Meet Your Org Execs: SIOR

When he's not officiating hockey games, you'll find Op2mize SVP David Liebman at the helm of SIOR Chicago Chapter. He got involved with the org in '99 (when he was president of AIRE), after being in the business about 10 years and has only missed one biannual SIOR national conference since (we assume for something Blackhawks-related). After faithful service volunteering on committees, David this year became president of the chapter, which has 167 active brokers (one of the largest chapters in the country). His major initiatives have included a complete website reboot to create a more robust, content-filled destination for brokers and a strong recruitment effort to get more office brokers involved in the primarily industrial network.

Snapped with his wife Mimi last month in Israel before a jeep tour in the Golan Heights. His other big push: social media. He notes that while residential real estate has proved to be an early adaptor of technology, commercial seems to be the old dog set in its ways. (You certainly can't get it to fetch.) He closed a 3,500 SF office lease thanks to LinkedIn and sees the social networks as an extension of in-person networking and business development. The big challenge in Chicago's slow slog out of the recession is new business, and David's noticed more brokers teaming up with friendly competitors on assignments. (He also credits an SIOR referral for a recent 45k SF renewal in Lincolnshire.) Outside of the office, you'll find him calling the shots at hockey games, skiing, golfing, or checking out a CSO performance in the city.