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CMLS 2011 Recap – Killer Clowns and Killer Content.

October 10th, 2011

CMLS 2011 – What a week!

It’s taking me a little longer to recover from CMLS last week. I think it mostly had to do with one of the best lobby bars I been to in recent blurry memory (open till 2AM!). You have all heard by now that is was the largest CMLS ever with over 500 people in attendance. Which is very impressive since it was a bit of the beaten path. Wes Wiggins had originally committed to hosting the conference prior to him taking the top spot at RMLS- Florida. Phil Tedesco is a class act and he and his team did an excellent job of putting together a great conference along with Sarah Carlton and the CMLS board of directors.

A few highlights:

I enjoyed the “What keeps me awake at night” segments. The lights dimmed, and a single spotlight shown upon the speaker. My favs were Curt Beardsley and Mark Lesswing. If anyone has video of either please forward to me so I can post. Just great stuff.

The send off of Peter Shuttleworth (who is retiring) was also fun and Peter is a good sport.

Congrats to Jim Harrison who was elected in to the CMLS Board of Directors.

I also enjoyed the videos shot of non-industry people who were asked questions like “What is an MLS?”

Brian Boero , of 1000watt Consulting gave a talk about implementing what he called an MLS “data socket”. This concept has been talked about before, but Brian put the idea in to focus.

The booth placement for vendors made for lively conversations and a few bumps as people made the gauntlet down “vendor alley”. Which brings me to my announcement of “Best Booth of CMLS 2011”. The honor goes to 10K Research. Great signage, marketing materials and spot on messaging made it my favorite. Great job to the 10K team!

I wasn’t too thrilled at the Old Tucson Studios “Hootenanny'”. After a 50 minutes bus ride you were treated to a park full of “killer clowns with chainsaws” sneaking up on you. But I digess…

The last session was also fun. Executive Trainer Brian Taylor asked for a “Lone Nut” to come up on stage and ask the audience to follow him on a big bold idea. It was no big surprise when Russ Bergeron stood up to applause and took the stage committing to supporting RESO‘s effort for real estate data standards. He then asked everyone to join him in this pledge. I have a video of what happened next below (sorry for the screen orientation issues):

You should also check out Matt Cohen’s blog post on the event here.

I’ve lost count on how many CMLS conferences I’ve attended ( I think it’s 12) and they just keep getting better. It’s the perfect blend of education, networking and a good time.

I took a few photos which you can check out at the Vendor Alley Flickr Photostream by clicking this link

Next stop Boston, where MLSPIN will be our host of CMLS 2012. See you there!

NAR overhauls Midyear Meetings & Expo format, starting 2012

August 29th, 2011

If you didn’t get the memo it looks like NAR is cutting down the number of days of exhibiting at NAR Midyear from 3 days to 2 days.

The new trade show days/hours are the following:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 10AM – 6PM
Martinis at Midyear Reception 4PM – 6PM

Thursday, May 17, 2012 10AM- 6PM

To put things in perspective here’s what the days/hours were this past May.

Wednesday 10AM to 5PM
Thursday 9AM to 5PM
Friday 9AM to 2PM

I like the fact the show doesn’t start till later (10AM), but I’m not sure how staying till 6PM is going to help any.

Sue Gorley states:

“With the new schedule, exhibitors will have the opportunity to network and schedule private meetings with attendees on Tuesday and Friday all day, and before 10:00am/after 6:00pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Note that NAR will enforce the “no suite meetings” during official Expo hours.”

I personally think the “no suite meetings” during official Expo hours is bullshit. Plus a lot of people looked at Friday for heading home. It will be a tough adjustment to convince vendors and customers to stay for a 3PM meeting on Friday.

What do you think?

Here’s the copy of the email that was sent out:

——————————————

Dear 2012 Midyear Exhibitor,

Based on your feedback in surveys and discussions, we are pleased to announce a change to the 2012 Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

You have told us that exhibit hours at Midyear are longer than needed, Friday is a less productive day, and you would like to see exclusive hours for attendees to come to the Expo.

