View or download presentations from key speakers below.
Opening Keynote: Industry Overview
Leigh Brown, CEO, Leigh Brown & Associates, RE/MAX Executive Realty
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Legal and Risk Management Issues That Matter
Ralph Holmen, Associate General Counsel, National Association of REALTORS®
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Crisis and Response: Special Safety Panel
Doyle Yates, Executive Vice President, Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney Faucette Real Estate
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Adrian Manzanares, Broker Associate, Blue Picket Realty
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Ripe for a Change: Lessons From a Parallel Industry
Maria Ferrante-Schepis, Managing Principle of Insurance & Financial Services, Maddock Douglas
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Economic Update
Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Association of REALTORS®
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Technology – A Look Ahead Panel
Jeff Young, Chief of Operations, Realtors Property Resource®
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Matthew Embrescia, President, Second Generation
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Mark Birschbach, Managing Director, Second Century Ventures & REach®
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Technology – A Look Ahead Panel Questions & Answers
Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, the final panel “Technology - A Look Ahead” was unable to share their thoughts on the future of technology. Here are their answers and insights.
With everyone being online and so many transactions being conducted online, how do you see that changing our business in the next 5-10 years?
Jeff Young, Chief of Operations, Realtors Property Resource®: Consumers expect real estate data to be as readily available to them as any other type of data. I believe the greatest challenge for REALTORS® will be matching that open access to information among the systems proprietary to REALTORS®, such as historical listing and property data and data-sharing among markets. REALTORS® should seek to leverage their own data resources in ways that keep them at the center of the transaction, by creating new tools and cross-market systems for REALTORS®, while at the same time looking for technology solutions to open markets, so REALTORS® have a more "borderless" experience in accessing property data.
Matthew Embrescia, President, Second Generation: Everyone being online and with so many transactions being conducted online has placed our industry – and every industry – in the early stages of “Big Data”. Big Data is extremely large data sets being analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions. It still may be true today that my bank, holding my home mortgage, does not know when I get a promotion, a pay raise or if I become displaced. In the future, my banker will know before I do, predicted by my own data, transactions and interactions online.
Mark Birschbach, Managing Director, Second Century Ventures & REach®: If you look back 10 years to 2005, most people had mobile phones, but there were very few smart devices - the iPhone and iPad didn't even exist yet. Now almost everyone has a smart device, which has dramatically changed the way consumers communicate, access data and do business. We now live in an "on-demand" world. Consumers expect responsiveness and want things now. I believe these trends will continue. Access to data will become increasingly prevalent, and analytics about that data will be as well. Thus driving more educated decisions (and potentially providing noise that needs to be managed) and consumers will continue to expect increased responsiveness. I believe that being on top of all the data, communicating it timely and effectively, and finding ways to add a "personal" touch in online communications will be the keys to success.
Finally, REALTORS® have numerous tools, apps and resources to utilize today, I’m wondering which pieces would you put together to create the ultimate REALTOR® tool?
Jeff Young, Chief of Operations, Realtors Property Resource®: The key to all questions in the world of data is turning it into information, which can be easily and professionally communicated by REALTORS® to their consumers. I believe the perfect combination is a mobile solution that ties together the three main business resources that power a REALTOR'S® everyday business; MLS/Property data, lock-boxes and electronic forms, with the ability to communicate the relevant information via text, email and social media platforms.
Matthew Embrescia, President, Second Generation: Resources such as tools and apps are based upon software programs. Software programs inherently have a low barrier to entry which is the reason there are so many to select from. It is, and will remain, a very fluid market. .realtor™ is not a software program but instead part of the architecture of the Internet, like .COM, .GOV and .EDU. This means that for as long as the Internet exists, .realtor™ will exist. Software programs, prone to come and go, sit on top of Internet architecture. Regardless of what tools, apps and resources REALTORS® choose in an ever changing, fluid market, they now have the comfort of knowing that their .realtor™ address, or home location on the Internet, can forever remain a constant as part of the Internet architecture…different than other software based tools and apps that can be here today and gone tomorrow.
Mark Birschbach, Managing Director, Second Century Ventures & REach®: At SCV and REach, we have the pleasure of working with many great technology companies that provide tools for REALTORS® at various stages of the customer life cycle. I would combine all the tools a REALTOR® would need throughout the customer life cycle in one easy to use dashboard that can be accessed and used at a desk or while on the go. I would include great prospecting/communication tools like BombBomb with the power of video email marketing and automated social media like Back At You Media and Lumentus Social. I would include great transaction management tools like DocuSign and NotaryCam. Finally, I would include tools like Updater, Pro.com and Reach150, that help add value after the transaction leading to more referrals from happy customers.