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 Experts Discuss Technology's Role in Transforming How Realtors Do Business During the Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic significantly disrupted real estate transactions and accelerated the reliance on innovative technologies to conduct business, according to a group of industry experts featured at the 2020 REALTORS Conference & Expo. Jeb Griffin, director of Strategy and Innovation for the National Association of Realtors, moderated the discussion, "COVID-19 – Transforming How Realtors Do Business," and reached a consensus with the panelists that technology has played a central part in residential real estate's strong resurgence after the initial strict economic lockdowns and subsequent market downturn in the spring. "Real estate experienced some significant challenges during the first several months of the pandemic, but we've witnessed a remarkable v-shaped recovery in housing demand and sales," said Griffin. "By necessity at the beginning, and now by design, technology is playing a much more active role in nearly all aspects of the real estate transaction." "There was a moment of panic when the pandemic first started, but several technologies are making it easier for agents to stay in touch with clients and in front of them on a regular basis," said Marilyn Wilson, managing partner of WAV Group and president of RETechnology.com. "For many real estate professionals, the pandemic reminded them about how much they love working with people and not just to sell real estate, but to check on their customers and families." Many Realtors® now rely on videoconference platforms in their interactions with clients, but an even broader acceptance of the technology hasn't yet occurred, possibly due to an unexpected reality. "This technology was adopted very quickly following the lockdowns because the virus was hitting everyone – agents, lenders, consumers – all at the same time," said Nick Bailey, chief customer officer, RE/MAX, LLC. "Videoconferencing technology isn't new, but we're slower to adopt technologies than we'd like to admit. The reason is that we don't want to see or hear ourselves. We have to get over that and use it." Electronic signatures and remote online notarizations are two technologies experiencing an ever-growing appeal during a time when social and physical distancing measures are required to maximize safety. However, some challenges still remain. "There is some amazing technology that exists and remote online notarization is one of those technologies," said Andy Ambrose, practice lead at DocuSign Notary. But there's a whole ecosystem of technologies that should work better together and seamlessly." "Integrating those core programs like e-signatures and RON are key," Ambrose continued. "Unfortunately, there isn't uniformity at the county level for doing electronic signings and closings. Embracing title companies and lenders who have that ability for full electronic signings and closings will be important." Each speaker emphasized that many of the technological advancements currently in use will remain relevant and sought after by Realtors® and consumers alike, well beyond the pandemic's conclusion. "Some of these technologies are here to stay, like 3-D virtual tours, as some consumers will continue to be uncomfortable with seeing homes in-person," Griffin said. "It's amazing how some of the virtual platforms can take an empty room and fill it with furniture and dynamic lighting. Artificial intelligence and automation are helping drive consumers through the sales cycle." "The pandemic isn't going anywhere anytime soon," Wilson added. "Consumers love the idea of virtual tours, especially live virtual tours, which they can do with their agents and narrow down their home selections to two or three. "Imagine how much time you and your client can save without having to drive around and see 10 different homes," Wilson said. "It's so much more efficient. The technology tools are allowing us a lot more flexibility." Bailey agreed with that sentiment. "If every agent can take away two pieces of technology to be more efficient, it will improve their business," said Bailey. "The one really bright spot – it has reminded every agent that they are the most important part of the real estate transaction and that's not going to change anytime soon."

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].

Real Estate Leaders Are Taking Off the Gloves
I've been working in PropTech and FinTech since Brad Inman recruited me in the spring of '97 during a dinner in Bellevue, WA. He asked me to join his team and help him market the first full-blown Real Estate Connect that July in San Francisco. From that day on, I was hooked--hooked on new technology and companies that I believed would fix a broken business. At the time, as a PR and marketing pro, I wouldn't have dared to say the industry is broken. That would have been considered an over-the-top characterization in a business that has a long memory (no matter how true it was).

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.

Can't Miss Spring and Summer 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 2019. Here is a list of favorite events happening this spring and summer.

NAR Boston 2018: Home Runs and Strikeouts in Beantown
My dad grew up, pre-Depression, on Beacon Hill in Boston. As a kid, we took a lot of road trips. Because my dad worked for Westin Hotels, we stayed at a lot of nice places in big towns for free. My favorite road trip when we lived in Chicago was visiting Boston and the New England area. I had been back a couple of times for business and always loved visiting this city. After this last week at NAR, I absolutely want to go back – but next time for a vacation.

