UW Real Estate Club Celebrates with New Home Owners, UW Chapter of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County

On the afternoon of May 4, Real Estate Club members came full circle on a volunteer project when they attended a house blessing ceremony for a local Madison family.  During the academic year, the UW Real Estate Club volunteered for two half-day build events for the UW-Madison Chapter of Habitat for Humanity of Dane County.  The ceremony was to congratulate the Vang-Cheng Family on their new home (to be completely finished in June 2012).

Volunteering for the Habitat for Humanity organization is a good match for the interests and passions of real estate club members. The club members who worked on the Habitat house really valued the opportunity to support a local family, and to work side-by-side at the construction site with them on their new home. As noted by the Habitat organizers, the Vang-Cheng Family has been one of the hardest working families the UW chapter has seen in recent years. They dedicated 100+ volunteer building hours over the necessary volunteer requirement for Habitat families. Their dream for a spacious home where they can raise their 5 children has come true, and they expressed their sincere gratitude during the ceremony.

The UW Habitat chapter has received a national award from Habitat International for its innovative programs. To learn more about the UW-Madison Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, visit their website. From the UW Real Estate Club, we want to wish the Vang-Cheng family a very happy homecoming!

2012 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference

Building A Housing Policy That Works.

This year’s Economic Outlook Conference will be held on June 1st, 2012 at the Fluno Center in Madison, WI. With budget battles looming and the presidential election already in full swing, 2012 is sure to have monumental implications for housing policy. Unfortunately, developing and advancing bipartisan solutions to fix the nation’s ongoing housing challenges have proven difficult in today’s highly polarized political environment. But housing is not only a basic human need—it is also a critical element of our economy. Now more than ever is the time to take a fresh look at this issue.

This conference will present varied perspectives and analysis on current issues while stimulating ideas on how to spur the housing market and get the U.S. economy back on track for solid growth. Those involved include experts from the public and private sectors who are involved in government, business, and academia—all of them are on the front lines of housing market research, policy, and practice.

Featured speakers for the event include:

Karl “Chip” Case: Chip is the Co-Founder of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Wellesley College. He is author or co author of five books, and is renowned for his contributions to the economics of housing and public policy.

Lawrence Yun: Lawrence Yun is the Chief Economist & Senior Vice President of Research for the National Association of Realtors®. He has been listed among the top 10 economic forecasters in the country, and has been named among the 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders.

Please click here for the conference agenda and more information. To attend, you can register online here.

Gearing up for MIPIM 2012

The anticipation has reached its pinnacle, and the Class of 2013 has begun to pack our bags for Cannes, France to attend MIPIM 2012 next week. We’re looking forward to attending a variety of conference sessions and networking events with industry experts from around the globe. The event, which will consist of 4,200+ real estate investors and 19,000+ participants coming together at the Palais des Festivals, will surely be a memorable and invaluable experience for our group of aspiring real estate professionals.

Dean François Ortalo-Magné, who has been a prominent MIPIM speaker and attendee for several years, has already been contributing to the MIPIM buzz with his features on the mipim worldblog. Earlier this month, he was put in the spotlight as a “property influencer” and shared his insight on the market in China, touching on topics such as sector trends, aging population, and sustainable development. Watch his interview here.

Just recently, he was featured in “MIPIM past, present and future…Four questions for Dr. François Ortalo-Magné”. Here, eager readers are able to get his input on what has changed in the global real estate market over the course of 2011, and what is to be expected at MIPIM 2012. “The demand for emerging market investments has yet to find a place to settle. Emerging countries have legal pains in setting up the right institutional environment to welcome foreign investments. The battle is still on for the next serious contender”. Read the full blog post here.

During the conference, students will be actively sharing our experiences and reflections each day, so be sure to stayed tuned for continuing coverage on this year’s MIPIM trip. We'll also be contributing to the official MIPIM blog and reporting on Twitter at @UW_GraaskampCtr.


Andrew Toby is a first-year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. A CPA from California, Andrew hopes to utilize both his accounting background and the knowledge gained in the MBA program to pursue a career in private equity investments in real estate.

School of Business dean finalists to visit campus

From the office of University Communications:

The three finalists for the position of Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be on campus in coming days.

