Speaker Bios
Real Estate Connect NYC 2007, Jan 8, 2007 – Jan 10, 2007 • New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, NYCKeynote Speaker
Seth Godin Best-selling Author, Entrepreneur and Agent of Change
Seth Godin is author of seven books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. It also appeared on the New York Times business book bestseller list. Unleashing the Ideavirus is the most popular ebook ever written. More than 1,000,000 people downloaded the digital version of this book about how ideas spread. Featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Industry Standard and Wired Online, Ideavirus hit #4 on the Amazon Japan bestseller list, and #5 in the USA. The Big Red Fez, Godin's take on web design, was the #1 ebook (worldwide) on Amazon for almost a year before it was published in paperback in 2002. The Miami Herald called it one of the best business books of the year. Survival is Not Enough has made bestseller lists in Germany, the UK and the United States. With a foreword by Charles Darwin, this breakthrough book redefines what change means to anyone who works for a living. Tom Peters called it a, "landmark." The book was first excerpted in Fast Company, where Godin is a contributing editor. Purple Cow, was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. It's all about how companies can transform themselves by becoming remarkable. Free Prize Inside, was an Amazon Top 50 bestseller and a New York Times business bestseller. It describes how every single person in your organization is in the marketing department... and shows you how to make something happen. Just out, All Marketers are Liars has already made the Amazon Top 100 and has inspired its own blog. Find out more at www.allmarketersareliars.com. His latest book is called Small is the New Big. Seth is a renowned speaker as well. He was recently chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings and is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses. Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry’s leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. He holds an MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week. Godin is founder and original squid at Squidoo in his spare time.
Adrienne Albert President The Marketing Directors, Inc.
Ms. Albert is nationally recognized as a marketing and sales expert in residential real estate and property development. Through her firm, The Marketing Directors, Inc., Ms. Albert has been personally responsible for the marketing and sales of over $18 billion in properties. Over the past 26 years, The Marketing Directors has served dozens of clients on a range of projects, from single family homes to high density multi-use development in locations from Canada to California. The high measure of her success is evident by the large volume of repeat business that The Marketing Directors enjoy under Ms. Albert's expert supervision. Ms. Albert is a NY State licensed real estate broker, and holds a B.A. from Simmons College and Master of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Leslie Appleton-Young Vice President and Chief Economist C.A.R.
Leslie Appleton-Young, a well-known speaker in California’s real estate community, is vice president and chief economist for the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.), a statewide trade organization with more than 195,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. She directs the activities of the Association’s member information group and oversees the analysis of housing market and brokerage industry trends. She also is closely involved in the Association’s strategic planning efforts. Prior to joining C.A.R. in 1984, Appleton-Young was a consultant with Telesis Inc. in Rhode Island. Additionally, she spent several years as a research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. Appleton-Young earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.
Rich Bailey Vice President of Business Development WolfNet Technologies
Rich Bailey is the Vice President of Business Development for WolfNet Technologies, a privately held company that specializes in providing web site and Internet technology services to over 40,000 real estate agents and brokers nationwide. WolfNet’s services include award-winning web site design, Industry leading IDX and VOW solutions, lead management and cultivation solutions, company Intranets, custom application development and general consulting. Rich joined WolfNet in 1999 after several years as a high school teacher of Civics and American History. He also coached both the boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams, and is still an avid student of the game. Rich focuses on business development and managing strategic partnerships, as well as all aspects of sales, marketing and client relations. Rich holds a BA from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as a teaching certificate from the University of St. Thomas. In his free time, he enjoys paddling his fishing kayak on the rivers and lakes of the Minnesota wilderness.
Simon Baker Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer realestate.com.au Ltd
Simon Baker is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of realestate.com.au Ltd. Since joining realestate.com.au Ltd, the business has increased revenues from $4 million to around $55 million, become profitable and increased its market capitalization from $8 million to $430 million. Prior to becoming CEO, Simon was Chief Business Development Officer at News Interactive, News Limited's online businesses, was Chief Technology Officer in a US start up and spent five years with McKinsey and Company providing strategic and organizational advice to Senior Management at major Australian and International companies.
Jeffrey Bastress President StartPoint Realty
As a RE/MAX broker owner in Massachusetts, Jeffrey Bastress realized that consumers were demanding better communication and service while expecting lower fees. Bastress sold his traditional real estate offices in 1998 and started Back Roads Real Estate and developed virtual office websites where he could service his new agents and clients from their home offices. By utilizing the internet effectively and understanding the internet consumer and online lead conversion, Bastress quickly became HomeGain’s #1 agent nation wide, and has its top agent in closed dollar volume for 2001-2006. Bastress has been successful at cutting the fat—expensive office space and personnel—with his new full service real estate company. StartPoint Realty is an online marketing, lead generation, lead conversion, transaction management, and virtual office for its many top producing agents all of whom work from their homes in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Florida at this time. Bastress will be unveiling StartPoint Mortgage and StartPoint HomeServices in March of 2007, and expects to take StartPoint nation wide.
Ernie Blood Executive Vice President Dominion Homes Media
Ernie Blood joined the company in 2001 following the acquisition of Carmel Publishing, a publisher of homes, apartments, new homes and commercial property in print advertising publications. Ernie started Carmel in 1989 after having started several successful classified newspapers. In the publishing business since 1973, Ernie is a respected motivational speaker and trainer in the real estate marketing field, as well as author of nine best selling real estate books. He resides in Ohio and Florida with his wife, Melody. EBlood@HarmonHomes.com
Paul Boomsma Executive Vice President Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection™
Paul Boomsma is the Executive Vice President, Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection™. As the fastest growing luxury marketing program in history, Paul launched this comprehensive program in 2005 as a new division of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World™, the largest international network of independent real estate firms. After marketing over 15,000 properties in their first year and with nearly $80 billion of annual sales in excess of $1 million dollars, this network represents the best of the best and many of the world’s most important properties. Paul is well versed in using innovative marketing tools to promote and differentiate luxury properties and the real estate professionals who represent them.
Michiel Bonte Vice President Business Development GlobeAssistant
As an entrepreneur, Michiel always has been interested in closing the gap between technology and usability. Michiel has solid experience in business development and sales. At Fenestrae and Tridion he was successful in building up (in)direct sales channels. In 2001 Michiel was one of the founders of InterimIC, a hands-on consulting firm that gives advice on how to use new technology in real life. Typical customers are KPN, BT, Cisco and HP. InterimIC currently consists of 25 partners. With Amstelbay, another company he founded, Michiel offers business development services to Software Vendors that want to expand their business. As VP Business Development for GlobeAssistant, Michiel focuses on expanding business particularly in the USA. GlobeAssistant has developed the EarthConnector that plots large amounts of data on Google Maps or any other GeoBrowser. Now this is nothing special. But with the patented "Altitude Ranking" it offers new ways of generating business. Altitude Ranking is the answer to the fast increasing amount of information displayed on 3D Geographical Browsers. With Altitude Ranking you can deploy or sell future Adsense models for 3D virtual globes. You can present your most interested place marks ranked on top, where they are shown based on altitude and zoom-in level before other objects in the same area are shown. This draws more attention to that specific object, with a higher chance of interest, sales and conversion; an ideal tool for Real Estate businesses, Travel agencies or Advertising companies.
Janet Branton Senior Vice President, 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.
Joel Burslem Owner The Future of Real Estate Marketing Blog
Joel Burslem is owner of The Future of Real Estate Marketing, a blog he started to his record his musings on the impact of social media, technology and the Internet on real estate marketing. During the day, he puts those ideas to work in the marketing department at Prudential Northwest Properties in Portland, Oregon. Joel is communications professional with many years of experience in consumer marketing, public relations, crisis communications and Internet marketing. Over the years, he worked in government, he rode the dotcom boom (and bust) and slogged it out as a PR flack and newsmagazine publisher. A veteran world traveler, Joel most recently returned from three years living and traveling with his wife in Northeast Asia. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Louis Cammarosano General Manager HomeGain
Louis Cammarosano is the General Manager of HomeGain. Prior to joining HomeGain, Mr. Cammarosano served as Senior Corporate Counsel and European General Counsel at Homestore, Inc. from 2001 to 2003. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Corporate Partner at Coudert Brothers in London. Louis graduated from Fordham University School of Law, New York, NY and began his legal career at Cravath Swaine and Moore.
Chris Cecere Head of Residential and Commercial Property Derivatives Lehman Brothers
Chris Cecere is the head of residential and commercial property derivatives for Lehman Brothers. He works strategically with property investors to help them gain synthetic exposure, hedge existing portfolios, and manage portfolios outright and against index benchmarks. The property derivatives business at Lehman Brothers has a global mandate, but Chris currently spends a large amount of time in the UK which has the most developed property derivative market. Prior to working at Lehman Brothers, Chris oversaw the provisioning of digital telephony for AT&T Broadband during the integration of digital telephony, high speed internet, and cable television. He attended graduate school in biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder and holds an MBA from Emory university.
