By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In 1999, former REALTOR® Magazine Senior Editor Robert Sharoff gave birth to the idea of showcasing talented real estate pros under the age of 30. Thousands of applications and hundreds of profiles later, the 30 Under 30 program is thriving.

The 2010 edition will mark the 10th anniversary for this feature. REALTOR® Magazine has been accepting applications for this program, and will until Jan. 31. Don’t miss your chance!

For the big anniversary, we’ve created a new application with more questions (though each answer needs to be under 750 characters). In the meantime, if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to write me at ktarbox@realtors.org.

Every year, the editors pore over hundreds of applications to select 30 people who showcase something extraordinary in real estate. That’s the secret to being named a 30 Under 30. Over the course of the year, I field several calls in which I explain this is not strictly a numbers game. While closing $10 million in sales is a remarkable professional achievement, it doesn’t guarantee a slot in the feature.

In fact, last year the editors were greatly impressed by NP Dodge’s operations director Robert Wiebusch, who produced just under $1 million. However, he also cut more than $500,000 in annual spending for his brokerage and increased Internet traffic to 1.5 million views each month.

Past honorees have included Kendra Todd, who went on to win season three of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” and now hosts “My House is Worth What?” on HGTV. She recently joined the Keller Williams Realty Greater Seattle market center and heads up their luxury-home division. Shannon Williams King, ABR®, GRI, founder/broker ofTriBella Realty in Austin, now serves on the NAR’s Strategic Planning Committee and is advisory board chair of REALTOR® Magazine’s Young Professionals Network. Active Rain founder Jonathan Washburn established a virtual network of almost 160,000 real estate professionals.

Readers should take a look at last year’s profiles to understand what the 30 Under 30 program is about: talented young professionals who bring passion, dedication, innovation, and hard work to the field of real estate.

Over the years, several people have asked why we only bring attention to practitioners under 30 years of age in this feature. The answer is that this specific program is designed to recognize the future faces of NAR and initiate a dialogue with our younger members. We also ask our applicants to talk about mentors who’ve guided them in their careers.

Even if you don’t want to apply this year, you also should consider joining our Young Professionals Network (YPN), which grew out of the 30 Under 30 program. The group is quickly growing and membership is free!