Each finalist will spend two days on campus visiting and meeting with people at UW-Madison as the final part of the search-and-screen process.

During their visits, the three finalists will have contact with the broader campus community, from meetings with Chancellor Biddy Martin and Provost Paul DeLuca to gatherings with academic deans, shared governance groups, and students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the Wisconsin School of Business community.

The candidates will also hold open sessions in Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave., to answer questions from those interested in the future of the Wisconsin School of Business.

• Monday, June 6: Michael Trick, professor of operations research and associate dean for research in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, 10:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, June 8: Anil K. Makhija, Dean's Distinguished Professor of Finance in the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, 2:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 15: François Ortalo-Magné, Robert E. Wangard Professor of Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business, 10:30 a.m.

Live webcasts of the candidate presentations will be available at http://www.bus.wisc.edu.

This morning was the first of the presentations, with Michael Trick. As part of his presentation, he mentioned two books on the future of graduate level business education. I thought this was a good fit for our Reading for Life series (originated by Prof. Stephen Malpezzi, see previous entries in the series here).

The first is Rethinking the MBA by three Harvard researchers Srikant Datar, David A. Garvin, and Patrick G. Cullen; and the other is From Higher Aims to Hired Hands by Harvard professor Rakesh Khurana.

There certainly is no shortage of books on the subject of higher education. Have you read either of these books? What do you think of them? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Register before June 1st

Tomorrow is the registration deadline for the 2011 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference.

The theme for 2011 is: New Partnerships: Government and Real Estate
When: Thursday June 9, 2011
Fluno Center for Executive Education, Madison, WI

With an exciting roster of panelists and keynote speakers including Governor Scott Walker, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, and UW Foundation President Michael Knetter plus Patricia McCoy from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a capacity crowd is expected. Reserve your spot now, click here to register.

Panel discussions will address:
The New Regulatory Realities: What Can You Expect?
The Budget and Financial Reforms: What's on the Horizon?
Financial Reforms and Affordable Housing: What Works

For the full agenda, visit the conference website.

ICSC survey shows salaries and hiring rates on the rise

An article in this month's issue of Shopping Centers Today (subs required) had good news from the retail real estate sector.

"Nearly 70 percent of the companies that participated in ICSC's most recent survey of North American retail real estate compensation said they were expecting to raise base salaries, and just over a quarter of participants considered boosting staff levels last year."

ICSC's chief economist and director of research said the results "were encouraging and reassuring for 2011 as well, with expectations of continued wage gains across a broader range of the industry."

A full report on the salary survey is available for purchase for ICSC members.

And check out our ad on Page 201!


The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon 2011 convention is taking place this week in Las Vegas. The Wisconsin Real Estate Program is participating.

Stop by our table in university row in the Grand Lobby between the North and Central Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

And join Wisconsin real estate faculty, students, alumni and friends at a networking reception tonight starting at 5:30 in the Bistro Lounge at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. For details, visit our Facebook page.

New partnerships at the Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference

Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference:
New Partnerships: Government and Real Estate

Thursday June 9, 2011
Fluno Center for Executive Education, Madison, WI
Register today!

In the wake of one of the worst financial crises in recent history, the Federal government has revamped the U.S. regulatory architecture responsible for safeguarding the financial system. Perhaps the most influential, and controversial, of these reforms is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Some believe that the new laws and regulations will curtail risk-taking necessary for innovation and growth, while others believe that the new laws change the incentives that encouraged banks and other financial-market participants deemed too-big-to- fail to take excessive and socially undesirable risks.

What we know for sure right now is that it will take some time for businesses to fully assess how they will be affected by the new laws and rules. How will the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection affect how real estate and finance professionals do transactions? How will new rules support buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers? How will the proposed replacement of Fannie and Freddie affect the cost of and access to mortgage credit, and what might the secondary mortgage market of the future look like?

At the 2011 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference, we will explore how the new regulatory landscape will affect the size and scope of activity in the real estate and financial services industries. The conference will include thoughts and analysis from experts from the public and private sectors, from government, business, and academia, all of whom are on the front lines of housing market research, policy, and practice. Join this important conversation about the current state of the national housing market and how financial reform efforts will affect the real estate and financial services industries.

