Wait, what about Duke Long’s list?

Well, my friend Duke and I chatted. He knows of and supports this list. Plus, everyone knows Duke is the perpetual top on any #CRE influencer list and therefore he holds the rank as honorary number one on this list! I think Duke would agree that the more recognition and respect that these hard-working list members get, the better. I love to see people succeed and I love positivity. I hope that the #CREi: The 2020 Top Influencers in Commercial Real Estate list will highlight genuinely good people doing amazing things in our world.

Ok, but how is this list different?

We’ve loved Duke’s passion for lists for all these years and appreciate his leadership in first creating the idea over a decade ago. And yes, you will notice that a number of folks appeared on his 2019 list. This would be normal in a relatively small vertical like #CRE. We’ve flexed the list to approximately 150 folks to expand the recognition. The list is being finalized now.

The expert PR professionals at The Wilbert Group (@TheWilbertGroup) have helped by suggesting influential individuals they think merit inclusion. Also, Wilbert allowed the use of their sophisticated technology to help in screening and ranking. Put simply, the team brought some rigor to the process combined with differing perspectives of having multiple professionals suggesting names. We think you will agree, those on the list are true influencers! Thanks to Caroline Wilbert (@carolinewilbert) for your partnership!

Also, the very talented Steve Fennessy (@stevefennessy), former Editor in Chief of Atlanta Magazine is helping us write short bios of everyone on the list. The list is intended to lift up those who great contributors and leaders in our industry. We want you to learn a little about them through the bios as opposed to simply a sequential line list of names.

Who can be on the list?

Exceptional individuals: Those who are producers in commercial real estate. Those who write about commercial real estate. Those who help producers including respected coaches, economist and subject matter thought leaders. We don’t include real estate company handles unless they serve jointly as the handle for a top executive and the company. Also, while we love their work, in most cases we think prop tech companies and their leaders can live on other lists. In general, we are trying to include ladies and gentlemen who are involved in doing or supporting commercial real estate deals of all kinds. We love the philosophy that former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt shared in his Citizenship in the Republic speech (also known as The Man in the Arena quote and yes, insert men AND women in the text).

Can I help?

Sure! If you see someone doing something interesting, innovative or good in social media, then email us and let us know. Also, as you see new professionals join the social media world, please make us aware. We are keeping our master list updated throughout the year. Some estimates say there are 330 million handles on Twitter, so letting us know about folks we should be aware of his helpful! Let’s join together and lift each other up! Our team is excited about this project and the new list. We hope you like it and that you will reach and support the exceptional individuals that made this year’s honor roll.

Congratulations to all those who made it! And hey, a shout out to Ward Richmond for holding the list down at slot 150!