New Year New TOBYs: Going Virtual

Bleeding Edge Tech: Virtual Reality and Commercial Real Estate

New Year New TOBYS

How going virtual meant teams had to redefine the building tour and more

By: Jenifer Wright, Everclear Enterprises

If you have never participated in the TOBY process as an entrant, judge, or proctor, you are missing out. Property teams all around Atlanta put in the work to make their buildings shine – literally and figuratively – in one of the most significant events of the year for BOMA Georgia. Sometimes over a matter of months, the property team works together to prepare every precise detail of the building for an online review and judging process.

Then we get to the fun part. Entrants, judges, and proctors all come together, in person, and walk the property from rooftop to basement. Enter COVID-19 and the new world of social distancing, masks, and virtual meetings. Surely this would not be the way of the TOBY competition as well. Right? You cannot tour a building without actually touring the building. Right?

In true 2020 fashion, nothing was spared from the ‘virtual experience,’ even the TOBYs.

‘Zoom fatigue’ has set in for many of us, so when we heard that the TOBY awards were going virtual, there was a collective sigh. For years, the TOBY tours have been done in person and are the highlight of the entire process. Entrants had their work cut out to create an experience that was just as impactful through a computer screen.

As a 2020 vice chair, I decided to be a little nosey and sneak into all the virtual building tours. I wanted to see how the entrants would manage the process, and I was not disappointed. The camaraderie of those tours is what makes the local level of the TOBY competition such an exciting and bonding experience for everyone involved. In classic BOMA Georgia style, this year was no exception.

Multi-year TOBY judge Jessica Nix with Natural Stone said, “During this difficult season, BOMA and the TOBY entrants rose to the occasion. The digital tour that I judged was crisp, informative, and exceptional. Of course, nothing takes the place of an in-person tour. However, the entrant in my category did a phenomenal job of adjusting and providing the judges with incredible digital insight into their building. Well done.”

Joyce Tuttle with Crocker Partners was a 2020 proctor and had this to say about her cyber experience.

“I was impressed with the professionalism and thoroughness of the Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. It made it very easy to judge the property. The virtual tours were easier to schedule than a normal physical tour. The time commitment was shorter due to no travel time.”

While some created Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, some embedded recorded videos, and some even did live tours throughout the property. Risky…did it pay off? As a nosey bystander…yes!

One of our daredevil entrants who decided to conduct a LIVE walking tour nailed it! Sean Dickerson and his Cousins Properties team at 3348 Peachtree had this to say,

“Our new virtual normal made the 3348 team realize that talent wins games, but teamwork, cleverness, and creativity wins championships. The virtual TOBY experience heightened our excitement, promoted team building, and increased our teams’ cohesiveness! Such a fun experience, one we will never forget.”

2019 International award-winning entrant, Amy Mesteller and her RMR Group team are no strangers to TOBY. Virtual TOBYs, however, were a very different ballgame.

Amy said, “Entering a property for TOBY this year took quite a bit of creativity when it came to the building tour. It was a true team effort to come up with the best way to showcase the building virtually. Having entered TOBY last year, the tour was by far our favorite part! It was so much fun to show the pride we had for our building and conversation came naturally. Having to plan a virtual tour, we walked the building as a team numerous times to make sure we took enough pictures to tell the building’s story. We then worked together on the sequence for the Microsoft PowerPoint to make sure the tour flowed as it would in person.” Everyone involved in this year’s TOBY process deserves a huge round of applause. The way each team pivoted and produced successful virtual tours was outstanding. The 2021 competition will no doubt be one for the memory books. A special kudos to Molly Looman with BOMA Georgia. She became a magician before our very eyes by being in two places at one time as she coordinated overlapping tour schedules and pulled everything off without a hitch!

Why should YOU consider entering your building into the next TOBY competition? TOBY award winner Constance Towles Hodges of Cousins Properties says, “For a property manager, I can think of no other task that enables you to look at your building in such detail and learn so quickly about your team. No matter the outcome of the competition, working with your team to write a TOBY submission instills a great sense of comradery, pride, and accomplishment. With the awards come corporate accolades and potentially career developing recognition. Exposure to regional and international BOMI events also enables applicants to network and expand their resources within the real estate industry.”

Congratulations to everyone involved in making this year’s TOBY contest special. Nice work, BOMA Georgia. Now let’s bring home some more trophies