#RETT – A Very Bright Idea (Audio Interview)
February 16, 2010
By: Michael Price
Author's Website: http://www.zillow.com
What The Heck is #RETT?
About a week or so ago, I started noticing a hashtag associated with many of the posts in my social media stream, #RETT. Most of the posts were notices of meetings regarding RETT but nothing that revealed what it was. I assumed it was a local social media event of some flavor. Eventually, Justin McHood, one of the co-founders posted a link to a blog post on RETT. Another post proselytized as to how it would be a success. It brought my attention to what is arguably the one of brightest ideas in real estate in recent memory. The REAL ESTATE TECH TANK. RETT is a mash-up of sorts. Part RE Barcamp, part Tweet-Up, part business incubator, part think tank.
From Talk To Execution
Phoenix is home to RETT and it’s no accident that it resembles another valley area initiative known as Gangplank. Some of the RETT founders are avid participants in the Gangplank business incubator. They have discussed for some time applying the concept to the real estate industry. The decision was made less than two weeks ago to stop talking and start doing. Meetings at Gangplank have taken place several times since. Following the #RETT twitter stream has been interesting. It looks as if some folks have already been able to accomplish some things as a result of their RETT connections. Cool.
Still A Little Squishy
RETT is still in a very fluid stage but it’s amazing how quickly things are ramping up. I asked the co-founders to take some time to speak with me regarding RETT. What it is, what it isn’t and the future. I think it has the potential to be very successful. I’m also of the opinion it will require some strong leadership and formalization.
What Will It Take? My Two Cents
There are many reasons RETT could turn out to be a conundrum wrapped in abjection. Coherent guidelines and rules need to be established to prevent it from going down agenda laden paths that lead to several different kinds of hell. Getting everyone to agree in situations like this will take some damn good cat herders when it starts to approach critical mass.
What Do You Think?
Take a listen to the conversation and comment away. Let the RETT gang know what you think, ask questions, share your ideas and more. What do you think will make it work? What do you think the pitfalls to failure might be?
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- Categories: General, Technology Events
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Comments
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justinmchood on February 16, 2010 6:18 pm
Mike, great write up and thanks for the call. Your open attitude toward contributing is a great example of what it will take for #RETT to be a success.
Oh, and thanks for the logo!
mlbroadcast on February 16, 2010 6:31 pm
My pleasure Justin.
mikemueller on February 16, 2010 6:37 pm
I LOVE the idea!
I'm packing my bags and moving to Phoenix just to be around such forward thinking and cool peeps!
Ken Brand on February 16, 2010 6:37 pm
Thanks for sharing Mike, sounds like a groundswell.
And, this paragraph is kick-ass writing my friend.
“What Will It Take? My Two Cents
There are many reasons RETT could turn out to be a conundrum wrapped in abjection. Coherent guidelines and rules need to be established to prevent it from going down agenda laden paths that lead to several different kinds of hell. Getting everyone to agree in situations like this will take some damn good cat herders when it starts to approach critical mass.”
Cheers
mlbroadcast on February 16, 2010 6:40 pm
Ken,
That made my day. An awesome compliment from a much better writer and a cherished friend.
Rail Life on February 16, 2010 7:48 pm
Awesome, Mike M. I can't wait to see you!
Mike Price… Thanks for the cool write up and for taking the time to speak with us.
Jay Thompson on February 17, 2010 5:59 am
Was great chatting with you Mike, thanks for putting this together! Like I mentioned on the call, I'm very excited about the possibilities of #RETT.
It's only eight days old, and much work needs to be done. But it is going to be successful. Thanks for your support!
Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/17/2010 : Tempe real estate and free home search on February 17, 2010 7:58 am
[...] #RETT – A Very Bright Idea (Audio Interview) – If you are not following what is going on with #RETT in Phoenix, you should. It will be a game [...]
footinmouth on February 17, 2010 1:58 pm
I'm sorry I think I missed a key component here…
so #RETT is an actual physical location (in Phoenix) , an open work space where you can come and go and interact with other professionals on all kinda of RE tech ideas?
mlbroadcast on February 18, 2010 7:17 am
Yes. If you do a saved search for #RETT in Twitter you can follow a stream of some of things going on. Here is an example of just one of the sessions taking place RT @dpatricklewis: Podcasting for newbies, today, at #RETT @gangplank at 10am. You should be there.
social network design on February 19, 2010 8:33 pm
The one thing they never did, which to this day surprises me because of Darren's relationship with them, is to try to build brands around an individual blogger helped by some secondary bloggers. (like Inquisitr, Digital Photography School, Problogger, et al)
social network design on February 20, 2010 4:33 am
The one thing they never did, which to this day surprises me because of Darren's relationship with them, is to try to build brands around an individual blogger helped by some secondary bloggers. (like Inquisitr, Digital Photography School, Problogger, et al)