C5 Event Promotes Collaboration Among Tech Companies to Create a More Efficient Industry
The NAR-sponsored C5 + CCIM Global Summit is billed as "3 Days of Commercial Real Estate Networking, Learning, and Deal-Making." If you're curious, the five Cs stand for "Capital," "Connect," "Commerce," "Community" and "Commercial." It took place in Atlanta on September 28th-30th, and it is one of commercial real estate's premier conferences. The event was attended by some key members of RPR's Commercial and Member Experience team who brought back some insightful takeaways on data and tech as it relates to commercial real estate. We thought that commercial practitioners who use RPR (Realtors Property Resource) would appreciate a summary of the technology-focused panel and some of the topics that were discussed. Collaboration and listening: Transforming the commercial real estate industry The commercial real estate industry has long been plagued by fragmentation, complexity, and inefficiency. Historically, it has been disjointed due to a variety of reasons, such as fragmented ownership, diverse property types, and a lack of standardization. However, there's a growing effort to change this narrative and make the commercial real estate sector more accessible, efficient and cohesive. This transformation is being driven by advances in technology, data transparency and collaboration among industry players. A great example of this was the C5 Tech Panel, where a panel of experts got together on the main stage to showcase a real-life case study of how collaboration and listening can lead to positive change in the commercial real estate industry. More specifically, this session highlighted RPR, ICSC and CompStak's efforts to deliver value together producing accurate, easy-to-use technology for commercial practitioners. The panel included individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences including: Valerie Richardson, the COO of ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers). Valerie brought a wealth of experience to the panel, as evidenced by her experience with well-known brands including the Trammell Crow Company, Ann Taylor, Barnes & Noble and The Container Store. Michael Mandel, the CEO and Co-Founder of CompStak. The company was born out of Michael's experience as a commercial leasing broker in Manhattan, and he was recognized as Grubb & Ellis' National Rookie of the Year in 2007. Emily Line, SVP of Strategic Engagement, is a pioneer at RPR Commercial, and she has been instrumental in shaping the platform from its concept to present-day. She's accomplished this by focusing on strategy, usability testing, and outreach to enhance the value and experience for commercial members. Moderator Deena Zimmerman is a Principal/Broker at Baum Realty Group, LLC. Deena is a top-producing Retail Tenant Rep and a 2024 NAR Commercial Liaison. She recently moved from SVN Chicago to Baum Realty in Chicago to build on her success as the "Retail Queen." Tech panel takeaways The overarching theme of the panel was to show the need for collaboration and listening to create a stronger, less fragmented and more efficient commercial real estate industry. And yes! This committed collaboration included talk about product deliverables with the use of the hot topics: Chat GPT and AI. The panelists demonstrated that by working together and understanding the unique needs of commercial practitioners, significant improvements can be achieved. Valerie's experience underscored the importance of understanding the challenges faced by practitioners. She offered insight from The Container Store, a retail giant, and stressed the significance of accessible space and market information for ICSC members. Michael's journey led to the creation of CompStak, addressing the need for accurate leasing comps. His experience highlighted the value of integrity and precision in data. Deena Zimmerman, as an active practitioner, offered a real-world perspective on how a more streamlined industry workflow can enhance efficiency and client relationships. Emily's role at RPR emphasized the importance of user-driven technology. Her efforts in collaborating with entities like CompStak and ICSC aimed to bridge gaps and provide the right data and partnerships for commercial practitioners. In Conclusion The commercial real estate industry has recognized its historical challenges and is actively working towards overcoming them. Collaborative efforts, data transparency and a commitment to understanding the needs of industry professionals are driving the sector toward a more cohesive and efficient future. By focusing on collaboration and listening, the industry is breaking down the barriers that have historically made it disjointed. As these changes take hold, commercial real estate is poised to become a more accessible and dynamic field for investors, brokers and all stakeholders involved. For more information on NAR and RPR's commercial real estate growth and support efforts, check out: 4 Pillars of Support for Commercial Real Estate Pros. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog. Thank you to RPR for sponsoring this article on RE Technology!

