It was about a year ago this week we lost Pat to a tragic auto accident. I recently found this old photo of her and I. I think it’s at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, when she hosted a CMLS event.
Scottsdale goodness.
I was lucky enough to attend Clareity Consulting‘s MLS Executive Workshop last week. As usual, Gregg Larson put on a great event. A perfect mix of fun and learning (and great weather). Here’s a few highlights.
Of course a lot of the buzz was centered around Errol’s departure to Zillow. This was announced the first day of the conference and made some interesting conversations at the kickoff cocktail party. Not sure if Zillow’s timing on this was on purpose, but it certainly got everyone talking.
Gregg started off the conference by mentioning that we all thought that 2014 was going to be a transitional year and so far things are proving out that way.
Along with the normal shtick on pocket listings, syndication, REDPLAN, anti-scraping, I really liked the presentations about MLS providers focusing on their subscribers. Amy Geddes gave a great presentation on maximizing subscriber experience. Which along with Matt Cohen’s presentation on Improving Subscriber Communication and even Gregg’s daughter Amanda Larson got in the mix about using social media channels in business. Maybe its because I recently attended a Email Marketing Summit by Marketing Sherpa but Matt’s presentation really resonated with me, you should read his summary here. I mentioned via Twitter that I think there is room for a consulting agency just focused on helping MLS providers with membership communication. So important.
A lot of hub-hub was created by Jon Green‘s informal study of non-MLS listings. You can read Andrea’s article here at Inman News, although I think her title of “Study suggests MLS played little or no role in nearly half of 2013 home sales” is a bit sensational. The founder of “Producers Forum”, Eric Trailer, spoke about their agent network and advocated for an off-MLS listings network. I found his speaking style hard to follow. To me the issue of off-MLS listings are a fad, not a trend. As soon as the inventory creeps up to a normal level you’ll find these networks faded away to cocktails hours. In my opinion they serve more as a marketing vehicle for pretentious sellers and their agents.
Gregg also interviewed Dr. Michael Sklarz from Collateral Analytics. There has been some controversy about CA and having Michael there to take questions from the audience was a constructive thing. The main objections I heard were from MLS providers who didn’t think AVMs are the same as a BPOs or CMAs. Underlying some of that contreversy was that many of the brokers who are utilizing CA were not exactly being forthcoming on the usage of the data to MLS providers when requesting data. Whether this was due to ignorance or something else remains to be seen. One take-away, from a vendor’s perspective, is even if you are following all the rules, you have to make sure the clients who have contracted you are also doing the same.
Lisa Larson and Jeff Nieto did a bit of an “App Shoot-Out” that I thought was fun. About 80% of the apps they previewed I hadn’t heard about and most of them were really cool. I’m not sure if Lisa has published the list but maybe you can reach out to her or Jeff and get a copy.
Then of course was the presentation of the 13th Annual MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey. Matt kept the presentation short this year (which I liked) and just went over the highlights. In a nutshell LPS (now Black Knight Financial Services) and FBS are killing it. CoreLogic is dealing with some focus problems but promise to fix them by doubling down on Matrix. Rapattoni looks to be improving on overall customer satisfaction and Solid Earth is heading in the wrong direction, fast.
The event is also known for giving away some of the nicest raffle gifts. Many attendees left all types of the latest gadgets and gizmos.
Homes.com did something special this year I thought was a good idea. They gave away an all expenses paid return trip to conference next year. That includes, registration, airfare, and hotel. Dan Sale, CEO of the Capital Area REALTORS of Springfield, IL was the winner. A prize I’m sure every attendee, including me, would have loved to receive.
Many thanks to Gregg, Matt and Amanda for putting on a fantastic conference and their wonderful hospitality.
The real story behind NAR’s decision to shutter HouseLogic.com
Well I wasn’t the only one to call for the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) to face facts and shutdown HouseLogic.com. At NAR last week Dale Stinton made what I think was a very bold decision and declared “Our consumer website is Realtor.com”. While I was a bit colorful in my remarks about the site, Rob Hahn went long, but Danny Frank of the Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR) deserves a lot of credit for bringing the issue to center stage.
