Dan and I will be attending Inman Connect SF starting tomorrow, until Friday. I will be on stage at 4:40PM Tuesday on the “New Kids On The Block” panel (don’t ask) making a special announcement about Cloud CMA. We are super pumped about this announcement and think its one of the most innovative things we’ve done….ever. So stay tuned, and see you is SF!
Point Counterpoint on “MLS of Choice”
“MLS of Choice” is really a poor choice of wording. I think someone at Inman News coined the phrase. It gives the wrong impression of what 7.42 and 7.43 are really all about. But lucky for us we have Tom and Stan! Tom Berge Jr., NAR’s current chairman of the Multiple Listing Issues and Polices Committee, did a great job outlining their recommendations in a video which served as a supplement to an F.A.Q. page.
As a counterpoint Stan Harke, CEO of Western Regional Information Systems & Technology, Inc., also created a video outlining their concerns over “unintended consequences” of the policy change. He makes a few good points (His “pocket listing” scenario is quite clever) if you can make it through the cheesy music.
Then there are some who believe this might be a giant conspiracy! Just don’t shoot the messenger.
Inman says “Blow Up Upstream”
The Inman Files: Blow up Upstream – Why we should pull the plug on this expensive and risky effort
“But I still think it’s time to pull the plug on this project. I do not want to trivialize the well-intended efforts and opinions of so many hard-working people, but it reminds me of Trump’s Wall — grandiose, impractical and inspired by fear. Yes, there is a problem, but Upstream is a wrong-headed solution and a political hairball to build and gain adoption.”
Tell us what you really think Brad!
Plus some advice for new NAR CEO Bob Goldberg…
“This is new NAR CEO Bob Goldberg’s opportunity to walk the talk and end a glaring example of old top-down pyramid thinking. Upstream is a classic NAR inside job, intended to benefit a small group of its overall membership.
As in most succession plans, Goldberg has about six months to blame it on the “dead pilot” (former NAR CEO Dale Stinton). Then he must “OWN IT” — good or bad. RPR is Stinton’s love child, not yours, Bob.”
In my interview with Bob Goldberg he told me that all of NAR programs were on the table for review.
Inman Innovator Award finalists announced
“They are the visionaries, the forward-thinking, the stubborn, the obsessed, the tech-savvy, the creative minds always pushing boundaries. They are entrepreneurs pushing the old ways aside, data scientists discovering new ways to examine behavior, marketers inventing new ways to showcase properties, agents developing new ways to reach clients, companies building new technologies, brokerages creating whole new ways of doing business. They are the Inman Innovator Finalists, and they’re leading us into the future of real estate.
Lots of great names and products. I’m really proud that W+R Studios’ latest product Cloud Attract, made the list. It’s really one of the best software applications we’ve ever launched and the response from our customers has been fantastic.
Kevin Greene talks Trestle
A couple things to announce. Inman News will be the exclusive distributor of my podcast, Listing Bits. I’m super excited about this and my thanks to Brad for helping it find a wider audience.
Here’s my latest, an interview with Kevin Greene about how he started in the industry and about CoreLogic’s new initiative, “Trestle”.
Listing Bits: CoreLogic’s Kevin Greene talks Trestle upgrade
You will still be able to listen to Listing Bits on your favorite podcast app, but it most likely will be posted on Inman News first.
Inman News to ban “unsanctioned parties”
I guess you gotta fight, for your right, to party.
In an email titled “An update on our event policy…” a representative from Inman News laid down some stringent policy changes regarding its event policy in relation to “unsanctioned parties”.
“In a few short months, nearly 4,000 industry professionals will gather in sunny San Francisco for Inman Connect. Each year, companies host dozens of parties and events that surround the conference, taking advantage of having the best of the industry in one place.
We’ve introduced a special sponsorship level for companies who host satellite events at Connect for 30+ people that provides additional visibility to attendees and influencers they hope to connect with, while ensuring that the Connect attendee experience isn’t compromised.
Due to the negative impact that unsanctioned parties have on the conference, we have implemented a more stringent event policy for companies who choose to host events at and around Inman Connect without directly participating in the conference as a sponsor. The policy will be strictly enforced and violations will result in revocation of attendee badges, speaker spots and other sanctions at the sole discretion of Inman.
Emphasis mine.
I would argue that instead of being a “negative impact” or having the event being “compromised” the amount of industry parties being held around the conference is a huge draw.
No doubt Brad and his team have done a great job in putting together a great show, but threats of revoking badges and speaker slots is pretty draconian by any standard. How is having a party any different than having a meeting in the lobby with someone? What’s next? Do they shut down the lobby bar or Starbucks in order to get more people in to the sessions?
I sincerely hope Inman News reconsiders this policy before Inman Connect in San Francisco.
