Forget AIG, are we as wasteful?

This may be a little late considering the event took place in January and was actually scheduled probably the year before that but I have been ranting about waste so I thought it was appropriate. This particular article is about the NAR. For those of you that are members you know we recently paid an extra fee to the association for increased awareness or something like that. I'm still not sure what the extra fifty bucks was for but I paid it. In a time when we see large companies and even the government consumed with wasteful spending the extra fee made me think we should look at our own house.

In January the National Association of Realtors was the proud sponsor of a beautiful float in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Yes, I even tuned in to watch for the float since it was being so heavily marketed to us. We could watch pod casts of the making of the float and interviews with the officers of the NAR about how great this was and how it brought so much exposure to our association. We should be so proud. It was featured in the association's magazine and multiple e-mails were sent out to remind us of this great achievement.

After the parade, I actually went over to a family member's house to watch some football. I knew the guys had not watched the parade but maybe the women had. I knew my mom watched it every year. I ask them if they watched and sure enough 6 of them had watched the whole parade and loved it. They went on and on about the beautiful floats and how it is such a tradition. Then I asked them what they thought about the NAR float. They looked puzzled. My mom asked me, "which one was it". I described it and she said she thought she remembered it. Some others starting saying they were all beautiful and it was hard to remember just one. In other words they had no idea which one I was referring to.

So this is where it all comes together. Everyone is complaining about wasteful spending, should we start with ourselves? The float was touted as a great way to bring exposure to the NAR and a great marketing engine. People would see it and realize what a great contribution that Realtors are to the marketplace. Well, in my family anyway, no one even remembered it or even knew who sponsored it. So was it worth it? Did we get the great exposure we were hoping for?

I want to hear other members opinions on this. Perhaps the money could have been better spent elsewhere. Perhaps if we had not sponsored a float in a parade it would not have been necessary to add an additional fee this year. A year when the real estate market is the worst in three decades and agents are struggling to survive. What do you think. Am I eating sour grapes or should this be a concern. Does the old adage of "people who live in glass houses..." apply here. Should we be criticizing the spending habits of others if we are being wasteful ourselves? Let me know what you think.