In the past 19 years, $16.4 million has been raised for charities. FightNight 2008 will honor all past chairmen, the ringmasters of a black-tie event created to bring the industry together during the tough times and a community give-back with a long-lasting effect. The prestigious event, as it has since 1994, will be held May 1 at the Hilton Anatole at 2201 Stemmons Freeway.

The memories of the late 1980s are still vivid in the minds of Dallas/Fort Worth's brokerage circle. It was a time of dissension between the industry and Dallas City Council; a time of disarray due to the savings and loan debacle; and a time when all too many CRE professionals went from millionaire to bankrupt and see-through buildings were commonplace.

As TREC readies the stage for its 20th annual FightNight, the metroplex's CRE professionals stand united in today's uncertain markets due in part to a foundation laid two decades ago. "The real story for me is there had never been an opportunity to pull everyone in the industry together into one collective action," Jeffrey L. Swope, principal of Dallas-based Champion Partners Ltd., tells GlobeSt.com. "It wasn't a question of winning or losing. It was a question of finding a unified and consistent voice for the real estate community. To me, that's what is so unique about FightNight."

Kaminski

Means had been to a boxing fund-raiser in a Houston hotel, put the idea on the table and the four veterans brain-stormed the genesis of today's hallmark event, which has since been mimicked in many other US cities. "It's amazing to me just how many people were down and out and still so many rented tuxes and came out. The times were so difficult," Swope says.