January 2009 - Vendor Alley

2nd Annual REtechSouth

January 29th, 2009

My buddy Matt is starting a new conference, its REtechSouth.

So I thought I would give him a plug.

They are already racking up an impressive list of sponsors. The conference hopes to…

“REtechSouth was born out of the desire to host a conversation about the technological changes impacting the real estate industry. A place where agents, brokers, lenders, builders and many other real estate industry practitioners could join together to collaborate on how technology can improve business. What tools work best? What websites are best for networking? Which vendor has the best product? What are the best practices for growing my online presence? These are the types of questions REtechSouth hopes to answer every year. The goal is to get some of the best minds in the industry together in one room to share the knowledge. ”

Sounds great to me!

Kind of an Inman Connect of the South? Might get a whole new batch of attendees.

Atlanta is a good choice when San Francisco and New York may be out of your budget.

Download the flyer here.
retechsouth flyer

CALMLS selects Concentric Software to power rumored California Statewide MLS

January 26th, 2009

I don’t know where to begin with this one. I’m like a kid in a candy store!

First off you have to read the latest press release about CALMLS from the California Association of REALTORS (C.A.R.) Check it out here.

Two things stuck out at me right away. In fact the very first thing was the first paragraph of the press release.

“The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today announced that CALMLS, the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) initiative, has selected Rocklin, Calif.-based Concentric as its technology partner in California. Concentric was selected following an extensive vetting process that included input from REALTORS® and other stakeholders statewide. Platform-and browser-neutral, Concentric’s Web-based system performs substantially faster than any product on the market.”

Let’s break it down, shall we…

“Concentric was selected following an extensive vetting process that included input from REALTORS® and other stakeholders statewide”

The sentence should have read.

“Concentric was selected when no other MLS vendor in the industry would touch them with a 10 foot pole.”

This is even better…

“Platform-and browser-neutral, Concentric’s Web-based system performs substantially faster than any product on the market.”

REALLY?, “substantially faster than any product on the market”, REALLY?? Ummmm, WTF? Who uses Concentric’s web-based system? I don’t think anyone does? So how the hell does it perform “substantially faster than any product” out there?

So you wander over the the Concentric website and it gets more interesting. Looks like the team consists of old Rapattoni alum, Richard Igou and back from the dead Bret “Wieiner” (note to the guy running the Concentric website, you might want to spell your CIO’s name correctly it’s Bret Wiener, W-I-E-N-E-R, got it?) plus Warren Andrich.

I remember Bret from back in the day and he is a solid guy, and from what I’ve heard Richard is no slouch either. So it sounds like they have a good team. All I can say is good luck.

From what I can tell Art Carter and the CARETS group have already implemented what CAR wants to accomplish and there are other solutions out there such as MLS Alliance (an eNeighborhoods product). So CAR members already have good choices. So, where’s the pony?

And here is the second thing I found pretty funny about the press release.

“CALMLS also debuted new branding for the products and services offered by the statewide MLS entity. These now will be branded as calREDD™, an acronym for California Real Estate Dynamic Data.”

calREDD? I guess they couldn’t use CREDD, because that’s what the agents and brokers will do when they get the bill for this “solution in search of a problem”, – “See Red”.

Does Steve have what it takes to get this company moving again?

January 22nd, 2009

Looks like Move Inc. has a new CEO, Steven H. Berkowitz. As Mike Long is flying his private jet in to the sunset it’s now up to Steve and Lorna to get this company MOVing again.

I found this interesting post about Mr. Berkowitz when he was a SVP at Microsoft.

I’ve read Steve loves a challenge. Realtor.com is just the kind of challenge that has some big rewards with the right mix of ideas and leadership.

This one will be fun to watch, good luck Steve!

Reboot

January 20th, 2009

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 19th, 2009

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'

I’m not a religious person, but there was a story I heard on an episode of “This American Life” that I always remember now, when I think of this day.

I found a blog that had transcribed it.

Realtor.com gives nod to Dwellicious

January 19th, 2009

Another shameless plug.

This was leaked at the Inman Connect conference in New York City. But we only got permission today to issue the press release.

Many thanks to Realtor.com who really stepped up to the plate. These guys are true leaders. I can tell you from speaking with them are really committed to this industry and fostering innovation. They don’t get too much credit, but they should.

W&R Studios and Realtor.com partner on launch of Dwellicious Pro.
New tool gives agents and brokers a way to engage with web savvy buyers and sellers via Dwellicious.com. First 100 sign-ups will be paid for compliments of Realtor.com®.

Boca Raton, FL (January 18, 2009) — Web-software company, W&R Studios, announced today that it will be launching a new web application, Dwellicious Pro, designed for real estate professionals that work with it’s recently launched social bookmarking site, Dwellicious.

“The recently launched Dwellicious.com is a great way for buyers and sellers to organize, share and discuss real estate online. Dwellicious Pro gives agents and brokers a way to engage and track their clients,” said Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios.

