Speaker Bios

Simon Baker
Chief Executive Officer
realestate.com.au

Simon Baker is Chief Executive Officer of realestate.com.au, Australia’s largest online real estate website. Since joining in 2001, the business has increased revenues from $4 million to a projected $51 million in 2006; turned around from $6 million in losses to a projected $14 million in profits in 2006; and increased market capitalization from $8 million to $280 million in October 2005.

Prior to joining realestate.com.au, Baker was Chief Business Development Officer at News Interactive, Chief Technology Officer in a U.S. start-up and spent five years with McKinsey & Company, providing strategic and organizational advice to senior management at major Australian companies.

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John Blank
Associate Director, Financial Research
Chicago Mercantile Exchange

John Blank is Associate Director at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago, Illinois. He is in charge of the financial research at the exchange. This portfolio includes a twice-a-month Fundamental Business Drivers in-depth economics piece written for the exchange community, coverage of regulatory issues, and advising the CEO and management team on economic issues. Previous to CME, Dr. Blank worked at the Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young LLP, and JP Morgan Chase. He earned his PhD. in economics from M.I.T. in 1995, studying under the late Rudiger Dornbusch of M.I.T. and Jeffrey Sachs, while he taught at Harvard. He also taught a graduate course in development economics while serving as a faculty lecturer at the University of California-Santa Cruz.

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Paul Boomsma
Executive Vice President
Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection

Paul Boomsma is the Executive Vice President, Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection™. It serves as the luxury affiliation of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World™, the largest network of leading independent real estate firms, producing $380 billion in sales totaling 1.4 million transactions annually.

Boomsma began his real estate career marketing luxury office space during the 1980s and later joined Koenig & Strey, the largest Sotheby’s International Realty affiliate. As National Marketing Director for GMAC Home Services, Boomsma designed the roll-out of their “Premier Service Program,” the only national program to focus on a high-quality consumer experience during a real estate transaction.

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Janet Branton
SVP, AE/Leadership, International & Specialties
National Association of REALTORS®

Janet Branton is Senior Vice President, AE/Leadership, International & Specialties for the National Association of REALTORS. Two of the specialties included in her responsibilities at NAR are Resort and Second Homes, and International real estate.

Before joining NAR in June of 2000, Janet served as an association executive for three local real estate associations in south Florida. She holds the prestigious Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives and the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation from NAR.

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Joe Casa
Founder & Publisher
October Research Corporation

Joe Casa is Founder and Publisher of October Research Corporation, the nation's leading provider of market intelligence, business news and regulatory information for the real estate services industry. The company publishes several premium newsletters including Real Estate Technology News and Valuation Review. Joe has over thirty years of experience in the title insurance and settlement services industries having served in general management roles with TRW and Old Republic. In December 2005, October Research was a named a top ten Weatherhead 100 company by Case Western Reserve University.

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Ben Clark
Director of Partner Relations
Zillow.com

Ben Clark is Director of Partner Relations at Zillow. Prior to joining Zillow, Ben was the COO of nationally recognized Internet based residential brokerage, eRealty, Inc. Prior to entering the online residential real estate industry in 1999, Ben managed commercial real estate assets, including a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, the 1.2 million square foot headquarters of the National Weather Service and a major mixed use development in Washington DC’s central business district known as Lafayette Center. Ben resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children in a historic property known as the William Piggott House.

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Glenn Cohen
CEO
Expert Realty

Glenn E. Cohen is the Founder and CEO of Expert Realty. Expert Realty is a fully integrated realty, mortgage and title brokerage company. Expert has combined the latest in agent and consumer technology, a full service real estate offering and reduced commissions in order to establish the first fully-integrated real estate services company. Expert Realty completed its initial market launch into South Florida in May 2005 and has succeeded in achieving substantial market share while becoming the leader in the full-service, reduced commission arena.

Prior to founding Expert Realty, Mr. Cohen was the Founder and CEO of Your Home Direct.com (YHD). Mr. Cohen founded YHD in 1999 and grew the company from 40 to 400 employees and later sold the company to Foxtons, one of central London’s top Realty Brokerage firms. In 2003, Mr. Cohen received the coveted Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in recognition of his accomplishments at YHD Foxtons.

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Olivia Decker
Founder & Co-Owner
Decker Bullock

Olivia and her company Decker Bullock concentrate exclusively on the marketing of extraordinary homes – those valued from $3 million to over $20 million.

Olivia was born in Shanghai, China. She lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and immigrated to San Francisco. She has been marketing luxury properties since 1979. Her unique ability and her connections to an affluent clientele are unmatched by others in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Miss Decker completed international real estate study at University of Oxford, England in 1990. She is a member of San Francisco Opera Guild Board and Corinthian Yacht Club. She lives between Belvedere California and France where she owns two magnificent chateaux. Chateau Grimaldi in Aix-en-Provence and Chateau Villette near Paris where the centerpiece story of The Da Vinci Code book and movie took place.

Olivia has been featured in over 50 publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Success magazine, W magazine, People magazine, California Homes & Design, San Francisco Business Times, Nobhill Gazette and many others.

Olivia also dominates the market for homes over $5,000,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Marin County. Olivia is the only agent in the San Francisco Bay Area who has handled over 55 homes over $5 million price range.

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Richard J. DeKaser
SVP & Chief Economist
National City Corporation

Richard J. DeKaser is senior vice president and chief economist at National City Corporation, where he provides analysis to senior management, business leaders, and clients of the bank. His responsibilities include economic forecasting and financial market analysis.

Mr. DeKaser is responsible for the corporation's economic and interest rate forecasts and related research. He also authors the Financial Market Outlook, a monthly commentary on timely economic issues, and The Region, offering quarterly analysis and forecasts of the Midwest economy. Each is available via mail or on the National City Economics Web site (www.nationalcity.com/economics).

Prior to joining National City, Mr. DeKaser was senior financial economist at Bank of Boston, now Bank of America, where he handled capital market and risk management research. Previous to that, he was senior associate at Data Resources Inc., a division of Standard and Poors Corporation, where he managed contract research and forecasting. He joined DRI after serving two years as staff economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Mr. DeKaser is a graduate of New York University, where he received undergraduate and advanced degrees in economics.