Keynote Speakers

Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (invited)
Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin (invited)
Michael Knetter, President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Wisconsin Foundation and former dean of the Wisconsin School of Business

Panel Topics

• New Regulatory Realities: What Can You Expect?
• Budget and Financial Reforms: What's on the Horizon?
• Financial Reforms and Affordable Housing: What Works

Click here for the full agenda and to register.

The conference is brought to you by:
James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate
Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority
Wisconsin Department of Commerce
Wisconsin Realtors Association
Wisconsin Bankers Association

Corporate sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Lee Gottschalk at lgottschalk at bus.wisc.edu for more information on how your company can reach a wide variety of professionals and policy makers and support critical housing and community development issues.

The state of the housing market

"There are signs that the two-year drop in Wisconsin home prices had bottomed out, at least in some regions of the state."

That was one of the takeaways from yesterday's Newsmakers interview on the WisconsinEye Network with Stephen Malpezzi, professor with Wisconsin's Real Estate Program and recognized expert on housing and urban development, and Bill Malkasian, president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. They also discussed current housing inventory and the advantages offered by continued low interest rates to potential home buyers. Visit WisEye.org to watch video of the interview.

Malpezzi also joined a panel last Thursday on KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio to discuss the role of government in the housing market. He, along with European real estate expert Dr. Joaquin Jorge Piserra Ribera and Vancouver Sun Editor Fiona Anderson, tackled questions including: Should the United States change the way it finances real estate? How do other countries do it? Would changing the government's role in the housing market affect the way we think about houses? Visit KUOW.org to listen to audio of the broadcast.

The housing market and the regional economic outlook will be central topics at the Graaskamp Center's annual June conference.

The 2011 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference on June 9th in Madison will feature keynote presentations from Elizabeth Warren, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Governor Scott Walker.

This conference will explore how the new regulatory landscape will affect the size and scope of activity in the real estate and financial services industries. How will the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection affect how real estate and finance professionals do transactions? How will new rules support buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers? How will the proposed replacement of Fannie and Freddie affect the cost of and access to mortgage credit, and what might the secondary mortgage market of the future look like? Join this important conversation. Click to view the agenda and to register.

Join us for the 2011 Global Real Estate Markets Conference in New York on May 2nd

The Real Estate Program at the Wisconsin School of Business and Toll Brothers are proud to bring together top developers, investors, and service providers who are in the game and on the ground in emerging markets and beyond to discuss the keys to implementing a strong cross-border real estate investment strategy.

Event: 2011 Global Real Estate Markets Conference: Opportunities and Realities
Date: May 2, 2011
Time: 9:30 am-3:30 pm
Location: New York Stock Exchange

The agenda features keynote presentations from
Richard Cantor, Chief Risk Officer at Moody’s, and
Olivier Piani, Chairman and CEO of Allianz Real Estate.

Panel discussions on:

Real Estate Roaring? The View from Emerging Markets
Hear directly from the developers of real estate investment opportunities in emerging markets.

Foreign Capital Flows into the U.S. and U.S. Capital Goes Abroad
Learn from experience with panelists who are driving cross-border investments across multiple platforms.

Building a Global Real Estate Platform
Listen to the managers of global investment platforms and their service providers.

Registration is now open. Space is limited. For the full agenda and registration information, please visit the conference website at http://www.bus.wisc.edu/grem/conferences

Fostering collaboration

On March 4th and 5th, Wisconsin Real Estate faculty members Stephen Malpezzi, Tim Riddiough, Morris A. Davis and Erwan Quintin attended the fifth installment of the UW-Fed Housing-Urban-Labor-Macro (HULM) conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The conference, a bi-annual event founded three years ago by Morris Davis, brings together individuals who are pushing the frontier in all aspects of real estate research. The first part of the conference focused on the causes and consequences of the recent subprime crisis and on the effects of various policy responses to the crisis. The second part of the conference dealt with cycles in the market for land and structures. Details and papers are here.