Travis Chow Founder Neighboroo
Travis Chow is the founder of Neighboroo. Travis has been fascinated with visualizing trends since his brother bought him an Atari 800 in fourth grade. His interests range from mapping abstract philosophical movements to visualizing complicated data mining results. Neighboroo was founded on his passion for trends and belief that everyone should have access to them to make better decisions. Previously, he was a founding member of several startups, including SmartMortar, WinJobShop and Velocity11 and started his career developing Microsoft Office. He holds a M.S. in Computer Science and has been involved in every facet of the software and internet services industries for over a decade. In his spare time, Travis enjoys travel photography and hiking in the Bay Area.
Sherry Chris Chief Operating Officer Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation
Sherry Chris joined Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation as its chief operating officer in December 2006. She has more than 25 years of real estate sales, management and executive experience in all facets of local, regional and franchise operation. In her capacity as chief operating officer, Chris directs the company’s operations, education, mortgage and field services programs. She also focuses on communication between Coldwell Banker corporate headquarters, regional offices and its nearly 4,000-office affiliate network around the world. Prior to joining Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation, Sherry served as Chief Operating Officer of Prudential California/Nevada/Texas, and oversaw all day to day operations and all business lines for the company. Sherry’s former positions include serving as president of Real Living, and executive vice president of Royal LePage, the largest real estate firm in Canada. As a recognized expert on various real estate industry trends, she is a featured speaker at events and conferences throughout North America. She is also past chairman of the board of the Realty Alliance and sits on a number of industry and non-industry boards. Sherry is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, and holds a master of business administration from the Ivey School of Business.
Walt Clark Sr. Vice President, Transaction Management Solutions Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions
Walt Clark is a technology executive with experience delivering strategic technology solutions to the real estate, title and relocation industries. He currently holds the position of Senior Vice President, Transaction Management Solutions with Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions. In this capacity, Walt is responsible for the strategic development and deployment of Fidelity’s flagship TransactionPoint® transaction management platform. As an industry authority in transaction management solutions, Walt previously held the position of Vice President, Technology Deployment for Stewart Realty Solutions and as a consultant to First American Title where he was responsible for strategy development and deployment of their real estate transaction management systems. During these assignments, Walt successfully directed the enhancement and deployment of transaction management solutions to numerous residential and commercial real estate brokerages, title companies, homebuilders and multiple listing service organizations. Walt previously held the position of Executive Vice President, Information Technology, for Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, where he was responsible for the planning, development and deployment of this company’s information systems and eBusiness delivery strategy.
Matt Coffin President and Founder LowerMyBills.com
Matt Coffin is president and founder of LowerMyBills.com, a leading online mortgage lead generator in the United States and the number one online financial services advertiser. Coffin has become an expert resource in saving money by empowering consumers to spend less on recurring monthly expenses in order to free up cash for the things they really want out of life. What began as an answer to his own problems in April of 1999, LowerMyBills.com has grown into the leading bill-lowering site on the Web. Since its inception in 1999, LowerMyBills.com has helped more than five million consumers save more than $3 billion with lower rates. Previously, Coffin served as the director of business development for Miller Publishing Group (MPG), the publisher of leading consumer magazine titles such as Vibe, Spin and Tennis Magazine. To promote LowerMyBills.com, Coffin has appeared on Dr.Phil, CNBC, CNN, CNNfn, Bloomberg Television, ABC News, KTLA, and Good Day Dallas, as well as been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, and Smart Money. Coffin was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006 by the Software Council of Southern California based on company sales and revenue growth, team-building skills, product innovation and fiscal resourcefulness.
Andrew Coleman Founder LeadQual, LLC
Prior to founding LeadQual in late 2005, Coleman served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance at HomeGain.com, the second largest real estate site on the Web. During his six years at HomeGain, he was responsible for many areas including the business development, finance, agent referral network and data mining groups. Before HomeGain, Coleman worked as Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance at TeleHub Communications. He began his career at Price Waterhouse, where he served in the audit and consulting practices. A CPA, Coleman holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. from the University of Vermont.
Dave Collins Vice President Broker Network, RealEstate.com
As vice president of the RealEstate.com Broker Network since 2004, Mr. Collins is responsible for guiding the overall broker network performance and growth. He is responsible for guiding his team of regional vice presidents to work with network partners in devising strategies for successfully handling increasingly diversified customer volume, and further institutionalizing the utilization of best practices for serving network customers and closing transactions. Collins served from 2000 to 2004 as the senior vice president, network services for RELO, based in Chicago, where he was responsible for growing and managing its national broker network. Prior to that, Collins was vice president, relocation for Edina Realty Home Services in Minneapolis, where he held overall operational responsibility for its relocation division. From 1988 to 1996, Collins held a series of increasingly responsible roles with PHH Relocation Services in Oakbrook, Illinois. He earned his bachelors degree in business administration from National Louis University in Evanston, IL.
Renwick Congdon President and Chief Executive Officer IMPREV, Inc.
Renwick Congdon has worked in the real estate industry for over 22 years and has extensive experience in developing products and solutions for the real estate professional. His experience is a unique combination of industry knowledge, technical know-how, strategic planning successes and marketing savvy. Renwick is noted for both his ability to apply technology to solve business needs and for his intuitive grasp of the complexities of strategic and tactical marketing processes. In 2000, Renwick founded IMPREV, Inc., a leading global Application Service Provider of world-class, online marketing technologies. He designed IMPREV as a company that wraps cutting-edge technologies with extremely user-friendly interfaces. Renwick’s in-depth experience in brand building strategies has made him a successful business leader and corporate builder. His creative approach and thorough understanding of the intricacies of branding and positioning can easily be considered one of Renwick’s major strengths.
Chris Crocker Vice President, Programs, Research and Development Realogy, NRT Western Region
Chris Crocker is presently serving as the Vice President of Programs, Research and Development for the NRT Division of Realogy. Chris Crocker is a seasoned real estate veteran with extensive experience in both residential and commercial real estate. In his present role, Chris oversees company strategy and operational improvement projects as well as spearheading technology development for the Realogy corporate owned operations. Prior to joining Coldwell Banker, Chris was President of Keller Williams Palos Verdes Realty and formerly a Vice President with NAI Capital Commercial Real Estate. In addition to numerous residential and investment clients, Chris has previously served as exclusive broker to many major corporations including: Staples, Bank of America, In-N-Out Burger, Blockbuster Video, Mobil Oil and the U.S. Department of Justice. Combining his diverse real estate experience with a background in technology investment banking and consulting gives Chris a unique perspective on our industry. A native of Los Angeles, Chris is a graduate of the U.C.L.A. Anderson Graduate School of Business Executive Program. He resides in Palos Verdes Estates with his wife Michele, and two young daughters. In his spare time Chris is a classic car enthusiast and an active sailboat racer with the Californai Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey.
Allan D. Dalton President Move, Inc., Real Estate Division
Allan Dalton is President of Move, Inc.’s Real Estate Division and was previously President and CEO of Realtor.com®. He joined Realtor.com® in October 2002. Dalton’s 25-year plus career in the real estate industry includes 18 years as president and co-owner of an independent real estate brokerage with more than 30 company-owned offices and 28 affiliates. He has also served as Executive Vice President of Coldwell Banker New England and as a Senior Vice President of NRT. Dalton brings a high level of energy, dedication, competitiveness and creativity in keeping Realtor.com®, the official web site of the National Association of Realtors, at the forefront of the consumer experience. Additionally, he is the progenitor of the marketing systems for four national brands.
Leon d’Ancona President IMS Incorporated
In 1985, Leon d’Ancona started out by renovating homes in an unstable real estate market. The idea was to renovate quickly and sell quickly. He found that if it took longer than 78 days to sell, he would lose money. He suspected that there was predictability in the housing market. Using available data, Leon developed algorithms to predict short-term market trends and frequency distribution charts to find out which part of the real estate market was moving. Using this detailed information he was able to choose the right professionals who knew how to market homes and bring buyers. Armed with these and many other real estate statistics, his business made money. 20 years later IMS Incorporated, the company that resulted from Leon’s insight, is North America’s #1 real estate statistics provider and now offers stats online with REality™. IMS has established ongoing relationships with firms such as: Century 21, GMAC, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Prudential and Keller Williams. Re/Max Corporate offices awarded IMS Incorporated the largest statistical information contract in their history.
Di-Ann Eisnor Chief Executive Officer Platial Inc.
Di-Ann Eisnor is CEO of Platial Inc., a Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers funded social mapping company based in Portland, OR. Di-Ann is an entrepreneur inspired by urban geography and online community. Platial is Di-Ann's third start-up; Eisnor Interactive became part of the Omnicom Group in 2000, Community-centric Marketing was started from Amsterdam to help businesses like American Express, The Metropolitan Opera and community groups create collaborative campaigns fueled by social software. Di-Ann's community-building work has been featured in Fast Company, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, PBS and CNN. She has been on the covers of Fortune Small Business and Working Woman Magazine. Di-Ann has a BS in Painting/Business from NYU and her autobiogeography can be found at www.platial.com/deisnor.