MLS executives make Inman News’ list of “Real Estate Influencers of 2017”
Inman News yesterday put out a list of the “Real Estate Influencers of 2017“. Here’s what they said about the people on this list…
“The Inman Influencer List salutes industry professionals who shape, change and influence the industry. They bring a mix of credentials, viewpoints and backgrounds from all walks of the real estate business. Some are creative, intuitive and gifted. Some have power, reach and charisma. And some are controversial, rabble-rousers and disrupters.”
The list appears to be close to 150 people. Over 50 of them women. Here’s a list of MLS notables on the list
Bob Hale
Art Carter
David Charron
Jim Harrison
Rebecca Jensen
Rob Hahn, Victor Lund, and Kevin Hawkins represent some of the consultants on the list.
Chris Bennet, Jeremy Crawford, and Pace Davis were also included.
Zillow Group appeared to have the most people represented with about 11 people, including Errol Samuelson, and Jay Thompson.
Also there was this guy.
Congrats to everyone!
See you at ICSF 2016!
Looking forward to catching up with everyone at Inman Connect is San Francisco this week.
Keep in mind Boston Logic is doing a great series of presentations at ICSF next week in what they are calling the “MarTech Salon” in the Franciscan Ballroom.
On Wednesday Tuesday at 11am I’ll be speaking with David Friedman, CEO of Boston Logic, on “Building an RE Tech Company”
You can see Tuesday’s full schedule here: http://sched.co/7qr9
You can see Wednesday’s full schedule at: http://sched.co/7ktS
Thursday’s schedule is also pretty strong.
At 8:30am Alex Lange, newly appointed CEO of Upstream will tell us “The Truth about Upstream”
At 2:15pm Errol, Curt will answer “What does the future look like for the MLS?”
You can see Thursday’s full schedule at : http://sched.co/7mta
The Innovator Bash is also Thursday night where Cloud MLX along with many others are nominated for 2016 Most Innovative Technology. Dan and I have been nominated so many times we are beginning to feel like Susan Lucci. : )
See you there!
Boston Logic has a few things up their sleeve.
“Boston Logic (http://www.bostonlogic.com), the technology platform that powers enterprise brokerages nationwide, announced the launch of Ace (http://ace.bostonlogic.com), a powerful technology solution that ties together a brokerage or team’s website, online lead generation, lead routing/follow up, CRM and online marketing, while also providing a skilled marketing person who can help drive these initiatives and campaigns.
Ace is tailored for agent teams and boutique brokerage companies, who often lack a dedicated staff person to lead their online marketing programs.
“Through many years of working with brokerages, we’ve learned that one of the biggest obstacles that brokers and teams face is having the staff to help drive the technology in which they invest,” said David Friedman, founder and CEO of Boston Logic.
“We designed Ace to include marketing support because we want to provide not only great technology, but impactful outcomes, even when the brokerage or team doesn’t have the full time staff to do so in-house,” Friedman said.
Boston Logic is doing a great series of presentations at ICSF next week in what they are calling the “MarTech Salon“.
On Wednesday Tuesday at 11am I’ll be speaking with David Friedman, CEO of Boston Logic, on “Building an RE Tech Company”
You can see Tuesday’s full schedule here: http://sched.co/7qr9
You can see Wednesday’s full schedule at: http://sched.co/7ktS
Thursday’s schedule is also pretty strong.
At 8:30am Alex Lange, newly appointed CEO of Upstream will tell us “The Truth about Upstream”
At 2:15pm Errol, Curt and Jonathan Bednarsh (president of Onboard) will answer “What does the future look like for the MLS?”
You can see Thursday’s full schedule at : http://sched.co/7mta
Zillow settles lawsuit with MOVE/NAR
Andrea Brambila reporting for Inman News
Zillow and Move settle trade secrets lawsuit for $130M
$130 million smackaroos is all it took.
“Before the settlement, the case was scheduled to go to jury trial today. None of the parties admitted any liability, wrongdoing or responsibility in the settlement agreement, according to a Zillow Group public filing.
Move’s co-plaintiff, the National Association of Realtors, is entitled to 10 percent of the settlement proceeds after deduction of Move’s litigation-related costs and fees, with the remainder being paid to Move, according to a News Corp. public filing.”
All I can say is thank goodness. This was a huge distraction for everyone involved. I’m so happy for Errol, Curt and their families. This had to cause such undue stress on all involved.
I hoping that everyone involved can move forward and forgive and forget. I thought is was bullshit when MOVE and NAR first filed the lawsuit against Errol, especially in an industry where people seem to move from different companies on a regular basis.
But, I was also worried about Zillow’s timing and the aggressive way that they hired Curt. It seemed pretty ruthless.
This industry needs as many smart people involved in the conversation as possible. So NAR, let Zillow Group participate in trade shows and events.
Zillow, the last time I saw Spencer give a talk they asked him what was one of things he would have changed in the past. He said he would have reached out more to the industry. Well, you talked the talk, now walk the walk.
I’m also excited to see what is on the horizon for online real estate. You can bet the competition between MOVE, Zillow Group, Redfin and other is going to be fierce.
I glad were are back to innovation instead of spoliation.
