Michael Wurzer I’m excited about the panel we’ve assembled for our FBS Summit on June 12 to discuss the issue of whether or not MLSs should have consumer-oriented listing search sites:
- Brian Larson from Larson/Sobotka, which, along with Kevin McQueen from Focus Forward, recently published a report called Tales of an Industry Lost at Sea: A strategic perspective on the consumer’s search for real estate information on the web.
- Victor Lund from WAV Group, which recently published an MLS Consumer Website Effectiveness Study.
- Duane Sauke, a RE/MAX broker from Rochester, MN, where the MLS was an early advocate of MLS branded listing search for consumers.
- Alex Chang, CEO of Roost, which, I believe, is the first IDX portal. (RE/MAX and Realogy have done IDX portals for their brands, but Roost is open to all brands.)
This panel brings a variety of perspectives on listing search sites, and we’ve convinced them to spend three hours with us so we can delve deeply into the issues. We’re going to have three one-hour sessions: (1) initial overviews by the panelists of their views; (2) a panel discussion moderated by me; and (2) round-table discussions with one panelist at each table for 12-15 minutes and then rotating to the next table until each table has had an opportunity to ask questions of each panelist.
With the recent settlement of the NAR/DOJ litigation on VOWs, I think this topic is more relevant than ever and I can’t wait to delve into the issues. If you have any questions you think I should ask of the panel, comment on this post and I’ll follow up after the event here with their responses.