He is a member of the Governor's (Hon. Robert Taft) Council of Economic Advisors, chairs the Financial Roundtable of the National Association of Business Economists, contributes to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and Financial Forecasts, and was recognized by USA Today as fourth most accurate forecaster in 2004 and third most accurate in 2003—the only economist to place in the top five each year. He is a former chairman of the American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee, former member of the Business Research Advisory Council (an advisory board to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), and past president of the New England Economic Project.

He is often quoted in leading financial publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Business Week, appears frequently on Bloomberg, CNBC and Fox News television broadcasts, and is a widely sought-after public speaker.

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James Diffley
Managing Director, U.S. Regional Services
Global Insight

James Diffley is Managing Director of Global Insight’s U.S. Regional Services Group, with overall responsibility for Regional Services, including the Regional Core Macroeconomic Service and the Global Insight Real Estate & Construction Service. Since 1998, he has supervised the quarterly economic forecast of the 50 states and over 300 metropolitan areas of the United States. He regularly makes presentations of these regional economic forecasts and analysis to clients, conferences, governmental bodies, and the press.
He is also responsible for customized consulting projects. These have included long-term projections of cigarette consumption, forecasts of capital gains realizations, analysis of the economic impact of the securities industry on New York State, analysis of the impact of changing oil prices on local economies, and the economic impact of various facilities locations.

Diffley came to Global Insight through WEFA, Inc. Prior to joining WEFA, Diffley was supervising tax analyst with the New Jersey Division of Taxation's Office of Tax Analysis from 1988 to 1996, where he was responsible for developing the state economic forecast for the state executive budget and for business tax revenue forecasting. Diffley did his Doctorate of Philosophy training in economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, completing all requirements but the dissertation. From 1982 to 1987, he was on the economics faculty at Adelphi University in New York.

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Thomas L. duPont
Chairman & Publisher
The duPont Registry

Thomas duPont is Chairman and Publisher of duPont Publishing, Inc. – a fully integrated publisher of specialty marketplace magazines featuring luxury products for sale and purchase.

Mr. duPont’s prominent career began at age 22 when the voters of Delaware’s 14th district elected him to the State Legislature. Looking to further broaden his horizons, left politics in 1974, to enter the world of commerce as an executive with the National Division of the Wilmington Trust Company. Two years later, he moved to Tampa, Florida, and joined Budget Rent-A-Car as Vice President-General Manger of the Tampa location, where he managed the operation for 8 years until the ownership group decided to sell.

Upon the sale of the Budget Group, Mr. duPont formed First Tampa Capital Corporation (FTCC), a diverse paid-in-fund, SBIC licensed investment company. It was there that Steve Chapman approached Tom duPont with the idea of starting a new magazine. In 1984, Mr. duPont and Mr. Chapman formed duPont Publishing, Inc. with the prospect of producing a full-color, monthly, marketplace magazine featuring classic, luxury and exotic cars for sale. Shortly after the launch of the first duPont REGISTRY, FTCC liquidated its assets and Mr. duPont turned to full-time management of the fledgling publishing company.

The company now produces three periodicals: A Buyers Gallery of Fine Automobiles, launched 4/85, A Buyers Gallery of Fine Homes, launched 8/95 and A Buyers Gallery of Fine Boats, launched 1/97. Total circulation is at 2,045,000 annually. The Company has launched a successful and active web site (www.dupontregistry.com) featuring its magazines and a luxury goods auction. Traffic continues to climb with 400,000 visitors a month generating nearly 30 million hits per month. In addition, the Company has launched a series of new titles, the first of which is duPont REGISTRY·Tampa Bay—A Guide To The Affluent Lifestyle, first published in September 2000. In the summer of 2003, Celebrity Car was launched and Exotic Car Buyers Guide is produced annually in the fall.

Currently, Mr. duPont and his wife Ruthy, reside in Belleair, FL. They have three grown daughters and 4 grandchildren. He is a water sports enthusiast and is an avid collector of classic, luxury and exotic automobiles.

Thomas L. duPont is a graduate of The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ (1966), Rollins College (BA), Winter Park, FL (1970), University of Delaware (MA), Newark, DE (1972).

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Mike Edelhart
CEO
Inman News

Mike Edelhart is the CEO of Inman News Service. Mike came to Inman from Olive Software, an XML software developer, where he served as Chairman and CEO. Previously, Mike was CEO of Zinio Systems, which produces and distributes magazines in digital form. Mike joined Zinio from Redleaf Group, an early stage investment company where he was Sr. Director of the San Francisco office. Prior to Redleaf, he was founder and CEO of Intagio (formerly ‘BarterTrust’), an, international clicks-and-mortar non-cash exchange network. Mike was President and CEO of Third Age Media and a Vice-president at SoftBank, where he launched new businesses in online education, conferences and consulting. Prior to SoftBank, Mike spent thirteen years at Ziff Davis in a variety of executive and editorial positions. He was the original Executive Editor of PC Magazine, Editor-in-Chief of PC Week and Editor/Publisher of PC/Computing. Mike has served as an Internet strategies consultant to Bloomberg, Deja News, Feed magazine, SmartAge and the Wedding Channel. Mike, the author of more than 25 books on subjects ranging from Intel processors to the social history of Virginia and earth sheltered housing design, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Northern Colorado.

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Deborah Falcone
Real Estate Advertising Sales Director
The Wall Street Journal

Deborah Falcone is the Real Estate Advertising Sales Director for The Wall Street Journal. She joined The Journal in 1994 to spearhead the development of the residential and commercial real estate advertising presentations. In her role as the real estate category manager, she is responsible for developing the strategies to build real estate advertising for The Journal’s print and on line products including The Journal’s prize winning website, RealEstateJournal.com.

Before joining The Journal, Deborah was involved in real estate advertising for American Lawyer and Crain’s New York Business. Prior to her media career, Deborah worked as a junior high school English teacher.

She holds an M.A. from New York University and currently resides in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. She can be reached at deborah.falcone@dowjones.com.

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Anthony Farwell
Chairman & CEO
TitleCorp

Throughout his career, Mr. Farwell has built a number of media and technology companies. He was President and a principal shareholder of Hollywood Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLL), the nation's premiere movie information service and developer of the leading movie ticketing service, movietickets.com. He and his partners sold the company to The Times Mirror Company (now owned by The Tribune Company) and, later, he helped merge it into a public company. Hollywood Media is now largely controlled by Time Warner, The Gannett Co. and The Tribune Company.