Stephen M. Fells Founder and Chief Executive Officer AgencyLogic.com
Stephen Fells is the co-founder and CEO of AgencyLogic, a division of Network Earth, Inc. With extensive experience in the technology industry, Stephen has focused the past several years assisting Realtors with their presence on the Web. His combined technical and business skills have given him a distinct vision for helping real estate companies realize the power of Internet marketing. Initially designing complete Websites for Realtors, he created AgencyLogic PowerSites™ in 2004 to provide a quick, easy and affordable way to produce showcase Websites that are 100% dedicated to a single property listing. His experience includes working for many diverse companies and his computer background includes over 17 years in banking, Government and British Police services. Educated in England, Stephen first worked in a Bank Manager Trainee position for National Westminster Bank in Essex. He moved to the Cayman Islands, in the British West Indies, in 1992 where he worked for the Government before moving to New York in 1994. Originally working for U.S. Trust Bank on their existing database infrastructure and Internet projects, Stephen started Network Earth to provide a high service Internet Company as the growth in this market started to explode. Stephen is a member of MENSA, a Master SCUBA Diving Instructor with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and is an Honorary Member of The New York International Police Association. He is also an Associate Member of The Institute for the Management of Information Systems in London, England and a member of The Churchill Center.
--> Joseph G. Ferrara Co-Founder Sellsius® Real Estate
Joseph G. Ferrara was born and raised in New York. He has been a real estate attorney for 25 years and is a New York State Licensed real estate broker. Along with Rudolph D. Bachraty III, Ferrara co-founded Sellsius Real Estate, a start-up online grassroots real estate community to help individuals promote themselves, their businesses and their listings. As co-creators of the Sellsius Real Estate Blog, their goal is to promote new real estate agents and bloggers and to discuss all real estate-related topics, news, how-to tips, video, advice and tech information in an entertaining way.
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.
Chris Flanagan Managing Director and Head of Global Structured Finance Research JP Morgan Securities
Chris Flanagan is a Managing Director and Head of Global Structured Finance Research at JP Morgan Securities. Chris joined JP Morgan Chase in April 2000 after working at Merrill Lynch for the prior 14 years. His group is responsible for a broad array of regular research publications, including ABS Performance Statistics/Monitor, Global ABS/CDO Weekly Market Snapshot, CDO Monitor, European Structured Products, and ABCP Market Dynamics and Trends. Chris and his team were named to the Institutional Investor All-American Research team for ABS and CDO Strategy in recent years. Chris holds an MBA in Finance from SUNY Albany, along with a BS in Engineering Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Marty Frame Chief Information Officer Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions
Marty joined the team at Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions in May, 2006 as the company’s Chief Information Officer. For eight years prior, he was with REALTOR.com, most recently as its Chief Technology Officer, responsible for consumer experience, product strategy, and product development. During that time, he developed and implemented a program to simultaneously launch a new real estate search engine, business model, and operational services for REALTOR.com, linking high growth and product performance to continuous improvements in data aggregation, service, and support. Prior to REALTOR.com, Marty developed transaction management, marketing automation, and property locator systems for a variety of residential and commercial real estate companies. Marty is a graduate of Yale University and was one of Inman News’s “15 to Watch” and “100 Most Influential Real Estate People” in 2005.
Lloyd Frink Co-Founder and President Zillow.com
Lloyd Frink is the President of Zillow.com. Before founding Zillow.com, Lloyd was at Expedia, where he was Senior Vice President, Supplier Relations, managing the air, hotel, car, destination services, content, merchandising and partner marketing groups. Lloyd joined Expedia in 1995 as one of the first members of the team. From 1988 to 1994, Lloyd worked at Microsoft where he started the group that created products eventually evolving into the Tablet PC and Pocket PC. One of the youngest interns ever hired at Microsoft, Lloyd interned summers from 1979 until 1987. Lloyd graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Economics in 1987.
--> John Geraci President and Co-Creator outside.in
John Geraci creates and blogs about emerging forms of social media. He specializes in media that combine elements of the Internet and physical location in new and unique ways. His prior work, which includes influential sites such as Neighbornode and Foundcity, has been presented at some of the largest conferences on ubiquitous computing, including Where2.0 and Ubicomp, and has been enjoyed by millions of people around the world. Geraci and his work have been featured in the New York Times, Wired, the Washington Post, Japanese Public Television, and many other news sources. He is a graduate of NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. You can visit his blog at www.johngeraci.com.
Jim R. Gillespie President and Chief Executive Officer Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation
Jim Gillespie was appointed president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation in April 2004 after serving as the company’s chief operating officer for three years. A real estate veteran with over 31 years of experience, Gillespie has been with the Coldwell Banker® brand since 1976. As president and chief executive officer, Gillespie oversees marketing, operations, education, mortgage and field services. As the public face of Coldwell Banker, Gillespie has become one of real estate industry’s most quoted executives and regularly appears on such prestigious media outlets as CNBC, Fox News Channel, PBS, ABC, CBS and Bloomberg. As the company’s chief operating officer from 2001 to 2004, Gillespie directed operations, education, mortgage and field services, which includes all Coldwell Banker national events, awards and recognition programs. Gillespie also focused on communication between Coldwell Banker corporate headquarters, regional offices and its affiliate network. Gillespie’s career has included roles in almost every facet of the real estate industry. Prior to moving to the New Jersey-based Coldwell Banker corporate office in 2001, Gillespie served Regional Director for the Coldwell Banker Southeast regional office. Previously, he had run both the Midwest and Northeast regional offices in the same capacity. Gillespie has held various management and sales positions at Coldwell Banker: operating officer for the Coldwell Banker company-owned offices in Boston; president of Coldwell Banker company-owned operations in Kansas City; and vice president of real estate services for Coldwell Banker Relocation Services. During his tenure with Coldwell Banker, Gillespie also played a role in the successful integration of Coldwell Banker into the Cendant Mobility Broker Network.
Zvi Gillon Executive Director, Asset Backed Correlation & Exotic Trading Morgan Stanley
Zvi Gillon is an Executive Director with Morgan Stanley responsible for Asset Backed Correlation and Exotic trading. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Gillon was responsible for repackaging across several asset classes, correlation and corporate volatility products at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Gillon traded commodities and equity derivatives with ZAHR Trading in New York and London and worked for BlackRock Financial Management. Mr. Gillon received a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Ilyce Glink President, ThinkGlink, Inc. and Syndicated Columnist
Ilyce R. Glink is a 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.
Glenn Goad Executive Vice President, Consumer Strategy Network Communications, Inc.
Since March 2005, Mr. Goad has served as Executive Vice President — Consumer Strategy, responsible for NCI’s Internet business and national distribution operations. Prior to joining NCI in 2002, Mr. Goad served as the Vice President of Sales for the Ticketmaster- Citysearch real estate division.
--> Moki Goyal Partner / Director of Post-Production Resolution Seven
Moki Goyal is a digital video editor and motion graphics artist. He is currently the founding partner of two companies: Resolution Seven, a digital video production company specializing in producing videos and animations for companies ranging from non-profits to large corporations, and First Year Films, a firm that edits home video footage for families. Moki uses Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe’s Premiere Pro editing software and has produced in many different formats such as podcasts, video for the Web, Flash, DV and his new favorite, HDV. He is an avid photographer and loves learning new technologies.
Kimberly Gorsuch-Bradbury Senior Vice President and General Manager Real Estate Networks, RealEstate.com
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.
Matt Heaton Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer ActiveRain Corp.
Matt Heaton is Co-Founder and CEO of ActiveRain Corp. and operates the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, the largest online social network and blogging community for real estate professionals. ActiveRain was originally founded in early 2004 to provide lead management technology for real estate brokers, and launched their real estate social network in June 2006. Within six months, ActiveRain surpassed 10,000 members built almost entirely on word-of-mouth referrals. The ActiveRain Real Estate Network seeks to empower the real estate professional, and as an extension provide them a channel to disseminate information to the consumer. Prior to co-founding ActiveRain, Matt spent seven years working in product development for several Seattle-based technology startups. He holds a bachelors degree in computer science from The Evergreen State College.
Douglas Heddings Founder, TrueGotham.com; and Founder, The Heddings Property Group, LLC
Founder of The Heddings Property Group, LLC, and a Senior Vice President of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Doug is among the top 1% of real estate brokers nationwide. Doug's work is distinguished by an unwavering commitment to the best interests of his clients–even when it departs from his own short-term interests--which has earned him a steady stream of repeat and referral business. A Manhattan resident since 1989, Doug prides himself on his knowledge of the marketplace, his negotiating skills, his meticulous research, and innovative marketing techniques.
Dottie Herman President and Chief Executive Officer Prudential Douglas Elliman
Dottie Herman is President & CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Her domain covers 3,000 real estate professionals and 650 employees working in 60 offices from Manhattan to Montauk. Under her leadership, Prudential Douglas Elliman has become a $10 billion business and is on track to hitting $12 billion in 2005. She also controls Manhattan’s largest residential property manager, Douglas Elliman Property Management, as well as Liberty Land Title, and Preferred Empire Mortgage Company. Herman began her career on Long Island and purchased Prudential Long Island Realty in 1989. She later purchased Douglas Elliman, Manhattan’s largest brokerage, with her partner Howard Lorber, in 2003.
