LISLE, Ill., Feb. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rebecca Jensen, the incoming President/Chief Executive Officer of Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland's multiple listing service (MLS), was one of the featured panel members at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York, which took place January 28-30, 2015.
Ms. Jensen was on a panel titled "How I Would Do It: Big Thinkers Lay Out the Plan For Their Dream MLS". Facilitated by David Charron, President and CEO of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), other speakers included Cary Sylvester, Vice President of Technology Innovation, Keller Williams; Christine Todd, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors; and Heather Elias Vice President of Industry Engagement, Century 21 Redwood Realty.
Initial discussion focused on what the MLS should be about, and if it can meet the needs of all of its stakeholders. The panelists also addressed concerns in the industry about MLSs providing services directly to consumers.
Ms. Jensen stated, "MLSs should offer technology needed for that specific marketplace. We can't be everything to everybody, but it is incumbent on the MLS to reach out to the busy real estate professionals who don't have the time to volunteer, and understand how they are impacted by possible changes being considered."
Another subject for the panel was the Broker Public Portal project, which a number of large brokerages and MLSs are investigating, to provide a national consumer facing website. "There is significant interest in the Broker Public Portal at MRED,' said Jensen. "There may be a need for a national portal even in a market that doesn't have a consumer facing website, like Chicagoland."
Ms. Jensen's parting comment was a call for the differing interests in real estate to work together. "Fragmentation makes us weak; we can accomplish so much more when we work together to solve tough problems."
This was Ms. Jensen's first public appearance as MRED's new President/Chief Executive Officer.
About MRED
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to nearly 40,000 brokers and appraisers and 8,000 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding "collar" counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers over twenty products and services to its customers, complementing connectMLS™, the top-rated MLS system in the country for two years running according to the WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for four consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in the United States and Canada by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.
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