the winners "are"

Most Innovative Real Estate Blog

"Inman News for the first time this year gave an award for the Most Innovative Real Estate Blog, adding a new category. The winner of this first-time award was Urban Digs, published by New York City real estate agent Noah Rosenblatt, who launched the blog last September. In addition to entries about real estate situations and questions, Rosenblatt offers live chat sessions with site visitors every weekday.

Other finalists in the blog category were SocketSite, Rain City Guide, Matrix, The Walk-Through and the Center for Realtor Technology's Blog." 

Congratulations Urban Digs.....

Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage

"Inman Innovator Awards were handed out Wednesday in eight additional categories, including Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage, which went to RE/MAX International. The company in April launched the first phase of a national network of broker IDX Web sites, offering more than 1.7 million available home listings through www.remax.com."

The other finalists in the brokerage/franchise/Realtor category were Weichert Realtors, Intero Real Estate, Chase International, Michael Saunders & Co., and Alain Pinel Realtors."

Congratulations Re/Max International and all the independently owned and operated R/Ms. I don't understand the appeal of a national network of IDX Web sites... real estate is local....

And the category I was watching most carefully..... because Columbus based Real Living was a finalist.... 

(Most?) Innovative Web Service

"Trulia captured the award for Innovative Web Service for its real estate search engine. Other finalists in this category were VisiStat, HouseValues' HomePages, PropSmart, Homethinking, Google Base, RealLiving.com, HomeGain's Neighborhood Maps and Coldwell Banker for its online video library."

Congratulations Trulia.   I don't understand Trulia... I think it like the big Z skews data... but what do I know...  

No link here  to the article as Inman.com archived articles are only available by paid subscription but you may read the full artlcle on the Columbus in the News category of Columbus Best Blog today. 

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

Thanks to a cartoon on Sandy Mattingly's blog by Hugh MacLeod, I visited MacLeod's Gaping Void blog.  Cartoon's on the back of business cards. There's a niche.    

A couple of  months ago... I started wondering what Web 2.0 meant.  Real Living had introduced a Web 2.0 feature for us to use interactively with our clients.  I had heard  "Web 2.0"  but I did not uderstand Web 2.0.... For a time I thought if I waited patiently the universe would explain Web 2.0 to me.

I think it was the Inman Innovator Awards that made me realize I better figure out what Web 2.0 is....Real Living is nominated for an Inman Innovator Award for Most Innovative Web Service category.  Lot's of buzz among the nominees and now the finalists re: Web 2.0 on Inman News and on real estate blogs,etc.   

Finally I had to Google Web 2.0 and research what Web 2.0 is on my own. 

A Tim O'Reilly coined the phrase?  A blog is Web 2.0, a personal website was Web 1.0.  MySpace.com is Web 2.0 ....Flikr is Web 2.0

From Hugh MacLeod's blog another blog and this one answers more questions about what web 2.0 is alll about: The BbGun Blog - How to rollout a Web 2.0 product.

If I decided to go Web 2.0 I don't even know what product, service... but here's the plan....

"First, drop the last 'e' in your name."

Should I go  with 'Mauren' or  'McCab'?  I've grown very attached to both e's over the years* and how they help some but not all pronounce my first and last names correctly.  How about I drop the "e" some people sometimes ad to "Mo" making it "Moe" (one of the Three Stooges...) that only happens in writing.  Spoken it's always been "Mo."

"When you have infrastructure problems, no need to hire an experienced tech when you can hire an evangelist instead."

Hire an evangelist?  I don't see what it will do and I hate to mix religion and business but it's worth a try.  Maybe Central Ohio's own Rod Parsley is for available?

"Make a _really_ big deal at how young the developr is. This is important–make sure that everyone knows that how this product will kick butt because of the youth of the developer (as compared to the old farts over at …. well, you know.)"

Hire a teen age nerd who I could not understand nor whom could understand me, an '"*old fart"....

I want to be an artist or a writer in my next incarnation but until then I'm just a real estate agent with a blog working for a real estate company that has innovative ideas. 

Greed?    

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

Inman Innovator Finalists

Most Innovative Real Estate Blog

Rain City Guide
Matrix
The Walk-Through (New York Times)
Center for Realtor Technology blog
SocketSite
Urban Digs

Real estate is local...If you want to see what a real estate blog is supposed to look like...(remember Columbus Best Blog is not a real estate blog..  do not compare to these award winning big city blogs...) 

SocketSite in San Francisco... Matrix in NYC?  Urban Digs NYC?, The Walk-Through is obviously NYC. Rain City Guide is Seattle. 

The envelope please..........................

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

Inman Innovator Awards

The Inman Innovator Awards are being announced this week in San Francisco and Real Living is again a finalist.  This year in the 'Most Innovative Web Service" category with notables like Trulia, Google Base, HouseValues' HomePages.com, Coldwell Banker Video Library.  (I don't . recognize all of them....or know what the Video Library  or HomePages are about but I am sure they are all very WEB 2.0. )

Congratulations for being a finalist Real Living and good luck!

Inman Innovator Awards

Prior Inman Innovator Award winners include Google Earth, Century21 ClickIt, RealLiving, Curbed.com, ApartmentRating.com, NY Times Real Estate, Metrocities Mortgage, Cendant LeadRouter, Fidelity PHD, E*TRADE, E-LOAN, Lending Tree, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation, and many other innovative companies.


Most Innovative Web Service category

VisiStat
Trulia
HouseValues' HomePages.com
PropSmart
Homethinking
Google Base
HomeGain Neighborhood Maps
RealLiving.com
Coldwell Banker Video Library

Real Living is based in Columbus Ohio.  The central Ohio region is served by HER Real Living.  The logo above is HER Real Living's.  Real Livings logo is similar.

and the winner is....................