Well, must say I am happy that this advisory group is not just full of franchise group chiefs. I will monitor what changes are made to the site over the next 12 months. I will also monitor what changes benefited agents and what changes benefited consumers – will be interesting to see how this group does.
Here is the release.
Top real estate industry leaders who oversee a total of more than 1,000 real estate agent offices have agreed to fill the eight positions on the just-formed realestate.com.au Industry Advisory Council. The Council’s first meeting will take place in Sydney on March 22, 2007. Topping their agenda will be a discussion of what real estate agents want to see in the next generation of realestate.com.au’s website.
With 3.7 million unique browsers in January, the site has more users than its 15 largest competitors put together, and has become the standard for agents, homebuyers and renters.
The founding members of the realestate.com.au Industry Advisory Council (REAIAC) were announced on March 22 at the Real Estate Institute of Australia 2007 National Awards for Excellence gala dinner, which was sponsored by realestate.com.au. They are:
• Tony Brasier, Chairman of REAIAC. (Sydney) He is Chairman and former Australian Chief Executive for Colliers International. Tony’s leadership activities in the commercial property market also included his role as Director of Property Look, Australia’s leading commercial property portal. Tony is the Immediate Past President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia and a Director of the Real Estate Institute of NSW . He is a Fellow of the Australian Property Institute, Director of Real Cover Insurance Ltd, and Director of Sydney’s United Way Charity.
• John Coleman. (Perth) He is CEO of the Acton Group, Perth’s premier real estate group and which is also an invited member of the Leading Agents of Australia network. He oversees nine offices in Western Australia’s wealthiest suburbs, including around the Swan River, in the Coastline suburbs and in the Margaret River wine country.
• David Crombie. (Sydney) He is CEO of EAC, the largest independent real estate organisation in Australia. He also was formerly EAC’s Technology & Development Manager, served as business manager at systems integrator Jigsaw Technology, and ran his own management and computer consultancy.
• Michael Davoren. (Maleny, Qld) He is the principal of a private consultancy company, RE Concepts International Pty. Ltd. He has held senior management and/or directorship roles with LJ Hooker, Raine & Horne and Nationwide Realty. He has been President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (2001-2002) and of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland.
• Greg Hocking. (Melbourne) He is Managing Director of Hocking Stuart Pty Ltd. and a respected leader. He cofounded the firm in 1985. It now employs over 300 people in 32 agencies.
• Stephen Sharry. (Brisbane) Stephen Sharry is the Chief Executive Officer and former Director of Technology of the real estate master franchisor, Raine & Horne Queensland. For the group, he developed an Internet marketing plan that included a strategic partnership with Realestate.com.au, the development of rhq.com.au, an extensive Intranet, administration systems and internet training programs. He has also helped develop a strategic “Roadmap” which has grown Queensland from 85 offices to 105 offices and ancillary services added, including valuation and financial services.
• Anthony Toop. (Adelaide) He is cofounder of Toop and Toop and Past President of the Real Estate Institute of South Australia. Toop and Toop has won more than 40 awards, including the Australian Business Excellence Award and the Real Estate Institute of South Australia Website of the Year.
• Mark Williams. (Brisbane) He is the CEO of Ray White Commercial and has worked in Ray White commercial and project marketing since 1984. He has grown the network from 5 offices to more than 50 offices throughout Australia and New Zealand.In addition to what real estate agents want to see in the next generation of realestate.com.au’s website, the realestate.com.au Industry Advisory Council will also discuss:
• How can realestate.com.au better serve agents?
• How can the real estate industry use the internet to better serve its members and consumers?
• How can realestate.com.au train and educate real estate agents on internet marketing and operations?
• Is there a need for common, real estate industry standard regarding online advertising and marketing systems?Members of the Industry Advisory Council will attend at least six meetings a year to discuss these and other issues. They will represent the real estate industry to realestate.com.au and will represent the online industry to their own organizations.
The current members of the Council were selected to be representative of the entire Australian real estate industry. To further its representative nature, approximately 50% of the Council’s membership will change on an annual basis.
“We have created the Council to give the real estate industry more influence over the future shape of online advertising,” says Shaun Di Gregorio, General Manager – Australia/New Zealand for realestate.com.au. “While only a representative handful of agents can sit on our Council at a time, our goal is to serve all agents more effectively.”