Mr. Farwell was a co-founder of TV Data Technologies, LP, the world's largest TV listings and entertainment information provider. He and his partner acquired TV Data from The E.W. Scripps Company and TV Listings, Inc. from TV Host, to form TV Data Technologies, L.P. He served as a partner of the general partner before its sale to The Tribune Company.

Mr. Farwell was one of the principal shareholders and a board member of STATS, Inc., the most advanced and widely distributed independant sport data providers in the world, which he and his partners sold to News Corp in 2000. Mr. Farwell later served as chairman and chief executive officer of SystemsVideo, Inc., a video content management company that also operated VideoGreetings.com, the first video greetings site on the Web. Mr. Farwell also served as President and a principal shareholder of Supertuner.com, a developer of advanced, Web-based, multimedia management technologies and holder of patents that are now part of one of the nation’s leading patent pools.

Before his involvement in Internet technologies, Mr. Farwell served as a senior executive of CableSouth, Inc. which he and his partner built into one of the largest independent multiple system cable operators in the Southeast before its sale to Paul Allen's Charter Communications in 1995.

Mr. Farwell serves as President of Farwell Capital, LLC, which is based in La Jolla, California. The firm manages the venture assets of Mr. Farwell. He is also a founder and Managing Director of Fruition Ventures LLC, a closely held venture capital firm that invests and manages the venture capital assets of its partners. He is a member of the San Diego Venture Group and evaluates venture investments from a variety of sources.

Mr. Farwell received a B.A., Economics, University of California at Los Angeles where he graduated as a Chancellor's Marshall. He earned a joint International MBA (TRIUM) from the London School of Economics, HEC Graduate School of Business (Paris) and NYU Stern School of Business where he graduated first in his class. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Business School Program for Smaller Companies. Mr. Farwell is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

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Richard F. Ferrari
Senior Vice President
Prudential Douglas Elliman

Richard Ferrari has spent 15 years as a residential real estate broker in New York City. He has been a top producer year after year at Prudential Douglas Elliman, consistently ranked among the top 20 brokers out of more than 1500. He specializes in high-end luxury coop, condominiums, and town homes in Manhattan.

Ferrari was the first New York City broker to use Inman News to produce a DVD of a high-end property. He is a frequent guest of Bloomberg Radio, New York One, NBC , Fox News, Reuters and other media, commenting on New York City real estate prices and activity.

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Joseph J. Fox
CEO
BuySide Realty

Joseph J. Fox is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BuySide Realty, the largest online buyer’s agent in the country. BuySide Realty exclusively represents homebuyers who find their own home (either online or offline), and offers those buyers a 75% rebate on the buyer’s agent commission, as well as tools such as online offer submission and negotiation, as well as the support of experienced, licensed brokers.

Since Mr. Fox launched BuySide Realty in April 2006, the company has grown significantly. BuySide currently operates in 5 states (California, Florida, Illinois, Georgia and Virginia), but is licensed in 28 states. BuySide’s goal is to cover 90 percent of the country by 2008. To date, BuySide Realty has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, CNN Money and ABC World News Tonight.

An experienced Internet entrepreneur, Mr. Fox and his brother Avi Fox co-founded Web Street Securities in 1996, one of the first online securities brokers. At Web Street, he helped develop some of the most technologically advanced stock trading technologies like live updating real-time stock quotes. Web Street also leveraged technology to become self-clearing, which reduced transaction costs for Web Street’s customers.

Web Street went public in 1999 on the NASDAQ National Market and Mr. Fox served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Web Street along with his brother until the company was purchased by E*Trade in 2001.

Mr. Fox has also served as Co-Chairman of AFJ Capital, LLC, a Chicago-based privately held investment company from October 2001 through March 2005 as well as serving as Co-Chief Executive Officer of A.F. Joseph & Company, a Chicago-based private investment banking firm from January 1994 to September 1996.

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Marc H. Gerstein
Director of Investment Research
Reuters

Marc H. Gerstein joined Market Guide in February 1999 as Director of Investment Research. Market Guide was acquired by Multex, Inc. in 2000, and in 2003, Multex was acquired by Reuters, a global provider of investment information and technology solutions to the financial services industry.

Mr. Gerstein oversees the "Ideas & Screening" section of Reuters.com, which provides daily analysis and investment selection strategies focusing on stocks, exchange traded funds, and derivatives including housing futures, which he started analyzing on in May 2006, when trading debuted on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. His equity selections are based on a series of 19 stock screens, collectively referred to as Reuters Select, that have outperformed the S&P 500 by about 300 percentage points since early 2000. Before coming to Market Guide, Mr. Gerstein worked as a securities analyst since 1980.

Mr. Gerstein wrote two books, Screening The Market (Wiley, 2002) and The Value Connection (Wiley, 2003). Also, he regularly shares his views in the financial media. He has also been quoted in USA Today, CBS MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal, Money Online and The New York Daily News as well as Lessons From The Legends Of Wall Street by Nikki Ross (Dearborn Trade, 2000), and The Value Reporting Revolution by Robert Eccles, Robert H. Hertz, E. Mary Keegan, and David M.H. Phillips (Wiley, 2001).

He is also an attorney, admitted to the bar in New York State and authorized to practice in the Federal district courts for the Southern and Eastern districts of New York and the Second Circuit. Before becoming an investment analyst, Mr. Gerstein practiced criminal, business and landlord-tenant law.

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Ilyce Glink
Syndicated Columnist

Ilyce R. Glink is a nationally-syndicated real estate and personal finance columnist, radio talk show host, television reporter, in-demand speaker, and best-selling book author. Millions of people from coast-to-coast read her weekly "Real Estate Matters" column, and hear her show on Newstalk 750 WSB, in Atlanta. She spent seven years as the personal finance reporter for WGN-TV, and now hosts The Financial Picture feature for InmanStories.com.