15 Tips for Getting Your Money's Worth at Real Estate Conferences
There are a lot of real estate industry conferences coming up, and they are a great opportunity for agents, brokers, and the staff at franchises, MLSs, and associations to network, learn, and let off a little steam. Most pros agree that there's just something about being in a room full of people who just get what you do — the energy is palpable and exhilarating, and once people find their favorite conferences, they return year after year! In this post, we're sharing 15 tips on how to make the most of these real estate conferences, seminars, and trade shows and make sure you get your money's worth. Why should real estate professionals attend industry events? One major reason to attend industry events is — they're fun! Organizers usually choose fun locations you might not otherwise have a chance to visit where the weather is warm and the sun is shining. But beyond just being fun, industry events are a great opportunity to up your game and become a better professional. How? How real estate conferences help you be better You can forge stronger relationships. Real estate is a relationship-driven business. What better way to forge new relationships and strengthen old ones than at a real estate industry event? You can see former colleagues, find a new mentor, and even rub elbows with industry legends! You can learn new things. With so many real estate industry experts in one place giving talks, teaching workshops, sharing their insights, and revealing the tricks of their trade, you are bound to learn something new. Have you wanted to break into luxury real estate? Relocation? Rentals? Or any other niche you've always wanted to know about? Industry events are great places to learn from the pros. Both independent and franchise broker/owners can learn how to optimize their operations and manage their teams better, and MLSs/associations can learn more about what their members really need (and what other MLSs are doing). You can stay up to date on the latest real estate tech developments. Our industry is evolving at the speed of light, and so is the technology that powers it. Attending industry events lets you hear right from the innovators making the technology about the challenges they're solving, their product roadmaps, and how developments like artificial intelligence (AI) are changing what they do. Oh, and did we mention that the cost of attending real estate conferences is tax deductible? How can real estate professionals best prepare for industry events? All pros know that preparation is the key to success. You wouldn't try to sell someone's home without adequately preparing every detail of the listing, and you shouldn't show up at a real estate conference without doing some preparatory work ahead of time. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for a real estate event: Review the agenda, sessions, and any "extra curriculars" in advance Truth be told, once the event starts, you won't have time to read every session description, pick which ones you want to attend, plan your lunch hour, or know which night the most exciting mixer is on. Take time before you get there to check the schedule, plan out where you want to go and what you want to learn, and how you'll spend your evenings. You'll be glad when you don't accidentally double-book yourself! Check the attendee list and set up meetings with people you'd really like to meet Will your former mentor be attending? What about your best work friend from your very first real estate job? Or a content creator or blogger whose advice you really admire? If you see they are attending and want to meet up, connect with them well in advance. Their schedule, like yours, will fill up quickly, and you won't want to miss the opportunity to keep your best relationships strong and make your new ones stronger. Plan on attending at least one networking event and one extra-curricular event Real estate seminars and conventions would not be the same were it not for the networking. Make time to meet new people (both during and outside of the main event) by attending at least one networking event and one "extra" event, which could be a company cocktail party, special happy hour, or offsite dinner. Make sure you've got plenty of business cards (or a snazzy digital business card) with you We've all been there: you're unpacking your suitcase at the hotel and find out you forgot your business cards, brought the wrong box, or thought you had 500 but only have five. Have extras printed well in advance of the event or consider switching to a near-field communication (NFC) digital business card that lets you share your contact information and social profiles by simply tapping it to someone's phone. They are a game changer! Walk through the venue once when you arrive to get your bearings Some conference venues (we're looking at you, Las Vegas!) are built like mazes, so it can be a huge help to take a walk around before you have to be anywhere so you can locate where the conference rooms, session rooms, exhibit hall, coffee stations, restrooms, and any other important locations are, so that once the event really starts, you don't wind up getting lost. While you're there: getting the most out of real estate conventions You've planned, you've prepared, and now… you're there! What's the secret to getting the most out of industry events so you can say it was worth the trip? Here are some tips: Take advantage of the moment Carpe diem, seize the day, smell the roses… however you want to call it. Most industry events are short-lived. In a couple days, you'll be back to business as usual. So, take advantage! Say yes to the opportunities that come your way, speak up when you have something to say, ask that engaging presenter your burning question, and invite that nervous-looking person at the water cooler into your conversation. You'll want to return home knowing you did everything you wanted, not wishing you had done more. That said… Pace yourself Don't spread yourself too thin! You don't have to do everything. Make sure you take a little time for yourself, so you can recharge your batteries. Skip a session and go for a walk outside, meditate in your room, or take a morning jog. Some events even have morning yoga to help you start your day off on the right foot. If you're rested and relaxed, you'll enjoy the event that much more. Peruse the exhibit hall at least once Sure, exhibitors are there to sell you stuff. But they're also there to help you solve your biggest challenges and provide useful tools that let you work smarter, not harder. They're usually great conversationalists and they tend to have great (free!) swag for you to take home with you. So, go check out that CRM, that digital marketing suite, that relocation platform, and ask questions to your heart's content. You might be surprised by what you learn! Attend at least one "weird" session Maybe you have no interest in artificial intelligence, listing data refresh rates, agent recruitment and retention, or social media strategy. But finding a session that's outside of your normal market, niche, or area of expertise gives you a valuable opportunity to learn something completely new and meet people you otherwise might not have met. Sometimes, you find gems in unexpected places. Seize at least one networking opportunity per day Chatting over a croissant, inviting yourself to lunch, attending a happy hour or speed networking session, grabbing coffee in the exhibit hall… you never know where you'll meet someone who can help you out or teach you something new. Engage on social media Even if you don't usually "do" social media, sharing about what you've learned, whom you've met, and how you're feeling is a great way to connect with other attendees, the conference organizer, sponsors, and all of your colleagues around the country who couldn't make it. You can build strong relationships, both in person and virtually, and demonstrate that you care about networking, continuing education, and being an active participant in the industry. Leveraging industry events after you've returned home Even after you've said your goodbyes and made your way back home, much of the work you can do to get an even better return out of your real estate conference investment has only just begun. Here are three ways to keep the momentum going and leverage your attendance even more: Follow up with the people you met If you did your conference right, you definitely met a ton of people! Don't lose touch: add them on social media, especially LinkedIn, and send them a warm message about how great it was to meet them. Offer to help them if they need anything, and hopefully they'll reciprocate. Write a short blog about the event for your website Blogging is a great way to grow your real estate business, whether you're a broker/owner, agent, or MLS/association staff. Blogs drive organic traffic to your website and give you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and share everything you learned. Consumers will be glad to know you're staying up on industry trends. MLS members will be happy that their MLS is making continuing education a priority. Put what you learned into practice Maybe most importantly of all, apply what you learned! You probably attended at least one session about streamlining your brokerage, selling houses smarter, reducing operating costs, mastering social media, using AI to write listing descriptions, or future-proofing your business. Implementing these insights will be the best way to reap long-term benefits from attending your conference, benefits that you'll feel for years to come. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

LeadingRE Celebrates Member Achievement at Annual Conference
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® paid tribute to top-performing member firms and individuals at its Awards Gala, held March 30 at Wynn Las Vegas. The Gala was the culmination of LeadingRE Conference Week, a series of specialized events that attracted nearly 2,000 participants from 25 countries. "Our award winners inspire us with their leadership and innovation, their commitment to quality, and their dedication to strengthening the communities they serve. Celebrating their extraordinary contributions and performance is a highlight of our conference," said LeadingRE President/CEO Paul Boomsma. LeadingRE's top company honor, the Diamond Award, went to the company in each size category based on superior engagement and performance in all LeadingRE's business programs. Winning the Diamond Award were: Allen Tate Company – Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.) Lyon Real Estate – A Windermere Company (Sacramento, Calif.) Dickson Realty (Reno, Nev.); Dickens Mitchener (Charlotte, N.C.) WK Real Estate (Boulder, Colo.) Beiser Realty (Winneconne, Wis.) Salmon Real Estate (Staten Island, N.Y.) JB Goodwin, JBGoodwin, REALTORS (Austin, Texas) was awarded the prestigious Leadership Award, which honors the principal broker who displays incredible leadership through life-changing community involvement and by guiding their team to better success and well-being. Windermere Real Estate (Seattle, Wash.) received the Most Innovative Brokerage Award, which honors one brokerage that has made an extraordinary difference for their company and their business community through an impactful program that demonstrates a high level of innovation and creativity. In recognition of extraordinary contributions to better the communities they serve, Portside Real Estate Group (Falmouth, Maine) received the Brokerage Good Things Award. Katya Malakhova, Advisors Living (Boston, Mass.) won the Agent Good Things Awards. Most Innovative Office Design was presented to Jack Conway (Hanover, Mass.). Among the top marketing awards was the Best Overall Website, presented to Chase International (Reno, Nev.). The Referral of the Year was presented to JBGoodwin, REALTORS (Austin, Texas) and Premier Estate Properties, Inc. (Boca Raton, Fla.). Service recognition awards were presented for sharing contributions and talent to the LeadingRE community over many years. Earning the Hall of Fame Award was Benedetta Vigano, Giorgio Viganò Real Estate (Milan, Italy). Recognized with the Chairman's Service Award were Elizabeth Fowler, WestMark, Realtors (Lubbock, Texas) and Jane Gowarty, Smith & Associates Real Estate (Tampa, Fla.). Receiving the President's Service Award were Elizabeth McGrath, Baird & Warner (Chicago, Ill.) and Judith Schreyer, Allgemeiner Grund & Boden Fundus (Berlin, Germany). The Crown of Excellence referral awards were given in seven company size categories: Allen Tate Company (Charlotte, N.C.) Lyon Real Estate – A Windermere Company (Sacramento, Calif.) Realty Austin (Austin, Texas) Dickson Realty (Reno, Nev.) The Group Inc. Real Estate (Fort Collins, Colo.) Dickens Mitchener (Charlotte, N.C.) WK Real Estate (Boulder, Colo.) Marx-Bensdorf Realtors (Memphis, Tenn.) Vista Encantada REALTORS, LLC (Albuquerque, N.M.) Earning the Million Dollar Club Award for Highest Valued Outgoing Closings was Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate (Rye Brook, N.Y.). The Global Alliance Club Award for Most Outgoing International Referral Closings was presented to The Keyes Company (Plantation, Fla.). Awarded for having the Top 5 Most Closed Outgoing Closings, in order of units, were: WEICHERT, REALTORS® (Morris Plains, N.J.); Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. (Chantilly, Va.); Howard Hanna Real Estate Services (Pittsburgh, Pa.); Allen Tate Company (Charlotte, N.C.); and @properties Christie's International Real Estate (Chicago, Ill.). The firms recognized with the Pinnacle Award for having the most outgoing revenue-generating referrals were: Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. (Chantilly, Va.); Carolina One Real Estate (Charleston, S.C.); The Group Real Estate (Fort Collins, Colo.); Red Oak Realty (Piedmont, Calif.); WK Real Estate (Boulder, Colo.); WEICHERT, REALTORS® – The Space Place (Huntsville, Ala.); and Vista Encantada REALTORS, LLC (Albuquerque, N.M.). The Peak Production Award for revenue generating-sales volume in 2022 was presented to: Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. (Chantilly, Va.); Realty Austin (Austin, Texas); Dickson Realty (Reno, Nev.); Red Oak Realty (Piedmont, Calif.); WK Real Estate (Boulder, Colo.); Marx-Bensdorf Realtors (Memphis, Tenn.); and Parkway Real Estate (Chico, Calif.). RELO DIRECT® recognized members for outstanding service and collaboration. Earning the Platinum Member Service Excellence Award was Cottingham Chalk (Charlotte, N.C.). Receiving the Platinum Member Leads Award was Dickens Mitchener (Charlotte, N.C.). LeadingRE is an invitation-only business-to-business real estate community, interconnecting 550 quality-focused local and regional real estate firms in 70 countries worldwide. LeadingRE provides its members best-of-industry assets, including elite training and education, marketing and technology resources, referrals and support. To learn more about Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, visit LeadingRE.com.

