SRES, TRC , AHWD and Graduated from Floyd Wickman’s Master Academy.
Member of Pioneer Valley Realtors , 2000 President of MA CRS , Board of Directors 2000-2001 , MAR International Advisory Council Board Vice Chair 2009 , Since 2009 National Association of Realtors President's Liaison to Turkey and currently still serving as.
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Robert J. Nahigian, FRICS, SIOR, CRE
Robert J. Nahigian, has thirty-five years of real estate experience with twenty-seven years exclusively in commercial and industrial as a developer, advisor, expert witness and broker of approximately $4.6 billion of real estate totaling 36 million square feet. He is a “NAR Mass. Certified Real Estate Mediator” and arbitrator. Rob was awarded by Boston’s Commercial Brokers Association the “2005, 2004 and 2003 Advisory Assignment of the Year”; “2001 Industrial Deal of The Year” and “Distinguished Achievements in Commercial Leasing”. He was nominated as “2003 Boston’s Commercial Broker of the Year” and was honored by Banker & Tradesman as “Top 125 Business Leaders in Massachusetts”. He was featured by various publications as “Movers and Shakers of Real Estate”; “People to Watch in New England Real Estate”; “Who’s Who in New England Real Estate”; “Who’s Who in the East”; “Who’s Who in America” and “Who’s Who in Residential and Commercial Real Estate”. |
Jody O'Brien, GRI, CBR 
Jody possesses a wealth of experience both as a practitioner and an educator. During her real estate career, she was a consistent multi-million dollar producer who accumulated substantial sales recognition awards including Multi Million Dollar Club, Master Level Sales Associate and the recipient of the President’s Citation for excellence in customer service. Jody was the 2003 President of the Northeast Association of REALTORS® and since 1998, a member of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. She has been actively involved in her local association as liaison to the Northern Region Education Partnership, Chair of the Education, Convention, and Events committees, as well as a new member orientation instructor. Her service awards include Chairperson of the Year Award (twice), 1999 Distinguished Service Award, and 2003 Educator of the Year.
She has been active in the state association since 1995 serving on the Education committee, GRI, Professional Development and Agency Task Force, and Events committee. Jody is an instructor of continuing education courses for many associations in Massachusetts. She has also been a featured speaker at several local and national real estate conventions.
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 Linda O’ConnorLinda was named 2007 Educator of the Year for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. A REALTOR® for over twenty-five years, she has twice been named REALTOR® of the year for the North Shore Association of REALTORS®. A 2007 CRS Chapter President and 2005 CRS of the year for Massachusetts, as well as a GRI (Graduate REALTOR® Institute) and Certified CE (Continuing Education) instructor for Massachusetts, her classes are filled with energy and interaction! O’Connor is the master at finding concept connections, energy connections, and people connections, and class participants leave energized and informed. |
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Ana Portillo
Broker Owner
Global Gateway Realty Group LLC, Arlington, MA,
Diplomat
Consulate General of Mexico in Boston, MA, Deputy Consul General of Mexico to New England
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mexico City, Mexico, Program Manager, General Coordination of Women's issues,
Mexican Embassy, Bern, Switzerland, Cultural Attaché
Mexican Embassy, Lisbon, Portugal,Diplomatic Officer and Commercial Attaché, Economic, Commercial and Tourism Section.
Real Estate Designations
• Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR )
• Loss Mitigation Certification (LMC)
• Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
• At Home with Diversity (AHWD)
• Certified International Real Estate Specialist (CIPS)
• Transnational Referral Certification (TRC)
• Quality Service Certification (QSC)
Current Leadership Roles
• National Association of Realtors President. Liaison to Portugal 2010-2011
• International Council of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Chairwoman 2009-2011
• International Council of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. Vice-Chair 2007-2008
• Partners of the Americas; Massachusetts Chapter. Board of Directors 2006-Present
• Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Boston. Board of Directors (Membership Development and Services) 2007-Present
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 Steve Ryan, Esq.Steve Ryan is General Counsel for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. He answers legal questions from members on the MAR Legal Hotline. In addition he reviews and drafts proposed legislation on behalf of REALTORS®. Steve is a graduate of Bentley College and The New England School of Law and attended The Graduate Tax Program at Boston University Law School. Prior to joining the legal staff at MAR, he worked as a volunteer prosecutor in Middlesex County and as a Conveyancing Attorney for First Eastern Mortgage Corporation.
