CRT Wifi Hotspot bathed in sunlight. Come relax with us at 1pm!
For those of you in Orlando, Greg and I will be at the CRT Wifi Hotspot and we’ll have an array of tablets with us. We’ve got an iPad Mini, Microsoft Surface and a Nexus 7. The Wifi Hotspot is located just outside Grand Ballroom T in the Peabody. It’s located in the atrium and in my opinion, there couldn’t have been a better spot for it. We’ll also be demoing REpurposed Apps as well, and there to answer any questions about what CRT’s been up to for the last couple of years. Come on by if you’ve got some time!
Today at Annual during the Business Technology and Information Systems forum, we previewed a new site that CRT has been working on. We’re calling it REpurposed Apps and we’re pretty excited about it. We’ve targeted it for a Q1 launch and will have updates here on this blog, at @CRTweet, and on our Facebook page.
REpurposed Apps is a site that allows members to share apps they use and how they use them. Comments are allowed for each app so there is space for ideation and education between members. The purpose of the site initially is to allow members to share those apps that weren’t built for real estate, but are being used for members’ daily workflow.
There are three things we will filter the apps for:
- Misuse of the REALTOR® trademark
- Offensive or derogatory apps
- Self-promotional apps
Beyond that, it’s fair game. Again, these are not apps recommended by NAR, but by members. CRT will not recommend apps in the recommendations queue. We will have a special section to feature NAR apps and some apps we think are interesting, but the main section is member territory.
For each app, we’ve identified what platform it’s compatible with (iOS or Android for now), included the app store descriptions for those platforms, and provided a link to download the app. Ratings on REpurposed Apps will also be implemented.
Another section of this site allows us to feature members who’ve been heavy users of apps. They can recommend their top apps and share in one place info on how they’re using them. We’re calling these Showcases. Typically these members have been doing these talks for a while and this allows them to share their thoughts on a larger scale and helps members discover who they should be following in the real estate tech community.
As we refine this project more, we will provide updates. We hope you’re as excited about it as we are. Let us know what you think.
There are many things I wanted to take this space to say, but I’ve decided to keep it short and say, ‘Hello.’ I want to use this time to re-introduce you to CRT. We’ve been quiet on communication channels and are opening those back up today. While at Annual, we’ll be posting to Twitter (@CRTweet) and our Facebook page.
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Chad Curry and I’m Managing Director of CRT. I’ve been with NAR for 6 1/2 years as a web developer prior to this role. I’m really keen on the future of the web and the mobile space. As devices diversify, it makes sense for us to be focused on web standards to keep our code base lean and our products fresh and iterating.
Since I’ve been Managing Director, CRT has re-positioned itself with a mission to serve the member and increase the value proposition through our web properties and mobile space. Our first major project was the rework of realtor.org. This has been a fast and intensive process and we recently released version 1.1 in concert with Publications and Marketing. We’ll have a piece on that after Annual covering the technologies and philosophies for that site build.
Aside from that, we are still doing the a lot of the same stuff: research, product testing, speaking engagements, tech advocacy and education, surveys, and promoting the RETS standard.
At Annual on Saturday, we are holding the Business Technical and Information Systems Forum. The session is called ‘Developing APP-titude’ and it’s being held in the Orange County Convention Center, West Building, Valencia W415BC. We have three great speakers lined up: Chris Nichols, Amy Smythe-Harris and Heather Elias. They will be covering the mobile apps they use in their daily workflows. We’re very excited that they’ve agreed to speak this Saturday. I also want to say ‘Thank you’ to our Chair Greg Herb and our vice-chair Danny Frank for their work and ideas. You can get the details of the session here.
We’ll have more for you as the week progresses and we hope to see you at NAR Annual. I hope to see you there and say ‘Hello’ in person.