A unique aspect of this increasingly successful event is the collaboration it fosters between academic researchers who study optimal policy responses to various real estate events and the very people who implement these policy responses. The latter include not only Federal Reserve economists but also researchers from Government Sponsored Agencies. One of the highlights of this year’s event was an intense debate over the merits of loan modification policies motivated by a unique study of Countrywide’s court-imposed modification program.

The next installment of the conference will take place at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in September.

Photo by Lance McCord via Flickr

Join us for an online chat on the Wisconsin Real Estate MBA Friday at 1:00!

Are you looking to take the next step in your real estate career? Are you interested in earning your MBA in real estate?

Assistant Director Sharon McCabe will be online answering your questions on

Friday, March 4th 2011
1:00pm
Register here.

This one-hour session is for anyone who would like to learn more about Wisconsin's top ranked real estate MBA program. Sharon, a member of the real estate faculty and a practitioner in appraisal and consulting, is able to answer your questions about:

• Wisconsin's unique MBA career specialization model which includes real estate,
• The breadth and depth of the program's curriculum in real estate,
• Admissions and qualifications, and also
• Careers in real estate.

Please sign up now for this online session and join us tomorrow or feel free to contact us directly with questions.

Wisconsin full-time MBA Polar Plunge team sets record

Congratulations to all the Wisconsin MBA students (including real estate!) who participated in this year's Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics Wisconsin.

According to the Wisconsin School of Business Gazette:

The team consisted of 69 participants who raised $19,012—a record high for them. The team raised the third-highest amount in Dane County.

Click over to the Gazette for photos and video highlights!

Round 3 MBA application deadline is March 15th

The Wisconsin Real Estate MBA program is accepting applications for the fall 2011 intake. The third round application deadline is March 15, 2011.

If you'd like to learn more about our program, start at our MBA website, then register online here to be added to our mailing list.

And join us on Friday March 4th at 1:00 pm CT for an online chat!

Faculty Associate and Assistant Director for Recruiting Sharon McCabe will share an overview of the program and answer your questions.

Check back for a link to the chat soon!

Chicago alumni happy hour

Please join Wisconsin Business Alumni for the annual Chicago Alumni Happy Hour. Network with fellow Business School alumni and cheer on the Badger men's basketball team as they take on the Indiana Hoosiers (game time is 8:00 pm).

Thursday, March 3
7:30 pm
Will's Northwoods Inn
3030 N Racine, Chicago

Thanks to our generous hosts (including a couple of real estate alums), this event is FREE, but registration is required. Click here to register.

A not-so polar plunge for charity

On Saturday, real estate MBA students, along with other Wisconsin MBAs, students, faculty, staff and more, will take "the plunge" into frozen Lake Monona to benefit the Special Olympics of Wisconsin. Temperatures have been unseasonably mild in southern Wisconsin, but it will still be a jump of bravery.

If you'd like to support our students and a great cause, you can pledge here.

Student employment outlook improves thanks to real estate career fair

Andrew Brainard, a second-year real estate MBA, reports on the success of last week's real estate career fair. Andrew also served as the career fair coordinator for the UW Real Estate Club.

This year’s Wisconsin Real Estate Club Career Fair, held in Grainger Hall's Plenary Room at the Wisconsin School of Business, was a tremendous success. The fair showed a marked improvement in the employment outlook since the economic collapse of 2007-2008 and a 50% increase in participating employers over the 2010 career fair.

This success is due to largely to the collaborative efforts of the Real Estate Club and the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate to bolster employer attendance and place students in exceptional full-time and internship positions. I had the honor to organize this year’s career fair, with significant support from the 2012 co-career fair coordinators Ben Schmidt (first-year real estate MBA) and Max Sternberg (real estate undergraduate) and the tireless efforts of Center staff members Sharon McCabe, Kris Hammargren, Lee Gottschalk, and Alison Zuba.

Planning began with last year’s coordinator, Dan Lessor (MBA '10), bringing me up to speed on prior attendees and procedures. During the fall semester’s International Real Estate class, undergraduate and MBA students contributed to the planning process by researching and recommending numerous firms that they were personally interested in and believed would be strong additions to the career fair.