Glink has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, CNBC and CNN, NPR, as well as hundreds of other radio and television programs. More than 150,000 visitors each month check out her website, www.ThinkGlink.com

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Kimberly Gorsuch-Bradbury
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Real Estate Networks
RealEstate.com/LendingTree, LLC

Ms. Gorsuch-Bradbury is responsible for building and leveraging the company's real estate businesses, including the RealEstate.com consumer brand, the well-established RealEstate.com Broker and Agent networks, as well as iNest and Domania. She has spent more than six years with LendingTree, LLC where she was responsible for the strategic planning process across all company brands, and led teams focused on benchmarking and development of best practices for lending and real estate. In addition, Ms. Gorsuch-Bradbury was responsible for mergers and acquisitions, where she identified, proposed and supervised all of the company’s activities, including the acquisition of key assets from HomeSpace, GetSmart, RealEstate.com, Domania, ServiceMagic, iNest and HomeLoanCenter.com.

Prior to joining LendingTree, Ms. Gorsuch-Bradbury worked with IBM for 17 years, where she led the e-business consulting group for global financial services clients. In her role at IBM, her clients included Citibank, Bank of America, CS First Boston, Chase, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, and the Royal Bank of Canada. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Jeff Hilligoss
Managing Director, Strategy & Development
Residential Capital Corporation

Mr. Hilligoss brings 20 years of diverse financial services transactional and operational expertise to the role of leading ResCap’s Strategy & Development team whose objective is to generate sustainable revenue growth for the organization through new business and venture development, acquisitions, strategy management and investment in innovation. Jeff and his team partner with ResCap leadership to identify, prioritize, develop and execute upon strategic growth opportunities across its diverse array of global real estate finance businesses. Prior to his current role at ResCap, Jeff has held a number of operational and transactional leadership positions for ResCap’s operating subsidiary, GMAC-RFC, including the management of acquisitions, divestitures, turn-arounds and distressed asset purchases.

Prior to joining ResCap in 2000, Mr. Hilligoss held senior leadership, principal investment and investment banking positions at Emerald First Financial, Cargill Financial Services Corp., USBank and HSBC respectively. Jeff holds a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from Indiana University, an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and is a graduate of the Wharton/Spencer Stuart Director’s Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Diana Horowitz
Global Sales Development Director, International Herald Tribune
The New York Times Media Group

Diana Horowitz has been Global Sales Development Director of the International Herald Tribune in New York since July of 2005. Previously, she was Sales Development Director for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, where she held a range of advertising and sales development positions since 1997.

Prior to joining the International Herald Tribune, Ms. Horowitz was an editor in the art and lifestyle book publishing division of Flammarion Publishers in Paris from 1993 to 1996, and before that, was an internal communications manager at LVMH – Moet-Hennessy-Louis-Vuitton, also in Paris.

Ms. Horowitz graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from George Washington University, in Washington, DC. She lives in New York with her husband.

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Bradley J. Inman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
TurnHere, Inc.

Bradley J. Inman is an entrepreneur, journalist and technology expert, and recent founder of TurnHere, Inc. TurnHere.com, the largest Internet video destination website, is chronicling different neighborhoods and destinations across the country through 2-5 minute films created specifically for the Internet.

Through TurnHere.com, Mr. Inman has harnessed the rampant consumer acceptance of Internet video technology and is tapping a rich vein of new and creative filmmakers who operate in a new, low-cost, technology-rich environment.

An Internet pioneer, previous to founding TurnHere Inc., Mr. Inman founded Inman News, the leading distributor of real estate news and information on the Web which provides real estate and urban development related stories to more than 50,000 newspapers and Web sites including the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal Online, The New York Times and CBS MarketWatch. Real Estate Connect, Mr. Inman's Connect conferences, attract thousands of top executives from both technology and real estate.

In addition, in 1999, Mr. Inman founded HomeGain.com, a premier online lead and real estate marketing resource, providing consumers with direct access to top-rated real estate professionals. He sold HomeGain.com in 2005 to Classified Ventures.

Mr. Inman is a graduate of Boston University where he received a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

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Marque Joosten
Founder
Funda (Netherlands)

Marque Joosten began his career in the world of advertising and worked for a variety of diverse clients in the financial and automotive sectors. He established an advertising agency in the Polish capital of Warsaw that developed into one of the largest and most creative agencies in the country. He was responsible for global advertising campaigns for several Coca-Cola brands. The Czech Republic and Slovakia followed suit after Poland. After this, Marque lived and worked in various cities such as Paris, London, Prague, New York and Atlanta.

In 1997 he returned to Amsterdam to serve as Director of Communications for ING Bank. He set up Freeler for ING, the first free Internet service provider in the Netherlands. Due to its resounding success, he left ING Bank to devote his full attention to Freeler and expand it further.

In 2001 he started funda, which soon became one of the largest and most successful real estate websites in the World. In 2004, funda was crowned “best website” of the Netherlands. The Funda group of websites now consists of funda homes, funda in business, funda rural, funda design, funda records, funda travel, funda finance, funda Ireland and funda directory. Marque is also a television producer of one of the most successful home programs on Dutch television.

Marque has very clear-cut ideas about establishing and running a company. He was named “Mega Marketer” of 2003 (in the leading Dutch marketing journal) and a "future tycoon" by Quote Magazine in 2004. He studied Business Administration at Nijenrode Business University in the Netherlands.

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Tom Kelly
Syndicated Newspaper Columnist & Author, Second Home book series

As author, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and talk-show host, Tom Kelly has carved a niche as one of the leading journalists specializing in second homes. His ground-breaking book, “How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment” (McGraw-Hill, written with economist John Tuccillo) showed consumers and professionals how one additional piece of real estate could serve as an investment, recreation and retirement property over time. Cashing In on a Second Home in Mexico, written with Stewart International’s Mitch Creekmore, is the first in a series exploring the benefits of international second home marketplace. He also has written Real Estate Boomers and Beyond: Exploring the Costs, Choices and Changes of Your Next Move (Kaplan) and The New Reverse Mortgage Formula (John Wiley & Sons).

Kelly served The Seattle Times readers for 20 years, many as Real Estate Editor. His weekly features now appear in The Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Rocky Mountain News, The Oakland Tribune, Portland Oregonian, The Tacoma News Tribune, The Reno Gazette-Journal, Louisville Courier-Journal, Des Moines Register plus more than two dozen other newspapers.

Tom’s award-winning radio show “Real Estate Today” recently began its 15th year on Seattle’s 770 KTTH-AM. The show is now syndicated by Business Talk Radio to approximately 40 domestic markets and airs on 450 stations in 160 foreign countries via Armed Forces Radio.

