Of course you didn’t, because it hasn’t happened yet. But I can promise you that Vendor Alley Private Newsletter members will be the first to hear about it, today.
I’ll give you a hint. It involves the MLS industry.
The future of “Just Listed” postcards?
Interesting little app, Postcard on the run, that lets you generate postcards with your own photos, right from your smartphone. It then delivers them the old fashion way.
Couple this is a direct mail printing/list/mailing house and you got yourself a quick and easy Just Listed postcard service.
Via Mashable
America
“I’m also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some 7 year old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion: he’s a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”
-Colin Powell
October 19, 2008
Homes Media Solutions hires Jack Jominy!
This is great news! Nice to see Dominion Enterprises making investment in talent. Jack is one of the good guys and its fantastic to see him back in the mix. He couldn’t have joined a better team with Michael Hayes and Rick Sherwood. The press release speaks for itself, Jack has been in this business longer than any of us, and his father practically invented the modern day MLS system.
Congrats to Jack and HMS!
Full Press Release Below:
Homes Media Solutions Hires Heavy Hitter Jack Jominy
Homes Media Solutions, a leading provider of marketing and data solutions for real estate professionals and a division of Dominion Enterprises, announced today that Jack Jominy, a well-known industry player, has been hired as a Senior Account Executive. He entered the industry in 1976 as an employee of Realtron Corporation. Realtron, founded by his father, Jack Sr., who served as president, introduced online computerized MLS and real estate information in the state of Michigan. During Jack’s long tenure at Realtron, he was responsible for regional sales and product development for all services. He was the Florida Sales Manager in 1995 when Realtron was sold to News Holding Corp along with PRC Realty Systems to create Interealty. His career has also included work in various sales and sales management positions for Interealty (now called First American Core Logic), Homes.com (prior to being part Dominion Enterprises) and REALTOR.com. At First American Core Logic, he specialized in selling the Realist System tax products and later became national sales manager for tax at Fidelity National MLS Systems. More recently, he was a Regional Sales Manager for Previsite, a Multi Social Media Solution, with a completely automated social media offering for Real Estate Brokers and MLS organizations.
“Jack has more years of experience than some executives in our industry have been alive. Jack worked under many company names, some changes without leaving the company and he held different titles; but he did pretty much the same thing; Jack built strong business relationships with MLSs, and this is what he will be doing for Homes Media Solutions,” says Michael Hayes, Executive Director of Enterprise Services for Homes Media Solutions. “We are fired up to have him on our team.”
More Vendor Alley Stickers in the wild!
These two industry pros know how to rock their Vendor Alley Stickers. Want to get yours? We have a few more left, just follow these instructions.
Trulia shouts “Me Too!” and adds estimates to its listings
The program is in beta and limited to the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the blog post the functionality was ” built by an in-house team of experts”. At least they didn’t copy Zillow entirely and call them something zany like “Truestimates” or “Testimates”?
Trulia notes this features was requested by their users. But it’s hard to believe that any of those users included Listing Agents or that they, or anyone else shouted “Give Us Your Team Of Experts Best Guess At The Price Of This Home!!”. To combat this they’ve done something interesting by adding a “Tell Us How Badly We Screwed Up On The Price Of This Home.” “Tell Us What You Think About This Estimate.” comment form.
This gives users a way of commenting on the estimate. Not sure if any of these comments will be of any use. Once they include Active Listings you know the seller and seller’s agents are going to say its bullshit if the estimates is too low, and you know any buyer interested in will say the estimate is too high. On the bright side maybe it will have agents creating more CMAs. So let the games begin!
CoreLogic may face significant hurdles selling itself says anonymous blogger.
I think most of us saw the Bloomberg Article about some trading shenaigians regarding CoreLogic’s recent announcement. A recent post by anonymous blogger, “P. Marlowe Analytics”, has done a detailed analysis of some of the challenges he (she?) says face a potential sale of CoreLogic. It’s a long read full of financial speak but interesting none the less.
SoCalMLS
Along with a lot of other vendors I got the email last week.
“Effective immediately we ask that you no longer use the SoCalMLS logo, name , disclaimer etc. I have attached the disclaimer that should be used from this point forward.”
My first thought, oddly enough, was about the SoCalMLS logo. From a design perspective I always liked the SoCalMLS logo. It has a badge type feel to it because its vertical not horizontal. Simple sans serif font, use of negative space, and good ole red, white and blue. I have other favorites, like this and this, but the SoCalMLS logo represented my hometown sports team.
As I traveled SoCalMLS was always the benchmark I gauged every other MLS Provider against. And it was a hard one to match. SoCalMLS was the first to put MLS listings on the internet (a feat that earned Russ the Inman Innovator Award). SoCalMLS was always out in front trying new technologies including on of the first web-based MLS systems. But mostly SoCalMLS was just fun to watch. You never knew what Russ and his team had up their sleeve next and when they did something they usually went big. Which reminds me of another story…
January 2004, 2004
How do you covert 26,000 MLS members to a new MLS system? Russ was asked this question and here what he said.
“We asked ourselves. What’s the most efficient and effective way to get the job done, and the answer was: Train everyone at once.” – Russ Bergeron.
What did that mean? It meant renting out the local sports arena, then known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center, where the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks play) and having two sessions (one morning, one afternoon) and train “everyone at once”. Like some awesome rock concert I can say, I WAS THERE. Looking back I wish they made t-shirts so I could point to physical proof on my MLS street cred.
That’s how SoCalMLS rolled, that’s why they were fun to watch.
Art Carter and CRMLS is putting together an awesome team. Adrese Roundtree and his SoCalMLS team now join Patty Connor (formerly of RMLS, FL.) along with the rest of CRMLS’s staff. Their future is bright.
But no email is going to wipe the memory of what SoCalMLS represented, what it accomplished, or how it helped move the MLS industry forward. For CRMLS, that is a tough act to follow.
