Network Thank-You Event in St. Cloud

Yesterday, August 5th, 2009, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center had the opportunity to thank almost 100 of our housing counselors and their managers at a special "Thank-You" event we hosted in St. Cloud: "Housing Counseling: Facing Challenges, Realizing Success"

The day started with an inspirational message from keynote speaker, Greg Risberg - who had the crowd laughing/crying/cheering for over an hour. Greg's message was "You're Making a Difference" - - a great message for the counselors, and Center staff, to hear!



You can hear/see much people enjoyed Greg's presentation here (video shot during one of his breakout/discussion points):

Greg's presentation was followed by a buffet lunch and then an afternoon of breakout sessions. The first round of breakout sessions included peer-led discussions on:

• Effective Negotiation Strategies for Working with Servicers
• Engaging Consumers in Pre-Purchase Counseling
• Transitioning Families Through Foreclosure
• Maximizing Home Stretch Workshops

The next round of breakout sessions included topics by local experts:

• Stephen Wreh-Wilson from the African Development Center spoke on: Immigrants, Communities and Regional Development: A Minnesota Perspective

• Kristin Fischer Rosel from the public Relations firm Himle Horner spoke on: Public Relations, Working Effectively with Local Media; and

• Michael Grover of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis spoke on: Today's Housing Market and Trends.

The day ended with an informal social hour with drinks and appetizers.

All-in-all it was an entertaining, refreshing and, of course, educational day! A HUGE thank-you to the statewide network of Housing Counselors - - you really are making a difference!

Additional Photos from the event will be available on our FlickR gallery shortly!

UPDATE: Photos are up on FlickR!!