Top 7 Things to Do and See at National REALTORS Conference 2018 in Boston
NAR's Conference in Boston is shaping up to be one of the best events yet. That doesn't mean you should spend all day couped up in the conference center. We've pulled together a list of seven things you should do while at the convention and while you're in Boston. If you can spare them, consider spending an extra day or two in the area before or after the conference to take full advantage of the city and its surroundings.

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.

Hits and Misses from NAR Chicago
Chicago is a baseball town. Even with the Cubs disappointingly not returning to the World Series this year, you can't escape seeing someone wearing a Cubs or White Sox hat or shirt every day in Chicago, even in November. McCormick Place, home to this year's Realtor Convention and Expo, sits just two-and-a-half miles north of Comiskey Park, where the Sox play – the South Side team. So you get an idea of how far away this convention center is from the heart of downtown. And the proximity to a pro baseball park also gives me the perfect excuse to use baseball terminology to review some of the hits and misses I found this year's conference in the City of Big Shoulders. Host city Grand slam for hotels choices, restaurants, entertainment, and bars. But it's a strikeout as a convention city when half your meetings are located 30-45 minutes away at hotels on Michigan Avenue. Even with the fantastic busway, an express lane that takes only convention busses from downtown hotels directly to McCormick Place, it took door-to-door, between the average shuttle wait time, at least 30 minutes because traffic clogs the arteries to the hotels. For me, that's just too much wasted time spent on a bus, even with all the technology we have in the palms of our hands today. Oh, and the weather sucks in November. 2018 Woman NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall, a Realtor from Columbia, Missouri was a refreshing sight as she stepped up to the plate at the annual new NAR President press conference to field reporter's questions. First, it's been way too long since NAR has had a woman president. Second, she's at least a generation younger than most of her predecessors. She came across as energetic, smart and politically savvy. She gave props to CAR's WomanUp, a powerful new Women's Initiative, and she laid out NAR's agenda for 2018. She adeptly fielded questions from reporters. She was hitting the questions reporters were throwing at her solidly. That was until Inman News' Bernice Ross threw a curveball at her. Bernice is spearheading a woman's initiative of her own. So she asked Mendenhall – since it's been so long since we've had an NAR female President – if she had specific plans to support women Realtors during her tenure at NAR. Elizabeth just stood there, and let that beautiful slow pitch Bernice threw at her sail over the middle of the plate and didn't swing. She just kind of froze and didn't have much of an immediate answer. She did rebound later, with one of my favorite quotes of the conference. She said, "Better decisions are made when diversity is at the table." That's so true. It's hard not to root for Elizabeth, as she has charisma, just like her dad, 2001 NAR President Richard Mendenhall. Economic Forecast Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, every year, hosts a press conference at NAR to give his forecast. This year he brought along Ken Rosen, chairman of Rosen Consulting Group and UC Berkeley's Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. They just issued a joint white paper, "Rebuilding the American Dream: Strategies to Sustainably Increase Homeownership." No surprises in what he shared: inventory is bad, the tax bill is bad, Millennials are missing out on opportunities to own a home and build wealth and that's bad, income isn't increasing as fast as home prices and that's bad, affordability is getting worse and that's bad, the homeownership rate is being depressed as a result and that's bad, home builders need to build more middle class homes yet they make more money building higher end homes and because we're not getting inventory where we really need it that's bad, home prices are going to increase by 5.5 percent next year and because home prices are outpacing income that's bad, and he predicts mortgage rates climbing to 4.5 percent, which, if you ask first-time buyers, is also bad. If you were counting all the "bad" things he said as strikes, the bottom of the inning is over. Expo Explosion When I first become a young PR Turk for a bank (I really was pretty radical in the kind of things I created for them), I heard the saying, "When times are good, Realtors drive Mercedes, and when times are bad, they drive Toyotas – it's a feast or famine business." When I looked inside the entrance to the McCormick Place West Hall, the proof we are in a time of great feasting was evident and my jaw dropped. Good times, indeed. Massive exhibits by all the biggest brands and the newcomers who want to be a big brand. Rewind not too long ago and it looked, well, about as popular as a White Sox game midweek during a day game in mid-April. It's been years since an NAR Convention not only looked this good, but delivered business to companies exhibiting. Talking to exhibitors, such as the Denver-area based predictive lead analytics firm Revaluate (full disclosure: they invited our client, Lane Hornung, CEO of zavvie, to speak on HyperLocal marketing) as well as Tricia Stamper, who oversees Florida Realtors Tech Helpline, the traffic may have been a little light on Sunday morning, but before that, they told me what others also did: It was packed with some of the best booth traffic that exhibitors have seen in years as agents were eager to engage. Best OBP (On Base Percentage) goes to Homes.com. Their exhibit was pure marketing genius, as they found ways to attract, engage, reward, create stickiness, get return traffic—you name the Expo strategy, and they nailed it. A shoutout to my fellow NAREE member and marketing superstar Patty McNease at Homes.com for her role in this. My take is that over the last few years, Homes.com has really hit it out of the park. All you had to do was look around the corner at a completely empty Quicken Loans booth (except for their staff) and you could see the contrast. Reporters are back A funny thing happened on the way out of the Great Recession—travel budgets for reporters came back, and now they are able to make important away games like this. The NAR media reception, followed by the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) dinner on Friday night had a terrific turnout, with familiar and fresh faces attending the annual installation of new officers. It was quite the bullpen: professional writers from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Atlanta Journal Constitution and a gaggle of folks from the host-city paper Chicago Tribune and Tribune Syndicate, including alumni Mary Umberger and Illyce (Think) Glink! And no rain delay for this game. Biggest Goose Egg of the Convention Uber and Lyft in Chicago should be sent back to the minor leagues to fix their problems. Is it the tall buildings that screw up the GPS? Probably, but not completely. The Lyft app has my hotel's address three blocks from where it actually is. I also watched as my Uber app moved my dot, the thing that's supposed to represent me, all over the map as I stood completely still on the street. It had my dot moving around 3 to 5 blocks in every direction nonstop. Also, apparently my drivers didn't look at the address I input. Not a single Uber or Lyft driver was able to pick me up and drop me off at the correct place. Either the pick up or the drop off was botched. It was if they were intentionally trying to strikeout. I took more than 10 trips in Chicago and I've used Lyft and Uber in more than a dozen cities. Chicago has the worst record in the league for rideshare. I asked many other people at NAR and they had the same experiences. I even started asking drivers and they admitted it's messed up. A big double zero on the scoreboard for Uber and Lyft in Chi-town. Cracker Jack event I am sure every NAR party was spectacular because Chicago excels at bars and restaurants, as long as you pick the right venues. MRED and CAR co-hosted a great opening bash, with the who's-who of the hyper-connected in attendance. They had all the bases covered with the spread they provided in a terrific place inside the Tribune building. But when I walked into the CoreLogic party a couple of nights later, it was off the hook. People were having way too much fun. Then again, for Realtors, there probably is no such thing as too much fun. Because when you work as hard as these folks do, they deserve to let their hair down and party hard in the dugout. After all, this is a winning year (financially) for the folks attending. We forget how many weekends, nights, birthday parties, sporting events and school plays are missed by agents working, trying to close a deal to make a better life for their families. I get that, so when I see the joy and celebratory atmosphere that I saw at the Hard Rock, I understand why the CoreLogic folks were grinning ear to ear. It felt like a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th against your archrival. Bottom line My kind of town, Chicago is (it's actually my hometown). But Frankie, it's just not major league caliber for what a national Realtor Convention needs, unless everyone is forced to hold every meeting at McCormick. Oh, and in November, the weather sucks. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