Diana Horowitz Director, Special Advertising Projects International Herald Tribune The New York Times Media Group
Diana Horowitz is Director, Special Advertising Projects for the International Herald Tribune in New York where she has been based since July 2005. Previously, she was Global Sales Development Director of the International Herald Tribune and prior to that Sales Development Director for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, where she held a number 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.
Dr. James W. Hughes Dean, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Rutgers University
Dr. James W. Hughes is the Dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, appointed to that position in 1995. He has been a member of the faculty since 1971. In addition, since 1988 he has also been the Director of the Rutgers Regional Report which, during its 18-year tenure, has produced 31 major economic/demographic/housing studies on New Jersey and the New York region. He also edits the SITAR-Rutgers Regional Report, a quarterly report on the economy and office market in New Jersey. Dr. Hughes is a nationally-recognized academic expert on demographics, housing, and regional economics, and was a contributing editor to American Demographics from 1982 to 1996. He is author or co-author of 33 books and monographs and more than 130 articles, generally focusing on housing, demographics and economic development patterns. Among these are The Atlantic City Gamble (published by the Harvard University Press), The Dynamics of America’s Housing, America’s New Market Geography, and America’s Demographic Tapestry: Baseline for the New Millennium (published by the Rutgers University Press). He is currently a Distinguished Fellow of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), and has been awarded the Rutgers Presidential Award for Distinguished Public Service, as well as the Distinguished Service Award of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association. He has been both a Woodrow Wilson and Ford Foundation Fellow and has served as a consultant to numerous federal, state and local public bodies as well as to many private and corporate clients.
Sami Inkinen Chief Operations Officer Trulia
Sami brings to Trulia solid management and consulting experience in technology and software development. He has worked on Microsoft's strategy team for MS Office, on various business development initiatives for Nokia, and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company within the software, telecommunications and government sectors. Sami combines his Blue Chip experience with an entrepreneurial background, including the successful launch and sale of his first company, Matchem, a wireless software provider enabling television broadcasters to deliver interactive programming to target audiences in Europe and Asia via innovative cell phone technology. Sami received his Master's in Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology and his MBA from Stanford University. An avid endurance sports athlete, he applies the same passion for sports to new technology and the creation of a user-friendly online search experience to benefit real estate professionals and consumers alike.
Bradley J. Inman Publisher and Founder, Inman News; and 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 Internet video destination website, is chronicling different neighborhoods and destinations around the globe through 2 to 5 minute films created specifically for the Internet. Mr. Inman is also the founder of Inman Stories, an innovative digital media company that specializes in the creation, production and distribution of original video content via the Internet. Inman Stories films focus on special, unique homes and interesting places, and convey the emotional story behind the fabulous spaces, intriguing people and inviting locations associated with them. 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, New York Times and CBS MarketWatch. Real Estate Connect, Mr. Inman's annual conference series, attracts 1000’s of top executives from both the technology and real estate industries. Additionally, 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. Mr. Inman has been a visiting lecturer at San Francisco State University, a visiting professor and lecturer at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and the Terner Urban Development Reporting teaching fellow at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Mr. Inman sits on the BRIDGE Housing Board of Directors.
Glade Jones President and Chief Executive Officer Obeo
Glade Jones is the President and CEO of Obeo, which was formed in 1999. He and his founding partner Andy Evans have grown Obeo to be the largest full service provider of online visual and interactive content to the Real Estate community. A licensed Realtor since 1992, Glade has also held various executive positions within the Real Estate community: He was Vice President of Blackburn Jones Real Estate, Vice President of Sales and Marketing and later President and part owner of Calute Homes, a residential construction company in Salt Lake City. Glade graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Organizational Psychology and an MBA with an emphasis in Strategy, receiving both degrees from Brigham Young University. Glade and his beautiful wife Tonya reside in Utah with their four children.
--> Rajiv Kamilla Structured Products Trading Goldman Sachs
Mr. Kamilla is responsible for new products trading (including synthetics) and structured principal investments within the Structured Products Group at Goldman Sachs. Additionally, Rajiv is the spokesperson for Goldman Sachs in the ISDA task force for standardization of documentation regarding structured products synthetics and in the inter-dealer efforts related to the creation of tradable indices of asset-backed credit default swaps and other related derivatives products. Prior to his current role, Rajiv spent a few years within the Credit Derivatives business at Goldman Sachs; initially focusing on CDO origination, alternative asset securitizations, esoteric structured derivatives; and thereafter in a principal investment capacity investing the firm's capital in structured, illiquid, credit instruments and distressed leveraged leases. Mr. Kamilla joined Goldman Sachs in 1997 as an Associate in Structured Finance, where he specialized in the securitization of amortizing assets such as auto-loans, boat-loans, investment-grade corporate debt, and in synthetic risk securitizations.
Tom Kelly Syndicated Newspaper Columnist & Author
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.
Glenn Kelman Chief Executive Officer Redfin
Glenn Kelman joined Redfin on September 27, 2005, and is in charge of company operations. In 1997, Kelman co-founded corporate portal market-leader Plumtree Software. As the company grew to become one of the only software companies to go public in 2002, he worked as interim head of operations and engineering and then later assumed responsibility for marketing, product management and business development. Prior to his Plumtree tenure, Kelman was one of the first employees at a Sequoia-backed start-up acquired in 1995 by Informix. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley.
Brendan King Chief Operating Officer Point2 Technologies, Realty Solutions
As Chief Operating Officer of Point2 Technologies’ Realty Solutions, Brendan King is responsible for the strategic vision, direction and execution of the company’s real estate business. He brings to Point2 more than 16 years of business, sales and marketing experience, in the information technology and software industries. Mr. King joined Point2 Technologies as Director of Marketing, in 2000. In 2003, he was appointed to his current role as Chief Operating Officer of the company’s real estate business. By 2005, Point2 had become the largest provider of real estate online marketing software, with over 70,000 brokers and agents in 55 countries subscribing to its Point2 Agent platform. After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan in 1989, with Bachelor degrees in Advanced Physics and Geophysics, Mr. King joined Cameco Corporation (TSE: CCO, NYSE: CCJ), an international uranium and gold mining organization, as a Mining Geophysicist. Shortly thereafter, he founded two computer equipment and software businesses, and in 1995 integrated his operations into a Compusmart franchise. Over the next five years, Mr. King played an instrumental role in the growth of the nationwide chain, until selling his interest and joining the Point2 management team, in early 2000.
Ed Krafchow President Prudential California Realty
Ed Krafchow is President of Prudential California Realty. Through his leadership, traditional real estate service and progressive technology have been blended to create an environment that helps agents and clients succeed. He is a pioneer in online real estate, from Listing Watch to the company's proprietary WebTop. Krafchow, in partnership with Dave Cobo, has led the company to unparalleled growth, quadrupling the company's assets since taking over in 1991. Krafchow is a national keynote speaker in real estate technology and was recently identified by the California Association of Realtors as one of California's most influential brokers. He holds a B.A. and Master of Arts from UCLA.
Mark Lesswing SVP and CTO, National Association of REALTORS® and Center for REALTOR® Technology
Mark Lesswing started programming robots in high school, which then led to management positions with Sybase and Oracle. While at Oracle, Mr. Lesswing pioneered Object-oriented programming. Mark went on to found STR Consultancy in 1992. Later, he spent three years involved in high tech turnarounds years prior to NAR. Mr. Lesswing is now responsible for NAR's technology center and is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology conferences. Mark is a graduate of Lehigh University with a BS in Industrial Engineering.
Ben Levelthal Editorial Director Curbed.com
Mark Lesswing started programming robots in high school, which then led to management positions with Sybase and Oracle. While at Oracle, Mr. Lesswing pioneered Object-oriented programming. Mark went on to found STR Consultancy in 1992. Later, he spent three years involved in high tech turnarounds years prior to NAR. Mr. Lesswing is now responsible for NAR's technology center and is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology conferences. Mark is a graduate of Lehigh University with a BS in Industrial Engineering.
Pamela Liebman President and Chief Executive Officer The Corcoran Group
Pamela Liebman has been President and CEO of The Corcoran Group since 2000. She oversees day-to-day operations, directs 55 managers and 2,100 employees, and focuses the projects of a real estate company with sales of more than $10 billion annually. After joining Corcoran as a broker in 1985, Liebman was named director of the company’s first downtown office and became a partner in 1990. During her term as CEO, Corcoran was acquired by NRT, the nation’s largest real estate brokerage, and has expanded through strategic acquisitions in New York City, the Hamptons and Palm Beach, to become the nation’s premier luxury real estate firm.
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.
Justin McCarthy Strategic Partner Development Manager, Real Estate Google Inc.
As a member of Google’s Strategic Partner Development team, Justin McCarthy is responsible for leveraging Google's volume of real estate searches for top real estate companies. To date, Google has enjoyed productive relationships with leading real estate companies – including, all of the major national players both full service brokerages (Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, RE/MAX, Weichert, Zip Realty) and intermediaries (HomeGain, HouseValues, RealEstate.com). McCarthy joined Google from DoubleClick Inc., where he was the General Manager, Entertainment & Travel Networks and responsible for leading the business development and advertising sales effort behind DoubleClick's Entertainment & Youth Network. In that role, McCarthy managed partnerships and directed advertising relationships with top tier customers. In addition to numerous interviews in national publications, Justin is a regularly featured speaker at many key real estate trade events, including: Inman Real Estate Connect, RIS Media, Re/Max, Coldwell Banker, and National Association of Newspapers, GMAC. McCarthy earned a BA in English from Trinity College in Connecticut. He currently lives in New York City.
