Joel Burslem says the Inman conference was tempered by the economy

BrokerIPTV: And we are the Palace in San Francisco at Brad Inman's Real Estate Connect 2008 and we are with Joel Burslem and Joel, just saw that you were at the concluding event here and anything you want to give for a quick wrap up for this year's event?

Joel Burslem: Well, I think you know as with every conference that we seem to put on, I am consistently impressed by the level of innovation that I see out there, in the technology space certainly, where they all seem to be new companies, new ideas, fresh ideas that are coming into the industry. I think that is really exciting. I would say that this conference was more tempered though. I think there is still a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement, but there is a lot... a lot of people that are taking a lot longer, harder look at the market, the ROI, and a lot of these technologies. So, I think that is kind of the message that I took away and I think that is where we are going to see it play out certainly over the next six to ten months, twelve months, that people are going to start valuing a lot of these tools and by people I mean Realtors® and brokers. I think there is still enthusiasm for the technology, but that enthusiasm is tempered by a need to see real results.

BrokerIPTV: Reality check.

Joel Burslem: Yeah.

BrokerIPTV: Maybe some of the VC companies might relook at some of the projects they have been funding since it looks like the party days might be over.

Joel Burslem: Yeah. I think that is part of it. I mean you know the big cloud that is hanging over this whole hotel right now is the economy and the market. We had some great sessions on when is the market going to turn and the bull versus bears panel was really interesting and I think nobody really knows the answer right now, but there are certainly a lot of fundamentals that are scary. There are also some bright spots out there. I think the one thing that I am not sure if I heard mentioned very much in the general sessions was that the sort of the 800 pound gorilla in the room that is looming right now and that is the election and I think that is... obviously it is happening in November. I think there is a lot of wait and see, a lot of people are perhaps curious to see what the outcome is, one way or the other and I think that will largely dictate what direction we will be going for the next four years. So, I think that is... we are sort of in a holding pattern right now until the election is resolved. So, I would suspect that if we start to see any sort of turnaround or any real movement in the market that we won't see that until probably November, January once that big issue is resolved.

BrokerIPTV: Joel, I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and opinions and we look forward to talking with you again.

Joel Burslem: Thank you very much.

Posted on October 12, 2008 19:01:23 by Blog Author