Can you tell the difference?
“Art, you ignorant slut”
– Russ Bergeron, CEO SoCalMLS
–>In response to a presentation from Art Carter, CEO of MRMLS, on VOWs.
“I would recommend that all MLS Providers negotiate a 30 day out clause with their tax data providers”
Dale Ross, Broker and 18 years member of the National Association of REALTORS Board of Directors.
–>In response to a question from Bob Bemis, CEO of ARMLS, about the launch of RPR. After Dale Ross gave an update on NAR’s RPR project.
Looking forward to attending Connection 2009 next week in one of my favorite cities, Portland, OR.
As you may have heard or read, Connection is allowing Vendors this year. RMLS decided to allow Vendors because, that’s how they roll!
The agenda has been posted. They will not have an exhibit area for Vendors. Which I don’t think is such a bad thing. We can all hang out in the bar, or maybe even sit in on a few sessions. : )
Attendance is looking good, but I’m sure they are always looking for more. Here’s the details:
When:
April 15-17
Where:
Hilton Portland
921 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 226-1611
Cost:
Conference Registration: $325
Attorneys Only Day Registration: $125
Attorneys Only Day and Conference: $400
For full details visit Connection 2009
See you there!
My partner in crime Dan Woolley will be on the 2:30PM panel tomorrow at REtechSouth on the Main Stage. The topic is…
Building the Better Mousetrap: Next Generation of Search
Other panelists include, Corey Kozlowski, Rudy Bachraty, Andrew Tillman, Greg Tracy, David Carroll, and Rob Hahn.
I hope someone will be live streaming the session, or at least doing a Twitter feed. Let me know!
UPDATE! LIVE VIDEO STREAMING HAPPENING NOW.
http://www.dakno.tv/live/
I’ve been getting reports from some of the industry trade shows, most notably the IBC (International Business Conferences) for Coldwell Banker, Century 21, and ERA. Realogy held these events in San Antonio, TX.
The reports are just plain ugly. Little to no attendees. Staff hiding from exhibitors for fear of being pelted with questions about attendance. Exhibitors just plain leaving, not wanting to waste any more money on hotel rooms and other travel expenses.
RE/MAX’s conference did much better than most (most likely due to the fact they held their event in Las Vegas, NV)
I heard that Alex Perriello, Realogy’s President and CEO, announced they were going to suspend the annual conferences for the foreseeable future.
This gets me wondering, are we going through a rough patch, a phase, or are things never going to be the same again?
What do you think?
UPDATE:
Maybe trade shows aren’t dead, they just need another format.
See you there!
I was just checking out the website for REtechSouth today and they have lined up a great list of speakers. Looks like Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix are putting on a great event!
I’m bummed I won’t make it!
But W&R Studios will be represented by Dan Woolley!!. Dan is going to leave his keyboard (hopfully not for too long) and speak on one of the panels. So somebody do me a favor and take lots of pictures of Dan while he’s on stage!
One of the schedule talks I wish I could see is the “Real Estate Mano y Mano” with Joseph Ferrara (Sellsius Real Estate blog) and Rob Hahn (The Notorious R.O.B).
They are going to debate the need of “lifestyle real estate search”. I personally think the whole lifestyle search is a dud but can appreciate the fact that OnBoard is not standing still. Sellsius is one of my favorite blogs. Joe does a great job of mixing the informative with the absurd of real estate. Although I think Joe should change the name of the event to “Mano a Mano”, unless he and Rob plan on holding hands during the debate.
Details
REtechSouth 2009 will take place on Friday, March 20, 2009 at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta, GA. Attendees will learn and network more in one day than many conferences fail to accomplish in three days – at a fraction of the cost.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Gwinnett Center
Atlanta, Georgia
I had to break out of my DayQuil blur and write a post about the upcoming Connection 2009 conference, hosted by RMLS.
Since Portland, OR is the city of bridges RMLS has decided to bridge the gap between banning Vendors from participating in the event and now welcoming Vendors with open arms. RMLS has always been a class act and I was glad to hear they had put a halt to such shenanigans.
I’ve also heard that Beth Murphy will be there! As many of you know she fell very ill and was only recently released from the hospital.
But meanwhile Kurt von Wasmuth has been doing a good job of holding things together at RMLS. I’ve asked him to send me 9 reasons why everyone should attend, here they are:
Nine Reasons to Attend Connection in ‘09
1. Get educated! Hear the latest legal update regarding the VOW/NAR settlement.
2. Go green. Learn more about common green feature fields being incorporated into MLS systems.
3. Save some dough. It costs almost $200 less to register this year versus last! Sign up before March 17 and pay only $145/night in lodging.
