Just back from the NAR Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. It was beautiful there, unlike the cold and grey Midwest this weekend. And the Realtors were busy bees, flitting from controversy to controversy, feasting on little conflicts. They visited The Hill, looking very festive in the red and blue name badges emblazoned with—a vendor’s name, fer heaven’s sakes! I can see it now: who ARE these people? We thought the Realtors® were coming….
And speaking of bucks (because that’s who buys the name badges), the dues increase passed with only a few whimpers. The increase was well-marketed and orchestrated, and attached to some very innovative programs which members saw as real benefits. One of those programs is a national database of listings, which seemed to be ‘inevitable’, in the words of the two candidates who squared off in the debate for the 2008 President Elect position.
Unfortunately, both candidates didn’t seem to appreciate the difference between a ‘national database’ and a ‘national MLS’, and used the terms interchangeably. In the AE Committee meeting the same thing happened: the management professionals were missing the point as well. It speaks to what I have long thought was a mistake that NAR made: the failure to defend the term MLS and register it as a trademark, as Canada has done. That way there would be no confusion between a set of business rules and offer of cooperation and a database, which is a collection of data that functions like a telephone book.
The latter is what we are trying to do here in Michigan with the statewide database (Property Data Query for Realtors says it all!). PDQR is nothing more than an updated listing data collection, searchable with a simple standard search. Like the telephone book, you have to make the call to move ahead with the communication and possible sale. It’s amazing to me—we are so used to complicating things that it’s difficult to convince people that information sharing is easy, unthreatening, and inexpensive. Not to mention that you might actually sell a property…
There were some other real great highlights at these meetings: good people got recognized, good deeds were celebrated, and there was high energy everywhere. I personally was having a difficult time: this will be my last meeting as a staff executive, and it’s really difficult to hold back! Usually I come home with my head full of visions and my ‘to do’ list crammed full of ideas—and I kept having to say, “Hold it, Lindenau! You aren’t going to be around to see this through…”
But as I looked out at the 500+ people attending the RCE Leadership Luncheon, I feel hugely satisfied. Not only have we crafted an important designation for AEs, we’ve created a resource of knowledge and a skill path for Realtor Association staff. I think the presence of qualified staff on all levels of the association will carry this organization far, through these buzzing periods of change |
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