As a result, we have changed the 2012 Midyear Expo schedule to:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 10:00am – 6:00pm

Martinis at Midyear Reception 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Thursday, May 17, 2012 10:00am – 6:00pm

NAR is clearing the schedule of programs from 5:00pm-6:00pm each day, providing you two exclusive hours for the Expo.

With the new schedule, exhibitors will have the opportunity to network and schedule private meetings with attendees on Tuesday and Friday all day, and before 10:00am/after 6:00pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Note that NAR will enforce the “no suite meetings” during official Expo hours.

We will continue to offer the same great advertising and sponsorships including traffic building opportunities such as Cash In & Win and food & beverage events on the Expo floor.

While the price for booth space will remain the same, the new two-day schedule and changes will help exhibitors to increase their ROI and reduce costs with one less expo day, providing longer straight time move-out hours on Friday and a reduction in daily costs such as cleaning and other services.

We appreciate all of the feedback from you and we hope that the changes in 2012 will be positive and profitable!

Thank you for support and for exhibiting at the 2012 Midyear Expo.

Sincerely,

Sue Gourley
Vice President, Conventions

Inman Anticipation…

July 21st, 2011

Like many of you I’m heading up to San Francisco next week for the Data Summit and Real Estate Connect conference, both hosted by Inman News. So here’s a prelude to some of the things I’m looking forward to and thinking about:

I will be attending Inman’s Data Summit. The event will be hosted by Gahlord DeWald and Rob Hahn. I always enjoy getting together with Gahlord, he is a smart guy and I always learn something so it will be interesting to hear he perspective on the data issues plaguing the MLS/Real Estate Industry. Rob Hahn, aka “The Bard of the Long Form Post”, will be hosting too. Rob is always good at making me re-think my current assumptions or at least giving an interesting perspective.

Dan Woolley will be moderating the “Connect Tech” session once again this year and I’m sure he won’t disappoint. Traditionally a geek fest Dan always seems to bring together great minds for interesting conversation about XML and whatnot. The Connect Tech sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, July 27 and start at 8:30AM and end at 12:00PM.

This year Mike Wurzer takes a break from moderating The MLS Innovation Track (Brian Boero will ably take on the task) on Thursday July 28th, starting at 2:00PM. I’ll be on a panel entitled “Managing Your Distribution Channel and Vendor Relationships Profitably and Responsibly”. On the panel with me will be Curt Beardsley of Move, Inc. So please join me as I try not to look stupid sitting next to Curt.

I’m also a big fan of Brad Inman‘s Welcome Address. This year he will be speaking of “The Post-PC World”. But a lot of the hosting duties appear to be taken over by Chris Smith, Inman’s newly hired “Chief Evangelist”. I’ve seen Chris speak at an Agent Reboot Conference and just sat in on a webinar he hosted yesterday. Chris is the real deal, and a very talented speaker who really knows his stuff. The question remains can he go deeper to the the larger issues involving the real estate industry and not just do a presentation on “The Top 10…..”, I think he can, but as an “evangelist” does he even have to?

I’m also look forward to hearing from Joe Bebbia of Airbnb, which for some reason really fascinates me. It will be good to get Ron Conway’s perspective on things and I think David Pogue will be a good draw as well.

But the “Belle of the Ball” might just be Zillow. After a being valued at just about a Billion dollars these guys have to be pumped, and what a perfect conference to strut their stuff. But don’t think the other guys will be sitting still, word on the street is that there will be at least 1 big announcement next week ( I know, I’m a big tease).

Plus doesn’t it seem like there is a lot more parties this year? Almost every night there are one or two parties to go to. I sure hope my liver is ready.

Parties aside to me the next big issue, which we are already having to face, is the advent of these patent lawsuits. As an independent software developer I can tell you that its a big issue that I’m afraid is only going to get worse. It’s not just a real estate issue, this post by Craig Hockenberry spells it out best.

I arrive Sunday evening. I hope to catch up with everyone. And remember Vendor Alley’s first rule of conferences….Never, And I Mean Never, Go Big On The First Night!

