Looks like the “king” of online real estate, Craig Newmark, took a break this week from answering customer service calls.
Craig was in Denver at the Democratic National Convention getting treated…like a king!
The problem with young people today….
My cousin was in town. His name is Benny Aguirre. Actually he’s my second cousin. Benny is 17, and his friends call him “Poppy”.
Anyway Benny is in a band called “At Skies End”. You can check out their MySpace page here. The music is….how shall I put this…different. Benny calls it “hard core, but melodic.”
**WARNING – As soon as you go to the above link the music is pretty loud and I couldn’t find a way to pause it. NSFW**
So Benny tells me that “At Skies End” is a “Straight Edge” band. So I ask, “What does being ‘Straight Edge’ mean?” A new type of Punk perhaps? Nope says Benny. It means they don’t do drugs or have sex.
(Long pause)
Forgeting for the moment that he is 17, and that this is something that I should be praising, I ask the obvious question; “Why did you start a band if you didn’t want to have lots of sex and do drugs? Isn’t that the whole point of starting a band?” Benny looks at me and says, “It’s about the music man.”
Kids today! Aren’t they a riot???
Anyway, Benny told me that if I gave him a Vendor Alley T-Shirt he would wear it at his next gig. So here’s Benny (not having sex, or doing drugs) playing his guitar at a gig last weekend.
If you want to rock out like Benny in your very own Vendor Alley T-Shirt click here!
At Skies End will be playing in San Antonio, Texas at Robert’s work ( I think this is actually where a guy named Robert works, not a club named “Robert’s Work”) on September 6th 2008.
Party On Poppy!
New kid on the Boca Blog Block.
Looks like David Harris has started back up his “Future of Realty” Blog. The question remains; Is Boca big enough for 3 blogs on real estate?
You decide.
eNeighborhoods helps remax.com deliver over 5 million leads.
File this under kicking ass and taking names….
RISMEDIA, August 22, 2008-More than five million leads have been passed on to RE/MAX Associates across the country, through remax.com, the most visited website of any real estate brokerage brand, according to the company. Debuting just two and half years ago, the real estate network’s lead management system, LeadStreet®, has helped RE/MAX agents succeed in the current market, by giving them the tools they need to incubate and manage leads.
According to the company, reaching the five million mark in a short time is significant. “It’s a symbol that RE/MAX is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition,” says Kristi Graning, senior vice president of IT and eBusiness at RE/MAX International. “We believe in providing useful and relevant technology services and tools to our Associates.”
Through LeadStreet, RE/MAX agents can accept leads on a mobile device with e-mail capabilities or on any computer. “LeadStreet is groundbreaking,” says Andy Woolley, vice president, Enterprise Services for eNeighborhoods, one of three firms that power the lead-generation system. “RE/MAX is the first company to do this on a nationwide scale, both creating a consumer interface, and taking the next step to provide tools for its Associates.” RE/MAX and eNeighborhoods are partners in the LeadStreet initiative.
An average of almost 2.8 million unique visitors log onto remax.com every month, where they can browse through listings in thousands of cities and towns. “The numbers indicate that remax.com is a website of choice for consumers,” says Graning. “And RE/MAX Associates are the ones they turn to when they’re looking for the best listings and best information.”
LeadStreet is provided for no referral fees from RE/MAX International to RE/MAX Associates. “It is a great asset in this market,” says Graning. “And one of the reasons why our agents are the most productive in the industry.”
Looking for a new gig?
If you haven’t already gotten a phone call, here’s the scoop!
Apply Now
Title: Business Development Director – Real Estate Industry
Department: Sales
Overview: Trulia is looking for a seasoned and well respected business development executive, who has a true passion for both sales and the real estate industry. This person is comfortable with establishing relationships at the C-level in various real estate industry associations and organizations to help these partners and their members increase their business using the latest tools and services provided by the Trulia platform.
An ideal candidate should have superior sales and relationship building skills, as well as an ability to navigate the complexities of the residential real estate industry. You should be able to creatively design and execute unique partnership models that offer a true win-win to both parties involved in each case. Prior experience in the real estate industry and strong public speaking skills will help you succeed in this role from the day one.
Responsibilities
* Establish and implement partnerships with industry associations and other organizations from start to finish by identifying the right organizations, approaching them and pitching a win-win proposition, negotiating and closing a long term relationship.
* Evangelize Trulia both in board rooms for C-level executives and in front of large audiences for real estate professionals
* In collaboration with our talented product and marketing teams, plan and execute marketing campaigns to achieve and exceed your goals
* Continuously identify new business development opportunities to increase the adoption of both paid and free Trulia services and tools
Requirements
* At least 4 years of business development or sales leadership in a fast changing environment, such as a technology company
* Proven track record of “getting things done” and implementing campaigns or projects in a dynamic environment; you should be known as the “dynamo” who gets things done in your current job
* Experience in designing and implementing creative business partnerships from scratch without a large support organization
* Strong problem solving skills and an ability to think on feet under a lot of pressure
* Communication skills, including public speaking in front of small and large audiences
* Preferred, but not absolutely required:
o Residential real estate industry experience and relationships and pre-existing relationships
o MBA
City: San Francisco
Tell ’em you heard about it on Vendor Alley!
Gregg Petch leaves MRIS?
Haven’t gotten any details yet but it looks like Petch has left MRIS. His profile is no longer on the MRIS management page.
There was a rumor a couple weeks back regarding this and it looks like our information was correct.
This will certainly have ramifications in a lot of different places and ongoing projects.
Gregg is well respected within MLS geekdom and a founding director on the RESO board.
If anyone has further details please post a comment.
"Professor Doom" makes the New York Times.
This guy spoke this year Inman Connect in NYC. I’ve written about him before, called him “Professor Doom”, I guess everyone else just calls him “Mr. Doom”.
His real name is Nouriel Roubini. Great article, but pretty bleak. For instance he predicts “This might be the beginning of the end of the American empire.”
He should move to California, get himself a prescription and buy himself a bong waterpipe.
Help-U-Sell files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Help-U-Sell (aka Help-U-Hell) did what anyone and everyone who actually worked with these guys already knew was going to happen. Nortorious for late paying, if even paying vendors at all, these guys are now making it official.
Steve Ozonian last led this crew. I wrote an April Fool’s post about Steve Ozonian this year and judging by some of the comments not a lot of Help-U-Sell franchise owners got the joke.
It’s a shame. I worked with a lot of Help-U-Sell franchise owners and they are a great group of people.
Hopefully things will work out for the best.
Scott Kucirek about to star in new Kafka film.
Looks like Scott Kucirek has taken the position to lead the statewide MLS initiative in California.
It’s pretty much Alphabet Soup in California now. You’ve got QUATTRO, CARETS and by the way most of California already has a statewide MLS data sharing solution, California MLSAlliance (I wonder if Joel ever shared that with you?)
Is CALMLS a system anyone wants? Or anyone needs? Or the greatest thing ever? Or is it just a myth?
Scott has a solid background, he was one of the founders of ZipRealty.com, and more recently an a executive for a major Prudential brokerage company.
It will be interesting to see who Scott picks as a Vendor for this project.
Grab your popcorn and juju beans, this one is going to be fun to watch!
Woolley Robertson Group (WRG) update.
Just registered the domain name for one of our new products and filled out the trademark application.
Very sweet stuff. I think you guys are going to like it!