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Paula K. Savard, ABR, CRB,CRS ,GRI,e-PRO
Paula is CEO of Aberman Associates in Lancaster Ma and has practices real estate , moving people and coordinating selling and buying on a daily basis for over 35 years.
Paula is a Training Instructor in Professional Standards, Certified by the National Association for REALTORS® where she is currently serving as the associations’ Vice Chair of the Legal Action Committee. She was the 1997 Regional Vice president for the New England States and is a past president of the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. In 1999 and 2008 she served as the Liason between the Law and Policy committees and the Executive/Leadership Team for the National Association of REALTORS®. She is currently a Mediator for the North Central Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® and Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®, having been trained by the Framingham District Court Mediators. She has served as Chair of the Professional Standards Committee for the National Association of REALTORS® and as Chair of the Interpretations Subcommittee. She was the first REALTOR® at NAR to Chair both Pro Stand and Multiple Listing Policy Committees.
In 2003, Paula was the Massachusetts REALTOR® of the Year.
She owns an airplane and is a licensed private pilot. 60% of her time is listing and selling real estate.
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Mike Selvaggio, CRS
Mike Selvaggio entered the real estate business since 1975. He is a licensed broker and REALTOR(R) in Delaware and Pennsylvania. He sells and lists homes and also actively markets new-home communities.
Selvaggio was named REALTOR(R) of the Year in 1990 for the state of Delaware. He has served as President of the Delaware Association of Realtors(R) and President of his local board. He has been published internationally and continues to write articles and instructional DVD and CDs.
As a Life Director for the Home Builder’s Association of Delaware, Mike has been able to bring sales and marketing ideas to students that not only work, but have been “field tested.” His two most exciting professional accomplishments were earning the CRS and CCIM designations. He thoroughly enjoys educational sessions with other real estate professionals.
Mike is a Senior Instructor with the Council of Residential Specialists, an affiliate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, and served as the 2008 National President of the Council of Residential Specialists. He is also one of five nationally certified Ninja Selling Instructors. He has taught thousands of REALTORS throughout the United States and the Bahamas.
Selvaggio, a Realtor® since 1975, has made a career-long commitment to education. He is a senior CRS Course Instructor, and he has honed his leadership skills while serving as President of his local board of REALTORS® and as President of the Delaware Association of REALTORS®. He also has served on many Council committees.
Selvaggio says his leadership experience has taught him a lot about working with people. “I’ve learned that you need to give what you want to receive. You always have the opportunity to grow by getting involved with the right people,” he says. “There are two kinds of people in the world — those who give energy and those who take it away. I’m proud to say that, through CRS, I have met a tremendous number of those in the first category.”
Selvaggio opened his own Ninja style real estate company, Delaware Homes, in 2007. He attributes much of his career and his company’s success to the training he received through the Council’s education program. “The CRS Courses helped me understand everything that I did not know, and then taught me everything I should be doing. It was the defining difference in my career,” Selvaggio says.
He adds that while the current housing market presents challenges for Realtors®, there are also opportunities. “I have been coaching agents who work in some very challenging markets across the country, and I believe that attitude — of REALTORS®, the public and the press — has been a major factor in what is happening in residential real estate. We professionals can recognize that now is a terrific time to buy, not only for our buyer clients, but for ourselves! There are tremendous opportunities for people who want to own their own homes,” Selvaggio says.
The Council of Residential Specialists, the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS® with more than 38,000 members worldwide, awards the CRS designation to experienced REALTORS® who have completed advanced professional training in residential real estate.
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Spencer Taylor
After graduating from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT with at BA in Environmental Studies Spencer worked as a web administrator and marketer for Gearx.com, a leading online outdoor gear company. After leaving Gearx.com Spencer worked independently partnering with a number of web developers on projects for local and national businesses. Spencer joined Union Street Media in the fall of 2008 as an Account Manager and Web Strategist and has worked there ever since. Spencer really enjoys his work at Union Street Media. He finds spending days speaking to people all over the world who are involved in every possible organization and business to be such an enjoyable and interdisciplinary exercise that it makes no day the same. He values the opportunity to give clients the advice and tools that will help them succeed in their online ventures.
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Additional speaker biographies coming soon...
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