RE/MAX Broker Owner Conference Provides Franchisees with Resources to Help Grow Their Businesses Amid a Changing Market
Over 1,100 RE/MAX leaders and guests gathered at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN this week for the global real estate franchisor's 2022 RE/MAX Broker Owner Conference (BOC). The three-day event included many BOC staples -- Opening General Session, impactful speakers, networking opportunities, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Auction, Approved Supplier Marketplace, and a full range of educational sessions focused on brokerage strategies, technology and the overwhelming value of a productive culture. RE/MAX President and CEO Nick Bailey began the Opening General Session by noting the rebalancing of the housing market and the opportunities a slower market creates for brokerages that are able to help agents close more sales in less frenzied conditions. Bailey pointed to the historic resilience of the RE/MAX network during slower economic times, and encouraged attendees to stay focused on supporting their agents with the best tools and resources. "The question for me is not whether people will buy and sell homes," he said. "The question is who are the agents who are going to be helping people buy and sell during this market? Times like these are when RE/MAX shines because of the level of productivity in our network." During the Opening General Session, Bailey also highlighted the new enterprise relationship with Inside Real Estate that will give affiliates in company-owned regions in the U.S. and Canada access to the kvCORE platform – branded "MAX/Tech powered by kvCORE" – at no additional cost. Bailey was joined on stage by Inside Real Estate CEO Joe Skousen and the two outlined why the relationship is such a good fit, with each business leader viewing success as a part of their companies' DNA. Citing another initiative aimed at helping entrepreneurs build their businesses through RE/MAX resources, Bailey recounted details of the recently announced Team Pilot Program. The pilot, designed to incentivize the growth of existing RE/MAX teams, strengthen retention, and – especially – help Broker/Owners recruit teams of six or more licensees, is available for eligible brokers who opt in within the states of California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Texas. The session also featured a live conversation between Amy Lessinger, RE/MAX Senior Vice President, Region Development, and Steve Murray, industry expert and partner, RealTrends Consulting, on mergers, acquisitions and conversions. The climate is ripe for brokerages to use M&A as a growth strategy – and RE/MAX, LLC can help in such transactions, advised Lessinger. "We want to help RE/MAX brokers with their growth strategy, helping them grow exponentially rather than one agent at a time," said Lessinger. "RE/MAX has the strategy and team in place to help match business owners looking to exit or grow at a larger scale." Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger, who offered a fascinating look at how the network's past aligns with its present and future. Although RE/MAX has changed and evolved since its founding nearly 50 years ago, Liniger said, the roots of its success – service, professionalism, productivity – remain as evident and relevant as ever. Keynote speaker Vernice "Flygirl" Armour, America's first Black female combat pilot and celebrated author, discussed strategies for accomplishing goals, encouraging the audience to rev up their businesses and "get gutsy." Bailey ended his remarks thanking the RE/MAX network for their incredible productivity as well as Dave and RE/MAX Vice Chair of the Board and Co-Founder Gail Liniger for the lasting legacy they've built at RE/MAX. "We're a financially strong, profitable company and much of that can be credited to how Dave and Gail started this business." Nodding to the competitive nature of many RE/MAX agents, Bailey joked this company is built on the backs of agents fighting for the listing but lifting each other up along the way. The conference concluded on Tuesday with a notable address from Scott Hamilton, Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion figure skater. RE/MAX Broker/Owners will gather again next year for the 2023 BOC conference in Chicago, August 6-8.

Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline Go Back on the Road Again!
From San Diego to Ohio and Arkansas to Colorado, Florida Realtors will be back on the road again, showcasing its technology offerings for real estate brokers and agents nationwide. This fall, thousands of real estate professionals who use Form Simplicity transaction management software, as well as Tech Helpline support services, can see and meet the folks behind these scenes face-to-face at local conventions and conferences throughout the country. Form Simplicity by Florida Realtors is a leading transaction management solution that helps agents go digital and paperless. Form Simplicity allows real estate professionals to manage real estate transactions in the cloud, from start to finish, on their mobile phone or computer. The real estate industry's No. 1 ranked tech support service, Tech Helpline, is a member benefit available to more than 667,000 individual real estate professionals across North America. Known for its friendly customer service and expert technical advice, Tech Helpline offers support via phone call, email, and online chat. See for yourself the benefits these products offer on their websites – FormSimplicity.com and TechHelpline.com – and meet with their representatives in person at the trade shows. This year's trade show schedule contains leading real estate conferences that once again are offering in-person meetings. The list includes the following: On August 25 and 26, both Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline will return to our own Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo in Orlando, FL. For the upcoming fall, September will be a big month for both Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline, as they will head to five major conventions, and Form Simplicity hosts an online a free training webinar. On September 9, Form Simplicity will host a live training webinar, "Optimizing Your Workflow with Form Simplicity," and you can register for free here. Then reps of both brands will be live and in-person at the Wyoming Realtors Conference and Expo in Sheridan, WY, on September 15-16 with a live Form Simplicity training session. Wyoming provides the Ultimate Edition of Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline to its members as benefits. On September 20-23, CMLS returns to in-person meetings and you can meet representatives from Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline at CMLS2021 in Las Vegas. Tech Helpline will be in two places at one time! Representatives will be at the Ohio REALTORS® Annual Convention & Expo at the Columbus Easton from September 27-29. Form Simplicity will join Tech Helpline for the Arkansas REALTORS® Convention & Trade Expo at the Hilton Branson Convention Center, also from September 27-29, with a live Form Simplicity training session. Arkansas also provides the Ultimate Edition and Tech Helpline to its members as benefits. Near the end of September, folks from Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline will travel to Kansas City, MO for the Missouri REALTORS® Fall Business Conference from September 29 to October 1. On October 6-8, Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline will be in Kansas for the Kansas AOR Annual REALTORS Convention. In-person training will be provided for Form Simplicity. Then Tech Helpline will be at the Colorado Association of REALTORS® Centennial for the CAR's 100 Year Celebration Conference and Expo held in Colorado Springs, CO. Both Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline will be at Idaho REALTORS 2021 Convention in Boise Centre, Boise, ID. In-person training will also be provided for Form Simplicity. Idaho also offers the Ultimate Edition and Tech Helpline to its members as benefits. Finally, Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline's last two conventions in 2021 include this year's NAR Conference & Expo in San Diego (Booth #2113) from November 12 to 15, and finally the Triple Play REALTOR® Convention & Trade Expo for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Realtors in Atlantic City, NJ, from December 6-9. If you're on the road again for any of these events, meet the friendly folks at Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity who are ready to answer your questions. We are excited to see everyone face-to-face once again! Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline.

