April 10, 2020
TO: IAAO Members
RE: IAAO Weekly Update
While
this week was devastating to those who lost loved ones, it appears
there are some glimmers of hope that the American public's embrace of
social distancing and other restrictions is sharply reducing projections
of the death toll from the Coronavirus.
It
gives us hope that better days are ahead and that we will be able to go
back to our regular schedules, including going back to work and getting
out in the world. One thing I hope doesn’t change though, is the
patience and kindness toward one another we are seeing demonstrated all
across the world.
When
that will be? Well, that appears to be the million-dollar question, and
it depends on who you listen to. But one thing you can count on, is
that IAAO will continue doing all we can to meet you where you are, and
provide the best services and products we can to help you manage through
these difficult times. If there is something specific you need, please
let us know!
Resiliency
and flexibility seem to be the predominant theme right now. After long
reflection, we made the decision to cancel the Prep & Trial Seminar
scheduled for Des Moines in June. President Rasmussen was looking
forward to hosting the seminar in her hometown, and we are hoping to
reschedule it to 2021. The Legal Task Force was working diligently, to
provide a new program on a CVS case out of Hillsborough County, FL. It
is a great program and will be very interesting, so we urge you to
consider attending next year.
Annual Conference - Planning for the 2020 Annual Conference
continues and we hope it will take place as scheduled, in Denver, Aug.
30-Sept. 2. We are monitoring the news and events in Denver, while
exploring all potential alternatives to ensure we make the best decision
possible. If IAAO makes any changes, we will let you know as soon as
possible.
GIS programs
- As you know, the 2020 GIS Valuation Technologies was cancelled. In
spite of that, the sponsors and exhibitors have been developing learning
experiences to connect with attendees virtually. URISA and IAAO are
pleased to offer several opportunities featuring Vision Government
Solutions, Nearmap, Aumentum Technologies, and PivotPoint. When
additional opportunities are developed they will be listed online at https://www.urisa.org/valtech#virtualevents.
IAAO Classes - The IAAO team continues to work to make additional online classes available. By Monday an online version of Course 331 - Mass Appraisal Practices & Procedures
will be released. The course, previously available in a group cohort
version, is now available for students to complete at their own pace.
The new 331, along with other IAAO online courses, are available for 15% off if purchased during April. Just use code ECOURSE15OFF. Also check out the IAAO course map for newly announced live online courses put on by third party organizations.
Webinars
- On April 8th, IAAO partnered with Esri to bring our members a timely
webinar titled ‘GIS Tools, Templates and Free Resources for COVID-19’.
There were over 725 people registered and the presenters provided a
wealth of information. A recording
of it can be found on the web and we encourage you to listen if you
weren’t able to join us. In these challenging financial times, many
people have questions on investments. Pat Smith of Midwest Trust, who
oversees investments for IAAO, will present a free webinar on Friday,
April 17 on Financial Market Mayhem—Seeing Our Way Through the Turmoil
and will review topics covering the effect of COVID-19 on financial
markets, the economy, monetary policy, interest rates and
saving/investing for retirement. From both a personal and professional
perspective, this should be an interesting webinar. In addition, the third installment of the Excel webinar series by David Cornell, CAE, will be presented live on April 15, and a two-part Personal Property: Basics and Beyond
webinar, presented by Lisa A. Hobart, CAE, PPS, FIAAO, ASA, will take
place on April 24 and May 4. And remember, previously recorded webinars
are 50% off using code WEBINAR50OFF.
IAAO Personalized Training for R
- IAAO is now offering personalized training on the R software for
modeling and spatial analysis, through screen sharing and video
conferencing. Paul Bidanset, IAAO Valuation Research Project Manager
(and Ph.D. candidate), who has presented at many IAAO and industry
events on modeling and other topics, will be providing the training. You
can learn R, using real data from your jurisdiction or with data
supplied by IAAO. Contact Paul at bidanset@iaao.org for cost details on R training or any other specific training requests.
We
understand the anxiety that today’s uncertainty can cause for you in
your home jurisdictions. We want to assure you that everyone at IAAO is
working diligently to maintain the high-quality products and services
that you have come to trust from IAAO. There are weekly full staff
meetings in addition to departmental meetings, the Executive Committee
meets every Monday afternoon, the Finance Committee is meeting
regularly, and we are having the April Board of Directors meeting via
Zoom at the end of the month. We are also surveying members to determine needs.
These
are uncharted waters, but we are extremely proud of how everyone has
come together to make the most well-informed decisions we can for our
staff, our members and our organization. You have been hearing the 2020
motto for several months now, but we believe it is even more meaningful
at these unsure times.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
We will get through this . . . together!
| Amy Rasmussen, RES, AAS, FIAAO |
Ronald Worth |
| IAAO President |
IAAO Executive Director |
|
