Hello all!
I want to introduce myself. My name is Jeron Rotert, and I am an appraiser for the Tulsa County Assessor's Office. I applied for the Oklahoma Chapter, First Time Attendee Scholarship earlier this year, and was privileged to be one of two winners. The purpose of this blog is to show my experience and encourage assessor's office employees around the state to apply for the scholarship next year. If you have any questions about the conference, I would be happy to answer any questions you all might have. I will be perfectly honest, did not know what to expect and went into it with tempered expectations. What I came away with was a desire to go back again next year in Denver, Colorado. I really enjoyed it and gained a lot from the learning sessions that were available each day. I will walk you through what it was like, from waking up early Sunday morning to fly to Salt Lake, all the way until I landed back in Tulsa, Thursday afternoon. So, let's get started!
Sunday, August 27th, 2023:
I left my house at around 5:30 to get to Tulsa International Airport for an 8 AM (7:30 boarding) United Airlines Flight to Denver International Airport. Because I wanted to attend the First Time Attendee Orientation (I highly recommend attending), and I also wasn't sure if I would have time to change, I decided to fly dressed appropriately for the evening in Salt Lake City. I will skip the mostly boring details of flying to Salt Lake, and start with when I arrived there around 1:15 PM Mountain Time. I was greeted by some really nice mountain views, right from the jump, at the airport.
I grabbed my garment bag from the baggage claim and started the trek to the light rail that travels through the city. Hopefully the airport will invest in a tram like Denver has, because it's at least a 30-minute walk to get out of the airport. The light rail train was very affordable (only $2.50). It took me right by the Hyatt Regency hotel, which is connected to the convention center, hosting the IAAO Annual Conference.
I got to my hotel and was able to get checked in, re-iron my shirt, and head to the IAAO First Time Attendees Orientation. It was really nice to be connected to the convention center and have a short walk every day. I would highly recommend going to the orientation. They went over things we needed to know for the conference as well as opportunities like Launch Pad, the IAAO Library, and when the networking events and sessions would be. Promptly after the orientation, the IAAO Welcome Reception began. There were many food stations, not limited to, but including a macaroni and cheese station, tacos, s’mores, apple crisp, and several drink stations. It was a fun, casual event to get the conference started. After the Welcome Reception was the Launch Pad social mixer. Launch Pad is a group for any age, but focuses on those who are looking to advance their careers in the assessment industry and provide social networking and organizational onboarding. It was a great event to meet many aspiring professionals seeking designations and other career milestones. It was held at Squatter’s Pub, which was a really neat venue. They reserved the second floor and there was a great selection of finger foods and beverages for all to enjoy. I would highly recommend getting involved with Launch Pad to anyone looking to advance in their career. That ended a very busy first day in Salt Lake City.
Monday, August 28th, 2023:
The morning started o with a coee bar and free pastries. However, there was a coee shop in the conference center called, “Coee Bar,” which I went to instead of the free coee bar oered by the organization. The first session of the day was the “Opening Session,” with keynote speaker Alyson Van Hooser who was phenomenal. She talked about her experiences growing up and ways that professionals can be better and help create a better environment at work. One of my favorite quotes from her was, “You can roll your eyes or roll up your sleeves.” To be successful in making your life and work environment a better place, she oered several tips. See the need, serve intentionally, serve the paramount (most important need), and make a choice to lead. Mrs. Van Hooser’s phenomenal session was very inspirational and a great learning experience.
The next session that I went to was, “Comparing Sold and Unsold Properties: The Ultimate Test for Assessed Value.” Luc Hermans and Marco Kuijper were from the Netherlands. It was really interesting to hear how they view and value properties in the Netherlands and their process in assessment. Their main concern in their country is sales chasing, and how they go about trying to prevent municipalities from doing that. We had a really nice lunch provided for free in the exhibit hall after this session. The food provided every day at the hotel was really good and helped keep the food cost down for the week. The next session I went to was “Improve Your Odds for Success in Tax Appeal Hearings: Peter Korpacz & Shawn Wilson.” This session was very informative for those of us that have to hear and participate in appeals. Both speakers were extremely knowledgeable on the topic and gave some great insight. They emphasized these questions to consider for appeals, who is your audience, what is the level of expertise, what is their role, and what valuation methods and data will be the most persuasive/pivotal? To correctly answer these questions, they gave us seven tips for success in preparing your presentation. These tips are: use forensic techniques to collect data, collect and organize your data, identify areas where parties agree, identify major areas of disagreement, create a comparison chart between your position and the taxpayer’s position, define the primary areas of disagreement in order to target those area in your direct testimony, and know the purpose of your evidence used in your presentation. If you incorporate these into your preparation, you should be more successful and focused in your appeals. After that, I went to, “Can Technology Eliminate the Need for Physical Inspections” by Stephen Skirkanich. This was a somewhat controversial topic, but the speaker did a good job going through the pros and cons of moving to more technology-based assessment practices. Obviously, this subject has some variables based on state and current statutes that would allow or disallow the extent of use of technology. Monday evening, we went to a really fun vendor event with food, beverages, and games. It was fun, and because I kept losing one of the games, I became known as the “lovable loser.” I did end up winning some cool stickers. After the event, I went to a really good gelato and coffee house, called “Capo Gelateria,” to try some local flavors. I bought the cookies and cream and cappuccino gelato; I would highly recommend!