Industry Executives Talk Branding, Profitability and Disruption in Real Estate at NAR Annual Conference
Several real estate industry executives discussed real estate branding, profitability, and disruptors during a panel session at the 2019 Realtors Conference and Expo in San Francisco, California. Realogy Expansion Brands CEO Sherry Chris moderated the session – "NAR Talks to the C-Suite: Disrupted! Is Our Industry on a Path for Significant Change or is it Business as Usual?" – with five industry leaders in a lively exchange.

Heading to NAR San Francisco: 3 things to know
These three things should help make NAR San Francisco a much better experience: 1. NAR Conference scheduling tool The NAR conference schedule features more than 100 sessions. So how do you decide what to attend? At the NAR website, there is an online scheduling tool that lets you cut through the clutter by filtering by the audience and topic. For example, if you are a broker-owner attending NAR and your focus this year is on technology, in the pull-down menu, you can select "Broker/Owners/Managers" as the Target Audience and then "Business Technology & Innovation." If you are more interested in Broker Management topics, select that from the Target Category pulldown, and hit submit. The NAR scheduling engine automatically creates a list of recommended sessions – a complete schedule for every day of NAR Annual with the time, topic, and a link to the full details of each recommended meeting. 2. NAR Bus Schedule Sadly, the streets of San Francisco are not only challenging because of the steep hills and because of a severe homeless problem. NAR has a webpage with information about getting to the new Moscone Center here, including bus shuttle times, followed by a list of hotels and the route numbers for each. Shuttle buses will scurry you between key hotel locations—all accessible to the major NAR hotels—and take you to the new Moscone Center. The Moscone Center has been completely rebuilt and is now multi-story with three major wings: North, South, and West. NAR also is providing a downloadable "safe walking route" in a PDF here (but I could not get it to work). Here's a link to the NAR Hotel Map (PDF). 3. The NAR Annual App Every year, it seems mobile apps for conferences overall get better, more useful. That's certainly the case with this year's NAR Annual mobile app. It is easier than ever to find the booth number of exhibitors in the Expo. Exhibiting firms are sorted by categories from 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges and Accounting to VR, Warranties, and Yard Signs. Or you can do a quick search by name, but that's not quite as efficient, often yielding more results than you need. The app allows you to create a personal schedule, so you won't try to attend two conferences set for the same time. You can easily find info on the speakers, all at a push of a button. It even allows you to favorite items so you can find them later under the "Heart" on the bottom of the app's screen to quickly pull up those "can't miss" sessions. It is available in the Apple App Store here and Google Play here. I will recap my personal highlights and favorite takeaways from NAR, so if there is something I should put on my radar, send an email to [email protected].

Fall and Winter REALTOR Conferences and Expos for 2019
The best way to further your education and develop new real estate knowledge and skills is by attending local and national conferences. Ranging from $10 to few hundred dollars, chances are a real estate convention is happening near you in the latter half of 2019. Here is a list of upcoming events happening this fall and winter.

Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity are on the road again!
Each year, thousands of real estate agents and brokers who use Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity have the opportunity to meet some of the folks who make the magic happen for these two Florida Realtors owned products at local conventions and conferences. This year's schedule includes visits as far north and east as Nova Scotia, Canada, as far south as Hollywood, Florida, and as far west as Los Angeles, California. As real estate's number one tech support firm, Tech Helpline serves more than 600,000 real estate professionals in North America. Available through MLSs or local associations, as well as real estate brokerages, connecting with Tech Helpline is typically accomplished via a phone call, online chat or email inquiry. Our annual direct outreach gives agents and brokers, as well as MLS and association executives and staff members, an additional opportunity with face-to-face communications. Opportunities to connect This year, we kicked off our spring and summer schedule for Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity with an appearance at the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in mid-May. Tech Helpline was just represented at the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) Association Executives Seminar in early June, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Next up, Form Simplicity will be at "Rock the Market" at the Hard Rock Event Center in Hollywood, FL on June 25. The next two days on June 26 and 27, both Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity will be heading to the Florida Realtors Association Executives Education Workshops in Cocoa Beach, FL. August marks two major conventions for Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity. Association leadership from all business disciplines will convene at the ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo in Columbus, OH on August 10-13, followed by our own Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo (August 21 and 22) and Governance Meetings (August 23-25) in Orlando, FL. Tech Helpline will head to another big convention as the Colorado Association of REALTORS® hosts its "REfresh Expo" in Denver, CO on September 5. The summer tour schedule ends with two back-to-back events. The first one is in North Carolina, the NC REALTORS® 2019 Convention & Expo "Xchange'19" at the Pinehurst Resort during the Expo dates of September 14-16. That's followed by the Arkansas REALTOR® Annual Convention & Tradeshow being held in Memphis, TN at the Guesthouse at Graceland, during the Expo dates of September 16 and 17. More to come As the fall begins, Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline will be back at it, with appearances by Tech Helpline at the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Expo "REImagine!" held in Los Angeles on September 24-26, followed by opportunities to ask your questions about Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline at CMLS2019 in Salt Lake City on October 16-18. The last two conventions for Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline currently are scheduled for both the 2019 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Francisco this year (booth #1234), November 6-11, and finally December 9-12 at the 2019 Triple Play REALTOR® Convention & Trade Expo in Atlantic City, NJ, which brings together members from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania Realtor associations. If you happen to be attending one of these events, please stop by and bring your questions about Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline. We hope to meet you face-to-face! Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.  

