We put on our hearing protection last month and followed CBRE's aptly named Hunter Lee, CresaPartners' Bret Hefton, CBRE's Blake Shipley and Burson Holman, and Colliers International's Daniel Rudd at the Dallas Gun Club for the annual Elizabeth Toon memorial sporting clay tournament. Charity executive director Jessica Gates says the non-profit board picked a sporting clay tournament as a fundraiser because Elizabeth loved hunting. They also thought it would be fun to have an event that was different than the typical golf tournaments. The event?s grown in five years from 100 shooters to 350. ?Everyone loves being able to get outside, have a little fun shooting around, and network at the same time. It's been a huge success,? she tells us.

Daniel tells us networking events create a general camaraderie within the industry and provide opportunities to talk with leasing agents and building owners. ?It's not an us versus them mentality. We're working together to make deals,? he says. Bret agrees. He says events like this are extremely valuable in developing relationships; people who were once just acquaintances are now great friends because of unique events like this. He says he's not much of a hunter, but he always enjoys fishing with his grandfather at Horseshoe Bend Lake in East Texas.