See you there!!

MLS Cloud Conference 2011 Recap

June 9th, 2011

I wanted to put down a few thoughts and observations about last week’s MLS Cloud Conference hosted by Bob Hale and the Houston Association of REALTORS.

Additionally I uploaded a bunch of photos from the event. You can see them at the Vendor Alley Flickr Photo Stream

When I first got there I did hear a few of the attendees muttering if they would gain anything by attending a conference held so closely to NAR Midyear meetings in Washington D.C. That combined with it being held the week after Memorial Day seemed to heighten the crowds expectations. But from what I could tell those expectations were soon met.

NAMLS
Bob Hale came up first to set the tone. Bob does a great job of honing in on the important issues and serving up some plausible solutions to these issues. He spoke about giving consumers what they want and about how the MLS needs to engage with NAR and others. But I can’t confirm or deny I heard him speak about forming a “National Association of MLS.” : )
To me a key measurement of a good speaker is how many other speakers reference them in future talks and in the hallways of the ballrooms. By that measure Bob was king.

This business would be great if it weren’t for the damn customers.

Brad Inman was the first keynote and talked about the “post PC” world we are living in. He told us to all get an iPad and kiss our towers and notebook computers goodbye. He had some interesting observations about the employees of his new company, Vook. Apparently nobody at his company likes to sit at a desk anymore, they like to stand, and not eat meat apparently. Although I thought one of the funniest moments (unintentionally) was when Brad made a remark of how he didn’t like the way that some NAR staff talked down about their membership. To me was pretty ironic since MLS execs (and vendors) behave in the same way, if not worse!

I D Mess

I think a lot of people thought the conference would only focus on MLS public facing websites but the topics were much broader in scope. I was kind of hoping for a throwdown between Alex Perriello, CEO of Realogy and Joe Horring of Realty Alliance. Joe was more bombastic but sadly no pile drivers or fisticuffs.

Vendor Love

Another thing that I enjoyed was that they had a lot of vendor love going on. Bob freely put up a lot of vendors to showcase their products and services. Some of the vendors did a great job of talking about a broader message and weaving their products in to that message, but sadly most were just doing a 15 minute long commercial.

Schmooze and booze

On the hospitality side things were great. The hotel was centrally located so you could walk to a lot of restaruants. The HAR staff was very helpful and any hosted bar that serves Tanqueray Ten is number one in my book! Here’s a quick tip if the event is held at the same hotel next year. Mo’s, walking distance from the hotel, has bar doesn’t close until 1AM. Just sayin….

Errol’s Comet

Other highlights were presentations by Errol Samuelson and Curt Beardsley from MOVE. Really great presenters. Errol used this insane picture of a view from a beach with fireworks, a comet and lightning storm to symbolize the state of the industry (You had to be there.) I heard more than one comment on John Heithaus’s presentation and his ability to use a Glengarry Glen Ross clip without swear words.

Lust

Some other random stuff I thought was cool. Channing Dawson of HGTV used the term “Home Lust” or “House Lust” a lot (can’t remember which one of these terms he used). A really great piece of jargon I had never heard before. It appears that someone else was paying attention because Robert Drummer of iMapp when he heard the term immediately went online to check to see if the domain was available. It was. And now HomeLust.com belongs to him! Classic.

Best Audience Question

The best question asked at the conference came from David Charron during Ann Bailey’s update on the CIVIX settlement.

David Charron: Is RPR going to help pay for the CIVIX settlement?

Ann Bailey: MLS providers should contact their RPR reps directly to work out details.

and so without further delay…
Vendor Alley Public Service Announcement

I think its great that RPR is willing to help out with this effort so in the interest of public service here are the names and contact information of all RPR reps that MLS providers should call and request cash assistance with CIVIX:

Ohan Antebian
Email: ohan@narrpr.com  Phone: 949.910.6285

Ernie Bottom -East
Email: ernie@narrpr.com  Phone: 262.785.0633

Kristen Carr – Southeast
Email: kcarr@narrpr.com  Phone: 561.441.9494

Ron France
Email: ron@narrpr.com  Phone 315.559.5238

Kristen Hernandez – West
Email: kristen@narrpr.com Phone: 214.471.3795

A full list can be found at http://blog.narrpr.com/about/industry-relations. You’re welcome.