NAR Midyear 2019 Recap
The REALTORS Legislative Meetings in Washington D.C. have become a mainstay on our WAV Group travel calendar. I guess that is why we still refer to it as "Midyear." The meetings provide a dual opportunity to gain insight into the important policy issues and the ability to spend some face-to-face time with clients. It's always in the same spot: at Woodley Park across from the National Zoo, housed in both the Omni and Marriott. There also are some meetings a shuttle bus ride away at the Washington Hilton, just north of Dupont Circle. Since I'm a former DC'er – I worked at Fannie Mae – I already have done my share of playing the tourist in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, so I focused on work and the conference itself. The biggest surprise this year was the appearance of President Trump on the last day of the convention. But as a long-time real estate developer, is it really a surprise that he turned out for a largely red crowd? And that's how this year's NAR Midyear felt compared to past meetings: more predictable and less edgy. MLS meetings Last year, the MLS Executives meeting had a great edge to it with the appearance of Redfin's leader Glenn Kelman. He hit it out of the park and his honest, off-the-cuff style, laced with his self-confessed Jewish angst, made his presentation funny, insightful and highly memorable. This year, the star of the same meeting was a legal review. Every MLS in the room will face hurdles once the final guidelines are issued around California's CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) go into effect January 1, 2020. There was a clear sense of frustration and apprehension in the room, as one might expect. (WAV Group consultants Victor Lund and David Gumpper support MLSs, brokers, and technology vendors with compliance.) Even at CMLS "Brings it to the Table," sans a few observations in a presentation by the always solid Brian Boero of 1000watt, it was a fairly straightforward, predictable day. Brian did a great job of making the case that many of the companies that are getting the most media attention have a great story to tell and do an excellent job of telling it. His "What's your story?" pitch was spot on. That is the first question we ask when developing a communications strategy and many companies do not have a well-articulated story. Boero's comments compelled me to personally congratulate Jennifer Thompson-Kersting of My Florida Regional MLS (MFRMLS), who was attending. MFRMLS announced the launch of a new company under the name of Stellar MLS just before Midyear. The name goes into effect on June 4th. Merri Jo Cowen and her team have done a stellar job in creating a compelling story (yes, I was being punny). For the rest of the day at CMLS, the MLS focus was solidly on best practices. Not a lot of new ideas or trends were covered that had not already been exposed to those attending a RESO conference. But CMLS needs to be commended on the organization's efforts to source and share programs of excellence that make MLSs great. Another highlight was Chris Haran of MRED and his "Computer Vision" presentation on using artificial intelligence for photos via vendor Restb.ai. It appeared to have the most attendees engaged: taking notes, photos of his slides and asking a lot of follow up questions. RESO members and conference attendees remember the first restb.ai presentation and its cutting-edge technology well. It was particularly exciting to see one of the largest MLSs in the world adopt and deploy this new tech so quickly. Kudos to Haran and MRED. With Restb.ai, MRED is extracting attributes of photos submitted to the MLS using deep learning artificial intelligence. This adds a breakthrough value for subscribers in the data stored in the MLS. The biggest at the CMLS event was that it ended an hour earlier than originally scheduled to give folks a chance to make a key late afternoon session NAR was offering. Overall, the CMLS sessions were rich with practical takeaways. That's why it remains a "can't miss" event at NAR Midyear for everyone affiliated with the MLS industry. Next up for most MLS folks is the trifecta: Inman Connect in Vegas, July 22-26; RESO in St. Louis, Sept. 9-12, 2019; and CMLS annual meeting, Oct. 16-18, 2019 in Salt Lake City. Midyear trade show takeaways If you're of the baby-boomer generation (others can Google it), you may recall a famous advertising phase attributable to remarkable and well-earned success: "You've come a long way, baby." Ignoring the fact that this was a cigarette ad campaign, that was my reaction when I saw Homesnap's new exhibit at NAR near the entrance of the convention hall. Homesnap is the technology that powers the Broker Public Portal (BPP). The BPP is one of real estate's most successful industry initiatives in recent years. Just before NAR Midyear, Homesnap announced it had hit the one million real estate agents mark. Its growth rate has been stunning and their booth stood as a testament to its pervasiveness. Never before have MLSs and brokerage firms collaborated on reimagining a fundamental building block of our industry. The collaboration and unification of our industry around a central idea is powerful, and the execution has been better than anyone imagined. A picture is worth a thousand words. Last year, Homesnap operated out of a regular booth: this year they had a much larger and well-designed presence that shouted success. The NAR REach class had their stations set up at the end of the big NAR Pavilion area and these innovative startups stayed very busy with questions from curious prospects. Over a random 10-minute period I observed, Kleard, the newest real estate agent security technology, draw the most attendees and captured strong engagement. I also stopped by the Florida Realtors' exhibit, got a peek at their new, much more user-friendly and intuitive version of Form Simplicity. But I stopped by Florida Realtors' exhibit because they offer an on-site tech support person from Tech Helpline to troubleshoot and answer any tech questions agents, brokers, MLS execs or others might have. It reminded me to ask the industry this question: Why was NAR so quick to give every agent access to a CRM, but not have Tech Helpline provide universal tech support? In our age where an agent cannot do their job without technology working well, it seems to me NAR put the cart before the horse! Every real estate agent and broker should have easy access to tech support and Tech Helpline already does that better than anyone. Best of all, it is industry born, industry operated, and industry owned. And Tech Helpline serves about half of all REALTORS already – 600,000 in North America. Note to NAR: your members deserve universal tech support and they need it. Tech Helpline for all is a no-brainer solution. Super Sessions Two meeting highlights worth mentioning because they were rich in broker takeaways both happened Tuesday morning. The first session of the day, the Economic Forecast, featured Lawrence Yun and his next predictions and included a presentation from Dr. Johannes Stroebel, associate professor of finance at New York University, who dove into social connections on Facebook. Stroebel's heat mapsl showed how different places in the US are connected using Facebook data. Who knew that Kern County (Bakersfield area) and North Dakota were strongly connected? That indicator promoted him to dig further, and both are huge oil-producing areas. He surmised that people from California transferred to North Dakota and thus the heavy saturation of social connectedness. I guess that brokers in North Dakota should start advertising in Bakersfield, and agents should start talking to their counterparts in Bakersfield for relocation collaboration. Most importantly, social connection research shows how we feel about real estate – whether it is a good time to buy or not. There is a direct relationship between Facebook connections and attitudes about the real estate market. I expect we will hear much more about this research from Facebook and a wide number of applications this data could provide in building more effective and targeted real estate marketing campaigns. WAV Group consultant Victor Lund says, "When you think about Big Data, imagine the role that Facebook can play in predicting future real estate market conditions using deep machine learning and artificial intelligence. Facebook could drop advertising revenue and simply harvest consumer data to predict the stock market." Later Wednesday morning, the RISMedia Power Broker Newsmakers Forum had a terrific lineup of top talent. Lennox Scott, leader of John L. Scott, noted that lead generation companies (like Zillow) are shifting to lead capture companies. They are shifting from advertising firms to referral companies. Fellow panelist Michael Saunders, who runs the well-renowned Florida-based brokerage which bears her name, offered a truism. She said, "I don't think it's (real estate) rocket science, even though the tech companies make it feel that way. We are in a relationship business." "Our biggest competitors today is ourselves," said Mike Huff from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties. Broker-owner Todd Hetherington of Century 21 New Millennium had added that as an industry, we need to learn from our competition, and to do that we need to get granular and know our numbers. Diane Ramirez, Chair and Chief Executive of Halstead Properties, jointly moderated the panel with John Featherston, RISMedia leader of 39 years. Ramirez was a strong addition and had a couple of comments that were candidates for the Quote of the Day. After discussing the rebranding efforts her firm has undertaken over the years, and the one they most recently completed, she offered, "Rebranding is the most nerve-racking thing you can do as a leader." Ramirez addressed the 800-pound gorilla on everyone's minds in the room, Compass, chiding that the difference between the "C" brokerage and established brokerages is the size of the dollars being used to recruit. "I have to hit profitability," she notes. The best takeaway goes to Featherston, who recommended that brokerages need to "chart the stats of those who have left your group to show others that the grass isn't always greener." Products like BrokerMetrics from Terradatum allow you to visualize the impact of a broker change. Nearly 100% of the time, an agent's production goes down when they change brokerages. Use this data in your agent retention meetings. Finally, a shout out to Peter Schravemade of BoxBrownie, who gave a funny and informative lesson during an MLS session on the ethics in virtual staging photography. The company has been on fire since it was part of the NAR REach class last year. Based on the buzz I am hearing, its technology is likely to be one of the fastest growing in recent memory. But you need to be careful. Virtual staging of a property could become a misrepresentation. CoreLogic's Matt Cohen wrote a great article about this issue. Parties + Dinners On the Midyear party scene, kudos has to go to our sister company, RE Technology. It held its annual Midyear event and it was packed to the brim, again. The music was RE Technology Partyfantastic, again, under the perennial leadership of the extraordinary talent of John Heithaus and his band members who rocked the Columbia Heights location. The best description of the event's success came from W+R Studios (Cloud CMA, etc.) leader and Vendor Alley blogger Greg Robertson. If you know Greg, you know he was dancing the night away. The next day, I bumped into Greg at MRED's super reception on a rooftop looking out to the Washington Monument. He said with a huge smile, "I had so much fun my cheeks hurt." Homesnap's reception was another standing room only event. For the last few years, the Homesnap party has offered the most convenient offsite location: across the street from both hotels. The best part was to see all the Homesnappers in attendance: Homesnap is local and many of their employees turned out to celebrate hitting their one million-agent mark. The staff's positive energy was as intoxicating as the bar's margaritas. The best story about the dinner scene in DC came from Michael Saunders. During the RISMedia Power Broker Newsmakers Forum, she told a story about getting into a hot new restaurant in DC whose distinction is providing an all "locally sourced" dining experience. Saunders nearly brought the crowd to tears of laughter as she described her conversation with her server. For every item she asked about – and I mean item after item – she was told it wasn't on the menu because "everything is locally sourced." That limited the choices to the point that someone in the crowd added, "They'll go out of business." With a look of disbelief, Saunders responded, "But it was packed!" Finally, the real star of NAR The star of NAR this year was the weather. Hands-down, mid-May may be one of the most fickle windows for weather. It typically is either sweltering with humidity north of 90 percent or pouring rain for three days like last year. This year? 70s and sunny. "California weather," one attendee told me. Even when I had the opportunity to visit my home state's Senator – Patty Murray – for a meeting as part of the Washington Delegation, the last thing she said to us was, "Go outside and enjoy the weather. It's beautiful out there today!" Spoken like a true Seattleite. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Are Hybrid Appraisals Becoming the New Normal In Real Estate Transactions?
Appraisals, a critical part of real estate transactions, have customarily been done in-person by an experienced appraiser. However, with advancements in technology and the rise of big data, alternatives to the traditional appraisal field are beginning to become more prevalent in the U.S.

