ARAMA Report

TOP night celebrates best of the best

Oh, what a night!

The hardest workers and brightest minds in the accommodation industry came together at the Brisbane City Hall on July 26 to celebrate ARAMA’s 2022 TOP Awards.

The TOP Awards are designed to highlight, recognise and reward the best in the Management & Lettings rights (MLR) industry. It was a stunning occasion with a marvellous attendance of almost 300 (a record for an ARAMA event) as industry participants celebrated their own achievements and the success of their peers. The night was designed to honour the best of the best in our amazing industry and to inspire the whole Management and Letting Rights Industry to strive for outstanding performance. The major sponsor of this event was the RAAS Group and our brilliant MC Kelley Rigby, who did such a first-class job, was sponsored by Australian Valuers. Kelley is a young mother of two and stepmother of three, who somehow finds time to run three businesses within the MLR realm and serve ARAMA as our volunteer Gold Coast branch president.

Everyone in the room toasted the success of the night thanks to our drinks sponsor, Coast Breakz. With the MLR industry generating $55 billion in economic benefit back into the Australian economy annually, everyone at the TOP Awards was a winner, but it was a night to recognise the very best of the best. The four major categories were each judged by an ARAMA life member and the quality of all the finalists meant the judges had tough choices in picking this year’s winners. Michael & Karen Cross from Dorchester on The Beach, Gold Coast, took out the Building Manager of the Year Award, sponsored by Property Bridge. The Dorchester on the Beach is a beachfront family holiday hi-rise in Surfers Paradise and the judge of the award noted that Michael and Karen have “a history of achievements at the building since they commenced in September 2014”. “They have demonstrated forward thinking,” the judge said, “an ability to work with the committee and the implementation of building improvements, efficiencies and environmental improvements that are in the best long-term interest of the complex. This will surely lead to maintaining and improving the value of the scheme and the investments of their lot unit owners. “Since taking over the management rights in 2014, they have been involved with the repainting and concrete cancer repairs. They have upgraded the windows, re-landscaped the gardens, upgraded the fire safety and electrical systems. “They also implemented the ARAMA COVIDSAFE Plan, not only for their complex, but they were also instrumental in helping develop the COVIDSAFE plan for the entire industry. “These managers are pro-active in the way they take care of and manage the complex, always looking forward, and supporting their committee and lot owners. Considering their building is 41 years old and constantly hammered by the weather, the building is in great shape, and that is quite an achievement.” Michael and Karen won last year’s TOP Award in the category of Resident Manager of the Year in the short stay category, so this year’s award demonstrates their all-round capabilities. This year, the Resident Manager of the Year (Short Stay) award was Sponsored by Build Check Engineering. The winners were Paul and Francine Tuddenham from the Peninsula at Airlie Beach. It’s a mighty achievement since they only took over the Peninsula on July 1 last year.

Trevor Rawnsley,

CEO, ARAMA

Image courtesy of ARAMA

Fran’s background was working at Westpac for 20 years, and Paul had a mortgage broking business. The award judge said that while Paul and Francine were relatively new to the industry, they had demonstrated a personal tenacity in overcoming daunting obstacles very quickly. The judge considered: • A diffi cult purchasing and handover experience. • An ability to turn owners and guests back to appreciate good management. • Going the extra distance with guests and their accommodation needs.

Paul and Fran’s commitment to the business resulted in great satisfaction to the body corporate, to all the unit owners, both live-in and lett ing owners, and, most importantly, to the happy guests. They did this at a new family location, in a very short time. The judge said that encouragement by the industry in recognising newcomers to management rights, such as this year’s winner, was important. The award was an opportunity to recognise new operators for doing an outstanding job. “All the fi nalists were worthy of an award,” the judge said, “because of the high standards of results in their management rights businesses. “They are all to be commended. However, this year’s winner was a standout.”

The award for Resident Manager of the Year (Mixed Category) was sponsored by EBM Insurance & Risk. This year’s TOP Award recipient is Rod Argyle from the Riverside Hotel in Brisbane.

The judge said while all applications were of the highest quality and included the winner of last years’ award, Rod was declared the winner based on the extreme challenges he overcame and the stoic determination he displayed to continue to operate the business through the most challenging of times. “While most resident managers have faced a number of unprecedented challenges,” the judge said, “this year’s winner has overcome some extraordinary challenges and has still been able to collaborate in a positive way with the key stakeholders in the building including the unit owners, committ ee members and the body corporate manager to achieve great outcomes that have proven to be mutually benefi cial to the entire scheme and its stakeholders.

Chenoa Daniel, from ResortBrokers, took out the award for Sales Broker of the Year, which was sponsored by Flood Legal

“These rewards are the outcomes of adhering to the principles of the triangle of management.” The Resident Manager of The Year Award for Long Stay Accommodation was sponsored by The Onsite Manager. Ian and Maree Smith from Hidden Grove were the winners.

The judge said this award was a tough call as many contenders had displayed the qualities that were highly desirable in the journey towards best practice as a resident manager. However, in choosing this year’s winner the judge needed to consider a broad number of KPIs including: • The actual size of the scheme and the growth in the lett ing pool during a highly competitive time. • How well they got on with the committ ee and other lot owners including those who were owner occupiers. • Did they enjoy their role, and did it provide fulfi lment?

• What outside interests they might have to provide for the local community and create work-life balance.

“This year’s winner has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in all of these KPIs plus more,” the judge said, “and while every applicant shines in some way or other, and makes a magnifi cent contribution to their body corporate, the overall scheme and their tenants, this year’s winner was particularly worthy.” Chenoa Daniel, from ResortBrokers, took out the award for Sales Broker of the Year, which was sponsored by Flood Legal. Chenoa brings a valuable perspective to MLR and is always striving to take her service and marketing to the next level, not just in terms of sales, but how she educates and empowers buyers in the process. She has been involved in MLR for 12 years and for three of those was ResortBrokers’ far North Queensland specialist. Nick Buick, from The Onsite Manager, took out the award as ARAMA’S Service Provider of the Year. Nick began building TheOnsiteManager in the early 2000s to establish an online marketplace for resort and residential building management rights. Nick became a fully licenced real estate agent in 2012 and founded his own agency of the same name to focus entirely on residential sales and rental marketing within residential complexes. The 2022 TOP Awards were a wonderful display of the enthusiasm in the management rights industry for the work we do and the success we enjoy. Everyone in the business should be proud of our achievements and our contributions to accommodation and tourism in Australia and the support we show to one another, especially in tough times such as during the COVID pandemic. All the contenders for this year’s awards displayed an exemplary level of professionalism and tenacity in an ever-changing landscape. The business of management and lett ing rights delivers great value to a community title scheme and its lot owners. This year’s TOP Awards winners will inspire others to great achievements too. See you at the TOP.