I walked back to my hotel room to end the night. I will say that the Hyatt Regency, in downtown Salt Lake City, is amazing and super nice. Also, my hotel room was on the twenty third floor, and the views both in the morning and at night are beautiful. Just as good as the sunset views, were the sunrise views from the hotel.
Tuesday, August 29th, 2023:
Tuesday morning started off with an awards breakfast to honor those who were being recognized for achievements and new designees. Two coworkers from our office received their designations and were recognized. Congratulations to Traci Conley and Tabitha Felts! After the breakfast, I attended “Supercharge Your power BI Reports by Using DAX, " by David Cornell . Mr. Cornell spoke about how to use Power BI to make your job more ecient with your data analytics. Very informative session about using Power BI. Then, we had the Plenary Session with Dr. LaVaughn Henry, who is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Banking and Regulatory Policy Group of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. He spoke about the state of the U.S. economy and where we are with inflation and economic growth. We had lunch again, made available by the conference, and I headed to “Eective Language for Essential Conversations,” by Max Hunsaker. This was one of the best sessions, in my opinion, that I heard that week. Mr. Hunsaker spoke about how we talk to the taxpayer as well as the media, and the ways we can deliver a consistent and understandable message to the public. Below is one of my favorite quotes from the speaker. The final session of the day was, “Changing the Culture through Patience, Trust, and Recognition,” by Cregg Dalton. Mr. Dalton spoke about his experience as a new assessor, and how he changed the culture and trajectory of the oce. He shared his perspective on how to transform the attitude of the employees in his oce and inspire them to become a unified body of appraisers working towards one goal. One of my favorite things from his presentation was his organizational tree. I ended the evening eating with some of my coworkers at the Blue Iguana, which is a good Mexican restaurant. I took some of my coworkers to the same gelato place and enjoyed some for the second night. More sunset pictures below.
Wednesday, August 30th, 2023:
Wednesday, started off with free coffee and pastries, and yes I did find the correct coffee bar this time. The first session of the morning was David Berenbaum, who is the Deputy Assistant for Housing Counseling for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He spoke about the need to be unbiased in our appraisals and the resources available to those who may encounter appraisal or mortgage biases. After that was over, I went to “No Sales, No Problems,” by Jake Parkinson. This was a really informative session about how he and his office develop models for his county that struggles to find enough sales to use as comparables. He spoke about using time adjusted sales prices, adjusting for amenities, and creating a comparison for units, such as per acre or per square foot. My coworkers and I went to lunch after that, in one of the restaurants in the hotel. I had the country fried elk, which was phenomenal. The restaurant had a really neat outdoor patio area too. After, a really tasty lunch, I attended the “Appraisal Myths and Market Realities,” by Peter Korpacz, Richard Marchitelli, and Ned Chappell . This was probably the best session I attended that week. This session was full of knowledge about market behavior, the use of peer review in appraisal writing, the definition and use of Fee Simple Estate, and ways to gather market data. The final session of the day and the conference was, “The Assessment Jurisdiction of the 21st Century-Best practices from Ontario and Ireland,” by Liam Butler & Greg Martino. They spoke about how they are transitioning to more technology-based practices and how they are implementing it in their countries. Finally, we had the closing banquet for the conference. It was a fun event with some more good food and the opportunity to network with people in the industry. Below is some pictures from the banquet. In conclusion, I am super thankful to the Oklahoma Chapter of IAAO for the opportunity to attend the Annual Conference. Also, I would like to thank the Tulsa County Assessor’s Office for allowing me the time to attend the event. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in being more involved with IAAO to apply for the scholarship, when it becomes available next year and do your best to attend. I made so many great connections and got to know some of my own coworkers better. The sessions, networking events, and fun times had, were well worth the trip. This conference definitely pushed me to get more involved with IAAO, and I definitely will try to attend next year in Denver, and if not then, then sometime in the future. If you have any questions about my experience, or would like to learn more, feel free to reach out.
Sincerely,
Jeron Rotert