Why You Should Never Exercise Your Renewal Option
This may sound crazy, but it's true. Renewal options are good for protecting a tenant from having their space leased out from under them, but the option should only be exercised as a last resort. Why? Click here to see the latest video on Reata's YouTube Channel to find out.
So this month's trivia question is good for a $25.00 Brinker restaurant gift card. You'll have to watch the video to get the answer. Here it is: In what circumstance should you actually exercise your renewal option?
Send your answers to us. Good luck.
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| Dean of SMU's Cox School Predicts Slow Recovery |
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At a recent presentation at the SMU in Plano campus, Al Niemi, Dean of the Cox School of Business predicted a very slow recovery. Furthermore, he said that there was a 1 in 3 chance of a "double dip" meaning that the economy falls back into recession.
He pointed to the period of 1982 - 2007 as the greatest period of economic growth in the history of the US and suggested that this level of growth is not likely to be seen again in our lifetimes. He pointed to five causes of above-average economic performance:
- The integration of computer technology into the economy.
- Swift growth in global markets, as nations such as China and India adopted a more capitalistic approach and the Soviet Union fell.
- Significant growth in the U.S. market, thanks to a growing native population and large-scale immigration
- Business-friendly economic policies, including tax cuts for high earners
- An explosion in debt instruments that fueled household spending.
All in all, says Niemi, "It was a perfect storm for economic growth."
For more on his presentation, please click here. |
| MS-Office Extensions - Revisited |
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 Last month we had an article about how Microsoft added an "X" to the end of the file extensions for files created in Office 2007. We questioned Microsoft's motivations for doing this and suggested it might be a way to force people to upgrade.
Well, I'm happy to report that at least one person actually read that article and took exception to our comments. Marc Hoppers with Cogent Company ( www.cogentcompany.com) is a long-time client and Microsoft partner. Here is his rebutal:
As a guy who makes a living off of implementing MSFT software, I should point out that the reason that MSFT made the file format change is to INCREASE compatibility between Office and non-MSFT applications. The 'x' on the file formats stands for XML, which is a standard format used in almost any sophisticated web app. In fact, MSFT has been working with standards bodies around the world to ensure that this standard complies with local and international law so that its adoption is assured.
He actually had a lot more to say, but in the interest of limited space and a hope that you will read the rest of this newsletter, I have put the rest of the rebuttal at the bottom below our pretty pictures for those who want to read the whole thing.
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| Contact Info: |
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Bob Gibbons
 Jan Gibbons
 Brian Sargent | |
| MS-Office Extensions - continued |
These new file formats allow, as an example, for documents to be used as generic forms for insertion into ERP applications, compiled into and retrieved from document or content management systems as raw text files (as opposed to the old binary format which takes up much more space and requires translation), or used by multiple business intelligence applications in a much more efficient way. For many of Microsoft's customers, this was a way to vastly increase the capabilities of the Office platform, which, for many large businesses, use these applications' development platform to integrate to their business processes, including forms-based, content managed, and business intelligence processes. These formats dramatically decrease the development costs for customizing applications that integrate to Office apps.
MSFT has created several backwards compatibility problems, primarily for consumer users and small businesses who don't keep their applications up to date or aren't interested in the new formats. There are several compatibility packs that enable seamless backwards compatibility. As a note, these formats were released to market in 2006 with the release of Office 2007, and they are being continued in the Office 2010 release, due out in the next few months. With Office 2010, users will for the first time have access to the entire Office application and server suite online, so there will be no need for end users to maintain Office on their machines locally, if they don't desire. Office Web Apps may be just what many of small business users should look at.
Some links:
For advanced Office file format stuff, Gray Knowlton has a great blog: http://blogs.technet.com/gray_knowlton/
Office Web Apps team at MSFT: http://blogs.msdn.com/officewebapps/
Wikipedia on Office Formats... good, bad, and ugly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_Open_XML
Fun with Office. Please visit Marc for more info at www.cogentcompany.com.
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| Who Said That? |
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"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."
- Arnold H. Glasgow
"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."
- Conrad Hilton
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
- Robert McCloskey
""I speak two languages, Body and English""
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| Parker/75 Interchange |
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Have you wondered what is happening at the interchange of Highway 75 and Parker Road?
Well, a unique new kind of intersection is being built. It's called a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI). You can go to the City of Plano's website to see what it's going to look like. You can see a better video showing animation of an SPUI on YouTube.
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| Introducing.... |
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Reata welcomes Brian Sargent as our newest agent. Brian's background includes real estate, oil & gas and roofing. He will be focused on serving office tenants in the Preston Center area and along N. Central south of LBJ. If you know someone who works at a company in those areas, we would appreciate an introduction.
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| Help Wanted |
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We are expanding. If you know someone with experience in business-to-business sales or even real estate who is open to new opportunities, we would appreciate an introduction.
They must be willing to work hard and for commissions only. But they get to be around such wonderful people. That's pay enough in my book....not really.
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| Reata Links |
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Reata Commercial Realty
3401 Custer Road
Suite 118
Plano, TX 75023
972-679-1142 Phone
866-439-8015 Fax
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