Compelling content, great speakers make this event a must attend. My congrats to Bob Hale and his team plus a special thanks goes out to Sam Scott, Rene Galvan and Shawn Dauphine for their wonderful Texas hospitality See you next year!

[Cupcake Photo Credit: Lisa Herrin]

Clareity 2011 MLS Executive Workshop Recap

March 7th, 2011

Gregg Larson and crew have certainly come up with a winning formula for Clareity’s annual MLS Executive Workshop. Last week was Clareity’s 10th anniversary for holding the event and it was sold out almost as quickly as the announcement was made. I’m sure they have 10 more years ahead, here’s why:

1. Location. While most of the country is freezing, the event is held in Scottsdale and the weather was absolutely perfect this past week, just beautiful.

2. Don’t skimp. They are great hosts. Premium booze. No drink tickets, and good food. ‘Nuff said.

3. Prizes. Gregg is very generous with the prizes too. I don’t think you will ever find an event where so many high tech prizes are given away.

4. Inclusion. Vendors and MLS executives are both featured in panels.

5. Good content. Matt Cohen keeps the sessions relevanat and topical to today’s issues.

6. Audience participation. Seems like you get more Q&A than other meetings I’ve attended.

7. MLS Satisfaction Survey. They announce the results at this event. Pure genius.

Highlights for me include the listing syndication discussions. Feels like there is a change in the air on this topic. Also every year it seems like Gregg puts two industry vets on stage who may be on opposite ends of a topic. This year it was Sami Inkinen from Trulia and Errol Samuelson from MOVE. It’s great theatre to watch both participants answer questions and be cordial to one another. Even though you might sense they would rather the other one not exist.

The theme of the event was innovation. Two of my favorite presentation were the one given by Mike Wurzer, CEO of FBS and another by John Heithaus of MRIS. Mike has been talking a lot about the concept of an “MLS App Store” and the possibilities are very exciting to a 3rd party vendor like myself. John Heithaus is relatively new to this crowd but not real estate, his fun quirky presentation was informative, provoking and entertaining. Tough mix.

But my favorite presentation was by Art Carter. Art spoke of the need for standards and how everyone in the room was responsible for helping this effort. Yes I know this is a old topic, but somehow Art made it fresh. Part of it was the message he was delivering, most of it was the fact that he was something to you don’t see a lot of nowadays; Genuine.

My thanks to Gregg and Matt and the rest of the Clareity crew for a truly awesome event. See you next year!

Check out the Vendor Alley Flickr Photostream for photos from the event:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vendoralley/sets/72157626202301528/

Join me at Clareity’s MLS Executive Workshop

March 1st, 2011

I came a couple days early to the Clareity MLS Executive Workshop. As part of the conference I’m going to be moderating a panel on Thursday at 1PM entitled; “3rd Party Innovation”. The panel includes Michael Hayes from eNeighborhoods, Michael Lane from ShowingTime, Joe Kazzoun of Instanet Solutions and Mike Barnett of Property Panorama.

Should be fun and hoping for some great discussion.

Inman RE Connect NYC-Top 5 sessions I’m looking forward to.

January 3rd, 2011

I was taking a look at this years agenda for Inman’s Real Estate Connect in New York City and I must say this year has a lot of great sessions. But with so many sessions I thought I would put together my Top 5.

1. ConnectTech Wednesday, January 12. 8:30AM to 12:25PM
Moderated by Dan Woolley.
Interested in APIs? Will Flash make it? Tablets? UX/UI? Yes. No. Yes. Yes. Dan and Joel have put together some of the best tech minds in one place. If you are interested in real estate technology than this is the place to be.

