Real Property in the Real World

That's the title of the 17th Annual Workshop of the Real Property Institute of Canada, being held in Ottawa from February 1-3, 2005.

This year’s theme, Real Property in the Real World, is woven throughout a variety of interactive sessions providing increased opportunities for dialogue and to present comprehensive, hands-on training in four streams – sustainability, partnerships, renewal and client relationship management.

For the third consecutive year, Gill Advisors Inc. will be involved with the RPIC Conference Program as leaders in providing Workplace Continuity consulting services internationally to public and private sector organizations, whose threshold for operational downtime is minimal. Gill solutions are derived from expert research and case studies, as well as a network of organizations with expertise in specialized areas that align the principles of workplace continuity.

Business Continuity for Real Estate Managers
Tony Gill, Managing Director, Gill Advisors Inc.

This session will provide real estate managers with a wide ranging view on how business continuity planning (BCP) has evolved - particularly since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The discussion will place BCP within the wider context of risk management, and will demonstrate the degree to which real estate managers typically integrate risk management in their daily duties (currently the emphasis is clearly on emergency planning) and how their effectiveness in this area can be enhanced if a more holistic approach is taken – a process that would include the integration of basic principles of BCP.

This session emphasizes the importance of the facility as the place where organizational operations take place, thus it is incumbent upon all facility managers to recognize the facility as the operational hub, and thus understand how the fields of real estate strategy and business continuity planning converge. Some of the areas discussed in this session will include:

• Communication systems
  
• Building monitoring systems
  
• Factors that constitute the ideal backup site
  
• Using an existing portfolio to maintain critical operations
  
• Participation in programs with offsite participants
  
• Demonstrate overt and obvious responses from real estate managers, and more strategic responses that if acted upon can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of real estate
  
• Exploring how a BCP-oriented real estate strategy can be used to derive new sources of revenue

If you're attending the RPIC National Workshop this year and want to discuss real estate strategies, make new connections, or just share a few pints of Molson Canadian and discuss the NHL Lockout as a business continuity problem of national concern, please give me a call or email.