IU Real Estate club to travel to Chicago

Today 25 IU Real Estate club members will travel to Chicago. They are not going to see the sites, but rather to expand their network by interacting with and listening to some of the most distinguished real estate professionals in the area. \nFor the second year, the Collegiate Real Estate Conference will offer college students from various Midwest schools the chance to examine the real estate business. This year, attending schools include DePaul University, IU and University of Illinois. \n"Events like this provide students with excellent networking opportunities and information to make better career decisions," said Dr. Jeff Fisher, advisor of the club and Dunn professor of Real Estate studies at IU. \nFisher is the 20-year sponsor of the Real Estate club. \nFisher and Susanne Cannon, director of the Real Estate Center at DePaul, are the coordinators of the conference. \nThe conference is a one-day event that includes a Keynote panel and breakout sessions. Keynote speakers are all executives in their firms. This year, topics for the breakout sessions include construction, brokerage, property management, development, lending and the public sector.\nSome of the companies participating in the conference include Heitman Real Estate Investment Management, Crescent Real Estate Equities, Johnson/Souza Group and Inland Real Estate Sales Incorporated.\nJoe Check, an IU senior and finance real estate major, is the vice president of operations for the club and helped organize the conference.\n"The conference educates, informs and hopefully provides opportunities for employment for the attending students," Check said. \nHe also said that breakout sessions are a great way for students to explore the many facets of real estate. "Students can explore the focuses of the business and begin to develop a more directed career plan," he said.\nFollowing the conference, IU participants will host a dinner reception for the IU alumni real estate professionals.\n"It is another great way to see where students from our school have succeeded," Check said. "This is a more personal time for advising and social networking."\nFisher said he was pleased that the Center for Real Estate Studies is able to support students in the Real Estate Club to attend events like the Collegiate Real Estate Conference in Chicago. Because of that support, club members enjoy room, board and dinner for $30.