Word on the street other factors were involved with this decsion too. One of the strongest was Michele Serro. Michelle was the founder of Doorsteps, recently acquired by MOVE, Inc. Before breaking out on her own Michele spent over 6 years at IDEO, a design company with clients like Apple. I’m told Michele and her team were tasked to come up with a plan to bring HouseLogic in to the fold. And it looks like NAR liked what she and her team came up with. Great to see MOVE firing on all cylinders.
Brothers
I owe so much to both these guys. The industry is lucky to have such talent. #NARANNUAL
CMLS 2013 is next week, and we’ve got you covered.
It’s hard to believe that CMLS 2013 is next week. And despite the bitching and groaning about having to take two flights in to Boise, or the lack of a W hotel, CMLS 2013 is breaking records. Why? Because it the best damn conference of the year. Especially if your an MLS professional. So when you’re at the lobby bar and see Greg Manship or Jay Gordon (our two host this year) buy them a drink. And by a staff member a drink too. As many of you know, putting on this conference is no small task, so show a little love.
I’m showing the love the days running up to CMLS by posting a series of articles about various things I think are interesting about the MLS business today. So starting today don’t forget to check Vendor Alley for all cocktail conversation starters.
CMLS 2012 Agenda Released
CMLS is announcing the agenda for their annual conference, being held in Boston this year and hosted by Kathy Condon of MLSPIN. It looks jam packed full of goodness!
I’m also very excited to be the moderator a the “Publish Syndicate or What?” panel. My panelists will include:
Matt Dollinger,Trulia.com
Luke Glass, ListHub
Andy Woolley, Homes.com
Tom Hurdelbrink, Northwest MLS
UPDATE: [Bob Bemis from Zillow with join our esteemed panel!]
Be sure to mark your calendars.
See full press release below:
——————————————————————-
CMLS2012 – Agenda Released for September’s CMLS2012 Boston Conference
S
hrewsbury, MA (September 6, 2012) – In less than three weeks, the annual gathering of multiple listing services known as CMLS will take place in the Hub of the Universe, otherwise known as Boston, MA. In keeping with the positive news regarding national homes sales, the conference theme, “Today’s challenges, tomorrow’s triumphs,” is fitting. This year’s keynote speaker, Jon Gordon, bestselling author, speaker, and guru to Fortune 500 companies and sports franchises, promises to echo that theme, getting the conference off to a positive, energetic start. Nationally acclaimed economist and public speaker, Elliot Eisenberg, PhD., will also be on hand for day two to provide an informed and entertaining economic update. If real estate is truly the engine that drives the economy, he will certainly let us know how that engine is running.
This year, CMLS and MLS PIN are pulling out all the stops, booking industry superstars like Brad Inman of Inman News and John Tucillo of the Florida Association of REALTORS® to tackle the home price index question. “We have placed a good deal of thought into this year’s agenda,” says MLS PIN CEO Kathy Condon. “Everyone who attends will come away with something worthwhile and relevant to what is occurring in our industry today. We have chosen dynamic, expert presenters to discuss everything from home financing trends to today’s tech powered real estate.” You will also get a bird’s eye view of the industry with Ann Bailey’s Industry Update, and learn, via legal expert Marc Manos, if MLS organizations can still protect against data piracy, or if the “cows are out of the barn.” And don’t miss out on an informative legal update hosted by attorneys John Rees, Chris Osborn, and legal expert, Brian Larson.
Since all work and no play makes us, well, dull conference attendees, we’re planning a fabulous welcome reception with an amazing view from the Top of the Hub at the Prudential Center Skywalk, as well as Upper Deck Trolley Tours, exciting door prizes and surprises to make this conference a memorable one.
This is the largest event of its kind for the MLS industry, providing invaluable information and unparalleled networking. Although registration has surpassed our expectations, CMLS2012 in Boston still has plenty of room for more attendees. For a full preview of the conference agenda, go to http://www.councilofmls.com/cmls2012-agenda/. If you’d like to join us, head to www.cmls2012.com to register today. If you’d like more information on the conference itself, contact Sarah Carlton at 919-459-2070, or for information on sponsoring contact Melissa Lindberg at 508-845-1011.
Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) is the premier forum and resource for Multiple Listing Services.
MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN) is a privately REALTOR® owned multiple listing service with approximately 29,000 participants and subscribers throughout New England, which manages a comprehensive database of nearly 50,000 listings for sale. It is the largest MLS in New England, and one of the largest in the nation.
SOURCE: MLS Property Information Network, Inc. (MLS PIN)
For additional information, please contact:
Melissa Lindberg
MLS PIN Director of Marketing, Communication & Outreach 508-845-1011 ext. 7121
mlindberg at mlspin dot com
Road warrior…
Rex Marr just attended his 44th NAR Midyear Conference & Expo. Shouldn’t NAR give him a medal or something? Or maybe a new liver?
Best wishes Rex, we are all thinking about you.
CMLS 2011 Recap – Killer Clowns and Killer Content.
CMLS 2011 – What a week!
It’s taking me a little longer to recover from CMLS last week. I think it mostly had to do with one of the best lobby bars I been to in recent blurry memory (open till 2AM!). You have all heard by now that is was the largest CMLS ever with over 500 people in attendance. Which is very impressive since it was a bit of the beaten path. Wes Wiggins had originally committed to hosting the conference prior to him taking the top spot at RMLS- Florida. Phil Tedesco is a class act and he and his team did an excellent job of putting together a great conference along with Sarah Carlton and the CMLS board of directors.
A few highlights:
I enjoyed the “What keeps me awake at night” segments. The lights dimmed, and a single spotlight shown upon the speaker. My favs were Curt Beardsley and Mark Lesswing. If anyone has video of either please forward to me so I can post. Just great stuff.
The send off of Peter Shuttleworth (who is retiring) was also fun and Peter is a good sport.
Congrats to Jim Harrison who was elected in to the CMLS Board of Directors.
I also enjoyed the videos shot of non-industry people who were asked questions like “What is an MLS?”
Brian Boero , of 1000watt Consulting gave a talk about implementing what he called an MLS “data socket”. This concept has been talked about before, but Brian put the idea in to focus.
The booth placement for vendors made for lively conversations and a few bumps as people made the gauntlet down “vendor alley”. Which brings me to my announcement of “Best Booth of CMLS 2011”. The honor goes to 10K Research. Great signage, marketing materials and spot on messaging made it my favorite. Great job to the 10K team!
I wasn’t too thrilled at the Old Tucson Studios “Hootenanny'”. After a 50 minutes bus ride you were treated to a park full of “killer clowns with chainsaws” sneaking up on you. But I digess…
The last session was also fun. Executive Trainer Brian Taylor asked for a “Lone Nut” to come up on stage and ask the audience to follow him on a big bold idea. It was no big surprise when Russ Bergeron stood up to applause and took the stage committing to supporting RESO‘s effort for real estate data standards. He then asked everyone to join him in this pledge. I have a video of what happened next below (sorry for the screen orientation issues):
You should also check out Matt Cohen’s blog post on the event here.
I’ve lost count on how many CMLS conferences I’ve attended ( I think it’s 12) and they just keep getting better. It’s the perfect blend of education, networking and a good time.
I took a few photos which you can check out at the Vendor Alley Flickr Photostream by clicking this link
Next stop Boston, where MLSPIN will be our host of CMLS 2012. See you there!
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!!
MLS Cloud Conference 2011 Recap
I wanted to put down a few thoughts and observations about last week’s MLS Cloud Conference hosted by Bob Hale and the Houston Association of REALTORS.
Additionally I uploaded a bunch of photos from the event. You can see them at the Vendor Alley Flickr Photo Stream
When I first got there I did hear a few of the attendees muttering if they would gain anything by attending a conference held so closely to NAR Midyear meetings in Washington D.C. That combined with it being held the week after Memorial Day seemed to heighten the crowds expectations. But from what I could tell those expectations were soon met.
