Russ Bergeron

CEO
Midwest Real Estate Data LLC

Russ Bergeron is known as a leader in fostering technological innovation in the multiple listing service industry. Bergeron joined Chicago-based Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), one the largest MLSs in the country, at the end of May 2010. Before his move to MRED, Bergeron had been the founding CEO for the Southern California Multiple Listing Service (SoCal MLS) since 1993. He was instrumental in the formation and growth of California Real Estate Technology... Services (CARETS), a data aggregation service comprised of more than 100,000 real estate professionals from nine MLSs in Southern California.

Twitter: @rbergeronmred
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Art Carter

CEO
California Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (CRMLS)

Art Carter is the CEO of the newly created California Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (CRMLS). CRMLS is the result of a merger of the California Association of Realtors' calREDD MLS system and the Pomona, Calif.-based Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (MRMLS). Carter had served as CEO of MRMLS since August 2005. A strong advocate for data standards and data aggregation, Carter serves on the boards of the Council of Multiple Listing Services,... California Real Estate Technology Services (CARETS), Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) and the National Association of Realtors.

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David Charron

President and CEO
Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.

David Charron has been with Rockville, Md.-based MRIS since January 2001, having managed several organizations that provided information systems to real estate professionals from 1980 to 1997. In addition to overseeing MRIS's operations and maintaining communications with the board of directors and shareholders, Charron is chairman of the MRIS Investment Committee, serves as a director of the Realtors Federal Credit Union, and is a member of the NAR MLS... Policy Committee. Before joining MRIS, Charron was the president of Net Input, an Internet-based business consulting practice serving Fortune 500 clients in apparel, media, sports and real estate.

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Craig Cheatham

President and CEO
The Realty Alliance

Craig Cheatham, president and CEO for The Realty Alliance since 2006, served as CEO for the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, an organization for real estate regulators, from 1998-2006. The Realty Alliance is a network of large real estate brokerage companies in the U.S. and Canada. Among its board members are Lawrence F. Flick IV, chairman and CEO for Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors; Robert Sibcy, president of Cincinnati's Sibcy Cline,... Realtors; and Robert Moline, president and chief operating officer for HomeServices of America Inc. From 1991-98 Cheatham served as assistant executive vice president for the Alabama Association of Realtors.

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Vicki Cox Golder

2010 President
National Association of Realtors

A 37-year industry veteran, Vicki Cox Golder was the 2010 president of the National Association of Realtors. Golder has been on the association's board of directors since 1993 and a trustee of NAR's political action committee since 2002. In the past year, NAR successfully lobbied Congress to extend the federal homebuyer tax credits and to extend the national flood insurance program for another year. NAR also launched homeownership site HouseLogic and national... property database Realtors Property Resource.

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Gerard N. 'Jerry' Giovaniello

Chief lobbyist and senior vice president, government affairs
National Association of Realtors

As chief lobbyist and senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Realtors, Gerard N. "Jerry" Giovaniello manages the association's government affairs staff of approximately 50 people in Washington, D.C. He also serves as NAR's lobbyist for members of Congress from California, Washington, Nevada, Hawaii and Oregon. After winning an extension of the homebuyer tax credit in 2009, NAR focused much of its efforts in 2010 on... the problems homebuyers face in obtaining mortgages. To further its members' interests, NAR played an active role in the 2010 elections, racking up more than $6 million in independent expenditures on behalf of incumbents who have supported the group's causes in the past. Giovaniello has firsthand knowledge of how things work on Capitol Hill, having served as chief of staff for two California Congressman from 1972-81.

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Bob Hale

CEO and President
Houston Association of Realtors

Bob Hale first came to the Houston Association of Realtors in 1973 as the association's legal and legislative counsel. He has been HAR's CEO and president since 1988. A champion of technological advances within the association and its multiple listing service, Hale won the Inman News Innovator of the Year Award in 2008. HAR's Realtor Match tool, which allowed consumers to search for Realtors based consumer ratings and transaction history, won this year's... Innovator Award for Most Innovative Web Service.

Twitter: @b0bhale
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James 'Jim' Harrison

President and CEO
MLSListings Inc.

