It took me a while, but I found it! After flipping through several years’ worth of back issues of BSR, I came across the first “From the Editor” column ever included. The column debuted in the July/August 2010 issue.
I decided to undertake this search because the column was written by former BSR Editor in Chief Karen Dumond. If you don’t know Karen, she was most recently MAR’s Chief Operating Officer, and, this September, she retired from MAR after 28 years.
Over her time at MAR, Karen held many roles. But when it came to the magazine, her editor in chief title almost understates her contributions to its success. She was more like the magazine’s mother because she certainly treated it like it was one of her kids.
The decision to add the “From the Editor” column wasn’t taken lightly by Karen. However, I can tell you that I was all for it for two reasons. The first was that it gave the magazine a voice from behind the curtain so-to-speak. Second, Karen is a very good writer and I knew our readers would enjoy hearing from her.
So, what did Karen write about in her first column? The title was “Midyear Resolutions” and it covered a range of topics such as the availability of the Home Buyers Tax Credit. Do you remember that? She also looked at the market and advertising campaigns of both the National Association of REALTORS® and MAR. And she ended her first column by encouraging members to work on some new goals into their “midyear” resolutions.
Thank you, Karen, for all that you did for BSR and me.
Awards Season:
What makes this one of the most fun issues to put together is that we get to feature the recipients of three MAR awards. We presented these awards at our annual Professional Awards Reception that took place at the MGM Springfield the night before the MAR Conference & Trade Show.
I always wanted to be…
If you ever watched the TV show, Seinfeld, you might recall that there are several episodes in which George Costanza either pretends or wants to pretend, to be an architect. Well, I can’t say I’ve ever gone as far as George, but in my mind, I want to “pretend” to be an economist. So, I probably get a little too excited when we have economists as part of the magazine. This issue is one of those times. In our 5QW column, we ask Professor Alicia Sasser Modestino, Ph.D. to talk about her work on housing and workforce development at Northeastern University’s Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy.