Upstream, the MLS, and the Unspoken Truths

I’ve been meaning to write this ever since the end of CMLS Kansas City two weeks ago, but have been on the road working on tremendously exciting stuff… that I hope to be able to talk about more in a couple more months. This is more of a “think-out-loud” piece, so for those who want to think … Read more

On Project Upstream (Part 3): The Enabling Platform

In part 1 and part 2 of this series, I laid out my concerns with Project Upstream as it is currently structured, and a path forward in which Upstream becomes part and parcel of the MLS system. As I mentioned in those posts, the technology to do this is not science fiction. It exists today, … Read more

On Project Upstream (Part 2): The Path Forward

In Part 1, we discussed why Project Upstream as currently setup is problematic, despite the goals of Upstream being absolutely worth pursuing. In this part, I go more into offering solutions. Had I been involved with Upstream earlier on, this would have been my advice, but then, nobody asked me. 🙂 Basically, my take is that … Read more

On Project Upstream (Part 1): Great Concept, Problematic Execution

At the Inman Connect conference that just wrapped up, there was a “town hall” on a variety of topics featuring industry thought leaders like Marilyn Wilson of the WAV Group, Mark McLaughlin of Pacific Union, Joseph Rand of BHG Rand Realty, and Katie Maxwell of Intero. One question I asked was about Project Upstream, the recently … Read more

We Need to Separate RPR AMP from RPR Upstream, Conceptually

In a recent post on Realuoso, my friend Erica Ramus, wrote an Op/Ed on how Project Upstream will change everything: The Project Upstream broker initiative is an attempt to gather real estate data under one umbrella, again trying to wrestle back control of our listings and data. … Hahn’s description of “MLS Mashups” and the … Read more

The RPR-AMP-Upstream Materials from NAR Midyear

This is not a post. This is an information dump. A reader sent me the materials that were provided to the Directors at the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings that just concluded to support the proposal to fund RPR-AMP-Upstream. Thought many of you hadn’t seen these, so I wanted to upload them and make them available. … Read more

2015 NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings: Quick Takes, Without Much Thought

I have a feeling we’re going to be talking about a whole variety of things that went down at NAR Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo (aka, “Midyear”) this year for months and years to come. It’s been a great week, but rough on the sleep schedule, so these are not exactly deeply-thought-out opinions here. It’s … Read more

RPR-Upstream and Personal Liability for NAR Directors

I’m still at the NAR Midyear Legislative Sessions and heading out to meetings soon, so this will be brief. By now, you know that NAR’s Finance and Executive Committees have approved RPR to become the platform for the hitherto-mysterious Project Upstream. Inman News has coverage of the decision. Thing is, this decision highlights precisely what … Read more

More on Trim Tab, RPR, AMP and the Future of MLS Technology

Now that I’ve been liberated from some of my confidentiality constraints (see my previous post, which required permission from various companies I had non-disclosure agreements with, as well as permission from a client to discuss work I had done for them), I can opine more freely about the topic of RPR, Advanced Multi-List Platform (“AMP”), … Read more