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More than 1,000 sales associates and guests gathered at Cobb Galleria last Friday for Metro Brokers’ Annual Awards Celebration where they were treated to awards, entertainment and prizes galore!
Throughout the course of the year, sales associates and staff alike await the oncoming celebration with trepidation and excitement. Although the awards banquet was a simple affair with a quiet dinner in years past, it has grown into a lavish production of epic proportions, and each year tops the performance of the last with the spotlight centered on Metro Brokers’ sales associates.
Vice President of Operations Joe Dabbs, host of hosts at this year’s awards celebration, introduced and explained this year’s theme: “Survivor… Outlist, Outsell, Outclose.”
“As a professional with Metro Brokers, the ultimate home delivery company in Georgia, you have not only been surviving in this exciting business of real estate, but also thriving,” explained Dabbs. “And with the support and tools offered by Metro Brokers, you will continue to be a Survivor in this changing market!”
As Dabbs started to call President and CEO Kevin Levent onto the stage, a group of traditionally garbed and masked drummers started to play at the back of the stage. As the performance reached a crescendo, one of the drummers stepped forward and unmasked himself. Amazingly, the drummer had been Levent himself!
Levent continued the excitement with a passionate speech about the success of Metro Brokers throughout 2007 despite the declining housing market. His words both impressed and motivated.
“There is always opportunity in every industry and ours is no different,” Levent said. “There are many people in this room who had their best year in 2007 and look forward to what 2008 brings."
Levent also spoke about how Metro Brokers and other organizations such as the National Association of Realtors are combating negative media to help get the housing market back on track.
After finishing his speech, Levent invited special guest Ed Cook, Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations for GMAC Home Services to the stage. Cook spoke about how Metro Brokers continued to be the #1 GMAC Real Estate franchise in the world and ended by personally giving recognition to the award winners from the recent 2008 GMAC Business Conference held recently in Las Vegas, Nev.
Once again, two sales associates received the Metro Mike Spirit Award, which is voted on by sales associates. Neita Jones of the Rockdale/Newton office and D.L. Moody of the Newnan office joined past winners Ennis Antoine of the Perimeter office, Bernard Strong of the Stone Mountain office, Sue Polley Thomas of the Stockbridge office, Bill Mortensen of the North Fulton office and Darrell Byrd of the Stone Mountain office on stage to participate in the traditional “Metro Mike Spirit dance.”
Metro Brokers also began two new award categories this year: Super Sunday and Agent Website Awards. Here is a list of those awards:
Super Sunday Awards
- Most visitors to a single Super Sunday: Bobbie Pardue with 20 visitors
- Most visitors overall to 2007 Super Sundays: Jean Frost with 68 visitors
- Most open houses hosted using the Open House Pool in 2007: Marvia Korleh hosted 16 open houses
Agent Website Awards (click on the links below to view their website)
- Most unique searches: Dixie Schantz with 2,807 unique searches to her page from Dec. 24, 2007 to Jan. 31, 2008
- Most page views: Francisco Tovar with 8,747 page views from Dec. 24, 2007 to Jan. 31, 2008.
- Best overall website: Kerri Levins. She created a variety of quality, custom pages with sleek designs and good content for visitors.
As always, sales associates took part in a variety of prize giveaways that featured Dell laptops, LCD flat panel TVs, digital cameras, all-in-one printers, Apple iPods and, of course, tons of cash. In fact, the grand total value of prizes for this year eclipsed totals of the past, with Levent giving away more than $60,000 in prizes.
Sales associates were also treated to a sneak preview of next year’s GMAC Business Conference. Centered around a five night cruise to the Caribbean, Experience 2009 will take place aboard the “Jewel,” a luxury Norwegian Cruise Line ship. Throughout the day, Levent gave away 13 tickets for the elegant cruise.
As in prior years, associates received a slew of awards that will appear in the AJC ad scheduled for March 16. Here are the top award winners:
Top Individual Residential Sales Associate Company Wide: Ed Short
Top Assisted Residential Sales Associate Company Wide: Toni Turner and Sandra Watkins
Top Team Residential Sales Associate Company Wide: Toni Turner and Sandra Watkins
Top Commercial Sales Associate: Dottie Wise
Top Business Broker: James Welch
Top Individual Sales Associates:
· Perimeter – Benjy Dubovsky
· Northlake – Anthony Hippeli
· East Cobb – Jamie Hook
· North Fulton – Ed Short
· Gwinnett – Leslie Mathews
· Woodstock – Karen Lance
· Buckhead – Thad Ugha
· West Cobb – Dick Warren
· Stone Mountain – Lelia Fredieu
· Forsyth – Linda Poston
· Douglasville – Kari White
· Hamilton Mill – Kimberly Lamb
· Peachtree City – Wendy Greene
· Clayton – Charles Marable
· Newnan – Haydee Burgess
· Stockbridge – Brianne Drake
· Cartersville – Ray Oates
· Paulding – Prissy Dixon
· McDonough – Stephanie Deep
· Rockdale/Newton – Neita Jones
· Cascade – Regina Crothers
· Ellijay – Joene DePlanck
· Stonecrest – Latrina Clark
Top Assisted Sales Associates:
· Perimeter – Christina Poodt
· Northlake – Janice Brown
· East Cobb – Ann Lindner
· North Fulton – Lynn Erdely
· Gwinnett – Lucia & Joe Brooks
· Woodstock – Toni Turner & Sandra Watkins
· Buckhead – Danny Cargal
· West Cobb – Dorothy McIntosh
· Stone Mountain – N/A
· Forsyth – Brad Carlton
· Douglasville – Wendee & Donald Long
· Hamilton Mill – Doug Baker
· Peachtree City – Linda Stokes, Grady Dorn & Ken Mills
· Clayton – Cornelia & Bernard Brown
· Newnan – N/A
· Stockbridge – Greg Nobles
· Cartersville – Dan Holmes & Mary Walsh
· Paulding – Shamoin Parks & Lunaria Ross
· McDonough – Bob & Rosemary Spence
· Rockdale/Newton – Teri Dobbs
· Cascade – Bernard Strong
· Ellijay – Bobbie Pardue
· Stonecrest – Shirley Allen |