NAR Center for REALTOR® Technology

CRT Report for Brokers & AEs - Winter 2007

Welcome to the Winter edition of the CRT Report. CRT gathers input from you - the practitioner and Association Executive. We'll have that opportunity at the Association Executives Institute in San Diego from February 17th to the 21st. At the AE Institute, CRT will again host the wireless hot spot so you can stay in touch while at the meeting. And to stay current on the latest CRT happenings, check out the CRT blog.

INSIDE THIS NEWSLETTER

	Keith's Korner
	CRT: Your Tech Resource
	Hook up calendars with Google
	RETS Renewed

Keith's Korner

CRT is back with a whole new look!

Yes, we're back. It's been a while since you've heard from us, and some exciting changes have taken place at CRT. Last August, former CRT head Mark Lesswing became NAR's first chief technology officer. With Mark moving up in the world, I was named managing director of CRT. I've been at CRT since its inception as a strategic architect officer. I've been responsible for programming many of CRT's projects and have also gotten to meet many of you when I've presented talks at national, state, and local meetings. I look forward to the challenge of leading an organization with CRT's impressive track record.

Last fall, CRT also started a process we're calling The Reboot. It's been five years since CRT's initial startup, so it seems like a great time to upgrade hardware, refresh the operating system, and install a ton of new features.

One part of our reboot is some staffing changes. In October, Chris McKeever joined us as a strategic architect, developing and documenting many of CRT's technology projects. He'll also be in charge of helping the RETS committee and its planning. (See story below.) Chris comes to CRT from five years as director of technology for a large residential brokerage in Chicago. His real-world real estate experience will be invaluable in helping CRT continue its mission of developing broker-focused projects that solve problems in the field.

In December, Ericka Luba joined us as communications associate. Ericka has a background in sociology with an emphasis in computing and analytical research. Ericka will be taking the lead in conducting CRT's surveys and will be the point person for scheduling CRT's programs and speakers.

Ian Smith continues his invaluable work as CRT's senior technical support analyst. Ian remains a great member resource, helping practitioners solve advanced technical problems as well as manning the WiFi HotSpot and Bloggers' Lounge at NAR conferences.

The CRT Report is also changing. Instead of a standalone effort with lengthy articles, we'll be adding links to many of our articles so you can read a more in-depth version of a piece that interests you on CRT's blog. Our goal is to keep the newsletter shorter and easier for you to digest while still providing detailed information for those looking for it. Let me know what you think of the new format.

Each newsletter article will also have the author's byline and e-mail address. This should make it easier for you to ask follow-up questions or share your thoughts on a topic. And to help you get to know CRT's new staff, I've asked each of them to contribute an article to this issue.

You can expect to see more changes at CRT throughout 2007. However, not everything will be different. The value we provide to members through our technology advice and expertise, open-source software, and technology advocacy will not only continue, but will become even stronger.

Keith T. Garner

Managing Director, Center for REALTOR® Technology

kgarner@realtors.org

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CRT: Your Tech Resource

Whether you have a tech challenge or just want to get the latest buzz, turn to CRT first.

CRT’s mission is to help you and your company’s IT professionals evaluate, implement, and apply technologies that will benefit your business. But to help you, we need to hear from you. Your questions and feedback help us understand what future technologies you need to enhance your business processes and how current technologies are working out there in the field. We also want to make it easier for you to access CRT’s many resources.

A great first step for learning more about technology in the real estate space is CRT’s Web site, www.realtor.org/crt. Here, you’ll find information on current CRT projects and initiatives such as PolicyPage, REALTOR® Secure, and ezRETS. The site also has an archive of CRT’s newsletters, surveys, and white papers. CRT is also happy to provide speakers on technology topics at your local and state association meetings through our Outreach Initiative.

Another way to stay current on our newest initiatives is by reading the CRT blog. CRT’s staff regularly posts comments, articles, and announcements on the blog. You can also post comments and feedback as well as read suggestions from other real estate professionals.

New on the blog is the “Ask a Tech” feature. We’ve opened up our in-boxes to your questions, comments, insights, and stories. Feel free to e-mail your questions to askatech@crt.realtors.org. We can’t answer every question, but we’ll respond to as many as we can on the blog. And like Dear Abby, we’ll try to pick questions with the widest appeal and usefulness.

Let the Center for REALTOR® Technology be your technology consultant. That’s what we’re here for.

Ericka Luba

Communications Associate

eluba@realtors.org

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Hook up calendars with Google

This online application lets you easily share schedules created in several major calendar software programs.

CRT’s staff started using Google’s free online calendar because we travel a lot and needed to be aware of each others’ schedules. The problem was, each of us had a favorite calendaring application we wanted to stick with. We found that with Google Calendar users of Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo! Calendar, and Apple iCal could easily import their events to Google Calendar and create a group calendar.

The Internet-based Google Calendar has much of the functionality found in office software suite calendars but doesn’t require any administration from a company’s tech staff. There is no software to install. Any computer with a Web browser and an Internet connection can access the calendar.

One downside of the application is that Google offers no guarantee that your data won’t be lost. Your best protection option is to back up your calendar regularly by exporting your events to Outlook or another offline calendar program.

Google Calendar was just what we needed at CRT to help us keep organized. It doesn't cost anything and allows users to stay in touch remotely. It should do the same for you. Give it a try by taking an introductory tour. Or check out my blog post explaining how to coordinate calendars.

Ian Smith

Senior Technical Support Analyst

ismith@realtors.org

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RETS Renewed

Creating a common language to share real estate information easily among systems gets a new lease on life.

In the past six months, RETS, the real estate transaction standard, which will enable systems to share data easily, has undergone a major transition. Almost every aspect of its development—from its leadership down to the look of its Web site—has been enhanced.

Last fall saw the release of the RETS 2.0 specification. This new generation of RETS emphasizes security, simplification, and customization. The robust client and server applications provide tremendously powerful tools for software developers as they work to consolidate the diverse data of today’s real estate industry.

Mark Lesswing, chief technical officer at NAR, has been named chairman of the RETS Governing Committee, the group that organizes and drives the standard development process. Mark’s understanding of technology and how it applies to the real estate industry will bring a fresh perspective to upcoming RETS initiatives.

Finally, the Web site has a new, more user friendly look and feel. Going forward, active members of the RETS committee will update the rets.org site more frequently, adding valuable news, utilities, and community information.

All these changes will begin to pay dividends during 2007. As RETS matures and becomes more widely used in the real estate industry, brokerages and multiple listing services will be able to access and maintain listing data more easily. To aid this process, the Center for REALTOR® Technology will offer guidance and support to MLSs as they begin to implement RETS services for their member communities.

For more information on this RETS transition, read the CRT blog.

Chris McKeever

Strategic Architect

cgmckeever@crt.realtors.org

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