Realogy Unveils New Real Estate Products, Programs and Tools During First-Ever Realogy Global Exchange
Realogy Holdings Corp. on Thursday concluded its first-ever Realogy Global Exchange (RGX), a weeklong gathering of more than 10,000 affiliated real estate professionals across the company's Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial and ERA brands. The first-of-its-kind multi-brand real estate conference was held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas and featured a jampacked week of learning, networking, and celebrity guests and performances, as well as industry leading announcements, including new products, programs and tools.

Homebot Wins Realogy FWD Innovation Award
Realogy Franchise Group brought together 300 industry leaders to hear and vote on their 6th Annual Realogy FWD Innovation Award. Sherry Chris of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is the brand sponsor of the event, but it was really a team effort that fostered collaboration among all of their brands. Chairman Ryan Schneider kicked off the event with opening remarks that focused Realogy's strategy for the event, suggesting that Realogy always balances the decision of "Build, Buy, or Partner" in all of their technology decisions. He noted that for Realogy, it is "our opportunity to leverage technology," remembering that real estate is a human focused business enhanced by technology." Well said. I took some notes on each company that come from my perspective as a consultant that works on technology strategy with America's largest brokerages and franchises. So my comments are slanted in that direction.

What Not to Miss and Put on Your List for Boston NAR
Each year, I try to find some of the things you won't want to miss at the annual National Association of REALTORS Conference and Expo. This week, some 20,000 real estate pros are expected to take over Boston, one of America's great historic cities packed with extraordinary tourist attractions. One thing you'd like to miss but may not be able to are the union workers striking outside several Westin Hotels in the city. It started in Boston and has hit seven other major metro areas. My wife and I just traveled through Waikiki for a day last week and were stunned by the amount of noise these folks picketing in front of several hotels made. They are in national negotiations as of Monday night, but it might be a good idea to bring earplugs if you have to stay at one of the impacted hotels (see this).

7 Ways to Get the Most out of Networking Events
That time of year is upon is once again--conference season. Some of you may have already attended one or more of the many conferences that have already taken place, such as T3, Real Trends Gathering of Eagles or NAR Midyear. Maybe you will be attending one of the upcoming events, like Inman Connect in San Francisco, NAR Annual in the fall or a brand conference. All are great events to attend and if you can attend more than one, you should try. The various events have slightly different formats and, in many cases, the content for the audiences will be different, but each can provide great value.

Midyear Commercial Wrap-up: Data Integration Top of Minds
RPR Commercial staff were all hands on deck at this year's NAR Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo. Booth traffic was steady with members taking time to engage with staff, particularly over RPR's Trade Area Reports and Valuate (the platform's investment analysis tool). On-market commercial listings have increased to nearly 360,000––a 20 percent increase since Q1 2018, which prompted other value-added conversations among booth visitors.

Keller Williams Family Reunion: 4 Things You Missed
As a Keller Williams Approved Vendor for 13 years, WolfNet has been to our share of Family Reunions. The 2018 Family Reunion in Anaheim, Calif. could have been the best one we've experienced. From new product launches to chart topping records, this year's Family Reunion made us even more excited about being in the KW family. If you were unable to attend Family Reunion, don't worry! Keep reading to see all the latest news from this years event.

What's on your NAR Chicago Checklist? A Pre-NAR must read
My theory about conventions is this: if you plan your schedule well, your convention will go well. If you don't, it won't. It's as simple as that. With Second City, our next destination, good planning could make or break how you measure the success of your NAR experience in the Windy City. Each year before I head out to the largest annual gathering of real estate agents and brokers, an estimated 20,000+ from across our nation, I like to look for some of the golden nuggets tucked away in the schedule and on the Expo floor. I cull through the info that NAR and others send out, as well as share some of the information WAV Group has. Full disclosure: this often includes insider stuff we get from our very own clients. The goal of all this stuff is simply to make your NAR ventures more interesting, and, well, easier to plan.

Takeaways from the REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles 2017
TRIBUS attended the 30th annual REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles conference in Denver last week, and it was an information packed gathering of some of the real estate industry's best and brightest. It was a chance for us to connect with current clients, meet new friends and learn. While it's impossible to convey all that was shared, here are the things I took away from the event. Day One The opening session featured Dave Liniger, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of RE/MAX, LLC; Ron Peltier, Chairman and CEO of HomeServices of America; and Hoddy Hanna, Chairman of Hanna Holdings, all sharing their views on where the industry is heading. Peltier observed they are moving away from agents who view real estate as a second or third career, or a retirement pastime, and seeking those who focus on making real estate sales a career. He described how a church evolved away from Sunday services to Wednesday night services, when more members can attend and avoid conflicts with children's activities and other family obligations. Your company must evolve in the ways customers want, and think ahead. He also discussed the movement for brokerages to own their own companies that deliver mortgage financing, title insurance, casualty insurance and brokerage services. Those who don't risk losing control of the deal and its outcome. By focusing on the total transaction, you can ensure the customer has a happy outcome.