After numerous emails and phone calls over the following three months, 22 firms registered for the career fair. These firms included Ridge Property Trust, Equity Office, Ernst & Young, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, L.A. Duesterbeck & Associates, Fiduciary Real Estate Development, Heitman, Green Courte Partners, Waterton Associates, T. Wall Properties, Ventas, Dominium, Duff & Phelps, Gorman & Co., Associated Bank, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, NAI MLG Commercial, Kohl's Department Stores, Inland Companies, JPMorgan Chase, Realogic, and Mortenson Development.

The day’s activities began with our inaugural Real Estate Career Fair Open House in the Graaskamp Center, where employers were able to get refreshments and to network with Real Estate Club officers, Graaskamp Center staff, and real estate faculty. The fair began at 6pm with Real Estate Club members rushing the registration tables, eager to meet with employers and talk about the industry and available jobs. Employers were just as eager to meet with students and find potential candidates for their firms.

Feedback from both employers and students was overwhelmingly positive as there were plenty of candidates to match with a plethora of opportunities. The evening was capped off with a networking reception in the Grainger Hall East Atrium where employers, MBAs and undergrads met to reminisce about their Badger experience, discuss the evening’s event, and of course, talk real estate.

Given this year’s success, the Real Estate Club looks forward to building next year’s event to be on par with pre-recession levels. Please feel free to contact the Center at any time to reserve your space for 2012! I want to thank all who attended, and give a special thanks to all those who assisted me in organizing this wonderful event.

Andrew Brainard is in his second year of the Wisconsin Real Estate MBA program. Most recently, Andrew spent his summer interning in Chicago for RE|SOLUTIONS, a receivership, management and disposition firm, working on asset management and valuations for distressed properties in workout or REO with special servicers and banks. Upon graduation, he plans to focus on commercial real estate investment, primarily in asset management and acquisitions.

Check out our Facebook page for more photos from the fair!

AFIRE warms New York with a stronger U.S. investment outlook

Part of our blog series: Meet Our Current Students, a report from a first-year real estate MBA who attended the meeting with Professor François Ortalo-Magné.

The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) held their 2011 Winter Conference at the Mandarin Hotel in New York City on February 9th and 10th. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the results of a survey completed by AFIRE members in October 2010, as well as the current state of the international and U.S. real estate markets.

The conference began with a synopsis of the survey results presented by Professor François Ortalo-Magné, chairman of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business. In the preceding months, I and another first year MBA Real Estate student Chad Broderick assisted Professor Ortalo-Magné with compiling the survey data and creating his presentation and, in return, we had the opportunity to attend the conference. (See also "U.S. Cities Lead Way for Global Foreign Real Estate Investment," Wisconsin Real Estate Viewpoint, 1/5/11. The Graaskamp Center also conducted the survey in 2010.)

The AFIRE conference was attended by approximately 250 people, a majority of whom hold C-level executive positions at commercial real estate companies located throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. A number of attendees were Wisconsin Real Estate alumni who are now working in cities throughout the U.S. and abroad. From a student’s perspective, it was a great opportunity to hear insight in the commercial real estate industry from the players themselves, whether through panel discussions or personal conversations. At first, we were concerned that, as students, it might be difficult to engage these individuals in conversation. However, what we found was the contrary. While it does help to make an effort and be outgoing, several individuals sought us out because they wanted to welcome us, were alumni of the Wisconsin real estate program, or were interested in recruiting Wisconsin students in the future. And the individuals whom we approached were more than happy to answer our questions and tell us more about their company and its focus within the industry.

The night before the AFIRE conference began, the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association’s northeast chapter held a Real Estate Roundtable at the New York Athletic Club with guest speaker Roy March, CEO of real estate investment banking firm Eastdil Secured. After Mr. March’s presentation concerning capital markets in real estate, the 20+ alumni members in attendance were able to network, giving us students a great opportunity to not only learn more about the industry from professionals but use their resources in hopes of landing a summer internship. Because of the strong Wisconsin alumni network, several promising possibilities came out of that night’s event.

