I think it’s important to give some perspective to the news that Tom Philips is leaving Bright MLS next month.

The first is that MLS conversions are hard. Extremely hard, especially when you have two cultures (MRIS and TREND) that are so different, wide geographic boundaries, and memberships so large.

Second, the advent of social media has made these types of scenarios even more difficult. When every whack job has a microphone, things can get blown out of proportion real quick.

Third, Tom has been in the MLS business for close to 20 years. He took on an incredibly difficult task (see above). And one thing is very certain, the next person to take his role will certainly have an easier time. Someone always has to be first.

And lastly, and many people forget this point, Bright MLS has been the inspiration for the wave of consolidation we’ve seen in the industry. The fact that MRIS and TREND were doing it meant that many other MLS providers had no excuses left.

So yeah, change is tough. It’s not easy. Mistakes are made. But from my perspective, the future is Bright.