10 Things to Do in Chicago During NAR Expo 2017
This week, 20,000 real estate professionals will travel to Chicago to check out the latest industry updates, build their networks, and discover tools and technologies to grow their businesses. After that, why not see the sights? Continue reading to hear about the top 10 things to do in Chicago during this year's NAR Convention!

Bigger Conferences Are Not Better
The real estate industry is going strong. It's healthy and vibrant, full of bloom and exciting change. As agents, brokers, MLSs, franchises, and tech firms explore a deeper understanding of the industry's best practices, they look to conferences to gain insights and meet the people that are powering new ideas. Conferences are good, and we attend a lot of them. Our annual conference tour includes two NAR conventions, two Inman Connects, CMLS, two RESO conferences, T3, RISMedia, and a variety of franchise, state AOR, LeadingRE, The Realty Alliance, 1000Watt, Clareity, and large AOR or MLS events. Yup – that is a lot of travel. If you add up the flight costs, hotel costs, convention fees, etc., it's expensive, especially when you have multiple people attending. I remember a conversation with the event manager at Trulia a few years ago before the Zillow deal. They were attending over 450 events a year at the time. Yikes! It's old school business development – belly to belly, burnin' shoe leather. With the economic rebound, these conferences have become overwhelming. When you have thousands attending a conference, it gets out of control. Hotels are sold out, restaurants are impossible, service everywhere is stressed out. But most importantly, you can go to conferences without seeing or meeting many of the people that you want to see. It's a struggle, not fun. I remember a few years ago when conference guru Brad Inman expanded ConnectSF to New York, London, and Miami. New York stuck, Miami and London did not. I think that Inman must feel the same as I do regarding conferences. His conferences have always had tracks, but he is building micro events at his Connect conferences now. This year, he is launching the Indie Broker Summit – a meeting for independent brokerage firms that will examine how they can pursue success and excellence in the wake of franchise domination. Also, Inman is returning to his roots for CEO Summit by returning to the site in Sonoma where it all started.

