Becky Swann,
IRED Founder/President/Editor in Chief

Becky is a licensed (TX 0385770) REALTOR® in Grapevine, Texas, with Buyer's Choice Agency (License: TX 0380278).

In 1989 Becky began practicing as an Exclusive Buyer's Agent, adding certifications as a Buyer's Agent, ABR (Accredited Buyer Agent) and CBA (Certified Buyer Agent) to her GRI (Graduate, Realtor® Institute) designation. In 2003 she added the SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) designation.

Becky was involved with state (Texas) and national initiatives to organize the Buyer Agency movement on a wide scale. At the same time she was active on on-line services such as Prodigy, GEnie, National Videotext Network and AOL. She became a national resource for real estate agency information as she responded to consumer and broker questions, expanding her contacts in the industry through these activities.

In 1994 Becky became more involved with the internet and the new World Wide Web. Her local service provider in late January of 1995, asked her to create a beta site web page. She responded to the challenge and, 72 hours later, went to bed after having learned the HTML language and created an amateurish, yet promising, web page which would evolve into the International Real Estate Digest.

"Becky's List" quickly became the "Internet Real Estate Directory". Sites in Europe, Australia and Japan inspired the change from "Internet" to "International".

Becky's goal of being the best is a moving target and she continues to spend the same time and energy to improve the business.

Becky also does consulting work for REALTORS® interested in designing real estate WEB sites, and makes frequent speaking engagements.

Jim Swann (),
Vice President, Sales

Jim is a licensed (TX 0428048) REALTOR® in Grapevine, Texas, with Marion Zygadlo's Buyer's Choice Agency (License: TX 0380278). In 2003 he earned the SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) designation.

Jim Swann has now retired twice. He taught mathematics in public schools, then joined IBM in WestTexas. By 1984 he was a Technical Support Representative in IBM's National Midrange Support Center supporting the IBM System/38 and the IBM AS/400 Midrange System. His projects there varied from leading a very small development team that created a special Question and Answer Data Base Utility for the S/38 and to participation as one of a team of 1200 that developed OS/400, the Operating System for the AS/400.

After 28 years, working outside of IBM was a very difference experience. BizNET, a Business Networking, Educational, and Training that Jim co-created helped him make the transition.

Early in 1996 Becky said, "Come work for IRED".

The commute was easier;.The hours? Becky allows everyone to work all the days of the week and up to 24 hours a day!. The job is always interesting and fun. Best of all everyone involved in IRED really believes in the possibilities offered by the Internet.

Pat Rioux
Staff Writer

Pat Rioux is a Staff Writer for the award-winning online magazine, the International Real Estate Digest, www.ired.com . Rioux writes for IRED's Attitudes and Events column with a focus on consumer issues and trends in the real estate industry.

A licensed real estate broker and REALTOR, Rioux has 10 years of experience as Information Manager and Relocation Coordinator for a Buyer Agency office, in flat-fee discount brokerage and in real estate investment. She has taught home buying seminars, provided content for real estate web sites, presented seminars on office management and media relations, authored a book of tips for home buyers and agent newsletters, and has served on task force committees concerning relocation and agency issues.

Rioux has a degree in Health Information Management and previously worked in health care research and consulting (National Medical Care Expenditure Survey, the National Hospice Study, and the Medicare Influenza Vaccine Demonstration) for 15 years.

Debbie Shaddox
Special Projects Director.

In 1996, after four years of teaching elementary education in Texas, I decided to take a year off and spend more time with my new daughter. When it was time to return to the work place, I decided to try my hand at a new career. I picked up the yellow pages and stumbled upon IRED.com. Jim and Becky just happened to need help with the reviewing of United States sites. They gave me a quick lesson about the internet, and I was on my way. I quickly became a full time employee overseeing the reviews process.

After three years of working for IRED.com, I took a "leave" to go back into teaching. What was I thinking? I quickly returned to IRED.com, this time as the Special Projects Director. While that title may sound "fancy", what it really means is that when there is a "special project" that no one else wants to do, they pass it along to me. It's the perfect job for me because it provides me a brief insight into all aspects of IRED!

Sharon Binkley
Administrative Assistant

Simeon Mitropolitski
Reviewer

Simeon Mitropolitski is a Bulgarian immigrant to Canada and former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with the hot political and economic topics, both Bulgarian and international. Some of them were translated in English ("A Royal Solution." World Press Review. June 1997). At the end of the 80s he was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in the country. In 1996-1997 he participated in the international monitors' teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria. In 1999 he was among the few Bulgarian journalists that supported NATO military operation against Yugoslavia. In early 2002 Simeon and his family emigrated from Bulgaria to Canada where they now live in Montreal, Quebec.

Corinne Kohrn
Reviewer

Corinne is a lawyer by education, and a medievalist by avocation, and a world traveler whenever possible. She lives in Seattle, Washington, and her only connection to Real Estate has been as a buyer, a seller, and a Web site reviewer.

After studying Medieval literature and Environmental Law in Oregon, Corinne returned to Seattle. Disillusioned by a brief stint with the Prosecutors Office, she abandoned her budding legal career to try her hand at being a full time mother of two energetic boys. In 1997 when it became clear that the boys were going to need separate bedrooms (and a better school system), Corinne began using her computer expertise to look for a larger house. She came across IRED while house hunting on the Web.

Late one night, she began playing in a IRED sponsored virtual Easter Egg hunt. She corresponded with Becky several times (via email) about the Easter Egg hunt, the clues, the web sites, graphics, writing Java Applets . . . and Becky offered her a job.

Reviewing sites provides Corinne with insight into a broad variety of lifestyles and professions, foreign cultures, the architecture of everything from palatial estates to ecologically correct houses built of discarded tires, as well as the excitement of working for a truly virtual company. (Plus there's also IRED's convenient hours, short commute, and liberal dress code.)

Important Notice:
Robert Hershey and Hershey Online no longer has any business relationship with IRED.

The SRES designation is given to Realtors® meeting the specialized training and education requirements.

SRES designees also are educated about such issues as related tax and estate implications in the home-buying and selling process and are able to point clients in the right direction for further assistance.

SAREC is the organization that provides the SRES designation to Realtors nationwide, and was founded by late C.A.R. Past President Tim Corliss and his wife Jill Corliss. SAREC's mission is to assist Realtors in meeting the special real estate needs and concerns of maturing Americans, who today own a significant portion of residential real estate in the U.S.