News
You've Come A Long Way, BOMA
November 6, 2012
| Proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same: In 1912, the Fairmont Hotel successfully hosted Seattle's first-ever BOMA International Expo. Well, the Fairmont Olympic's Spanish Ballroom was the setting for BOMA Seattle/King County's Centennial Gala last week. (Judging by the number of bow ties and white shirts, clothing also likes to stay the same.) |
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| We suppose there have been a few small improvements in Seattle history during the past century (the Smith Tower, the Seafirst Building, the rise of South Lake Union, the opening of Top Pot Doughnuts), and BOMA has been there for all of it. Here's BOMA Seattle chairman Earl Wayman of Kidder Mathews and his wife Martine with former chair Janice Olson and Sterling Realty property manager Rebecca Riesen. Janice called the advent of women in building management in Seattle "relatively painless," though she did note that at her first BOMA luncheon in 1979, the men thought she was the server and wondered why she was sitting on the job. |
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| BOMA 2010-2011 chairman Coleen Spratt of CommonWealth Partners toasted the contributions of women in the industry, not the least of which was infiltrating the annual BOMA Golf Tournament. Rebecca was a member of the first women's foursome to sign up for the 18-hole extravaganza, and BOMA president Jack Dierdorff told Janice in 1980 that if she ever got a team of women together, he'd caddy for them. When Janice finally made it happen in 1985, Jack was as good as his word— that year and the 19 that followed. |
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| Howard Anderson & Associates' Howard Anderson moderated a panel that included past BOMA chairs and executives Bill Bannecker and Bill Dickinson and past executives Frank Tief and Ron Miller. Bill B., BOMA chair from 1977-1979, remembers when rental rates were $2.50/SF "and operating costs were $2.35." (And people had to wait in line for gas in New Jersey... oh wait.) Vacancy rates in Seattle during the 1970s were reported at 7%, but "everybody lied in those days; it was closer to 10%," Bill recalled. "It was a beautiful world." |
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| BOMA Seattle/King County prez Rod Kauffman got his start as a security manager at the Space Needle in the 1970s and rose to be director of property management there before coming to BOMA in 1994. This year, he coordinated the BOMA International Convention, which Seattle hosted for the fifth time in June. To honor his years of service, Rod, who loves to fish, was given a gift certificate to Bend, Ore. or Suncadia, and a hearty standing ovation. |
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| BOMA International chairman Joe Markling, managing director of strategic accounts with CBRE in Los Angeles, made it out for the reception and gala and reminded the members of BOMA's we're-all-in-this-together spirit, "even when we try to steal business from each other." He also noted that the decisions made by the members in the Spanish ballroom would influence BOMA and the city for the next 100 years. Here's to those. |