Tom was president of the Santa Clara University class of 1972. He and his wife, Jodi, an associate dean and professor at Seattle University, have four children and live on Bainbridge Island, WA. Tom can be via email at news@tomkelly.com.

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Jurgen Klaric
CEO
Mindcode International

Jurgen Klaric became the President and Founder of Mindcode International after selling his award winning advertising agency for $4M USD. It was at this point, he realized an upcoming industry trend: The transformation of advertising into a more powerful tool: “Neuromarketing.”

Mindcode, is a state of the art company that reads the consumer’s mind through the methodology of the “3 Brain Branding” of the Cortex, Limbic and Reptile. Numerous real estate sales records have been made through this Mindcode “methodology.”

As a multicultural citizen, who has lived in 4 different countries, he has gained the foresight and ability to understand the various markets’ cultural codes and then transfer this knowledge into powerful business strategies.

He defines himself a Market Socialist (he studied architecture in The Catholic University of Chile and Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara). For the last 15 years he has helped several Fortune 500 companies put their businesses ON CODE, a process that targets their respective market(s) with the decision making process, thus gaining better brand performance (experience, sales and loyalty), optimizing advertising and retail expenditure, as well as changing the inner corporate culture.

He has been responsible for the reengineering of major brands such as: Nextel, Kodak, Nike, Puerto Vallarta, Sabritas (Frito-Lay), Mexicana Airlines, Holcim Apasco, Dow AgroSciences, Danone, and Bacardi, among others.

Currently, he spends his time commuting between his 5 offices, located in 3 countries.

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Terry Loebs
Managing Director
MacroMarkets, LLC

Terry Loebs is Managing Director of MacroMarkets, LLC, a growth company on a mission to add liquidity to valuable economic interests and important asset classes throughout the world. Terry’s principal focus at MacroMarkets is leading the company’s efforts in developing and supporting real estate-linked financial products and related markets. In a short period of time, MacroMarkets has become a catalyst to making the U.S. Housing market an invest-able, hedge-able asset class via development of new products and marketplaces that facilitate investment and risk management by both institutions and individuals worldwide. In May, with strategic partners including The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Standard and Poor’s, MacroMarkets successfully launched the first exchange-traded futures and options contracts for U.S. Housing markets. Through its relationships on Wall Street, MacroMarkets has simultaneously stimulated development of over-the-counter (OTC) markets for housing-linked financial products with a view towards adding further liquidity to the U.S. Housing asset class.

Previously, Terry was Senior Vice President at Fiserv CSW, Inc. leading the property data analytics group and related product management, sales, marketing and business development activities for more than ten years. Terry was actively involved with the management of the home price index, home price forecast and automated valuation model products of the company for more than a decade, and a pioneer in fostering acceptance of home price indexes and property valuation technology in the lending industry. Before joining CSW, he co-founded Pegasus Capital Corporation and served as its president. There, he applied the secondary mortgage and capital markets experience gained in previous Wall Street positions involving mortgage banking, institutional mortgage trading and securitization. Terry earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Fairfield University and a master's degree in business administration from New York University's Stern School of Business.

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Jack McCabe
CEO
McCabe Research & Consulting, LLC

Jack serves as CEO and Managing Partner of the company he founded in 2002. McCabe Research & Consulting is a market advisory and consulting firm with a diverse clientele of single and multifamily developers, condominium converters, institutional investors, operators, lenders, brokers, appraisers, and other commercial real estate affiliates.

The Company performs total market, micro-research reports of Commercial Apartment, Condominium Conversion, and new Condominium Developments in Florida, as well as market feasibility studies and advisory services on a variety of residential and mixed use developments throughout the southeastern United States and the Caribbean.

Prior to opening MR&C, Jack’s 24 year real estate career included sales and project management with national homebuilders, merger and acquisition negotiations of real estate brokerages, and consulting and operations management with a national single family real estate research firm. He is a member of the NMHC, NAA, NAHB, and ULI.

Mr. McCabe is recognized as a national expert and requested speaker on US multifamily housing markets. His statistical data and analysis have led the industry in identifying local and national market trends. He has been widely recognized for his accurate predictions and projected timetable of the real estate boom and downturn.

Jack often appears on television and radio discussing the housing market, and his quotes are consistently sourced in the print media.

Since the start of 2006, he has been interviewed on CNBC, CNN, PBS, and local CBS and NBC nightly news, and been quoted in over 150 news articles, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, US News & World Report, Crain’s Business Review, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Financial Advisor magazine, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, many national trade industry publications and all major Florida newspapers. Jack’s national speaking engagements this year include the keynote address at the Commercial Property News Condominium Summit, the Urban Land Institute Southeastern Conference, Apartment Finance Today Developer’s Forum, Florida State University’s Real Estate Forum, and the Inman News' Connect HIGH NET 2006.

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“Real Estate’s Rock Czar”
Frank McKinney
Founder & Owner
Frank McKinney & Company

Frank McKinney is a true American original; a real estate "artist", two-time best selling author of Make it BIG! and Frank McKinney’s Maverick Approach to Real Estate Success, adventure racer and visionary who sees opportunities and creates real estate markets where none existed before. McKinney founded his first real estate investment company and bought his first $50,000 fixer-upper in 1986. Twenty years later, McKinney continues to create real estate markets where they hadn't existed before.

Frank McKinney has established himself as a Real Estate "artist" and is the creative force behind some of the world's finest and most opulent mansions built on speculation. He was recently recognized as one of the ten most influential people in luxury real estate, and his projects have captivated the media and public for over 20 years.

A true maverick with a charming flair, he is without peer in the risky world of "speculative" high-end real estate (homes built without a buyer), shattering price records with each new project, including his latest creation, the world's most opulent oceanfront spec home with an asking price of over $135mm.

McKinney and his wife, Nilsa, are genuine philanthropists who strongly believe in “applying the results of our success to assist others”, Together, they founded the Caring House Project Foundation in 1998, a non-profit (501c3) organization that provides housing for desperately homeless families in South America, the Caribbean, Indonesia and the U.S. McKinney donates all non-real estate related proceeds including speaking and appearance fees, book royalties, etc. to the CHPF. The CHPF is currently working on its most aggressive program to date, including its first large scale, wholly self-sufficient village combining shelter and care for orphans, a schoolhouse for all village and neighboring children, shelter for village adults, clean water, renewable food sources, a community center for fellowship and worship, and a medical center.

