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REM was established in 1989 by my father, Heino, only about a 12 months immediately after I was born.
The story, as he told it to me, was that REM was mainly intended to boost his key small business – a cable tv channel referred to as Genuine Estate Television.
It shown a revolving catalogue of genuine estate listings. Pictures of a house for sale would scroll by and a narrator would read through the listing’s description – together with, as we’d later on chuckle about, quite a few clichés. Just about every listing experienced “charming” again patios, “cosy” interiors, “rare” views of the metropolis and so on.
My father had remaining his career with the Toronto Serious Estate Board to become an entrepreneur and go after starting up this cable channel, an possibility he felt was as well superior to disregard. He was an immigrant chasing the Canadian dream.
When my father preferred to market the prospect to have listings featured on Real Estate Tv set, he resolved to spot an ad in the nationwide trade magazine for Realtors in Canada. That’s when he discovered a little something shocking: There wasn’t 1.
And that, a lot more or significantly less, is the story of how REM came to be.
The cable tv channel eventually was taken in excess of by Rogers and suddenly REM turned my dad’s main company. Without the need of truly intending to, he grew to become a journal publisher. It finished up remaining a career he’d hold for nearly 30 decades.
Considerably like my father, I hardly ever supposed to develop into a magazine publisher, possibly. I went into the loved ones company at first as our “digital media manager” – which my father and I from time to time joked meant the “resident young person.”
I went to college for broadcasting but have normally experienced a passion for design and coding. The yr before graduating, it was distinct to me that REM’s web page experienced a ton of area for advancement. I supplied to assist with a redesign using a system known as WordPress, and before extensive I uncovered myself dependable for acquiring and sustaining almost everything electronic at REM – e mail newsletters, a social media existence, on the internet ads, everyone’s e mail accounts and anything at all else IT-relevant. Around the a long time, and as the world of publishing and journalism adjusted, our electronic side went from staying an afterthought to a significant aspect of our business.
My dad retired as publisher of REM in 2018, only a 12 months shy of its 30th anniversary. When he did, he handed that mantle on to me. He died a year later.
At the time, REM was struggling with enormous tension, as was – and is – the circumstance for every single news publication in the earth. Viewers, in particular on line, count on the identical excellent but without the need of any price tag or inconvenience, and our base line was acquiring tighter and tighter with each 12 months.
My father experienced instilled in me a perception in the value of top quality journalism, and that it was the most essential expense for the magazine. A lot of other publications possibly threw up paywalls to have their online visitors fork out the difference or minimize corners – most especially in the quality of what they published. We have completed our ideal to strike the correct equilibrium, without having resorting to both selection.
Only a few months immediately after Heino handed away, the globe shut down mainly because of a world-wide viral pandemic. At a time when REM was presently at a turning place and hoping to discover new approaches to adapt, this was a significant setback. Our regular monthly print magazine was sent to serious estate places of work throughout the place. If all all those workplaces were being shut, who was left to obtain it?
Right after a few false starts off of reprieve from lockdowns, it became very clear that a return to print may well not be in the cards for pretty some time. As a outcome, our electronic facet finished up getting the crux of our whole operation. While it was in a position to carry us to what (we hope) is the finish line of this pandemic, it sadly wasn’t ample.
So we will be suspending regular updates to our web page and email newsletters, setting up today.
Shifting forward, I will be stepping apart as REM’s publisher and CEO – a task neither my father nor myself ever definitely meant on holding, but nonetheless has been as rewarding as it was tough.
We are in the approach of discovering a new possession group for REM, to carry on its founded id as Canada’s leading magazine for serious estate field stakeholders and industry experts.
I am particular that, with a new workforce in location, REM will be back again and better than ever.
In the meantime, I want to thank Jim Adair for his above 30 years of assistance as REM’s editor. He has been REM’s voice and is the male most responsible for its set up reputation for integrity, independence and top quality journalism.
I also want to thank you, our viewers, with out whom REM would not exist. Almost everywhere I have gone, across the region, I’ve met Realtors who know and enjoy REM. Your have faith in and assist for this publication is what has made it particular for above three decades. We have viewed imitators arrive and go but none had the exact same mix of good quality articles and a loyal readership. With no that, REM under no circumstances would have succeeded.
Even though this is the ending of one particular chapter, I search ahead to what the long term nevertheless still holds for this publication.
For now, as my father would say, keep a happy thought.
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