In 2007, Jim Harrison facilitated the consolidation of two multiple listing service organizations -- RE InfoLink and Central Valley MLS -- in Northern California to create MLSListings. Harrison then became president and CEO of the Silicon Valley-based company, which now serves nearly 18,000 subscribers and 6,000 firms. Before joining RE InfoLink as CEO in May 2005, Harrison held three executive positions at the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors... over a period of 10 years and was CEO of North Texas Information Systems for five years. Harrison is currently an adviser for Realtors Property Resource and is a member of the Alliance of Chief Executives.

Twitter: @mlsjimharrison
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Karen Kage

CEO
Realcomp II Ltd.

Karen S. Kage has been the CEO of Farmington Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd., Michigan's largest Realtor-owned multiple listing service, since 1998. Kage first entered the world of real estate more than 30 years ago as a statistical typist at a local board of Realtors, when property information was manually typed onto the backs of listing photo cards, which were the vehicles brokers and agents used to share listing information. Throughout the years, Kage... has held many positions that allowed her to experience firsthand many facets of the real estate industry as it evolved. At Realcomp, she supervises a staff of 35 who provide MLS and real property data-related services to nearly 11,000 Realtor members.

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Teresa King Kinney

CEO
Miami Realtors

Teresa King Kinney is CEO of Miami Realtors, which with more than 23,000 members is the largest local Realtor association in the nation. As CEO of the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB), Kinney helped lead negotiations that led to the association's merger with the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County (RAMDC) this year. Kinney has more than 30 years' experience in Realtor association management, and has written a number of articles... and presented seminars on the topic at state, national and international association meetings across the U.S., Latin America, France, Spain and Russia.

Twitter: @teresakinney
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Joel Singer

Executive Vice President
California Association of Realtors

Joel Singer has led the California's statewide Realtor association since 1989. He joined the group in 1978 and has served as its chief economist and led its public affairs department. He helped to developed CAR for-profit subsidiary Real Estate Business Services Inc. and is president and CEO of zipLogix, a real estate technology subsidiary of REBS that offers electronic real estate forms and a transaction management system. The California Association of... Realtors' board of directors in June approved the merger of the association's calREDD multiple listing service system with Pomona, Calif.-based Multi-Regional MLS Inc., creating California Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc.

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Steven Spinola

President
Real Estate Board of New York

Steven Spinola has served as president for the Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association with about 12,000 members, since 1986. The powerhouse organization, more than 100 years old, represents a range of real estate professionals, including builders, brokers, managers, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, real estate investment trusts, attorneys, architects and others. The organization maintains a property listings portal for its members... and regularly publishes public housing market reports. Spinola previously served as president for New York City's Public Development Corp.

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Dale Stinton

CEO
National Association of Realtors

Dale A. Stinton was named a 2010 Innovator of the Year by Inman News for his role in keeping the National Association of Realtors at the forefront of technological change. Under Stinton's leadership, NAR launched Realtors Property Resource, a national property database that went live in September. Other significant milestones during Stinton's five-year tenure as CEO include the creation of NAR's "Game Changer" program, which provides grant funding to innovative... Realtor association initiatives, and the formation of NAR's technology incubator and venture capital fund, Second Century Ventures LLC. Stinton also serves as president Second Century Ventures, which last year purchased a 5.4 percent stake in electronic signature services provider DocuSign. On the political front, under Stinton NAR successfully lobbied lawmakers to keep banks from offering real estate brokerage services, and to provide tax credits for homebuyers.

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Lawrence Yun

Chief Economist
National Association of Realtors

As chief economist and senior vice president of research for the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun not only directs NAR's research activity but provides commentary on real estate market trends for the news media and NAR members. Yun, who has worked for NAR for a decade, oversees NAR's forecasts and participates in many economic forecasting panels, including Blue Chip and the Harvard University Industrial Economist Council. USA Today has listed... Yun as one of the nation's top 10 economic forecasters, based on an analysis by the Atlanta Federal Reserve of predictions made by 37 economists. Before coming to NAR, Yun worked as an economic consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education.

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