4. Keep up with the Jones’s. Check out the progress of your peer MLS!
5. Talk more. Breakout sessions are back by popular demand!
6. Stay current! Hear the latest snapshot of how our industry is handling the economy.
7. Enjoy the scenery. When else will you get to visit the Pacific Northwest this year?
8. Have fun! Plan an extra day to enjoy golf, a tour of wine country or catch a fish on one of our great rivers.
9. Get an edge. Our up-to-the-minute economist will offer the latest and greatest trends for you to share.
$325 is a fantastic deal for this event! Portland is a great town, hopefully I’ll see many of you there and you can join me for some Spanish Coffee (if you don’t know, then don’t ask!)
For full details check out www.connection2009.com
This is a testament to Gregg Larson and his crew for putting on a fantastic event. They have built a great reputation over the years for by building the perfect event cocktail; Great topics, great conversation, great people with a twist of fun!
I made the mistake of waiting (it’s been sold out for a few weeks now) and find myself not being able to join the cool cats in Scottsdale this year.
So I’m putting an alert in my calender this year to register, and register early for next year’s event.
But I will be in Scottsdale a couple days before the event (CMLS has timed their board of directors meeting around the workshop) so if anyone extra conference badge……
My buddy Matt is starting a new conference, its REtechSouth.
So I thought I would give him a plug.
They are already racking up an impressive list of sponsors. The conference hopes to…
“REtechSouth was born out of the desire to host a conversation about the technological changes impacting the real estate industry. A place where agents, brokers, lenders, builders and many other real estate industry practitioners could join together to collaborate on how technology can improve business. What tools work best? What websites are best for networking? Which vendor has the best product? What are the best practices for growing my online presence? These are the types of questions REtechSouth hopes to answer every year. The goal is to get some of the best minds in the industry together in one room to share the knowledge. ”
Sounds great to me!
Kind of an Inman Connect of the South? Might get a whole new batch of attendees.
Atlanta is a good choice when San Francisco and New York may be out of your budget.
Download the flyer here.
retechsouth flyer
Dan and I are heading to NYC first flight out of Ft. Lauderdale. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
And can you believe it, Dan Woolley has never been to New York City?!!
Seems very odd to me. I told him that we should do something special in honor of this occasion, so I offered to buy him a blo* jo* from a tranny. He declined.
Anyway, switching gears…I’ve still got some Vendor Alley schwag to give away. So I’m going to have another contest.
Just visit the Backstage Pass area of VendorAlley.com (upper right hand corner of the site, genius). The password has been changed. It’s now: bigapple. From there you will receive contest rules on receiving your free Vendor Alley Schwag.
Wednesday only Dan and I have a “Demo Pod” (that what you get when you can’t afford a full booth) going on at the Inman Exhibit Hall (Westside rooms 1&2) from 12PM to 6PM. So stop by and come make fun of us.
I’ll be participating on a panel at the General Session, Thursday at 10:30AM. The panel will be entitled “New Kids (and Ideas) on the Block: Innovators from Around the World“. I’ll be talking about our new web apps being launched Dwellicious and Dwellicious Pro……and I will be making a very special surprise announcement!!
Of course I will have all the latest information about any and all after-parties going on at the show. So get your Twitter on and follow me @gregrobertson as we descend upon Manhattan and see what trouble we can find!
And take a cue from El Jobso, no matter what anybody says, Real Estate ain’t dead yet, so lets keep on keeping on. See you there!!!
Right out of the gate Dwellicious is already generating some buzzzzzzzzz!
In Wav Group’s Blog Victor Lund singled out Dwellicious as “Most Innovative of Show” for NAR 2008 stating;
“WAV Group’s pick for most innovative new product at NARLANDO.
It is always refreshing when the WAV Group gets to see new technology products early on in their development. Like a lime in a corona, dwellicious is cool and refreshing. Having previously developed dozens of products over the years, Dan and Greg have hit one that may cast themselves well beyond the eNeighborhoods boat.
The positioning for the product is simple. We know that consumers are going to 4 or more websites in their search for a home. We know that they hate to register to keep the information they want to save from each site. We know that social bookmarking is a hugely popular internet feature (aka Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious).
With dwellicious, consumers can bookmark listings from any site they like, and its free!
For agents, it will be a great prospecting tool for buyers. They will be able to market their listings and services to consumers who are already expressing interest in similar homes.
Wouldn’t it be great if an agent bookmarked the location of their listed properties on all of the syndication sites?
The boys have a great product – stay tuned for their public launch.”
