We always begin our year with a time to reflect and celebrate the past year – this year was no exception as we celebrated our Peabody & Smith Realty team on Saturday, January 28th at the Indian Head Resort in Lincoln, NH. We enjoy recognizing the hard work of our agents and staff and sharing some of the personal accomplishments they had as well. (This year we got to put some "new baby" photos up on the slide show – we always enjoy that!) The day started with a seminar for our agents and staff with national known and sought after speaker, Matt Ferrara. Matt has delivered more than a thousand seminars, retreats and training workshops in his career, and believes that "great ideas are the basis of great opportunity". Matt says, "I like to focus on innovative ideas whether they come from best practices in management, marketing and technology, or timeless ideas from history, science and art." We loved that Matt energized all of us, shared initiatives for both personal and professional success. (And I would add, if you are looking for a speaker to energize a crowd, Matt is your guy!) [caption id="attachment_4076" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Matt Ferrara presenting to our team about initiatives for personal and professional success[/caption] After Matt's afternoon presentation, we enjoyed dinner in the Lake View room at the Indian Head Resort, and then shared a few highlights of the year, including:

• In 2016, we recorded grand total, gross sales in excess of $124 million dollars, according to statistics from the Northern New England Real Estate Network. (Based on data from the New England Real Estate Network, grand total gross sales, NH & VT, all categories for time period 1/1/2016-12/31/2016.)
• 269,206 visitors came to our website in 2016, from 140 countries!
• We distributed over $32,000 to area organizations including: AHEAD, Ammonoosuc Community Health, Boys and Girls Club of the North Country, Area Chambers of Commerce Fundraising Activities, Franconia Ski Club, Holderness Historical Society, Littleton Regional Healthcare, Pemi Baker Community Health, Speare Memorial Hospital, Squam Lakes Association, Weathervane Theatre & Many More!

At the end of the award ceremony, we awarded the "Peabody & Smith Realty Residential Sales Associate of 2016". The award was presented to Michele Penner. Michele has been with the firm for almost 10 years and works in the Bretton Woods office and services the Bretton Woods real estate market. [caption id="attachment_4056" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Michele Penner and Andy Smith - Residential Sales Agent of the Year 2016[/caption] We also recognized the top agents for each office, and with that, we recognized the following agents:

• Franconia, NH Office: Beth Horan
• Littleton, NH Office: Nikki Barrett
• Plymouth, NH Office: Missy Sullivan
• Holderness, NH Office: Jerry Love

[gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids="4053,4059,4057,4054"]   Other awards included:

• Highest Overall Customer Satisfaction Rating in 2016 – this award is compiled from all of our returned surveys – Missy Sullivan was awarded this with the highest overall customer satisfaction rating. Scoring is always close between agents and Missy won with an overall satisfaction rating of 5.08%. (5 is the highest you can get on our surveys and sometimes clients and customers write in higher numbers (6s and more) resulting in decimals that determine the outcome.)
• Other Awards for Sales Achievement Levels Included:
  • Silver Level Sales Achievement: Dana Armstrong, Geoff Chew, Anne Foss, Tiffany Howard, Mary Dragon, Mary Truell, Ray Newton, Charles Crannell, Mary Doherty, Joy Moore, Angela Spencer, Jerrod Mitchell, Patty O'Brien, Tom Carstens, Jackie Elliott, Karen Walsh & Carmen Burns.
  • Gold Level Sales Achievement: Aaron Woods, Nikki Barrett, Steve Gorman, Missy Sullivan and Jerry Love.
  • Platinum Level Sales Achievement: Beth Horan & Michele Penner

[gallery size="medium" ids="4060,4061,4062,4063,4064,4065,4066,4067,4068"]   In addition, we were so pleased to have John Doran with us for dinner. John is a graduate of Leadership New Hampshire and serves in Realtor leadership roles at the state and local level. John helps us with a number of continuing education classes, and it was great to have him with us to celebrate the year. Our photo credit for this event belongs to Shaun Terhune of Shaun Terhune Photography. We thank Shaun for capturing the spirit and fun of the whole event from start to finish! In addition, we would be remiss if we did not call out the banquet/group staff who helped to organize the venue, the maintenance and cleaning crew, the kitchen crew and the management at the Indian Head Resort. It all went exceedingly well due to their attention to detail and a delicious lunch and dinner! Thank you to the Indian Head Resort for your continued hospitality! [caption id="attachment_4074" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Menu[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_4075" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The flowers (created by Cherry Blossom Floral Design in Littleton, NH) and plaques showing our affiliation with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.[/caption]