NAMLS
Bob Hale came up first to set the tone. Bob does a great job of honing in on the important issues and serving up some plausible solutions to these issues. He spoke about giving consumers what they want and about how the MLS needs to engage with NAR and others. But I can’t confirm or deny I heard him speak about forming a “National Association of MLS.” : )
To me a key measurement of a good speaker is how many other speakers reference them in future talks and in the hallways of the ballrooms. By that measure Bob was king.
This business would be great if it weren’t for the damn customers.
Brad Inman was the first keynote and talked about the “post PC” world we are living in. He told us to all get an iPad and kiss our towers and notebook computers goodbye. He had some interesting observations about the employees of his new company, Vook. Apparently nobody at his company likes to sit at a desk anymore, they like to stand, and not eat meat apparently. Although I thought one of the funniest moments (unintentionally) was when Brad made a remark of how he didn’t like the way that some NAR staff talked down about their membership. To me was pretty ironic since MLS execs (and vendors) behave in the same way, if not worse!
I D Mess
I think a lot of people thought the conference would only focus on MLS public facing websites but the topics were much broader in scope. I was kind of hoping for a throwdown between Alex Perriello, CEO of Realogy and Joe Horring of Realty Alliance. Joe was more bombastic but sadly no pile drivers or fisticuffs.
Vendor Love
Another thing that I enjoyed was that they had a lot of vendor love going on. Bob freely put up a lot of vendors to showcase their products and services. Some of the vendors did a great job of talking about a broader message and weaving their products in to that message, but sadly most were just doing a 15 minute long commercial.
Schmooze and booze
On the hospitality side things were great. The hotel was centrally located so you could walk to a lot of restaruants. The HAR staff was very helpful and any hosted bar that serves Tanqueray Ten is number one in my book! Here’s a quick tip if the event is held at the same hotel next year. Mo’s, walking distance from the hotel, has bar doesn’t close until 1AM. Just sayin….
Errol’s Comet
Other highlights were presentations by Errol Samuelson and Curt Beardsley from MOVE. Really great presenters. Errol used this insane picture of a view from a beach with fireworks, a comet and lightning storm to symbolize the state of the industry (You had to be there.) I heard more than one comment on John Heithaus’s presentation and his ability to use a Glengarry Glen Ross clip without swear words.
Lust
Some other random stuff I thought was cool. Channing Dawson of HGTV used the term “Home Lust” or “House Lust” a lot (can’t remember which one of these terms he used). A really great piece of jargon I had never heard before. It appears that someone else was paying attention because Robert Drummer of iMapp when he heard the term immediately went online to check to see if the domain was available. It was. And now HomeLust.com belongs to him! Classic.
Best Audience Question
The best question asked at the conference came from David Charron during Ann Bailey’s update on the CIVIX settlement.
David Charron: Is RPR going to help pay for the CIVIX settlement?
Ann Bailey: MLS providers should contact their RPR reps directly to work out details.
and so without further delay…
Vendor Alley Public Service Announcement
I think its great that RPR is willing to help out with this effort so in the interest of public service here are the names and contact information of all RPR reps that MLS providers should call and request cash assistance with CIVIX:
Ohan Antebian
Email: ohan@narrpr.com
Phone: 949.910.6285
Ernie Bottom -East
Email: ernie@narrpr.com
Phone: 262.785.0633
Kristen Carr – Southeast
Email: kcarr@narrpr.com
Phone: 561.441.9494
Ron France
Email: ron@narrpr.com
Phone 315.559.5238
Kristen Hernandez – West
Email: kristen@narrpr.com
Phone: 214.471.3795
A full list can be found at http://blog.narrpr.com/about/industry-relations. You’re welcome.
Compelling content, great speakers make this event a must attend. My congrats to Bob Hale and his team plus a special thanks goes out to Sam Scott, Rene Galvan and Shawn Dauphine for their wonderful Texas hospitality See you next year!
[Cupcake Photo Credit: Lisa Herrin]
