Hey, CCIM: Where Can I Meet Ann?

The Real Estate Skinny... So I'm reading the real estate section of the Wall Street Journal ( Aug 16, 2006), and I see an advertisement with a barebacked woman getting a massage under the heading "Meet Ann, Live the Life."

Apparently she's a real estate broker, and her workday starts at 8:55 a.m. and ends at 4:44 p.m. (when she gets her massage). During the day, she runs a demographic report, markets her new $15.2 million listing and closes another listing. Wow. This lady is hot -- metaphorically speaking.

Who is she? Her name is "Ann Green, CCIM." So I go to the CCIM Institute web site, click Find a Professional (under the Resources tab) and look up the last name Green. I find thirteen Greens, but no Ann Green. Oops.

So I send an e-mail to my friend, Edward Bury, Director of Public Relations, at the CCIM Institute (sponsor of this week's Dispatch, thank you!). Who is she?

It turns out that "Ann Green" is one of three "fictional" characters appearing in CCIM's new advertising campaign (the others are "Theodore Williams III" and "Jane Mathews"). According to R. J. Sirois, Senior Director of Communications:

"The ultimate message of the campaign is you too can live the good life by becoming a member of the CCIM Institute and taking advantage of the benefits of membership. The ads focus on the CCIM core competencies of networking, education and technology."

I like it. As Dispatch readers know, I’m a big fan of humor. "Not only can humor reduce stress and help produce happier, healthier employees, but it can also enhance people's ability to retain and recall information and connect and cooperate with one another." That’s Ron Culberson of FUNsulting speaking to Fast Company ("Laughing Your Way to Success," Apr 1, 2006). I agree!

-- Peter Pike