Justin Merickel Senior Director, Finance/Mortgage Category Yahoo! Search Marketing
Justin Merickel, Finance Category Director, joined Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) in July 2004 to lead the company’s finance category initiatives aimed at helping top tier financial services companies maximize the effectiveness of their Yahoo! search marketing campaigns. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Justin was a Senior Consultant at Compete, Inc. where he led online market research projects for prominent financial services companies including Bank One and Allstate. Before Compete, Justin spent 7 years in interactive marketing and analytics which included founding an interactive marketing agency that was purchased by Arnold Communications in 1999. He began his career in advertising with McCann Erickson. Justin earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Hamilton College.
Oren Michels Chief Executive Officer Mashery
Oren Michels brings more than 15 years of experience to his job as CEO of Mashery. Michels has a proven track record with experience across multiple industries. Previously, Michels was vice president of business development at Feedster, where he negotiated partnerships with AOL, Real Networks and Mitsui, and oversaw the company's activities in China. Prior to Feedster, Michels was president of Colt HR, a leading provider of outsourced benefits administration software and services to the mid market. He also co-founded WiFinder, an international provider of directory services for wi-fi public access hotspots; served as president of winebid.com, where he managed the company’s growth and helped establish it as a leading online wine auction market; served as COO of two manufacturing companies; and as CEO of The Groundlings, an entertainment production company in Hollywood. Michels began his career as a software designer for Hughes Aircraft and has been a consultant to companies in the management, financial, marketing and information technology industries. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurial studies from UCLA's Anderson School.
David M. Michonski Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy
As Chairman and CEO of RealShare International, a holding company for Coldwell Banker franchises in Manhattan, David Michonski has helped the company achieve a 33% average yearly compound growth rate from 1996 to the present. He helped bring the company from $40 million in sales to more than $700 million in that period. He also founded Sovereign Title and Sovereign Mortgage companies. Michonski is the Founding President of the Manhattan Multiple Listing Service. Earlier in his career he was an international real estate consultant and President, Poland Development Partner, developers of commercial and residential real estate in Eastern Europe. Michonski earned an A.B. from Colgate University.
Philip Mikal BuyerHunt, Inc. Co-Founder, Vice President, Technology
Philip brings to BuyerHunt (http://buyerhunt.com) 13 years of Internet technology experience. As a leading technology consultant and author, he has provided research, development, strategy and implementation of technical solutions for companies such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Previous to BuyerHunt, he was co-founder of LenderInspection.com Corporation. LenderInspection was a provider of loan draw inspections that leveraged Internet and wireless technologies. LenderInspection was sold in an upper-management buyout in February of 2005. Philip is also the inventor of several patent pending Internet-based technologies.
Jonathan J. Miller, CRP Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Miller Samuel Inc.
Jonathan is a co-founder and President/CEO of Miller Samuel Inc. He is a certified general real estate appraiser in the state of New York and has been appraising properties in Manhattan for 20 years. Miller Samuel provided property valuations of more than $5,000,000,000 in the past year. He is also a co-founder and managing principal of Miller Cicero, LLC, which provides commercial real estate valuation services in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx. The properties appraised and reviewed by Jonathan have all been located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Jonathan has performed extensive assignments concerning mortgage origination, relocation, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, asset valuation, share allocation, common area valuation, trust and estate matters and has been admitted as an expert witness in four different venues. Jonathan has been a frequent featured speaker at both local and national appraiser and real estate related conferences, industry panels and trade groups. He has served on advisory panels for the Employee Relocation Council concerning co-op, appraisal and technology issues, is an ongoing taskforce panel member for Fannie Mae on co-op matters, is a member of the Mayor's Economic Advisory Panel for the New York City Office of Management and Budget and is a member of the New York City Council Finance Committee Economic Advisory Board. He has participated in, or his statistics have been used within research projects with a number of government agencies, consulting groups, and academic institutions, including New York University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Columbia University and Baruch College. His firm provides Manhattan market statistical content to New York Times Digital, the on-line entity of the New York Times Company. Jonathan regularly authors articles on valuation issues, techniques and market trends. In 2005, Jonathan built and launched two widely read real estate blogs: Matrix: Interpreting the Real Estate Economy and Soapbox: Appraisal Ethics, Ideas and Industry Issues. He is currently the webmaster for both of these sites.
Michael Montsko President Weichert Lead Network
Mike Montsko oversees Weichert Realtors’ state-of-the-art customer contact center. Prior to his promotion as President, he spearheaded the huge technological initiative that created Weichert’s industry-leading contact center. The only one of its kind in the industry, the Weichert customer contact center uses sophisticated technology to deliver responsive personal service to online and 800-number customers seven days a week. Previously, Montsko was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for YHD/Foxtons, Inc. and designed and developed complex Internet applications for AT&T’s consumer long distance division. While there, he was appointed to the company’s world class database division’s architecture council and AT&T’s consumer services web team.
Tim Moreland Executive Vice President E-LOAN
Tim Moreland’s career has spanned 30 years within the real estate industry. He serves a board member and speaker at industry organizations such as NAR, RESPRO and MBA. Tim’s 30 years include successful experience as a recognized leader not only by the real estate profession but within mortgage, relocation and title industries at the local, regional and national levels. His responsibilities and accomplishments include: the leading Franchise Development Director for 5 consecutive years at Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates; Vice President of ABA Development for Chicago Title, Vice President of Operations (Joint Venture & Marketing Alliances) at Wells Fargo and is EVP with E-LOAN developing the B-B Models involving Equity Real Estate Investments, Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures for the real estate, home building and lending communities. During Tim’s career he has worked with over 300 Joint Ventures & over 600 Marketing Alliances with Chicago Title & Wells Fargo and over 500 franchisees at Coldwell Banker. Primary focus has been with the business development of ABA’s, Increasing Capture rates, the creation / implementation of educational development / management tools for ABA’s and overall profitability of the partnership.
Richard Nacht Founder and Chief Executive Officer Blogging Systems
Richard Nacht is the founder and CEO of Blogging Systems. Richard has over twenty years in the real estate, finance and technology development industries. Richard has focused his talents on creating e-commerce strategies aimed at producing technologies that benefit the consumer and businesses. Richard has led Blogging Systems as the leader in the rapidly growing area of corporate blogging by delivering a blogging platform that produces a low-cost, high results tool for effective communication and collaboration, competitive marketing, sales, and customer relations. Among his significant successes Richard was honored as a New Jersey Governor’s Cup for Entrepreneurial Excellence finalist and was a member of the Inc. 500 list of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2003. Richard is currently co-writing a book for McGraw-Hill, Realty Blogging, to be published in the fall of 2006. Richard also writes a monthly column on blogging for Realtors in RISMedia’s Real Estate Magazine. Richard’s educational achievements include a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from New York Law School and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from New York University. He is a current doctoral candidate at the International School for Management in Paris, France.
Tim Nats Product Manager MapQuest Business Solutions
Tim joined MapQuest in 2006 to lead the Product Management team for MapQuest Business Solutions which provides a location enabling platform that serves over 1400 global organizations in key industries including travel and hospitality, retail, real estate, health care, and banking. He has more than 15 years of experience in planning and building enterprise scale business applications and technologies. Before joining MapQuest, Tim worked at Oracle where he was a Product Strategy Manager focused on Oracle's next generation enterprise application technology strategy. Prior to Oracle, Tim held a variety of roles in information technology services, professional services, and enterprise software product teams including development, architecture, management, and product management.
Craig Newmark Founder and Customer Service Representative craigslist.org
Craig Newmark is a Web-oriented software engineer, with approximately 30 years of experience, including 17 years at IBM. He has served as Customer Service Representative of craigslist.org for 10 years. He has extensive experience evangelizing the Internet, including efforts at Bank of America and Charles Schwab. In 1995, Newmark started craigslist, which serves as a non-commercial community service with classifieds and discussion forums. It focuses on helping people with basic needs such as housing and jobs, with a pervasive culture of trust. Newmark also is involved with many community efforts, particularly involving Mideast peace and new forms of media involving "participatory journalism" and blogging.
Frank E. Nothaft Vice President and Chief Economist Freddie Mac
Frank E. Nothaft was appointed to the position of chief economist in December 2001 and vice president in March 2004. In this position, Nothaft is responsible for primary and secondary mortgage market analysis and research, macroeconomic analysis and forecasting. Nothaft is also involved in the analysis of affordable lending activities and policy issues affecting the housing industry. Prior to being named chief economist, Nothaft served as deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac from 1988, and as a senior economist from November 1986. Nothaft was an economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1983 until 1986, where he served in the mortgage and consumer finance section and as the assistant to Governor Henry C. Wallich. A widely quoted expert on housing and economic issues, Nothaft makes frequent guest appearances in both local and national media outlets. Nothaft holds a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and is a member of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Louise Phillips Forbes Senior Vice President Halstead Property
For more than 17 years, Louise Phillips Forbes has been a leading player in New York real estate and has developed a significant following among homebuyers and developers. A senior vice president at Halstead Property, Louise's residential sales recently surpassed the $1 billion mark. Specializing in co-op and condo conversions in the late 1980s, she mastered the business through her understanding of regulations, financial operations and physical conditions of conversions. Louise's expertise is actively sought by developers for her keen understanding of the New York City real estate market and her ability to identify nontraditional neighborhoods for new developments and conversions, many of which have become anchors in the area. She is currently marketing five developments throughout Manhattan, with several others in the pipeline. Louise launched her real estate career with Halstead Property, then served ten years with Insignia Douglas Elliman before rejoining Halstead. She is a NY State licensed real estate broker and a frequent guest lecturer for the Real Estate Board of New York.
