Please join me in wishing Andy a happy birthday!
Homes.com may be up for sale
Chairman and CEO of Landmark Media, Frank Batten Jr., owner of Dominion Enterprises and newspaper publications, recently stated that he still plans on selling the company’s business units. Dominion Enterprises is the parent company of Homes.com.
According to an article in the Richmond-Times Dispatch:
” ‘Our commitment to our shareholders is that at some point we will sell our businesses, as it makes sense,’ said Frank Batten Jr., son of the late Frank Batten Sr. and the chairman and CEO of the former Landmark Communications Inc., now Landmark Media Enterprises LLC.
Batten spoke about the history of the family business and his own entrepreneurship as part of the Robins School’s Executive Speaker series.”
Zillow acquires Diverse Solutions
Holy Zhit! Looks like Zillow had that IPO money burning a hole in their pocket! I hinted about this deal last month via Twitter but decided not to publish since I didn’t have a second confirmation.
$7.8 million in cash and stock, nice.
Big congrats to Justin! Big question, how will MLS providers react to this deal?
http://www.zillow.com/blog/2011-11-02/zillow-acquires-diverse-solutions/
UPDATED: Wurzer has some good perceptive on this deal: FBS Blog
New Vendor Alley Stickers Have Arrived!
These new stickers features the quote first made famous by Michael Hayes, “Never Go Big On The First Night“. It also features a partial Vendor Alley logo on its side (of course).
Just as before if you want one for yourself you have two options:
1. If you see me at an event/trade show/conference/lobby bar just ask.
2. Just send a self addressed stamp envelope to:
Vendor Alley Sticker Offer
123 Main Street
Suite 201
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
First come. First serve.
Interview with Chris Heagerty of ARMLS
I was out at the ARMLS’ LEARNaTHON in Phoenix last week and was able to interview Chris Heagerty, their Director of Communications among other things. Bob Bemis has a phenomenal team and I’m super impressed how well produced their events are and the number of agents they attract. At LEARNaTHON we had 4 sessions, each about an hour long, where we could really educate interested members about Cloud CMA. Chris was kind enough to speak to me about how they put together their events. My hope is that other MLS providers might be inspired to try something similar. Thanks Chris!