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

Inman Connect: Envisioning Tomorrow – Not Your Same Old Future
Inman Connect in San Francisco is the industry's biggest and splashiest showcase for the latest and greatest in real estate technologies and practices, and it just keeps getting better. Over the past two decades, an amazingly long list of the game-changing real estate technologies, management practices and productivity products, which are currently impacting the American real estate experience at all levels, can trace their first public exposure to various Inman Connect programs. The driving force behind the Inman Connect program is, of course, award winning Inman News publisher Brad Inman. For a few weeks each summer for the past 20 years, he has transitioned from media executive to center stage impresario. His efforts have created an attendee experience that floats somewhere between a Woodstock festival for technology groupies, an Academy Awards show for the serious industry guru, and a mental Olympics for attendees who just can't get enough of their favorite drug called innovation. Inman Connect has also become the place for over 2000 of the industry's challengers, aspirants, survivors and elite to meet, greet and evolve their professional relationships. During each event, significant personal interactions take place and important enterprise and developmental relationships are created. For would-be technical stars, Inman Connect is clearly the place to be discovered.

At NAR, focus is on real estate customers and technology
Last week, my colleagues and I were lucky enough to attend the REALTORS® Conference and Expo in San Diego. The conference hosts 20,000 Realtors and guests in just four days and is considered the largest real estate industry trade show all year. Real estate professionals from all over the US traveled to California to experience the latest trends, ideas, and technology in real estate. Here were some of the big take-aways: Getting Closer to the Customer Certainly in the agenda, everything from Decoding the Customer Mind to Buyer Preferences were on the minds of those in attendance. It seems that with the latest trends in buyer habits, more agents and brokers are working toward staying relevant to today's consumer. Providing outstanding customer service isn't only a good way to stand out from other real estate professionals, it's a great way to win loyalty among your customer base. Some interesting trends include a focus on a greener home, proximity to parks, and environmentally friendly features becoming more important to home-buyers today. The group seemed to feel that understanding what matters to customers and having the ability to educate them on properties based on their preferences was important in today's sales process. Staying with customers through their entire buying process was also important and was discussed more in the technologies coming out of the conference (below).

Unintended Consequences That Cause Spectacular Results
I just returned, as some 3,000 other folks have, from attending Inman's Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. For many of the industry leaders whom I spoke with, it was one of the most successful Connects that they have attended and certainly the busiest. I found myself squarely in the same camp. I discovered something incredibly special about what I think makes Inman Connect unique: It fosters the creation of what I call "unintended consequences that cause spectacular results." I have a few great examples from this most recent Connect to illustrate what I mean. Origins of Real Estate Connect In the spring of 1997 I left Fannie Mae, most recently as Director of Housing Impact for its highly successful Seattle Partnership office that I had opened, and forged out on my own. When Brad Inman heard the news, he asked me to meet with him. I had worked with Brad since the mid-1980s. He was a friend and I was a fan of his business acumen. I immediately said yes, as I wanted to talk to him about my new company. So I brought my "team," which at the time consisted of my wife, Kyanne, who handled the financial side of the business, and my father-in-law, Keith Willis, a skilled businessman and savvy investor, to a restaurant near the Hyatt in Bellevue, WA where we met with Brad.

Following #ICSF: Day 2 at Inman Connect SF
Day Two of Inman Connect San Francisco launched with a full schedule that included sessions like "Taking Advantage of the Portal Wars" and "Franchise vs. Indie." The Broker Public Portal project was also a subject of debate ("Visionary or Stupid Idea?"). A session featuring our co-founder, Marilyn Wilson, and consultant Rob Hahn put the viability of the project on the hot seat. For the second day (see our coverage of day one here), we followed the conference's Twitter hashtag, #ICSF, for the best tweets of the day. Here's our round-up of the most insightful comments from the conference floor. *** Cindy - If you are using your Iphone to take photo's of your listings, you deserve to lose those listings. #icsf realtor.com® pro - Super Sonic Agents Tip: Even if someone is new (to the industry), they will have something that you don't. Don't silo. #ICSF @ChrisHellerKW - Marilyn Wilson on Broker Public Portal: "Core focus is to help brokers win w/o games being played with their listings." @marilynwilson #ICSF