Chad Pinson Managing Director HomePoint.com
Chad Pinson is the managing director of HomePoint.com, a firm that works with consumers, real estate brokers and home builders in Colorado and across the US. HomePoint.com focuses on educating consumers about the options available to them when buying or selling a home. HomePoint.com also helps real estate brokers and home builders better market themselves on the Internet. Pinson joined HomePoint.com after 10 years in the real estate industry developing properties for Horizon Homes and affiliates. He focused on turnaround and renovation candidates ranging in size from $1 million to over $10 million. Prior to that, Mr. Pinson was a commercial banker specializing in real estate finance. Pinson received a BSBA in Finance from the University of Northern Colorado.
Stan Ponte Senior Vice President Stribling & Associates and Stribling Marketing
Stan Ponte is a Senior Vice President with both the resale and marketing divisions of Stribling. Stan and his team of brokers have created a unique business model with a diverse portfolio of properties. “Like all markets, different sectors of the real estate may be hot while others are cool. I have worked to create a team of professionals and partnerships which allow me to project specialized skills for such diverse markets as the Park Avenue cooperative market, the townhouse market and the new development and conversion market, where I currently represent Loft 25 and the Parkwood totalling a portfolio of over 120 properties.” Stan matches his drive for success in the private sector with this philanthropic goals including serving on the board of directors for the Anti-Violence Project, local and national politics, and other New York City based organizations.
-->Dominic Preuss Product Manager, Local Advertising Google
Dominic is the Product Manager for Local Advertising at Google. He is responsible for the advertising product strategy in Google's location-based services and such new product initiatives as local business ads and local targeting technology. He has spent the last 3 years working with some of Google's largest Fortune 500 companies to optimize these client relationships as well as with some of Google's smallest customers to meet their marketing needs. Prior to Google, he worked in the enterprise software industry as a consultant and salesperson in various U.S. and European markets. Dominic holds a B.S.E. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University.
Diane M. Ramirez President Halstead Property, LLC
Diane M. Ramirez is President of Halstead Property, LLC. The company was acquired by Terra Holdings, its parent company, in April 2001 and the firms principals are David Burris, Kent M. Swig, Arthur Zeckendorf and Will Zeckendorf. She began her real estate career in 1973 in Palm Beach, Florida, where she continues to maintain her license. In 1975, Mrs. Ramirez, her husband and two children returned to New York, their hometown. She acquired her real estate license and worked at a competing firm until joining forces with Mr. Halstead, the founder of Halstead Property. When the firm was founded in 1984, Mrs. Ramirez worked as a selling broker until 1987. During these years, she consistently ranked in the top 5% of the firm's brokers and was the winner of many company sales and listing awards. In 1988, she was the recipient of the Real Estate Board of New York's "Deal of the Year" award. In 1987, Mrs. Ramirez assumed the management role of director of sales. She was promoted to executive director of sales in 1993; and named President in 1999. She was a partner and board member until the firm was acquired. Mrs. Ramirez is an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York, Inc., where she serves on the Board of Governors and its Advisory Board as well as serving as Co-Chair on the Board of Directors of the Residential Division. She also serves on the Deal of the Year Committee and its Investment Advisory sub-committee. Mrs. Ramirez is the voting member of the Residential Brokerage Division, Interfirm Forum, which she co-chaired from 1996-98. She is currently a committee member on Admissions and has served on the Ethics Committee and Education Committee (co-chair from 1994-1996). She is an accredited continuing education teacher for the State of New York. Mrs. Ramirez is a member of the Real Estate Brokerage Managers Council, the professional organization of business management which serves real estate brokerage owners and managers, and in 1996, she earned the industry-recognized CRB designation.
Glenn Roberts, Jr. Journalist Inman News
Glenn Roberts Jr. joined Inman News in 2004 and has worked as a journalist since 1994. Roberts reports on general real estate news, real estate professionals and trade groups, real estate trends, and real estate technologies. Prior to his experience at Inman News, Roberts wrote about the commercial insurance industry for Crittenden Newsletters. For much of his career he worked in newspapers, covering everything from nuclear weapons research labs to city government offices as a beat reporter. He has written for The Davis Enterprise, San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune and ANG Newspapers.
Alison Rogers Syndicated Columnist and Former Real Estate Editor, New York Post
Alison Rogers is the founder of Front Porch Real Estate, LLC, a firm that works with buyers, sellers, and developers in urban New York. As a journalist, she has written for Money magazine, Fortune magazine, and The New York Times. She founded the New York Post’s much-imitated real estate section, which gained 30,000 readers in the six weeks after launch. The syndicated columnist of Inman News' "Diary of a Flipper" column, Rogers also speaks frequently to first-time home buyers and runs a humor website about the Oscars, located at www.thefelixes.com.
Michael Rogers Author; Futurist-in-Residence, The New York Times; Founder and Consultant, Practical Futurist
Michael Rogers is Futurist-in-Residence for The New York Times and an interactive media pioneer, novelist and journalist. His New York-based consultancy, Practical Futurist, works with both startups and major media companies, and he writes a column of the same name for MSNBC. For ten years he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, helping guide both the newspaper and its sister publication Newsweek into the new century, as well as serving as editor and general manager of Newsweek.com. Rogers is also a best-selling novelist whose fiction explores the human impact of technology. His five books have been published worldwide, optioned for film and television, and chosen by the Book of the Month Club. After a decade as a writer for Rolling Stone, Rogers co-founded Outside magazine. He then joined Newsweek to create the magazine's Technology section, covering topics ranging from Chernobyl and genetic engineering to computers and the Internet, earning numerous journalism awards for his work. Rogers studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University with additional training in finance and management at Stanford Business School’s Executive Program. He lives in New York and is at work on his next novel.
Noah Rosenblatt Founder UrbanDigs.com
Noah Rosenblatt thrives in fast paced environments where his expertise in the business of investing and his thorough market knowledge set him apart. A native New Yorker and previous professional NASDAQ equities trader, Noah possesses the skills to make sure that his clients "understand every aspect of the investment they are about to make; know the value of the apartment in relation to its neighborhood; and know the health of the housing market." Noah’s approach to selling real estate in Manhattan is founded on his philosophy that as an agent it is his job to ensure that his clients not only find an apartment that meets their lifestyle needs and wants, but one that also represents a "true value." Noah says, "Building financials, neighborhood details and realizing permanent features all make a big difference in investing wisely. I have no problem advising my clients against buying a particular property." This devotion to honesty and customer service makes Noah’s clients loyal and comfortable making such important investments under his guidance. In late 2005, Noah started UrbanDigs.com, a weblog that offers tips for both buyers and sellers to help maximize profit in the New York City housing market. In 2006 Inman News recognized Noah’s blog as the “Most Innovative Real Estate Weblog.” Noah’s writing on UrbanDigs.com is straightforward and reliable. His “from the trenches” insights have gained him respect amongst his peers. They’ve also given potential clients a look at the dedication and know-how Noah invests in his real estate business.
Ryan Roslansky Real Estate Agent Michael Saunders & Company
Ryan Roslansky, with Michael Saunders & Company in Sarasota, FL, represents the "new breed" of real estate agents focused on bringing a higher level of service and representation to buyers and sellers through the extensive use of technology. As a pioneer in the evolution of real estate on the the Internet, Ryan's distinguished background is impressive. Through his experience working with some of the most prominent national real estate and internet figureheads in bringing the power of the internet to the real estate world, Ryan has developed the skills and ability to give his clients exceptional and unparalleled real estate service and representation. Quickly becoming a defining force in the Sarasota real estate market, Ryan has demonstrated the ability to represent clients in all areas of the greater Sarasota market helping to position himself and Michael Saunders & Company as one of the most progressive real estate companies in the business.
Bernice L. Ross, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer and Founder, RealEstateCoach.com Syndicated Columnist and Founder, LuxuryClues blog
Author, Trainer, and Speaker, Bernice couples her expertise as a Master Certified Coach with over 25 years of real estate sales experience. From 1993 to 1997, she served as Executive Director of Training for the Beverly Hills based Jon Douglas Company. With over 250 published articles to her credit, Bernice also writes the syndicated weekly agent column for Inman News who dubbed her "America’s top real estate coach." Her two books, Who’s the Best Person to Sell My House and Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters, provide a road map for agents who want to earn full commissions by providing outstanding customer service.
