Quick hits and pointless musings from my 15th NAR EXPO

Wheels down, back sore, voice shot.

Another NAR show come and gone.

When I got home, I made the mistake of telling my 7-year-old daughter I was right next to Disneyland.

How could I be that close and not go!!??

I tried to explain that I was in a different kind of Magic Kingdom, but it didn’t fly.

It did make me think, though, that there is something sort of magical about 20,000 people who have been through hell the past five years gathering to learn, spend, whoop it up and keep at it.

I love this about real estate.

A few impressions, takeaways and pointless musings from my 48 hours in the OC:

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Brokers are making moves. While many focused on the big MLS policy meeting on Saturday, there were dozens of little meetings between brokers that will have a much deeper impact on the online real estate landscape than anything NAR formulates. This is exciting stuff.

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But speaking of that MLS policy meeting on Saturday… I took away 2 things:

1.)  If this keeps up, IDX will become too limiting and syndication will become too sloppy to make any sense. Entropy will follow.

2.)  Write that down!

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The Occupy protesters who have made a mess of Downtown Oakland (where I live) would have been better off in Bank of America’s booth on the Expo floor. That thing was HUGE!

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Looking at all the badges, ribbons and blinking lights pinned to attendee chests, it struck me that “gamification” is something any app developer in real estate should be thinking about.

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Bill Walton’s talk at the RIS Media Power Broker Dinner reminded me just how much I like strange people.

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I think the agent website business is poised for a comeback. The old school flash intro/spaghetti code guys have pretty much bottomed out, but agents still need a good web presence. Talked with several people about this opportunity.

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I have yet to master the “business hug.” I am even worse at the “bro hug.” Several people pointed this out to me. I am good at self-deprecation, so at least I have that!

How was the show for you?