As we ramp up to the 2023 RESO Spring Conference in San Antonio, Texas (April 18–20), we revisit one of several presentations worth resharing from the 2022 RESO Fall Conference, “How Your Company Can Get the Most Out of RESO Workgroups.”
The presenters, both from Realtors Property Resource (RPR), were Kristen Carr, Director, Partner Integrations and Industry Relations, and Donna Rauch, Vice President, Data Support.
The duo discussed the helpfulness and importance of the RESO workgroup community to their teams for building awareness of the standards and other issues that are moving through the RESO pipeline. | WATCH THE VIDEO (23:33 minutes)
“RESO standards help us define our technologies when we’re creating something new,” said Carr.
A unique framework was provided by Carr and Rauch for getting your company and personnel engaged in the right RESO workgroups. Their system rewards true involvement over simple participation, which is meant to combat the “we want to know what we need to know when we need to know it” mindset. They asked their teams three simple questions:
- Who fits best in what workgroup?
- Who wants to learn about this topic?
- Can we make this reportable and repeatable?
Next, they created accounts for each workgroup in Salesforce and added specific updates directed to their data and product teams. Each account is owned or co-owned by staff members, each meeting is reported on and notifications are sent when something is flagged as important. Additionally, their product team is provided with a quarterly report.
Having a strategy of being more involved in RESO paid off for RPR with the Working with Real Estate Data (WWRED) course, which was born from the Broker Advisory Workgroup. RPR staff were early course reviewers, which bolstered their belief in its efficacy.
New hires are now routinely asked to take the course, as it provides a warp-speed onboarding for new employees into the complex data interactions across the industry. It’s an education in the different stakeholder facets of the industry – even for tech veterans. From the call centers to senior management, the course has been viewed as a significant benefit.
Another budding success story involves the Internet Tracking Workgroup after that workgroup’s chair and CTO of MetroMLS, Chris Lambrou, met with RPR product managers to explain the concept. RPR is now implementing an Internet Tracking proof-of-concept, which is expected to offer something unique back to the real estate community while also giving RPR new insights and features for their products.
![](https://www.reso.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sam-visits-with-rpr-500x288.jpg)
RESO CEO Sam DeBord visits with RPR.
If you are new to RESO workgroups, other useful reference points include the Data Dictionary Wiki, the new Product Updates web page and the workgroup highlights in every issue of RESO Monthly, all of which help members stay current on what’s happening in workgroups and at RESO.
RESO staff is also available to discuss workgroup nuts and bolts. Carr and Rauch cited a call with RESO CEO Sam DeBord for their personnel as an energy infuser for further engagement.
Carr and Rauch closed with the message that RESO staff and volunteers are here to help, that the community is welcoming and open, and that RESO is a great place to share ideas and obstacles.