Blackwood Partners Management Corp's Michelle Mackay starts as president of Vancouver CREW in January. This Thursday, the board has a strategy session so they can hit the ground running. With the current membership at 110—and only four male members—one of the goals is to bump up awareness. The overall objective is to get more women into the industry and assist those already there.

Vancouver CREW is following in the footsteps of Toronto by adding more male members, hoping to bring in more role models. Michelle says one of the best events this past season was Anthem Properties prez Eric Carlson and Premise Properties' prez Avtar Bains, above, speaking at the Vancouver Club. "People in the industry really look up to them," Michelle says. Both were given honourary memberships. Its goal of an 80% membership retention will be easier to attain by building in similar speaker series events, Michelle tells us. (The image is from the Vancouver CREW golf tournament.)