2016 NAR Annual Moments and Musings
Like many Americans, I was glued to the television on election night, and seeing the Javits Center instantly reminded me of my first NAR Annual Convention. It was in 1986 when the brand new Javits Center opened in Manhattan. I was a young PR Turk fresh into my first full year at Great Western Bank (then Great Western Savings). I went there to plot our long-term trade show strategy. It was also my first NAREE – National Association of Real Estate Editors – meeting, a dinner at a classic NYC steakhouse. That's especially hard to forget because it's where the legendary real estate columnist, the late great Bob Bruss, instantly greeted me. It was also my first personal encounter with David Jeffers, then of Fannie Mae fame, who gave the most politically incorrect slideshow presentation. Both encounters convinced me that this was my kind of organization. Fast-forward 30 years to last week's NAR Annual Convention in Orlando, and most of the traditions remain the same. Here is my attempt at recapping my highlights and offering three takeaways: Journalist are back at NAR I walked into the Press Room at the Orlando Convention Center and was delighted to see so many reporters working away in the press room. While the numbers don't compare to what was common a couple of decades ago, there were more reporters attending then in the last three NAR Annuals combined. In addition to perennials attendees, such as Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News and the godfather of real estate columnists, Lew Sichelman, there were many fresh faces, including those from the new breed of media that can't be categorized as journalists, but who create a plethora of real estate content.

NAR Annual: Looking for 2017 Trends, Tech and Tactics
This week, Orlando is more than home to Disney World and tens of thousands of happy tourists across the globe: it also will house nearly 20,000 enthusiastic REALTORS®, other industry organizations (RESO Booth #609), MLSs executives and staff, lenders, title firms, closing agents, technology providers of every shape and size and, of course, the Scarf King. Navigating through the maze of more than 400 exhibitors is challenging, but kudos for the NAR for making it highly accessible. The Trade Expo kicks off on Friday afternoon with its Grand Opening at 3:00 pm, running to 6:00 pm. The official hours: Expo Hours Friday, Nov. 4, 3:00pm–6:00pm (Grand Opening) Saturday, Nov. 5, 9:00am–4:00pm Sunday, Nov. 6, 10:00am–5:00pm Monday, Nov. 7, 9:00am–1:00pm If you are not planning to access the terrific sessions, seminars, workshops and NAR meetings, and you just want to spend your time checking out the latest and greatest at the Expo, the NAR has made it VERY affordable: Admission for all four days is just $50.

Top 10 Orlando Destinations to Visit During NAR Expo 2016
Home to over a dozen theme parks, it's little wonder that Orlando is one of the greatest tourist cities in the world. But there's more to this great city than roller coasters and mouse ears! Check out these 10 things to do while you're in town for this year's NAR Convention. Check out the "Top 10 Things to Do in Orlando" interactive Google Map 1. Baldwin Park First Friday Festival in Orlando The first Friday of each month, artisans, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations gather at Baldwin Park to share news and wares with park guests. Stop by Friday from 5:30-9:30 to pick up some unique souvenirs and enjoy the park's beautiful atmosphere. When: November 4, 2016, 5:30 PM – 9:30 PM Where: 4915 New Broad Street, Orlando, Florida 2. Fall Fiesta in the Park Stop by Lake Eola Park on November 5th or 6th for the 46th annual Fiesta in the Park. Browse through the beautiful ceramics, jewelry, photography, glassware, wood, and clothing presented by more than 600 juried artisans while enjoying live entertainment! Can't make it during the event? Stop by Lake Eola any day to enjoy the swan paddleboats and the fountain's choreographed music and light show. When: November 5th & 6th, 2016, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Where: 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, FL 32801

5 Hot Trends in 2016 to Look for at NAR
This year's REALTORS® Convention & Expo in San Diego traces its origins to the first Chicago meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges held May 12-14, 1908. One hundred and seven years later, some 20,000 real estate professionals will visit the San Diego Convention center where more than 400 organizations will display their offerings and pitch their products. 2016 promises to be a pivotal year of rapid adoption of sweeping innovations and the emergence of new powerhouses in the residential real estate matrix. Here are five hot trends to look and listen for at the workshops to learn how to get the most out of NAR to help you next year. Full disclosure: All of these trends identified here come from my own personal biases and prejudices, having delved deeply into these subjects over the last several months. Trend #1: Marketing Automation It's is a no-brainer that marketing automation will dominate the minds of broker-owners in 2016. This is what solves the low adoption rates by agents of new technology offerings their firms provide. It's also a huge boost for broker ROI as it removes agents from the quagmire of self-created marketing materials. Agents waste a huge amount of time creating marketing materials to promote a listing and themselves, and marketing automation allows them to focus instead on the things they are good at—generating listings and closing sales. Take the agent out of the equation when it comes to creating, deploying and promoting listings by automating the marketing for them and you have 100% agent adoption and deliver zero wait time to promote properties for every seller. Bill Yaman, President of Imprev, a leader in this effort, has written extensively about this topic in his blog, here.

Following #LeadingRE 2015
This year's LeadingRE/Martech event kicked off at a time when portals and syndication are once again hot topics. It's a topic that was touched on in Day 2 of the conference, a day that also saw talk of advertising, teams, data sharing and beyond. We've been watching all the action unfold on Twitter, as told by the attendees themselves on the hashtag #LeadingRE. Below, we've compiled some of the best tweets from event, including some that captured brief snippets of leadership wisdom from former New York Rudy Giuliani's keynote address on Wednesday. --- Avery Hess - "We don't need to remember things, we just need to remember how to find them." Matthew Shadbolt NY Times #leadingre #martech closing session Cathy Harrington - Make an emotional connection; identify and solve home buyer/seller needs #LeadingRE Avery Hess - It's not making a choice of print OR online, it's allocating the right amounts of each based on your target audiences. #leadingre #martech Katie Minkus - "I don't look a luck as a force, I see luck as a result." #matthewferrara #happydos #leadingre

Are You Ready to Become a Predictive Farmer?
The 2015 NAR Annual Meeting in New Orleans was, at many levels, a far different experience than any of its century of predecessors. There was a clear and consistent vibe that after all of the years of talking about transition and disruption that the long predicted tsunami of change had indeed arrived to create something "far different." Moreover, that this far different thing was going to be broker centric with a strong consumer flavor rather than consumer centric with a strong broker flavor. You could hear it in the presentations and programs. You could sense it in conversations and hallway huddles. You could feel it in the demeanor of the late night gatherings. Interestingly enough, one came to understand that those who were not receiving this vibe were also those who were probably never going to get it. Perhaps it was the specter of the recent News Corp related purchase of Move.com. The realization that the industry demographic had expanded to include yet another team of powerful global experts for whom the industry's traditions and legacies paled in comparison to its long denied financial potential. One could not help but feel the gaze of Rupert Murdoch looking down on the trade show floor, working a checklist of what was relevant and what was fluff. At the same time, the vast expanse of brilliant white and generally unoccupied carpet that comprised the massive Berkshire Hathaway exhibit area served as another reminder that the industry dynamic also includes a major player for whom the annual meeting might be seen as more of a cultural event than a business opportunity. The Berkshire booth reminded one of the presence of a king's massive yacht at the Cannes film festival--hauntingly beautiful yet mysteriously vacant. There was work being taken care of elsewhere.

