Friday at 2:00 p.m. I opened the door to my home, gave my wife and daughter a hug, apologized, and went to bed until 9:00 a.m. the next morning.
In my suit.
It was that kind of week. Between moderating sessions, hosting meetings in our suite, dropping in at parties, enjoying late dinners and making sure my business partner stayed out of a Percocet-induced coma, I was fried.
But Connect was a blast. What a show! The Inman crew did a great job. And I came away with plenty to think about. Here are just a few observations while I’m still recharging:
- This was the most harmonious Connect ever. In the "old days," the tension between the real estate brokerage and online folks was palpable. Not so now. Brokers love the big online sites for their free distribution and the Internet companies are much humbler.
- While the tension between the tech and brokerage crowds was gone, the space between the two has increased since last year. Solutions are getting dramatically better. Technology is getting cheaper. But too many agents can’t even get listing photos right, and too many brokers are getting their butts kicked in markets they could and should dominate with a little money and inventiveness.
- Along these same lines: Someone I respect a lot approached me on Friday to say simply, "The notion that this industry is adopting technology is a myth." Put that in your pipe and smoke it and see if it doesn’t ring true after a while.
- Everyone (including myself) coos about their iPhone, proclaiming they have found the future in their pocket. It’s a little much — but basically true. I saw two killer iPhone home search apps at the show being prepped for release in the next few weeks. And remember, this is not just about the iPhone. There are now dozens of handsets that do web browsing well and will be the channel through which most consumers experience real estate in the not-too-distant future.
- Hyperlocal is the future of the category. I believed this going into the show, but am convinced of it now. So much data, so many conversations — indeed, so many people — come alive with relevance at the street level. I covered some of the apps and content that get us there in my "20 sites you don’t know about — but should" presentation in Thursday’s general session, but there’s a lot more coming here.
- IDX is sexy. It is the killer app that’s been sitting under every practitioner’s nose for ten years, waiting for good implementations and marketing.
- The Tosca is the best bar in San Francisco, and possibly the world. Get there before the hipsters, sip a Venetian Coffee hunkered down in a red vinyl booth, and you’ll forget about your troubles fast.
- The relationship between "the real estate blogosphere" and the rest of the industry is interesting but not as meaningful as you might think.
- Generally speaking, time spent Twittering comes at a real cost measured in units of the more meaningful stuff you would otherwise be doing.
- Mapping is not the best way to display listings. It never was.
- The market is bad, and won’t get much better soon. But those with a little cash, a lot of commitment and serious smarts will come out the other side stronger. I met many of them at the show.
Much more later. I need to catch up, play My Little Pony with my daughter, and go to bed early for a few more nights.
– Brian Boero
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I can relate…by 7 PM on Friday I was fast asleep noot to wake till Saturday morning. Thanks for all your good work there. I am a pioneer of REAL CONNECT and I think that was the best one yet!!
Nice review. Thanks.
I lost my voice after three days.
Cheers, Rick
http://windermere-technology.blogspot.com
Brian – i think you're spot on with respect to the "harmonious" nature of the debate between brokers & online. Became crystal clear to me in the session where Sean Black (Trulia) and Ben Philips (Realogy) were practically dance partners on stage. Wasn't long ago where it would have been a dual, not a dance. Even they commented on the major change of heart between those two camps and the parts of the industry they represent.
Time to find some new bad guys…
I was similarly exhausted after Inman, but instead of sleeping 19 hours in one stretch, I did 2X12 hours.
Re. Twitter: I think it's too early to say it's a waste of time. Granted, there may be many who are completely wasting their time on it — but that can be said for pretty much any real estate marketing related activity. Twitter is much more than just "blogging lite" or "permission-based marketing" or "IM/SMS on steroids." Think of it as a platform. e.g. micro-payments via Twitter (competing with Paypal); e.g. a CRM platform; e.g. a listings platform. Lots can be done with it…provided a) They can sort out their reliability issues and b) they continue to grow their user base exponentially.
@Kevin
Regarding Twitter…I said "generally speaking." I am aware of, and believe in, the potential for Twitter in our industry. But right now, 99% of what I see out there is idle, insular, chit-chat.
Some of my thinking can be found in this recent post: http://tinyurl.com/57ej2b
You raise some great points yourself!
Great review. I especially agree with the IDX as the killer app statement. The interesting thing will be to see how over time it gets used by local brokers to try and pick up market share. Although the current relantionships are harmonious things may heat up dramatically for the local search engine results as IDX solutions spread.
Great write-up. Sorry our paths didn't cross at connect. I find myself noodling your point about technology adoption. I haven't decided if its the fault of the innovators creating imperfect solutions or the users who are reluctant to come out of their caves. Seems more the former. Until we create solutions that are idiot proof (think iPhone), why should anyone care?
I was a pleasure meeting you, Brian. A lot of inspiration from Inman, as always.
As I see it, the tech gap between old school and new is the gap between offline and online marketing– the old school has not abandoned (rightly) offline techniques despite technology sirens telling them to move online—mainly because of ROI metrics, which, IMO, is not a good enough reason. The mobile web is the bridge.
Twitter is a tool,just like the rest of them and can be used for marketing with the right methods. Yes, there is noise, but there is noise everywhere.
I lost my voice after three days.
Cheers, Rick
http://windermere-technology.blogspot.com