Tom Ridge to Address Building Owners at BOMA Conference

Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will be the keynote speaker at the North American Commercial Real Estate Congress and The Office Building Show presented by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Intl., to be held June 25-28, 2005 in Anaheim, CA. Ridge’s address is scheduled for Sunday, June 26, at the Anaheim Convention Center. “Security has always been a crucial issue to our members, and it has become even more important in a post-9/11 world,” said BOMA Intl. Chairman and Chief Elected Officer Steven W. Ford, senior managing director, facilities management, New York City-based Cushman & Wakefield Inc. “TomRidge is uniquely qualified to discuss the threats facing real estate with our attendees. His insights from the highest levels of government will be extremely relevant to commercial real estate professionals.”As the first Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from combined agencies to strengthen our borders, provide for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, improve the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and to create a comprehensive response and recovery division. He was sworn in as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security in October 2001, following the tragic events of 9/11. His charge was to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. Ridge was also twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1995 to 2001. BOMA’s annual conference will also feature in-depth education programs, with hundreds of hours of educational programming facilitated by industry leaders and experts. The programs will focus on today’s hottest issues in investment and finance, asset and portfolio management, property operations, regulatory and code issues, leasing, marketing, tenant retention and relations, international real estate, technology, and much more. BOMA’s Office Building Show, the industry’s most comprehensive exhibition of its kind providing the latest products, services, and technologies for commercial real estate, will run concurrently with the conference.BOMA will co-locate its show this year with Realcomm 2005, the world’s leading event for technology, business solutions, intelligent buildings, and Internet services for commercial real estate. Realcomm’s exposition will be located in space adjoining BOMA’s Office Building Show and both shows will be open to BOMA and Realcomm attendees. BOMA and Realcomm will also concurrently offer education seminars and other conference events. The two events are expected to attract more than 6,000 attendees and participants to the AnaheimConvention Center. For conference details and to register and make hotel reservations for the event, go online to (www.bomaconvention.org) or for more information, contact BOMA’s conference hotline at (202) 326-6331. For information on Realcomm, visit (www.realcomm.com).This information was provided by Washington, D.C.-based BOMA Intl. (www.boma.org).