2. Welcome Address from Brad Inman. Wednesday, January 12 at 2:15 to 2:40PM
I’m a sucker for these. I’m always curious to see what’s Brad and his team come up with, it sets the vibe of the conference for me.

3. New kids on the block: Meet six new companies you may not have heard of – but should know. Thursday 9:30AM to 10:00AM.
I’m a sucker for these too! Great to see what fresh ideas and faces are coming in to the industry.

4. Innovation Track: The MLS. Moderated by Mike Wurzer 2:00PM to 5:00PM
Gahlord Dewald is moderating the media and technology track at the same time but since I’m an MLS geek I’m going to the The MLS session. Mike Wurzer does such a good job moderating these sessions its a hard one to miss. One session that really has me intrigued is the “Trends in media and technology with Curt Beardsley from Realtor.com. Curt always has a an interesting take on things.

5. Data, traffic and profits. Friday, January 14, 2011 9:25AM to 10:00AM
Ever since we launched Dwellicious I’ve been keeping track of all the major portals. This session has some big names, Pete Flint, Ian Morris (good to see him back in the mix), Spencer Rascoff and Errol Samuelson.

There’s lots and lots and lots of sessions. You can see the full agenda here. The conference starts on Wednesday the 12th, so come to New York and buy me a drink!

NARdiGras 2010 Cool Cats.

November 9th, 2010

Ohan Antebian thinks before he speaks...

For more photos check out the Vendor Alley Flickr Photostream.

C.A.R. Expo Recap

October 10th, 2010

I wanted to share a few thoughts and observations about the C.A.R. Expo held at the Anaheim Convention Center last week. The event was fantastic. Good attendance and, at least from my experience, real estate agents were buying.

I barely had time to recover from CMLS 2010 in Chicago when we rolled in and set up our booth on Tuesday. There was a lot of “haven’t seen you in a long time” sarcasm from a lot of the vendors.

Opening day they billed as “Tech Tuesday” and the show floor was open from 5PM to 8PM. Of the 70 orders we took during the show we did over 10 on Tuesday so I was a nice start.

We then proceeded to crash a party at the House of Blues where we tried to cop as many free drink tickets as we could munster. Then we ended up having dinner with the well-traveled Simon Baker and John Hart from ListGlobally, which bills itself as “a new and innovative global marketing tool for agents and developers” (think global syndication service). We went out for drinks with them the next night since I discovered that Australians are the only ones that can keep up with me. : )

Now back to the show….

Although I’ve seen the C.A.R. shows have lots more exhibitors the overall attendance was good. The Orange County Register had an article about the show you can read here, 1 and includes lots of photos.

I saw some interesting booths and products. One of the clever things I saw was at the Discover MLS booth. They were using a special display overlay device on an iMac to demo their MLS product. I took out my iPhone and shot this quick video.

I went to the MLS committee meeting hoping to catch the calREDD update. But had to leave early since the other topics took up a lot of time. But it doesn’t sound like I missed much. From what I was told Art Carter‘s update was less than 5 minutes.

Oh what a difference a year makes!

Your CMLS checklist

September 27th, 2010

CMLS is just a couple days away so I thought I would put together a quick check list for those of you attending:

1. Check out http://CouncilofMLS.com. It’s the official website of CMLS and has been recently updated with new content. Plans are to have the discussions at CMLS conference to be continued at the website afterwards.

2. iPad. While I’m still carrying my laptop I’m finding my iPad to be indespensible when attending conferences of this type. It always on, easy to carry, allows me to check my e-mail, as well as an impromptu demo device.

3. If your rocking your iPad than having a Verizon MiFi or something similar is a must. Hotel internet connections in meeting rooms are notoriously flakey. Plus you have the costs of in-room internet access. Trust me, its worth it.

4. Get your Twitter on! Follow the conference at http://Twitter.com/CMLSConference and don’t forget the hashtag #cmls2010

5. Be ready to engage. The best sessions are those that our interactive.

Oh, and an extra liver, if you have one!

I arrive tomorrow. See you there!