Approximately 3,000 CBRE executives, professionals and staffattended the conference, whichfocused on the theme "The Power ofOne," a reference to the importance of each individual in thefirmas well as the importance of operating with unified goals andstrategies. The attendees alsoheard from an industry outsider,former Reagan Administration CIA official Herb Meyer, onexternalforces affecting the overall global business outlook.

Brian Stoffers and Greg Vorwaller, head of CBRE capital marketsand investment salesrespectively, outlined the company's previouslyannounced initiative to unify the efforts of theL.J. Melodymortgage-banking division and the investment-sales division. Thetwo divisionsalready do a substantial amount of business togetherand have been working together informallyfor years, they said, butthe new push is to formalize and improve both the quality and thelevel ofcooperation between the two.

Stoffers told the attendees that unification process is "just inthe second inning," while Vorwaller described the efforts to unifythe operations of the two divisions as an example of how the entirefirm is focusing on coordinating resources to do a better job onall client assignments.