Dwellicious Pro gives real estate agents and brokers a branded Dwellicious Home Page, plus a full dashboard to see where their clients are looking for real estate and what type of properties interest them. Dwellicious Pro users will be given statistics, charts, and graphs on client searching behavior, bookmarked listing prices, changes in prices to bookmarked listings, and even a simple sales pipeline report. Brokers and agents will have a simple way enhance bookmarks and monitor their syndicated listings through Dwellicious Pro.

“With Dwellicious Pro we wanted to accomplish two main objectives” continued Mr. Robertson. “The first was to put the real estate agent and broker back at the beginning of the home search process and second to provide a new way for agents and brokers to engage with today’s web savvy consumers,” concluded Mr. Robertson.

As part of the launch promotion of Dwellicious Pro, Realtor.com® is paying for the first 100 subscribers to Dwellicious Pro.

“We think Dwellicious is a great idea, and we want to foster innovation in our industry,” said Curt Beardsley, Vice President of Product Marketing at Realtor.com®. “Realtor.com® has by far the most inventory, and our listings are updated an average of 48 times per day. We think Realtor.com® is the perfect place for consumers view listings, and is complimented by Dwellicious and the ability for consumers to share and interact with this data,” stated Mr. Beardsley.

The first 100 real estate professionals who visit Dwellicious.com/pro, sign up, and enter the promo code RCOM will have the first 3 months charges waived, compliments of Realtor.com®.

“We are thrilled to have Realtor.com® participate in the launch,” said Dan Woolley, co-founder of W&R Studios. “It really shows Realtor.com’s® leadership and commitment to this industry by creating an open environment where innovation can thrive.”

Dwellicious Pro is available on a pay as you go, monthly subscription basis. For more information on plans and pricing visit http://Dwellicious.com/pro

About W&R Studios
Founded in 2008, W&R Studios (http://wr-studios.com ) is a privately held web software company. W&R Studios focuses on creating the next generation of web-based software solutions for the real estate industry. By providing a “less is more” approach to software design, elegant user interfaces, and using the latest in agile programming, W&R Studios’ software applications are at the same time powerful, yet accessible to everyone. Co-founders Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson each have over 15 years experience developing and marketing software solutions.

About REALTOR.com®

REALTOR.com®, where the world shops for real estate online, is operated by Move Inc., (NASDAQ: MOVE) and is the official Web site of the National Association of Realtors®. Ranked as the #1 homes-for-sale site, REALTOR.com® currently offers potential home buyers access to over four million property listings, as well as the most brokers and agents. It also provides Realtors® and the home sellers they represent with the Internet’s largest real estate marketplace, reaching more than 6.6 million consumers in September 2008. Agents and companies have the power to customize REALTOR.com® resources to maximize their brand and productivity.

REALTOR® and REALTOR.com® are registered trademarks of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark, which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. All other trademarks appearing above are the property of Move Inc., or of their other respective owners.

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Any questions? Please contact Greg Robertson at W&R Studios.
greg@wr-studios.com 714.240.3895

Beth Murphy arrives home!

January 13th, 2009

Looks like Beth is finally at home after an extended hospital stay. This is great new for Beth and her family.

This was posted on their CarePages account.

“My wonderful wife is finally HOME. There will be no more updates, but if you would like to contact us here are some ways to do that:
…….. I’m a happy camper again…
Love to all, Greg”

Hello World!

January 7th, 2009

Gulp!

New York City!!! Just like I pictured it!

January 5th, 2009

Dan and I are heading to NYC first flight out of Ft. Lauderdale. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

And can you believe it, Dan Woolley has never been to New York City?!!

Seems very odd to me. I told him that we should do something special in honor of this occasion, so I offered to buy him a blo* jo* from a tranny. He declined.

Anyway, switching gears…I’ve still got some Vendor Alley schwag to give away. So I’m going to have another contest.

Just visit the Backstage Pass area of VendorAlley.com (upper right hand corner of the site, genius). The password has been changed. It’s now: bigapple. From there you will receive contest rules on receiving your free Vendor Alley Schwag.

Wednesday only Dan and I have a “Demo Pod” (that what you get when you can’t afford a full booth) going on at the Inman Exhibit Hall (Westside rooms 1&2) from 12PM to 6PM. So stop by and come make fun of us.

I’ll be participating on a panel at the General Session, Thursday at 10:30AM. The panel will be entitled “New Kids (and Ideas) on the Block: Innovators from Around the World“. I’ll be talking about our new web apps being launched Dwellicious and Dwellicious Pro……and I will be making a very special surprise announcement!!

Of course I will have all the latest information about any and all after-parties going on at the show. So get your Twitter on and follow me @gregrobertson as we descend upon Manhattan and see what trouble we can find!

And take a cue from El Jobso, no matter what anybody says, Real Estate ain’t dead yet, so lets keep on keeping on. See you there!!!

We made it!

January 1st, 2009

Happy New Year Everyone! I’ve written you a special Vendor’s Poem
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