{"id":28444,"date":"2025-08-27T00:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T05:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/learning-networking-and-business-at-2025-shaping-texas-conference\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T00:35:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T05:35:16","slug":"learning-networking-and-business-at-2025-shaping-texas-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/learning-networking-and-business-at-2025-shaping-texas-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning, Networking, and Business at 2025 Shaping Texas Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"The 2025 Texas REALTORS\u00ae Shaping Texas Conference in Houston brought together thousands of REALTORS\u00ae from all over Texas to discuss the latest real estate issues, connect with colleagues, and conduct association business. The event equipped members with actionable insights and tools to better showcase their value as real estate professionals.\nBelow are a few of the many highlights from the conference. Look for a full recap with photos in the upcoming September\/October Texas REALTOR\u00ae magazine\u2014and plan to attend the 2026 conference, August 26-30 in San Antonio.\nOpening Session: Chet Garner\nThe Daytripper Chet Garner officially started the conference at the Opening Session. He shared his stories from traveling all around Texas and encouraged REALTORS\u00ae to embrace their stories. Garner said, \u201cWhat makes a great storyteller? Authenticity. A reckless commitment to being yourself.\u201d\nHe asserted that REALTORS\u00ae are ambassadors for their communities and offered five ways they can tell great stories:\n\nEmbrace the past\nEmbrace the artistic\nEmbrace the tasty\nEmbrace the outdoors\nEmbrace the people\n\nCapitol Conversations: Where Policy Meets Property\nThis session featured a discussion of governmental affairs and public policy issues, highlighted by Q&amp;As with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Steven Pedigo, Assistant Dean for Faculty of Practice and Policy Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin.\nCornyn, a REALTOR\u00ae champion, sat down with Texas REALTORS\u00ae Chairman Christy Gessler and talked about federal issues and their effect on the economy and real estate marketing. The wide-ranging discussion covered the debt ceiling, immigration reform, workforce housing, flood insurance, and housing affordability. Cornyn praised REALTORS\u00ae for their role in the strong economy of Texas and their advocacy efforts.\nPedigo shared the stage with Dixon Holman, Chairman of the Public Policy Oversight Committee. They talked about the demographics of Texas and future challenges and opportunities with the state\u2019s infrastructure.\nInstallation Gala\nMembers and guests came together to celebrate the installation of the association\u2019s 2026 leaders. The evening\u2019s emcee, 2024 Texas REALTORS\u00ae Chairman Jef Conn, also introduced several videos of members and their clients sharing stories of how REALTORS\u00ae play an important role helping Texans achieve their dreams.\nNAR President-Elect Kevin Brown served as installing officer, first swearing in the Texas REALTORS\u00ae 2026 executive board appointees:\n\nMarisela Harper, Greater El Paso\nKatie Kossev, Houston\nJustin Landon, MetroTex (AE appointee)\nColby Norris, Lubbock (commercial appointee)\nLeigh York, Greater Fort Worth.\n\nBrown then swore in the Texas REALTORS\u00ae regional vice presidents:\n\nRegion 1: Donna Sue Clements\nRegion 3: Paula McDonald and Elizabeth McCoy\nRegion 4: Bob Baker and Robin Mata\nRegion 8: Kriston Wood\nRegion 11: Jeremy De La Garza\nRegion 12: Ashley Gentry, James Martin, and Jeff Varnell\nRegion 13: Kim Bragman, Sara Briseno Gerrish, Tracie Hasslocher, and Marquis Williams\nRegion 14: Mario Arriaga, Jay Bradley, Bob Christian, Shannon Cobb Evans, Theresa Hill, Kat Robinson, Chaille Short, and Cathy Trevino\nRegion 15: Emily Bibby, Becky Debutts, Jay Gohil, and Brandy Wuensch\nRegion 16: Shy Rodriguez.\n\nFollowing the RVPs, Brown installed the following officers for 2026:\n\nSecretary\/Treasurer: Deborah Spangler\nChairman-Elect: Tony Lloyd\nImmediate Past Chairman: Christy Gessler\nChairman of the Board: Jennifer Wauhob.