Frank McKinney’s vision and risk-taking has been the subject of numerous national television, radio and print stories. McKinney was recently featured on ABC's 20/20 with Martin Bashir, USA Today, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS' The Early Show, CNN, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fortune, Barrons, Town and Country, Robb Report, PBS’ Nightly Business Report and many more.

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Carter W. Murdoch, Ph.D.
Home Ownership Services Compliance and Marketing Executive
Consumer Real Estate
Bank of America

Dr. Murdoch is the Compliance and Marketing Executive for the Home Ownership Services Division of Bank of America. His responsibilities include the development and implementation of the Banks national marketing and sales strategies supporting Builder-Realtor Alliances. Prior to joining Bank of America, Dr. Murdoch was the Managing Director and Principal Economist for the National Association of Realtors® in Washington DC. and Co-CEO of BidTrac, a real estate technology company. Dr. Murdoch holds a PhD. in Economics from Drexel University, a Master of Administration from Villanova University, a BA in Economics from Syracuse University and has been an active Realtor® for more than 20 years.

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Michael Rahmn
Executive Vice President, Technology
Windermere Services Co.

Michael Rahmn is responsible for the development, design and implementation of Windermere's technology strategy, including Internet and software applications. He also acts as a leader of the company's in-house technology division.

Under Michael's leadership Windermere.com has grown to include listing data from 35 MLS systems in 11 Western States. This listings data drives Windermere's network of public sites as well as Windermere's suite of client collaboration and agent productivity tools. Windermere.com receives more than 1.4 million visits and 22M+ page views each month.

Before joining Windermere, Rahmn led an internet consulting firm specializing in internet marketing for real estate and was a licensed agent for more than five years.

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Rick Redding
Managing Director, Products & Services
Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Rick Redding has served as Managing Director, Products & Services since March 2004. He has held this position on an interim basis since January 2004 and, prior to that appointment, served as head of the company's equity product line for 10 years. Mr. Redding helped develop CME's stock index futures and options complex, and his role in developing and executing the strategy for the company's E-mini product line has led to tremendous volume growth during the last five years. Other new products launched under his leadership include the Russell 2000®, the S&P Midcap® and the NASDAQ-100®. Mr. Redding joined CME in 1988 and, since then, has held positions of increasing responsibility in the company's market surveillance and product marketing functions. Before joining CME, he held financial analyst positions at U.S. Medical Equipment from 1983-85 and First RepublicBank from 1986-88, both in Houston, Texas.

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Brian J. Roach
Managing Director
Wells Fargo Bank

Brian Roach is a Managing Director in Wells Fargo Bank’s Securities Investment Group. He is responsible for the development of the bank’s real estate and equity derivative products. Previously Mr. Roach was co-founded and was co-managed Wells Fargo Commercial Capital (“WFCC”), the bank’s restaurant and convenience store lending business. Prior to joining Wells Fargo Mr. Roach worked for Provender Capital and Wasserstein Perella in New York, Legg Mason in Baltimore and Coopers & Lybrand in Boston. He holds a B.S. from Bentley College and an MPPM from Yale University.

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Patricia Royal
Director of Classified Advertising
Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald

Pat Royal is the Director of Classified Advertising of the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald. Previously, Ms. Royal worked for the paper in various capacities in both classified and real estate. She joined the Miami Herald in 1990 as special projects manager in classified. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in Newsday’s classified department. There she served in various roles, starting with inside sales part time and eventually moving to management. While at Newsday, she learned a lot about the efficiencies of telemarketing, selling multiple products, and the important role that classified plays in the lives of readers and advertisers. In her current position, Ms. Royal is responsible for growing and maintaining classified products and services. She says the most challenging part of her position is staying ahead of the competition and meeting the ever-changing needs of customers. Ms. is involved in a number of volunteer organizations and charities. She participates in the annual AIDS walk and is involved with several private AIDS-related charities in Miami and New York City. In 1998, she was a Maynard Institute Management Center Fellow. She sits on the Board of Directors of NAA’s Classified Federation, and has been a member of NAMME since 1994. Her personal life centers around her children – she has six who range in age from 28 to 12. In her free time, she reads, listens to music and enjoys attending Pilates exercise classes.

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Robert J. Shiller
Chief Economist, MacroMarkets LLC
Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics, Yale University
Author, Irrational Exuberance

Robert J. Shiller is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, and fellow at the International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management. He received his B. A. from the University of Michigan in 1967 and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. He has written on financial markets, financial innovation, behavioral economics, macroeconomics, real estate, statistical methods, and on public attitudes, opinions, and moral judgments regarding markets.

His 1989 book Market Volatility (MIT Press) is a mathematical and behavioral analysis of price fluctuations in speculative markets. His 1993 book Macro Markets: Creating Institutions for Managing Society's Largest Economic Risks (Oxford University Press) proposes a variety of new risk-management contracts, such as futures contracts in national incomes or in real estate that would permit the management of risks to standards of living. His book Irrational Exuberance (Princeton 2000, Broadway Books 2001, 2nd edition Princeton 2005, and in 15 foreign language editions) is an analysis and explication of speculative bubbles, with special reference to the stock market and real estate. His book The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century (Princeton University Press, 2003, 2004, and in 8 foreign language editions) is an analysis of an expanding role of finance, insurance, and public finance in our future.

He has been research associate, National Bureau of Economic Research since 1980, and has been co-organizer of NBER workshops: on behavioral finance with Richard Thaler since 1991, and on macroeconomics and individual decision making with George Akerlof since 1994.

He serves as Vice President of the American Economic Association, 2005 and President of the Eastern Economic Association, 2005. He writes a column "Finance in the 21st Century" for Project Syndicate, which publishes around the world.

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Ronald Shuffield
President
Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell, Inc.

Ron Shuffield is president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors® (EWM), a 42 year-old general real estate brokerage firm with 14 offices in South Florida. As a part-owner of EWM since 1984, he sold EWM in 2003 to HomeServices of America, Inc., an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway. HomeServices is ranked as the second largest real estate company in America operating 20 local real estate brands from coast-to-coast with annual sales of over $65 billion. EWM has 975 associates and staff who are involved in over $3 billion of South Florida real estate service transactions annually. EWM is the parent company of two subsidiary companies, EWM Title and EWM Insurance. Additionally, EWM is affiliated with HomeServices Lending, LLC, which is the national mortgage arm of HomeServices of America.