NAR Conference Takeaways: Upstream, Danger and More
This month, I attended the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. One of the main topics of conversation was, of all things, data. Last weekend, NAR's board of directors approved the funding of a partnership between Project Upstream and Realtors Property Resource (RPR) to the tune of $12 million. Project Upstream has been in existence for two years. It's an effort for brokers to take back control of listings management, creation, and distribution by moving the point of origination from the MLS to brokers – thereby moving it "upstream." Talk of Upstream has bubbled up periodically the last couple years, but never has it had so much momentum. Now, with funding secured and smart people behind it, it's poised to make an impact. Brad Inman wrote a good article on its implications this week and asked readers to weigh in on the likelihood of using Upstream if it turns into the listings distribution platform its founders envision. Seventy-six percent of respondents so far say they would use the system. So there's need, there's interest, and now there's capital. We'll keep an eye on where this goes. Also last week, NAR put out its D.A.N.G.E.R. Report which lists the top 50 dangers agents, brokers, NAR, associations and Multiple Listings Services could face. The whole report had some interesting insights on the current state of the industry, with one item in particular lining up with the Upstream objectives, and then take it just a little farther.

#ICNY Day 2: Rupert Murdoch, Big Data, and Beyond
The second full day of Inman Connect NY began with Rupert Murdoch's highly anticipated keynote speech. Murdoch offered a glimpse of what realtor.com may become under News Corp's guidance, including how he intends to grow the portal by promoting via News Corp's other media properties like the Wall Street Journal. Day two also saw other real estate luminaries like Trulia's Pete Flint and RE/MAX CEO Dave Liniger take the stage. We continued to follow the action today by keeping up with the conference's attendees via Twitter (see our coverage of day one here). See below for our compilation of the best tweets of the day. ### Rosemary Buerger - Why Realtor.com? It has the most up to date data and attracts transaction ready consumers via Rupert Murdoch #ICNY Ben Kinney - Rupert Murdoch to leverage media assets ie papers, tv, etc to grow realtor.com #ICNY @rupertmurdoch humble well spoken gentleman Chris Nichols - Is REALTOR.com the right name? "I think so, what the hell does Zillow mean? - @rupertmurdoch #ICNY .LUXURY - "Be ambitious, take risks, and don't be afraid of failure." - Rupert Murdoch #ICNY #wisewords Robert Gil - Rupert Murdoch on Move acquisition: "We don't want to replace agents; you are crucial" #ICNY" Ethan Beute - "We want the shortest distance between the American dream & a family's reality to be through @realtordotcom" - Rupert Murdoch #ICNY

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.

Following #NARMidyear - Day 2
We're back with coverage of the second and final day of NAR's Trade Expo. It's the fourth full day for the Midyear Legislative Meetings, however, and we took to social media to follow all the sessions, meetings, and events. Below is a selection of our favorite tweets from hashtag #NARMidyear. We looked for the most informative tweets, which is why you'll see links in many of the entries. Several of these link to posts on NAR's Midyear Live Blog--click to see more in-depth coverage of the event each tweet is referencing. NAR Midyear REALTORS Insurance Marketplace gives members a roster of health insurance plans http://live.blogs.realtor.org/2013/05/16/nar-presents-the-realtors …®-insurance-marketplace/ #narmidyear Todd Carpenter How NAR and Google can partner to build a member centric real estate “portal”: http://bit.ly/104NUDz #narmidyear #rethink @gahlord REALTORS® You asked, we have it! From the Midyear Live blog: NAR 360: The complete footage http://ow.ly/l5wId #narmidyear

Gear Up for Conference Season with the 2011 Buyer's Guide
Every year thousands of real estate professionals and the "who's who" of the real estate industry flock to attend national industry conferences from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. With top notch seminars, engaging networking events, and world-class trade shows, real estate conferences can help re-energize and direct your business. For thousands of professionals, the value far outweighs the cost. For an industry of extroverts, conference season is a juggling act for managing meetings, seminars, and social events. It's easy to overbook and get overwhelmed when faced with so many options.

Closing.com Interview with Victor Lund
While at Inman Connect 2010, Julie Han with Closing.com interviewed Victor Lund, CEO of RE Technology, Inc. and founding partner of WAV Group. She asked Victor about Inman Connect and what the highlights of the show are, to explain RETechnology.com, and she asked his opinion on the following topics: 1.) What new tools are emerging for agents? 2.) How does social media help agents? 3.) What technology trends do you foresee in the future? Click play below to see a recording of the interview.