3 Surprising Revelations at the REALTOR® Party Convention
I'm a bit floored. There are all kinds of obscure laws — or would-be laws — pertaining to real estate that can throw practitioners for a loop. But three points of discussion came up during Wednesday's sessions at the REALTOR® Party Convention and Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., that made my draw drop. 1. Your Website Discriminates Against People With Disabilities You could make every physical accommodation for people with disabilities: ramps and elevators in your office, barrier-free entrances to homes you have listed, etc. And yet, despite all of that, you could still run into a legal problem — because your website isn't optimized for use by people with hearing or visual impairments. More and more businesses are getting mired in lawsuits because their online videos don't have closed captioning for the deaf, or their websites don't use software that can turn text into audio for the blind. Though there are no specific regulations on this, said Glen D. Kimball and Martin J. McAndrew, partners at law firm O'Connor Kimball LLP, they expect that the law will reflect the need for these online components in the near future. "Laws governing accommodation for the disabled are always expanding," McAndrew said. "Now we're going beyond talking about opening physical doors for people with disabilities — it's about providing access to information. The courts are still grappling with this physical versus non-physical issue."

Rise to New Heights at NAR 2013
Excitement is buzzing in the industry as we quickly approach the 2013 REALTOR® Conference and Expo, in San Francisco, CA, November 8th to 11th. The theme of this year's Conference, 'Rise to New Heights', presents a question for us all. Are we striving to achieve our greatest accomplishments? To reach new heights when it comes to our goals? Whether professional or personal, our goals are a plenty. We all want to make more money, have a bigger house, and spend more time with our family and friends. But what are we doing to reach those goals? As a real estate professional, your days are filled with appointments, meetings, paperwork and so on. You don't have much free time to focus on building new leads and fostering relationships with your current clients. So what can you do about this? In an effort to achieve greater success and reach the goals you once thought unattainable, what about implementing tools to help you do the 'dirty' work? Tools that can ease your daily tasks, the stuff you dread – paperwork, data entry, etc., help you increase profitability opportunities or even help you manage your time more effectively.

REALTORS® Really Hitting It Off a Few Rows Back on Airplane
PHOENIX—According to sources currently seated in rows 14 through 18 aboard flight 763, two middle-aged REALTORS® are really hitting it off during the trip to Inman in New York. Using terms like "AVM" and "CMA," the slightly overweight, average-looking men are reportedly engaged in a detailed discussion about overwhelmingly exciting work related topics and, sources said, seem to be getting along great. "They got to talking as soon as we boarded, and you could tell they just clicked right away," said 31-year-old Camille Catteano of 16B, adding that one of the men, upon looking up from his REALTOR® Magazine, immediately recognized the Keller Williams™ logo on the polo shirt of the man sitting down in the next seat. "Since then, they've been going on and on about Zestimates, lead generation, RPR, and commission splits." "I mean, just listen to them," Catteano continued. "You'd think they were old pals. But they just met and just happen to both be in real estate." Nearby passengers confirmed that the men, both wearing khaki pants with cell phones clipped to their belts, began the conversation by exchanging information about their respective listings and recent transactions. Reports indicated they then began to discuss various methods for "social networking" and "search engine optimization" which appear to occupy a sizable portion of the day-to-day work in their profession.

Product Review - IXACT Contact
Writing a Friday Freebie article for IXACT Contact got me thinking – it made me realize that I didn’t know nearly enough about their product. So I asked their team to give me a full demo and they obliged, throwing in a trial account to allow me to explore on my own. What follows is a short review of what I’ve seen so far. IXACT Contact: The BasicsIXACT Contact is more than just a CRM. Their product also offers email marketing and a monthly e-newsletter. They explain that having these three features integrated saves time and money. Just as importantly, IXACT Contact can sync with any Smartphone (working with the phone’s address book, calendar, and task list) as well as with Microsoft Outlook and Mac Address Book. IXACT Contact also includes Website Lead Capture which allows you to automatically capture website leads into your database. And, of course, IXACT Contact is PC, Mac, and iPad compatible. A Closer LookAny time IXACT Contact is opened, the first thing the user sees is the Main Dashboard. Here, IXACT has combined the information that really matters to a busy agent: Active business Prospects Today’s tasks Today’s appointments

My Brief Nostalgia on Inman Conferences
As a consultant in the real estate technology industry, we go to a lot of conferences each year. The time leading up to a conference is always very busy for us. We leverage conferences to meet perspective clients, and deliver work to our existing clients. The effectiveness of having 8 to 10 “in-person” meetings per day is über-efficient.  Conferences are the great gathering places of the industry. I was trying to think back to my first Inman Conference – it must have been sometime in the 2002 – 2004 era. Barry Diller was buying companies like crazy and selling leads through LendingTree. Everyone loved him (excuse me while I clear my throat). Regardless of how you feel about buying leads (it is still being done today – but it is called “online advertising”), Barry’s passion and vision for connecting consumers with real estate professionals was genuine – but his model was seemingly distasteful. He was joined by Reply!, NextTag, Homegain, ServiceMagic, and others. Yet what was really cool, was the ability to engage Diller on a personal level in an intimate setting. Around the same time, I met Steve Ozonian. He was working for Bank of America then. He shared his observations of a disjointed industry, ripe for consolidation. I admire Steve a lot – his beliefs were as true then as they are true now.

23 Things To Do Before a Conference
Are you going to NAR? The RE Technology team will be there. So we were particularly interested in this post. The amazing Ricardo Bueno of Diverse Solutions brings us this (very timely) advice on preparing for a conference.  The 2011 NAR Conference & Expo is coming up this week! It’s going to be a full week of marketing, networking, making new friends, re-connecting with old friends, business and a little fun. The Diverse Solutions Team will be hosting a booth Friday, November 11 – 14th. If you’re attending, we’d love to see you there! Today, I thought I’d share a few tips on how to prepare for a conference to make the most of your time there… Making Travel Arrangements: Get the cheapest flight you possibly can. If you’re willing to travel early or take a connecting flight, you may save yourself some money. Find a roommate. Twitter and Facebook are great sources to find someone who needs a roommate. Look for someone else who might be attending the conference and agree to split hotel costs. Double-check for wifi. Having wifi is pretty much a “must” for me. I don’t want to have to pay for it (I find that annoying). I check and then double-check that my hotel has wifi and that I don’t have to charge my card daily in order to access it.

Trade Show Kings and Queens
Contributor Point2 Agent says: How to turn convention chaos into more money in your pocket and great food for your mind. Anyone planning to attend a trade show knows the feeling of exhaustion that often comes right after. Rightfully, the ROI question also races through our minds. We find ourselves trying to justify the days spent attending sessions and wandering the maze of the expo floor, swag bag in hand. Aside from the one or two useful giveaways we might land, we all know that the rest of our swag just ends up in the garage. So how about we collectively start saving huge amounts of time, effort, and ozone, by being very, very selective in the junk we pick up at the next event? Advance preparation and careful thought are really all it takes to walk away from a trade show with your bottom line improved (yes, more dollars for you at the end of the year), relevant new ideas you can actually use, and maybe, just maybe, more energy.

23 Things To Do Before a Conference
We ran across this really helpful post on the Diverse Solutions blog. They kindly agreed to let us share it with you. REBarCamp San Francisco and Inman Real Estate Connect are taking place next week. It's going to be a full week of marketing, networking, making new friends, re-connecting with old friends, business and a little fun. Today, I thought I'd share a few tips on how to prepare for a conference to make the most of your time there . . . Making Travel Arrangements Get the cheapest flight you possibly can. If you're willing to travel early or take a connecting flight, you may save yourself some money. Find a roommate. Twitter and Facebook are great sources to find someone who needs a roommate. Look for someone else who might be attending the conference and agree to split hotel costs. Double-check for wifi. Having wifi is pretty much a "must" for me. I don't want to have to pay for it (I find that annoying). I check and then double-check that my hotel has wifi and that I don't have to charge my card daily in order to access it.