PDF 40th Anniversary
Forty years ago, a conversation above a barber shop in Kansas City led to the creation of ERA Real Estate. Founders, Jim Jackson and Gene Francis, established a culture like no other in the real estate industry and our 40th anniversary celebration gives us the opportunity to showcase their collective vision, innovative spirit and commitment to community that continues to define the ERA® Community.
As we gear up for the ERA Real Estate 2012 International Business Conference, we are planning anniversary activities that will honor our past as well as look to our future. As a vital member of the ERA community, your participation is key!
This is your anniversary, you are the ERA community. Share your memories and your memorabilia that have created the history of ERA Real Estate. On the tabs below share your photos and your memories about your first listings, your favorite listings or your fortieth listing. Come back often and view our photo of the week and read your stories.
Join us in New Orleans for the 2012 ERA Real Estate International Business Conference for the Generations Celebration, a global anniversary celebration on March 14, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at Generations Hall. Visit the ERA Real Estate history wall at the ERA Marketplace and come prepared to celebrate.
ERA® MDA Mardi Gras Muscle Walk
The city of New Orleans provides the perfect stage for our festivities as we “let the good times roll.” Join Team ERA as we officially kick off the 2012 ERA Real Estate International Business Conference with our own parade – or second line as it is called locally – to make our way to Generations Hall for our anniversary party.
Held throughout the year in New Orleans, and often for no particular reason, second line parades feature music, dancing and brightly colored apparel.
The “ERA Mardi Gras Muscle Walk” parade route will travel approximately one and a quarter mile from The Marriott Hotel to Generations Hall, the appropriately named venue for our Opening Night Generations Celebration in the heart of the city’s Warehouse District. Formerly a sugar mill, this unique venue features high ceilings, catwalks and balconies, state-of –the-art audio and visual equipment, and multiple bars and dance floors.
Participants in the parade will have the opportunity to purchase parasols and handkerchiefs at Registration – traditional second line accessories – in support of our long time partner in caring MDA.
ERA companies are also encouraged to create banners to carry along the route – awards will be given to the most creative! Watch this space for more details.
The Second Line: A New Orleans Tradition
Second line parades are the descendants of the city’s famous jazz funerals and, apart from a casket, mourners and a cemetery visit, they carry many of the same traditions with them as they march down the streets. There are dozens of different second line parades put on throughout the year, usually on Sunday afternoons, and held in neighborhoods all across the city. They range in size, level of organization and traditions, but in all cases they will include a brass band, jubilant dancing in the street and members decked out in a wardrobe of brightly colored suits, sashes, hats and bonnets, parasols and banners, melding the pomp of a courtly function and the spontaneous energy of a block party, albeit one that moves a block at a time. The parades are not tied to any particular event, holiday or commemoration; rather, they are generally held for their own sake and to let the good times roll.
Take A Walk Down Memory Lane
No anniversary celebration would be complete without a photo gallery spanning the decades. During IBC, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in our history, revisiting past logos, yard signs, advertisements and apparel as well as photos that document the 40 year history of ERA Real Estate.
In addition, each week here on the ERA Real Estate 2012 IBC mini site and on Facebook, we will publish a photo or story that speaks to our 40th anniversary. Watch the ERA® Facebook page for more details.
We invite you to submit photos and other memorabilia that we may consider for inclusion in the IBC display or for publishing on Facebook. You may email photos and other images to marketing@era.com. If you would like to send materials, please send an email to marketing@era.com to make arrangements.
