San Antonio BOMA was well represented at the annual conference held in New York City in July. BOMA International provided an educational and informative event with highlights including a conversation with former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, an exhibition of vendors at the Office Building Show, and a presentation of the annual TOBY awards.

Congratulations to Sharon Pickett and her staff for bringing home one of the prestigious TOBY (The Office Building of the Year) awards! Proudly, San Antonio is not only the home of the World Championship Spurs (which Kelly made everyone aware of at our Board of Governors meeting), but we also have a world championship building and staff in Westgate Medical Center and Cambridge Healthcare Management. Hopefully this will inspire more of our local building managers to participate in qualifying for a TOBY and showcase more of what San Antonio has to offer.

Another SABOMA member, Tom (Greenspan) Morris of General Growth Properties, did San Antonio proud as a key participant in a well-attended and informative panel discussion on operating and managing mixed-use properties. San Antonio Gold Partners attending the conference included Brenda Younts with Cram Roofing and Wyatt Stevenson with American Light. Silver Partner Krista Fanning with Blackmon Mooring also attended. Meanwhile, Richard Alexander of ISS did a great job of representing his company at one of the many vendor booths.

Special thanks go to our allied members who hosted some spectacular hospitality events. From Allied Barton at Rockefeller Center, to ISS at Blue Fin, to those events sponsored by Securitas, One Source and Cotton USA--all were outstanding and will be hard to top!

BOMA continues to grow in its membership and scope of influence locally, nationally, and internationally. During the conference new membership organizations were recognized in Mexico and Russia, as well as within the United States.

In closing I think it is safe to say we took a Texas-sized bite out of the Big Apple! Thanks to all of our local members who attended and whose participation helped to make this conference a memorable event.

Your Vice President,
Ramiro A. Flores, RPA