In addition to being responsible for the day-to-day operations of EWM, Ron is also involved in the South Florida civic community. He has been a member of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce since 1977 and he currently serves as a member of the Executive Board of Directors. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables since 1984 and he has also served as chairman of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce and the Coral Gables Community Foundation. In 1996, he was the recipient of the Robert B. Knight Outstanding Citizen Award for his involvement in the Coral Gables Community. He was also honored in 2003 as an inductee into the South Florida Business Hall of Fame by The Florida Council on Economic Education.

More recently, he was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Baptist Health South Florida, where he also serves as a board member of Doctors Hospital, Baptist Outpatient Centers and Baptist Health Enterprises. Some of his other responsibilities focus on Florida International University, where he led his college fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, to construct the first fraternity house on campus in 2001. He also serves FIU as a member of the board of directors of The FIU Foundation; and he is a past board member of the Educational Foundation of the Realtor® Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB), which established the Jerome Bain Real Estate Institute at FIU in the mid-90’s.

Ron is a 1973 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in business administration; and he has also been a member of the University Baptist Church in Coral Gables since 1976, where he is a past chairman of Deacons.

He and his wife, Anita, live in Pinecrest and they have three children: Melissa, Allison and Scott.

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Michael Simonsen
CEO
Altos Research Corp.

Michael Simonsen is co-founder and CEO of Altos Research Corp., the premier source of real-time real estate market intelligence for thousands of local markets around the country. The company's MarketLeader Technology Platform helps real estate agents and brokers easily reach their clients through innovative local market analytics, reporting, and web tools.

In developing the Altos product offerings Mike applied his extensive expertise in analytical software to a lifelong personal interest in the real estate market and investing. Prior to founding Altos Research, Mike was vice president of marketing and product management at network security systems vendor Nevis Networks, where he has two US patents pending for applications of data cryptography.

Mike's approach to solving tough information problems with software developed while studying artificial intelligence and expert systems as an undergrad at the University of Nevada. His approach to entrepreneurship was formed in business school at Chicago's DePaul University and in the trenches of Silicon Valley startups. He is particularly fond of the architectural work of Neutra, Eames, and Mies van der Rohe.

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Ryan Slack
CEO
Property Shark

Ryan Slack is CEO of PropertyShark.com. He and his team are responsible for building one of the most in-depth property information sites on the web today. He has been named by New York Magazine as one of NYC’s 200 most influential New Yorkers.

Previously, Slack was Senior Manager at KPMG Germany, directly managing the Office of the Global Chairman of Transaction Services, responsible for coordinating the global network of over 60 M&A Due Diligence national practices. Prior to KPMG, Slack worked at both Amazon.com and Sun Microsystems, as well as led the turn around of a California manufacturer, enabling its successful sale.

Slack holds a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Davis and an MBA from Stanford University.

With over 20 million properties in twelve major markets, PropertyShark.com enables intelligent real estate investment, providing data and tools on all aspects of real property, including comparable sales, property details, ownership, maps, listings, foreclosures, mailing lists, and more, directly from the web. For more information, go to: www.PropertyShark.com.

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Matthew Smith
Editor
Real Estate Technology News

Matt Smith is the editor of Real Estate Technology News, which provides analysis and insight into the latest developments in mortgage technology and real estate data, including e-mortgages and risk management tools.

Prior to joining October Research, Matt was a managing editor with Advisor Media, which publishes educational journals for IT professionals.

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David L. Stiff
Chief Economist
Vice President, Quantitative Research
Valuation Services
Fiserv Lending Solutions

As chief economist for the Valuation Services group of Fiserv Lending Solutions, David Stiff directs the research and development of the company’s quantitative valuation and forecasting models. He also produces economic analysis and home price forecasts for state, metropolitan, county, and sub-county housing markets.

David joined the company in 2000, after holding the position of manager of regional economics at Standard & Poor’s DRI , where he supervised the production of economic forecasts for all U.S. states, cities, and counties. Before this, he worked at S.H. Putman Associates, where he was responsible for the programming and implementation of a system of computer models used to forecast economic activity in metropolitan areas.

David graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in economics, obtained a master’s degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He and his family reside in Belmont, Massachusetts.

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Bill Tancer
General Manager, Global Research
Hitwise

Bill Tancer is the General Manager, Global Research at Hitwise. Bill brings 12+ years of marketing, market research and corporate strategy experience to Hitwise. As the GM for Global Research, Bill leads a team of research analysts in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, providing cutting-edge research and insight into the application of online competitive intelligence.

Bill's analysis of the online landscape has been quoted extensively in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Forbes Online and CNN Money. He is a frequent guest on CNBC and has also appeared on MSNBC and CBS MarketWatch, as well as being interviewed on NPR, CNN Radio and CBS Radio. Bill speaks extensively, with recent speaking engagements at J.P. Morgan Investors Conference, Search Engine Strategies, E-tail, Ad:Tech and TravDex.

Bill holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Florida in Quantitative Management and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University.

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Michael Tchong
Trend Analyst
Ubertrends/Trendsetters.com

Michael Tchong has spent more than 20 years living at the bleeding edge of consumer technology trends. His uncanny knack for being ahead of the curve has earned him a reputation as one of the savviest thinkers of the information age.

A serial entrepreneur, Michael developed a host of successful media and technology companies to help consumers and businesses harness the potential of new technologies. His successes include founding MacWEEK, Atelier Systems (personal communications), CyberAtlas (Internet market research), ICONOCAST (online marketing) and Ubercool, a media and entertainment company targeting trendwatchers and trendsetters.

Michael surfs the scene with relentless energy, translating trends to help businesses identify emerging opportunities. He publishes a trend newsletter, called Ubertrends and is the moderator of a chat forum for trendsetters, called Trendsetters.com. Michael’s a global citizen who sees the big picture from his perch in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill.

A sought-after speaker, Michael has been quoted by, or appeared on, such leading media as Access Hollywood, Bloomberg TV, Business Week, CNET, Fast Company, Fox News, UK’s Independent, PBS, The New York Times, Variety, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Wired.

