Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

CMLS Brings It!


There are two upcoming events that if you haven’t already heard about you should definitely check out:

October 31st, 2011
CMLS Brings It – The Impact of the Proposed IDX Rule Changes
Online Meeting regarding the NAR PAG Report on IDX from all angles and share your thoughts with your peers. Hosted by CMLS and featuring Bob Bemis, ARMLS; Matt Cohen, Clareity Consulting; Jim Harrison, MLS Listings; John Rees, Esq.; Greg Manship, Intermountain MLS; Cathy Holefelder, Heartland MLS and other invited guests, this WebEx will lay out the possible rule changes and the impact on MLSs.

November 9th, 2011
CMLS Brings It to the Table- Branding the MLS
CMLS is bringing another timely topic to the Table at NAR’s Annual Conference- Join us as we explore the Challenges and Opportunities for the MLS industry as regards Branding the MLS Data to reflect Value and Accuracy in the marketplace.

Inman Anticipation…

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!!

The Vendor Alley Real Estate Events Calendar

This was one of my projects over the weekend. Robert Drummer of iMapp and I worked together on creating a site that would have all the major real estate events listed. The best way to make this happen was involve all of Vendor Alley readers. So we have two ways to enter events:

1. A form. Just fill out the form and we will update the calendar with these events on a daily(ish) basis.
2. Bulk upload. If you have a bunch of dates for your events you can also fill out an Excel file we provide and email it to us.

If you have any ideas on making it better please feel free to comment. Click the link on the top of this page or just click the link below to check it out:

Vendor Alley Real Estate Event Calendar

Thanks!

gr

Join me at Clareity’s MLS Executive Workshop

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.

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!

Your CMLS checklist

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!

gr

News from CMLS keeps getting better, Brian Boero added to line up.

It’s no secret we are big fans of 1000watt Consulting. Looking forward to hearing what Brian has to say. Full Press Release below.

Extra Credit: What do you think of MRED’s new logo?
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Sep 13, 2010 14:16 ET
1000watt Consulting’s Brian Boero Speaking at CMLS 2010 Conference
LISLE, IL–(Marketwire – September 13, 2010) – We all look forward to hearing from the speaker who shows us something we have never seen before or do not know about, but should. This year’s CMLS 2010 Conference, hosted by Midwest Real Estate Data, includes a presentation delivered by 1000watt Consulting’s Brian Boero, someone who, coincidentally, is an industry expert in Internet sites we have never seen before or do not know about, but should.
Taking place September 29th through October 1st at the Westin River North in Chicago, CMLS 2010 will be the Multiple Listing Service meeting of the year, with representatives from around the country descending on the Windy City for an agenda packed with the latest industry information. On Friday, September 30th, attendees will be treated to Brian’s presentation, titled “Sites That You Have Never Heard Of, But . . .”
Brian is well qualified to discuss this subject at the Conference. He is a technology evangelist and Internet expert, having spent eight years working at Inman News, where he served as executive producer of ten Real Estate Connect conferences and managed their editorial staff. He was also part of a team that launched Inman’s ClientDirect™ e-Newsletter product. After Inman, he was CEO of VREO, Inc., where he created and marketed Real Estate Dashboard®, a software application that addresses paperless, mobile real estate.
We would like to give a detailed preview of Brian’s presentation, but we do not know about any of the sites he will be talking about — yet. To find out, you will need to attend the CMLS 2010 Conference. Those interested in more information about CMLS 2010 are directed to www.cmls2010.com or to Gayle Ludemann at gayle.ludemann@mredllc.com or 630-955-2768.
Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) is the premier forum and resource for Multiple Listing Service associations.
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is a real estate data aggregator and distributor that provides the largest multiple listing service in the country (by listing volume) to over 40,000 customers, with property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

Seven Big Wishes: The Vendor Edition

CMLS is just around the corner and it promises to be the most attended in it’s 53 year history. Rob Hahn recently posted “Seven Big Questions ‘The MLS Edition'”, I’m going to riff off that and give my 7 wishes from Real Estate Vendors. Some of these I’ve experienced first hand, some I’ve heard from others. I don’t want the list to sound whiny, and like everything on this site, please take it with a little tongue in cheek (just a little).

