There is something about world travel that gets up the noses of estate agents and surveyors in this country.
So, when a picture appeared on the RICS’s Facebook page of a load of delegates on what MPs used to call ‘a fact finding tour’ which took them to Washington, it did not take long for members to express their ire.
Did they go business class? Couldn’t the whole thing have been handled more cheaply by a conference call? How “bloody much” (we quote) did this “jolly” (another quote) cost the membership?
Nearly a fortnight later, plus several thousand words of diatribe, accusation and rebuttal on the RICS’s LinkedIn page (who would have thought the RICS could be so entertaining?) and the controversy is still going strong.
The RICS delegates were, by the way, in Washington to learn how to measure up rooms.
We may have over-simplified that slightly, but that is the gist of it.
The annual US realtors’ conference, fondly attended by top brass at the NAEA, has drawn similar flak in the past.
Organisations might like to think of themselves as increasingly global – but is it really what the local members always want, especially when times are tough and subscriptions don’t seem cheap?
https://tinyurl.com/naqr4v7
Comments
I think the point was that ITZA means ITZA and not ITZA plus a bit of ZB (Its a valuation thing)
When in Rome...................
When you go on holiday dont epect the foreign folks to understand what you say.
Likewise when buying abroad accept the measurements as noted but then go along and see for yourself if the rooms are big enough.
Do not need some pillock trying to get all measurements universal. Never had anyone look at details and buy without an inspection.
Be fair; a worldwide conference to standardise measurement from one country to another was a valid reason for this particular trip. It wasn't a booze and schmooze cruise, it had purpose.
That said, reading through the Linkedin posting string around this story , a lot of the frustrations from ordinary NFoPP members from a few years back are seemingly now being echoed by ordinary RICS members.
This story was an opportunity for one member to express their frustration. It was nice to see how the decorum of the conversation was helped by people posting with their real identities.
PBK - Is this what 'Global Residential Director' means - Free 'jollies' on the membership etc! to learn to measure rooms. One wonders if there were a few of these when you also found time to mess up NAEA & ARLA before leaving with virtually no notice period.