Chris Sampson Director of Sales, Marketing and Business Operations Microsoft Virtual Earth
Chris is the Director of Sales, Marketing and Business Operations for the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform team. The Virtual Earth platform team is part of the Microsoft Local Search product unit. Chris has responsibility for sales and marketing across North America and EMEA. Prior to his current role, Chris held Business Development roles in the Microsoft Mobile Embedded Device Unit, Information Work Group and the Geography Product Unit. Before joining Microsoft, Chris held various roles working at Lotus Development, (IBM) Dell Computer and MapInfo Corporation. Chris received his B.A. from the University of Iowa. In addition, Chris holds a Master of Science degree from DePaul University and an Executive MBA from the University of Chicago.
Niki Scevak Chief Executive Officer Homethinking
Prior to founding Homethinking LLC, Niki Scevak was an analyst with JupiterResearch, advising some of the world’s largest media firms on strategy and planning issues related to online advertising and media. His published work is used as coursework material for the Institute of Charted Accountants and he has lectured at the University of Technology, Sydney. Previously, Scevak co-founded The BookmarkBox, a Web-based bookmark manager and community search provider that was acquired in January of 2000 by Blink.com. Scevak was awarded a co-operative scholarship to study business information technology at the University of New South Wales, graduating with distinction.
Sam Sebastian Director, Classifieds and Local Google, Inc.
Sam Sebastian is responsible for leading Google’s national Classifieds & Local direct sales organization with the goal of engaging more marketers in the benefits and efficiencies of the Google platform. To date, Google has enjoyed productive relationships with leading real estate companies – Sam is responsible for growing that relationship and continuing to support growth and progress in the industry. Sebastian recently joined Google from Classified Ventures (CV), an online joint venture of major U.S. newspaper companies, where he was the General Manager at Homescape.com and SVP, Sales & Marketing at HomeGain. Sebastian worked with the newspaper and real estate communities for over seven years at CV to grow the usage and effectiveness of online real estate products on newspaper websites. In addition to numerous interviews in national industry publications, Sam is a regularly featured speaker at many key real estate and newspaper trade events. Sebastian earned a BA in Accounting from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He currently lives in Evanston, IL.
Jim Secord President Most Home Real Estate Services Inc.
As President of Most Home Real Estate Services, Jim Secord has established the company as the real estate industry’s definitive leader in the field of Lead Response and Customer Experience Management. Most Home has managed more than three million consumer leads for some of the top real estate agents and brokers in North America. In the past year alone, Most Home has attracted blue-chip clients such as Windermere Real Estate, Prudential WCI, RE/MAX of Western Canada, RE/MAX of Ontario-Atlantic, and GMAC Real Estate, all of whom are successfully leveraging and benefiting from Most Home’s lead management services. Jim’s vision and focus on bringing customer service to the Internet and improving the online consumer’s home buying and selling experience, has not gone unnoticed in the industry. In August 2006, Jim was nominated as one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate as published by Inman News in the category of Technology & Online Real Estate Leaders. His expertise is regularly sought by media outlets and industry writers, with his most recent contribution to Commissions at Risk: A Real Estate Professional’s Guide to Beating Online Competition by Danielle Babb. Published in October 2006, the book explores how real estate brokers and professionals can capitalize on new technologies and better market themselves in a web-enabled market. With over 20 years experience in consumer and enterprise software product development, Jim has led the design and development of several Multiple Listing platforms for the North American real estate market including Most Home’s Wireless Realty™, First American MLS’s MLXchange, and GTE Enterprise’s System 4 and T-III. In 1999 Secord spearheaded a partnership initiative with Microsoft to integrate lead management and customer relationship management technology into MLXchange, allowing Brokers and REALTORS® for the first time to respond to their customers in a timely and professional manner and manage their customer relationships online. Over the past several years, more than 1,000,000 REALTORS® and brokers have benefited from Jim’s technology vision.
Joshua D.J. Sharfman, Ph.D. Chief Technical Officer California Association of Realtors
Joshua D.J. Sharfman has worked with the California Association of Realtors® for the last eighteen years, first as a consultant and later as an outside board member of the Association’s Real Estate Business Services subsidiary. He now is the Association’s Chief Technical Officer as well as the Chief Executive Officer of C.A.R.’s Real Estate Business Technologies subsidiary, charged with delivering the industry’s first Realtor®-centric, Realtor®-owned transaction management system. Sharfman holds four system and method patents for software inventions. He holds a B.S. in computer engineering from UCLA, an M.S. in engineering management from USC and a Ph.D. in business from Capella.
Rick Sharga Vice President of Marketing RealtyTrac Inc.
Rick joined RealtyTrac in 2004 as the Vice President of Marketing. He is responsible for building and maintaining the RealtyTrac brand, corporate positioning and messaging, public and investor relations, and marketing communications activities. As a spokesman for the company, Rick has been quoted extensively in the press on foreclosure, mortgage and real estate trends, and appeared on NBC Nightly News, CNN, CBS, ABC World News and NPR. Prior to joining the company, Rick spent more than 20 years developing corporate and product branding strategies for technology start-up companies and international corporations such as DuPont, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba. Rick created and executed successful sales and marketing programs in B2B, technology, consumer electronics and retail for companies like JD Edwards, Philips, Cox Communications and Honeywell. Rick began his career with one of the world’s largest ad agencies, Foote, Cone and Belding, and also had successful engagements with Ketchum Communications and McGraw-Hill. He founded his own consulting firm, CJ Patrick Company, in 2002 to help companies develop business and brand strategies that clearly communicate a unique value proposition, create a position of competitive advantage, and leverage the strength of their brands in the marketplace.
Marc Siden Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer OnBoard, LLC
Marc is co-founder and CEO of OnBoard, LLC, a privately held company that provides innovative web tools and comprehensive data to the nation’s top real estate companies. Prior to OnBoard, Marc was co-founder of MonsterDaata Inc, a leading real estate Internet content provider, where he was Executive Vice President. Within three years Marc positioned MonsterDaata among the industry’s fastest growing companies and was instrumental in raising over 10 million dollars in venture capital funding. Before embarking upon the Internet world, Marc served as founder and President of New Beginnings Venture Group, a small venture capital firm. Marc began his career on Wall Street and eventually opened a regional brokerage firm that raised in excess of 70 million dollars for small and emerging companies. Marc serves on the advisory board of TORCH, an organization that works with inner city high school students to better their business exposure and education. He has also mentored and coached for Ice Hockey In Harlem. Marc was raised in New York City and received his degree from the University Of Maryland.
Larry A. Silverstein President and Chief Executive Officer Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Larry A. Silverstein serves as President and CEO of Silverstein Properties, Inc., a Manhattan-based real estate development and investment firm that has owned, managed and developed over twenty million square feet of office, residential and retail space. In July 2001, Mr. Silverstein completed the largest real estate transaction in New York history when he signed a 99-year lease on the 10.6 million sq. ft. World Trade Center for $3.25 billion, only to see it destroyed in terrorist attacks six weeks later on September 11, 2001. He is currently rebuilding the office component of the World Trade Center site, an $8-billion project that will consume the balance of his working life. On May 23, 2006, Silverstein opened 7 World Trade Center, a 52-story, 1.7 million sq. ft. office tower, at 250 Greenwich Street. In April 2006, foundation work began on the Freedom Tower, a 2.6 million sq. ft. building that will serve as an inspirational and enduring beacon in the New York City skyline. In September 2006, designs were unveiled for three new office towers on the WTC site – 250, 175 and 150 Greenwich Street – that will be developed by Silverstein Properties. Mr. Silverstein is a member of the New York Bar and a Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York, having served as its Chairman. He is Vice Chairman of the New York University Board of Trustees and is the Founder and Chairman emeritus of the New York University Real Estate Institute. As a Professor of Real Estate, his “Silverstein Workshop” became one of the most attended and informative educational sources for learning real estate development and investment analysis.
Joel Singer President, Real Estate Business Services Inc. (REBS) California Association of REALTORS®
Joel Singer has held the Association's top staff position since November 1989 after serving as C.A.R.'s chief economist and leading the Association's public affairs department. As head of the C.A.R. research department, Singer established C.A.R.'s industry-wide reputation for economic forecasting, industry research and leading-edge technology studies. In both his previous and current roles, Singer has been deeply involved in C.A.R.'s legislative activities and has a long-standing interest in affordable housing and tort reform. In 2003, he established C.A.R.'s rapidly growing Housing Affordability Fund, which has raised more than $2.3 million since its inception. Throughout his tenure, Singer has served on numerous government and private sector commissions and boards. He currently represents C.A.R. on the Executive Committee of the Civil Justice Association of California. Singer was instrumental in developing Real Estate Business Services Inc. (REBS), C.A.R.'s for-profit subsidiary, that produces, distributes and promotes the products and tools needed to complete a real estate transaction in 1995. He continues to serve as a board member and company president. In the technology arena, Singer successfully partnered with more than 60 California Associations and MLSs to place the state's listings inventory on the Web well before the formation of REALTOR.com and other aggregators. He is the president and chief executive officer of RE FormsNet, the C.A.R./NAR joint venture which is now North America's leading provider of electronic forms software for the real estate industry through its ZipForm® and WinForms® products. Since their inception 10 years ago, these business entities have grown to more than $20 million in annual revenues.