1. I want standards. I want to be able to write a killer real estate app and release it everywhere at once. Yes, I know there are “chicken and egg” type issues, and it’s difficult. But, it’s 2010 people, let’s make this happen!

2. I want MLS providers to make decisions quicker. The Internet moves faster than one board meeting a month. How many times have you heard, “Our board meets next week but the agenda is already full, and next months is also full, but I might be able to squeeze you in the following month…maybe”? Lame.

3. Let me compete. For a number of reasons, many MLS providers put up huge walls or policies designed to keep new products from entering in the market. Give your members a choice.

4. Stop the shake down. One MLS provider requires me to pay $1,500 a month to release a CMA app in their market, at another MLS it’s $1,000 a month, at another it’s $600.00 per quarter and at another its $0.00. WTF? As a technology solution provider, I’m pretty well aware of the “costs” of providing data. Instead of making me pay you protection money….

5. ..Let’s be partners. I would much rather do a revenue share where you and I both gain based on performance rather than paying you a “tribute” each month.

6. Let me make a living. You complain about customer service but forget you drilled your vendor so far down on price that you made it impossible for them to perform.

7. I want to advertise (in your magazine, newsletter, or website), sponsor (your event, blog) , and attend trade shows. But, make it worth my while. Don’t just put me in a booth in the middle of nowhere, put my logo on a sign, and expect me to be happy. Be creative! And, don’t charge me an arm and a leg. The longer I’m around, the more money I will have to spend. We need each other, price accordingly.

Did I miss your wish? Let me hear them or your comments.

CMLS is gonna be a monster hit this year!

Russ Bergeron has taken over the effort of MRED, LLC hosting the CMLS Conference in Chicago this year due to Bud Fogel’s departure. And the event is shaping up to be one of, if not the largest CMLS conferences ever!

Attendance is way, way, up! The conference hotel (The Westin) is sold out of rooms. All sponsorship tables are sold out. And it’s only July!

So if you haven’t already paid your CMLS member dues or signed up for the conference I suggest you do so….now.

Details can be found at the new Council of MLS website.

Hope to see you there!

Inman Connect SF 2010 Recap Part I

I’ve been remiss to offer my insights on last week’s Inman Connect SF.  Too damn busy.  Brian Boero from 1000Watt Consulting summed up things pretty well, you should go read his “fuzzy notions” recap.  I have to agree with Brian, it was truly one of the best Inman RE Connect conferences I’ve attended.

And I’m not just saying that because the Premium Member Lounge (Brilliant Tim, brilliant!)    : )

"The Twins"

I didn’t get to catch too many sessions (see this post) but one I did get a chance to see ( and from the front row) was the “debate” on the main stage titled, “Is the MLS System Broken“.

I’m going to focus on 3 people at that session.

Mike Wurzer

Michael “Invisible Hand” Wurzer.  Mike is a good friend, so I might have some bias here (duh!)  but I really can’t help but thinking what a great asset he is to our industry and I’m not just talking about vendors.  His arguments were clear, concise, and he didn’t pull any punches.  I talked to some people that thought the suggestion that the market will decide when to “fix” the MLS industry was “pollyanna”, but Michael lives and breathes these issues everyday.  So if you got a better solution, prove it.

Joel Singer

Joel “Fail Forward” Singer.  I’ve been very critical of Joel’s organization, the California Association of REALTORS®, and their efforts to start a statewide MLS system (calREDD) in California.  On stage he was a bit light on details but you just got to respect a guy who goes up there in front of all his industry colleagues, after the rough two years he’s had, and still comes out swinging.

Brian Boero

And lastly I come back to where I started.  Brian Boero.  Brian’s “geek chic” vibe is like Steve Allen and Ira Glass had a baby.  Stay with me here… Brian is able to capture the essence of the conversation, ask great follow up questions, shut up when he needs to, and always get the biggest laughs.  It’s a remarkable thing to stand in front of 1,000 people and accomplish this, and Brian makes it look effortless.  Bravo.

Stay tuned for Part II of my Inman Connect SF recap in which I ask, “Inman Innovator Awards WTF?”

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