PRD Annual Awards a triumph over adversity

PRD Australia triumphed over adversity to acknowledge the achievements of the network’s top performers over the weekend, with attendees gathering in locations across three states for a hybrid in-person and live-streamed event.

The Annual Awards recognise and celebrate PRD’s top performers and leaders in the industry who operate under PRD’s Smarter philosophy – Buy, Sell, Rent and Lease Smarter.

Reece Thompson from PRD Hunter Valley took home the award for Top Salesperson, with PRD Newcastle’s Mark Kentwell named Top Principal.

PRD Hunter Valley also won the coveted Top Office category nationally, with PRD Newcastle taking second spot, and Port Stephens, Ballarat and Tamworth rounding out the top five.

The award winners were recognised in front of more than 400 of their industry peers on Friday night, in a live stream across three locations; Stamford Plaza Brisbane, NEX Newcastle and SS&A Albury; to ensure the network’s plans weren’t scuppered by the pandemic.

PRD Managing Director Todd Hadley told Elite Agent, the night’s festivities ran perilously close to needing a last-minute overhaul due to the pandemic.

“We thought we’d covered all bases, because originally we were going to hold the event on the Gold Coast as a national event,” Mr Hadley said.

But the audio-visual feed connecting the three locations was being co-ordinated from the Stamford Plaza. 

With a positive COVID-19 case announced in Brisbane that morning, and a potential lockdown looming, there were fears Brisbane guests would have to tune in from home, which would have resulted in a logistical headache for the entire event.

“We tried not to second guess it, we sat back and said, ‘let’s play it as it is’,” Mr Hadley said.  

“What last year taught everybody was how to move quite quickly and adapt to the ever-unfolding conditions that we’re in.

“So we were ready to just move that whole section into a virtual space, which might have been challenging but it’s I’m sure we would have found a way as we needed to find a way to do everything last year.”

Thankfully, the lockdown didn’t occur until early this week, meaning the event went off without a hitch.

“I was waiting,” Mr Hadley said.

“It had the potential to go pear-shaped at any moment, as any of those (virtual) things do, but it worked seamlessly and the feedback from our principals has been great. 

“Part of real estate culture is the ability for people to get together and mix and share war stories and successes and all the achievements, so being in the same room with people that they hadn’t seen for 12 or 14 months was just amazing.”

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