\n\nWauhob praised REALTORS\u00ae for going above and beyond for their clients. She called the profession \u201cwonderful and meaningful and hard and rewarding.\u201d She noted that people often don\u2019t understand the countless actions REALTORS\u00ae take day in and day out to help them achieve their real estate dreams. \u201cIt\u2019s time to reclaim our narrative\u2014to tell our story,\u201d she said. \u201cWe must explain what we do and talk about how we care about something bigger than ourselves. Let\u2019s make it a story worth telling.\u201d\nBoard of Directors Meeting\nThe Texas REALTORS\u00ae Board of Directors Meeting closed out this year\u2019s conference with association business and important updates.\n\nTexas Real Estate Commission Chairman Mark Woodroof and Executive Director Chelsea Buccholtz covered key changes to real estate agency laws and announced a new online license-management system to launch later this year.\nNAR President-Elect Kevin Brown emphasized that the work of REALTORS\u00ae is important to open the door to homeownership, create generational wealth, and strengthen the economy. NAR Region 10 Vice President Eloise Gauthier discussed recent legal wins for NAR.\nREALTORS\u00ae Relief Fund Ambassador for Region 10 Jo Ann Stevens provided details of the relief fund\u2019s $55 million in assistance provided since 2001, including funds for the victims of the July floods in Texas.\nBanners signed by conference attendees to express support for flood victims were presented to representatives of the following local associations:\n\nKerrville Board of REALTORS\u00ae\nSan Angelo Association of REALTORS\u00ae\nHighland Lakes Association of REALTORS\u00ae\nFive Points Board of REALTORS\u00ae\nCentral Hill Country Board of REALTORS\u00ae\nAustin Board of REALTORS\u00ae\nFour Rivers Association of REALTORS\u00ae\nHeartland REALTORS\u00ae\n\n\nTexas Real Estate Research Center Executive Director Pamela Canon provided a brief history of the center\u2019s 50-plus years and spoke about plans to create new types of helpful information by overlaying datasets and using new analytical tools.\nAttendees heard updates from association staff on legislative wins, upcoming forms changes, and the Bring It Home consumer advertising campaign.\nThree local association staff were recognized for earning the REALTOR\u00ae Association Certified Executive (RCE) certification: Cindy Sherrick, Beaumont; Courtni Ward, Odessa; and Danielle Hammett, Austin.\nJeanne Zenner was recognized as she retires after many years of service to the Central Hill Country Board of Realtors including her role as association executive for the past six years. Retiring CEO of the Houston Association of REALTORS\u00ae Bob Hale was also honored for 37 years at the helm of HAR and a career spanning more than 50 years with the REALTOR\u00ae organization.\nBrooke Hunt was recognized for receiving NAR\u2019s Distinguished Service Award for her lifetime of leadership, influence, mentoring, engagement.\nMary Leidy received accolades for 50 years (and counting) serving the Collin County Association of REALTORS\u00ae.\n\nBoard of Directors Actions\n\nPassed a motion to amend the bylaws to provide better representation on the Executive Board and Board of Directors when local associations merged, dissolve, or go through other significant membership changes.\nPassed $10 Legal Fund and $30 Issues Mobilization\/Political Advocacy Fund (IM\/PAF) assessments. Both amounts are unchanged from last year.\n\nCongratulations to the Winners of the Shaping Texas Challenge!\nOver 400 attendees played the Shaping Texas Challenge game in the conference app. Congratulations to the three prize winners. Each earned the maximum total points and received a $150 Amazon gift card.\n\nDavid Hall, Fort Hood\nPatrick Stuckwish, Houston\nFatema Husain, Houston.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 Texas REALTORS\u00ae Shaping Texas Conference in Houston brought together thousands of REALTORS\u00ae from all over Texas to discuss the latest real estate issues, connect with colleagues, and conduct association business. The event equipped members with actionable insights and tools to better showcase their value as real estate professionals. Below are a few of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}