It is opportunities like these that I think make a graduate level real estate education at the Wisconsin School of Business so valuable. While the program’s real estate-focused curriculum and excellent, renowned professors are second to none, it is the alumni network, the reach of the department into industry groups like AFIRE and others, and the James A. Graaskamp name that separates the school from its competitors and gives its students an advantage by offering the ability to both learn more about the industry and advance their prospects for post-graduate careers.

Eric Dowling is a first-year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. Eric plans to combine his previous real estate experience with his MBA education to establish a career in private equity investments.

Photo by Thomas Arhelger via stock.xchng

Be prepared--for the Wisconsin Real Estate Career Fair tonight

The Wisconsin Real Estate Club hosts its career fair tonight in Grainger Hall, and we're expecting a great turnout of employers and students.

Wednesday, February 9th
6-8 pm Expo, Grainger Hall Plenary Room
8-9 pm Reception, Grainger Hall East Atrium

We talked to Sharon McCabe, Graaskamp Center director of MBA recruiting and career services, on what advice she gives to students preparing for the event. Here are her top 10 tips:

1. Attire: Dress professionally. (That includes clean fingernails and fresh breath!).
2. Have many copies of your resume, bring a portfolio to hold them. Having your own business card will make you stand out.
3. Collect business cards from company representatives. Remember to send a thank you e-mail (or hand-written note).
4. When you get to the fair, start with a walk around the room to get your bearings, see where everyone is located.
5. Have a story to tell. Practice (out loud) your 30-second elevator speech. Show your passion for real estate. Be confident and friendly. Have a friend ask you questions. Practice! Remember that you want to try to impress every employer, even a company in which you may be less interested.
6. Listen to what your fellow students are saying. You can learn from them, too.
7. Research all the companies coming to the fair. Know the basics of what they do. Be prepared to say why you would be an asset to their company.
8. Check some of the on-line resources for current news about the company: GlobeSt.com, CoStar.com, Real Estate Investment SmartBrief, etc.
9. If there is a job description available from the company (company website, BuckyNet, eRecruiting, WREAA website), read it and be prepared to say why you are a good candidate for the position.
10. Remember that you are selling both your personality and your skills. Some employers care more about your personality (hard-working, passionate, team-player, self-motivated, quick-study, etc) than about your specific skills. If your experience is limited, stress what you have learned in your classes and on Real Estate Club field trips. If you have leadership experience, make sure you mention that.

With these tips and your resume (and business card) in hand, you'll be ready to make the most of the fair. Here are some of the companies registered to attend:

Dominium
Duff & Phelps
Ernst & Young
Fiduciary Real Estate Development
Gorman & Company
Green Courte Partners
Heitman
Inland Companies
JP Morgan Chase
Kohl's Department Stores
NAI MLG Commercial
Realogic Analytics
Ridge Property Trust
State of Wisconsin Investment Board
T Wall Properties
Ventas
Waterton Associates

Take the plunge!

From our friends in the Business Career Center comes an update on the Polar Plunge:

On February 19th, the Wisconsin School of Business will be taking the plunge – the Polar Plunge, that is – at Olin Turville Park in Madison. The Polar Plunge is one of the biggest fundraising efforts of the Special Olympics of Wisconsin to raise funds for their events, while honoring this good ‘ol Wisconsin tradition.

Teams of hardy Wisconsin students and staff take part in this event--bravely jumping into the freezing waters of Lake Monona--all for a good cause. Check out this post from last year's plunge. "Chickens" are also welcome (and earn their own "I was Too Chicken to Plunge!" t-shirt).

Interested in signing up to "plunge" for the Wisconsin School of Business? Visit the BCC myBiz blog for more information.

San Diego is the place to be for CREF11

Happening February 6-9 is the Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo 2011. It's definitely a "must-attend event" for commercial/multifamily finance industry professionals, and Wisconsin Real Estate alumni are always well-represented.

The Graaskamp Center and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association (WREAA) are hosting a little networking event for all our Wisconsin family and friends!

When: Monday, February 7, 2011, 5:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M.
Where: Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, Room Ford C, Third Level

Attending WREAA members are encouraged to bring a guest. You must attend the MBA CREF conference to attend the reception. The conference badge is required for entry.

To RSVP: Contact Tracy Wundrow (tracy.wundrow at wreaa.org)

Hope to see you there!