Inman Technology Conference 2010 in San Francisco CA... a multimedia experience!

Milestone doesn’t just sell Bluegrass homes; we travel all over the nation so we can always be ahead of the curve in all things real estate and technology for better services and information for our clients. We actually just got back from San Francisco where the weather was cool (mid-60′s) but the information was hot, hot, hot!!  Katie, April, John and I attended the Inman Technology Conference last week and were absolutely amazed at what we saw and heard from the industry’s leaders.  I attended most of the Broker training programs while Katie focused on Blogging and WordPress, April on Marketing and John on everything else.  I sure was happy to have someone under the age of 30 to explain to me in layman’s terms what everything meant. Some of the highpoints of the meeting:

1.  From 2002-2007 Yahoo flatlined while Google skyrocketed in the search category.  In the past 2 years Google has flatlined while Facebook has taken off.  It is being said that Facebook will be the next big Search company due to knowledge of their client base.

2.  The future of Facebook is in Search, as an Advertising Platform and Sydication.

3.  Redfin and Sawbuck presented at the Broker training and implored Broker’s to get “on board” with them with regards to Online Broker Partnerships.  This was a complete turnaround from a couple of years ago when Redfin boasted that their business model would put the traditional Broker out of business.

4.  Social Media is everything but you need to know how to use it in an appropriate manner.  We are able to reach an unlimited number of people at no cost which will enable us to reduce our marketing dollars and generate additional revenue.

5.  The public isn’t interested in the individual agent.  They are looking for a brand they can trust.  The key to a successful Brokerage is to stay relevant, give the agent tools they can use and the consumer more value.

6.  The New York Times Research and Development reported that the paradigm shift is from publishing to communication. Smartphones will outsell PC’s by 2011. Time on email has flatlined while time on Social Networking has skyrocketed.

7.  Errol Samuelson of Realtor.com reported that 90% of the population ages 65-72 have email and 40% of Amazon book sales are now e-books.

8.  Google reiterated that they are not trying to take over the real estate industry.  They are trying to organize all the world’s information geographically and real estate is a big part of that endeavor.  We shall see….

9.  Real Estate websites are not just to provide information anymore, they are about building community.

The media portion of the Conference was absolutely incredible!  All in all it was a great trip.

Let us know what you think about our takeaways by posting a comment!