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Pat Thiel
Vice President
First Magnus Financial Corporation

Pat is a 19 year veteran of the real estate industry. Prior to joining First Magnus he was the Director of Operations for a large (1800+ agents) independent residential brokerage firm in Phoenix, Arizona. As Director of Operations he was responsible for creating and bringing about core services along with devising successful marketing strategies and executing innovative technological initiatives. Throughout his career he has received numerous awards for his dedication to the real estate industry including SEVWCR’s 2004 Affiliate of the Year. Pat has been active with local REALTOR® Associations and committees, including serving as Affiliate Chair for the Southeast Valley Association of REALTORS®. To support the goals of First Magnus Pat draws upon his vast experience and understanding of the real estate industry. Pat is responsible for developing our existing relationships and implementing new ventures with the top Brokers and Builders in the nation.

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Todd Tracey
Senior Vice President, Sales
TurnHere

Prior to joining TurnHere, Todd Tracey was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Arrival Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier providing voice and data services to underserved markets throughout California. While at Arrival, Mr. Tracey led the sales team to 30% in annual growth in net new revenue, ultimately achieving $25 million dollars in annual revenue. Prior to joining Arrival, Mr. Tracey was a Senior Associate at Mercer Management Consulting where he consulted for high tech and communications companies. Under Mr. Tracey's leadership, the Consulting firm was able to identify $200 million of investment opportunities in the communications and information sectors. Mr. Tracey received his MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School and his B.A. in economics and government from Dartmouth College.

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John Tuccillo
Founder
John Tuccillo & Associates
Former Chief Economist
National Association of REALTORS®

John Tuccillo is one of the foremost real estate and housing finance economists in the United States. His current consulting practice is focused on strategic and business planning, and his experience and counsel are sought out by trade associations, major real estate and other private firms. His presentations on the economic outlook, real estate markets and change in the real estate business are invariably witty, informative and accessible to both lay and professional audiences.

He was educated at Georgetown University and Cornell University, and holds a doctorate in economics. His books, The Eight New Rules of Real Estate and Click and Close (written with Jim Sherry), are best sellers and have been instrumental in shaping the thinking of real estate industry leaders as they approach the challenge of changing their business models. His new book, New Business Models for the New Economy, was released in November 2002.

From 1987 to 1997 he was Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors. He now runs his own consulting business, JTA, LLC, specializing in strategic and business planning. His clients have included Fannie Mae, Microsoft, FNIS, GMAC, Prudential Real Estate Associates, Re Max, Cendant, Ellie Mae, and a host of large independent real estate firms, as well as state and local Realtor associations.

He is a regular columnist for The Real Estate Professional.

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Brett Weldon
VP Business Development
Homes & Land Magazine

In his current position as Vice President of Business Development, Brett Weldon is helping Homes & Land Magazine complete its transition into a full-service advertising platform for the real estate industry.
With over 60 million magazines printed annually and distribution in more than 15,000 communities throughout the United States and Canada, Homes & Land Magazine has been a real estate advertising leader for 34 years. The website www.HomesAndLand.com hosts more than 400 thousand listings and generates more than 500 thousand unique visitors each month. The company also offers digitally printed products, direct mail services, personal websites, and real estate videos.

Brett is leading the launch of the new Homes & Land Video Project. Homes & Land Video is now offered in over 50 markets, and should be available in more than 100 markets by the Spring of 2007. In addition, Brett is the brand manager of the upscale magazine, Estates & Homes.

Brett has a BA in Communications/Advertising from California State University- Fullerton and earned his MBA in Marketing from National University in San Diego. Brett joined Homes & Land in 2002. Prior to taking the position as VP of Business Development, Brett worked as a Regional Manager in charge of opening new Homes & Land Magazines, and as the Director of PCL Media managing the company-owned franchises.

Brett’s background also includes Sales/Marketing positions at Pepsi in Southern California and at HPC Publications in Florida. Brett’s home base is Orlando, Florida.

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Ben White
Wall Street Correspondent
Financial Times

Ben White is the Wall Street Correspondent for the Financial Times. His beat includes investment banking, trading, brokerage and large Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Credit Suisse.

White joined the FT in March 2006, as the Wall Street Correspondent.

Prior to arriving at the FT, White worked for four years as the Wall Street correspondent for the Washington Post. Before moving to New York in 2001, White was national political researcher at the Post and assistant to columnist David S. Broder.

From 1994 -1997, White worked as a staff writer in Washington, D.C., for The Hotline, National Journal's online, political newsletter and later became the editor of Hotline Weekly, a compilation of the best items from the week's Hotline. During this time, White covered President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign.

White was a research assistant on David S. Broder’s book Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money.

White has appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR and the BBC.

White received a Bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College. White completed his graduate work at the Virginia Theological Seminary.

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Dean Williams
CEO
Williams & Williams

Dean C. Williams, CMB is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the real estate auction and brokerage services firm Williams & Williams, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Williams has more than twenty years experience in mortgage banking, loss mitigation, property law and auction sales. He graduated with honors from Western Illinois University (BA, MA), Georgetown University Law School (JD) and is a licensed real estate broker in forty states. In 2005, Williams received the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA’s) distinguished Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation and has served as a Future Leader on behalf of the MBA.

Under his leadership Williams & Williams has become the nation’s leader in providing auction-based services for all types of real property throughout all fifty states. In addition to divisions that serve the banking, corporate relocation and trust industries, Williams oversees the company’s original farm/ranch/premiere services division for private clients, and Open Lands, Inc., an investment firm specializing in vacant property acquisition and rural property preservation.

Williams has been the author and subject of articles in industry leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Mortgage Banking Magazine, Servicing Management Magazine, Mortgage Technology, National Mortgage News, DS News, REO Monthly and the REOMAC Update. Williams will serve as a guest speaker at this year’s Global Real Estate Finance Summit in Monte Carlo and most recently spoke at the Housing Finance Summit and MBA’s National Technology in Mortgage Banking on the topics of pre-foreclosure workouts and achieving greater ROI on asset sales.

An active member of MBA, the Oklahoma Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors and the Tulsa County, Oklahoma and American Bar Associations, Williams is also deeply committed to several community efforts including the Children’s Scholarship Fund, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Reason Foundation and the Cecil Pettigrew Boxing Foundation. Williams lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife Angela and son Hank.

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