Marcel E. Smit Chief Executive Officer Q-go
Marcel E. Smit joined Q-go in 2002 and brings more than 20 years of experience to his position as CEO. Prior to joining Q-go, Smit was vice president of MicroStrategy, where he was responsible for P&L and oversaw the company’s activities in the UK, Scandinavia & The Netherlands. Prior to MicroStrategy, he held various sales, marketing, and general management roles at Oracle & USoft. Smit reorganized Q-go in 2003, which quickly became the leading European customer interaction SaaS solution based on unique natural language search technology. End users can communicate and search in their own words, in unstructured terms, through channels including the Web, SMS, IM & voice. Customers including ING, Deutsche Telekom, KLM & Telefonica use Q-go’s technology to increase their online sales conversion, offer a great customer experience and build insight into actual customer needs. The core natural language search technology is also used to enhance general search engines and make them work not only better, but smarter. Any Question. Any Language. Any Channel. Smit studied Business Administration at Nijenrode Business University in the Netherlands. He may be reached at marcel.smit@q-go.com.
Matthew Smith Editor Real Estate Technology News
Matthew 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, Matthew was a managing editor with Advisor Media, which publishes educational journals for IT professionals.
Jeff Somers Director of Partner Relations Zillow.com
Jeff Somers is Director of Partner Relations at Zillow.com. Before joining Zillow.com, Jeff worked at Amazon.com for seven years, most recently as head of vendor relations and merchandising for Amazon.com’s books, music and video stores. Prior to Amazon, Jeff was a senior consultant for Technology Marketing Group, and managed sales and product management efforts for a division of SC Johnson. Jeff graduated from Middlebury College, and has an International MBA from Thunderbird- the Garvin School of International Management.
Richard Sommer Chief Executive Officer ZipRealty
As Chief Executive Officer, Richard Sommer serves on the board of Directors and is responsible for the company vision, planning, and overall strategy of ZipRealty. Mr. Sommer joined ZipRealty in 2006 following his tenure as CEO of HomeGain, an online marketing company that provides services for real estate professionals. While at HomeGain, he oversaw the sale of the company to Classified Ventures LLC. In addition to his leadership of HomeGain, Mr. Sommer has extensive experience in the real estate industry having served as senior vice president of business development for the mortgage banking division of IndyMac Bank. He also served as president and managing director of International Real Estate Operations for Realtor.com, an online media and technology company for the real estate industry. Prior to joining HomeStore, Mr. Sommer was co-founder, president and CEO of Accordus, a technology infrastructure company serving the healthcare products industry. From 1988 to 1998, he was founder, president and CEO of De La Cruz Occupational Healthcare, the largest occupational medical provider to the electronics industry. He began his career with McKinsey & Co. He graduated cum laude in 1983 from Princeton University with a degree in politics and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a master's degree in international political economy. In 1990, he earned a law degree from the Stanford Law School.
Elizabeth Spiers Publisher and Founder Dead Horse Media
Elizabeth Spiers is the Publisher and Founder of Dead Horse Media, an online media company, which produces DealBreaker.com (a Wall Street tabloid) and AboveTheLaw.com (a legal tabloid). Her debut novel, And They All Die in the End, will be published by Riverhead (an imprint of Penguin Books) in 2007. She was named one of Institutional Investor's "30 Under 30" in 2006, one of Women's Wear Daily's "Ones to Watch" in October of 2004 and one of AlwaysOn/Technorati's Open Media 100 in June of 2005. Until November of 2005, she was the editor-in-chief of mediabistro.com. Prior to mediabistro, she was a contributing writer and editor at New York magazine, covering entertainment, media, and business. Spiers was previously the founding editor of Gawker.com, a weblog about "the darker Manhattan-centric themes: class warfare as recreational sport; pathological status obsession; and the complete, total, and wholly unapologetic embrace of decadence." Gawker was named to Entertainment Weekly's 2003 "IT list", one of Time magazine's "Top 50 Websites" for 2003, a "Best Media Blog" (2003) by Forbes, and a "Best of Breed" online news site by the New York New Media Association. Spiers was named "Best Gossip" by the Village Voice ("Best of New York") in 2003. Prior to Gawker, Spiers was a buy-side financial analyst focusing on small cap tech equities and early stage venture capital. Spiers earned a BA in Political Science and Public Policy from Duke University.
Kate F. Stanford Marketing Manager Google
Kate Stanford is the Marketing Manager for Google's Classifieds vertical, which includes real estate. Kate works with marketers from the real estate industry and other industries to determine how they should market their products using the entire Google ecosystem. She sets Google's national marketing strategy for the real estate industry, including developing research around key consumer trends relevant to home buying and selling, working closely with key industry associations, and speaking at industry events. Prior to joining Google, Kate ran strategic planning for classified advertising at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. In this role, she created and launched new products, developed new pricing models, and led other organizational change efforts. Earlier in her career, Kate held business development, marketing and production roles at Zilo Networks, a college-focused television station and event producer, and at CNN. Kate holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University.
Celeste Starchild Vice President of Marketing and New Products Clareity Security
Celeste Starchild, Vice President of Marketing and New Products, is a nationally recognized leader in real estate technology, well-known for her accomplishments in the area of transaction management. Her background includes 10 years of business development focused in start-up organizations and new product development. Her start in the real estate industry came in 1999 when she joined SettlementRoom Systems at the company’s inception. As Vice President, she was instrumental in the transaction management (TM) product design, strategic relationships, research, relationships, staffing, training and all product and service-based initiatives to transform the idea for web-based transaction management software into a successful technology and service firm serving over 60,000 Users nationwide. Some of her accomplishments included pioneering the first strategic relationship for TM with a real estate association, as well as negotiating the first-ever formal insurance benefit for users of TM software. Starchild joined Clareity Security with a focus to expand the scope and market for Clareity’s security products throughout the industry, and to oversee the company’s national marketing initiatives. She holds a BS from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Lockhart Steele Managing Editor Gawker Media
Lockhart Steele is the Founder and Publisher of Curbed.com LLC, the Web's most-trafficked real estate weblog. Launched in New York City in May 2004, the site now receives more than 250,000 unique visitors a month. Besides its New York City site, Curbed’s titles include a Los Angeles weblog, Curbed LA, as well as the architecture blog, The Gutter, and the New York City restaurant blog, Eater. By day, Steele is the Managing Editor of New York City-based Gawker Media, the web’s premiere weblog publisher. He does not enjoy tofu.
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Patrick Stone Vice Chairman Metrocities Mortgage
Since March 2004, Patrick F. Stone has been Vice Chairman for Metrocities Mortgage. Previously, Stone served as CEO of Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial (FNF), provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry. During Stone’s lengthy career with FNF, including eight years as Chief Operating Officer, the company grew to be the number one title company, responsible for more than 30 percent of policies underwritten nationally. Stone was named one of the “10 People to Watch in 2004” by Inman News.
Charles Stubbs President and Chief Executive Officer YELLOWPAGES.COM
Charles Stubbs is President and CEO of Pasadena, California-based YELLOWPAGES.COM, a joint venture between AT&T Yellow Pages and BellSouth Advertising and Publishing. The venture, announced in November of 2004, combines three leading Internet Yellow Pages sites - SMARTpages.com, BellSouth® RealPages.com and YellowPages.com - under one intuitive brand: YELLOWPAGES.COM. Mr. Stubbs leads the company, which provides a leading Internet Yellow Pages distribution network to AT&T, BellSouth and YELLOWPAGES.COM local and national advertisers. The YELLOWPAGES.COM distribution network provides more than 90 million monthly searches to advertisers. Prior to being named President and CEO of YELLOWPAGES.COM, Mr. Stubbs served as President of BellSouth IntelliVentures, the electronic media division of BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Group, which produced substantial advertiser and revenue growth for RealPages.com, from 2001 until 2004. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Stubbs worked with BellSouth as a key leader in the launch of RealPages.com. Before leading the BellSouth RealPages.com team, Mr. Stubbs was Executive Vice President of Infospace, a Bellevue, Washington-based diversified technology and services company that develops and markets Internet and wireless solutions for a wide range of customers including consumers, merchants, wireless operators, content brands, and financial institutions. In this role, Mr. Stubbs was responsible for the company's wireline division, including advertising and licensing revenue. Mr. Stubbs succeeded in leading significant increases in revenues, while reducing operating expenses. Mr. Stubbs is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Directory Marketing. He earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
Jessica Swesey Managing Editor Inman News
Jessica Swesey is managing editor of Inman News, a leading online real estate news service. As a real estate editor, Swesey focuses on online real estate and technology, and reports on real estate brokerage and mortgage finance issues. She also contributes to the Inman News blog, as well as video coverage of real estate. Inman editorial content appears in more than 250 newspapers throughout the country and is featured on more than 10,000 Web sites, reaching millions of consumers and industry professionals each day. She can be reached at Jessica@inman.com.
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.
Jacky Teplitzky Executive Vice President Prudential Douglas Elliman
Jacky Teplitzky is an executive vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman (PDE), New York's preeminent residential real estate broke