ActiveRain, a network of 80,000 some odd real estate professionals had a video contest. I spend almost no time there any more, so I’m not sure what the rules and guidelines were, nor how many entries there were, but here is the winner — from Mike Lefebvre with Century 21 Commonwealth in Massachusetts.
Well done Mike!
Mike’s got an interesting blog here, which includes a recent letter from the NAR informing him his domain name “AppraiserRealtor.com” is a trademark violation.
Unfortunately the blog doesn’t allow comments (a mistake Mike, in my opinion), so I’ll answer his question here (note, Mike is not a Realtor):
I replied to the NAR asking if I was indeed a member of your
cultassociation, would I be able to use the term REALTOR (R) in my domain names, screen names, etc?…Waiting for a response.
The answer Mike is no. Not even paying members are allowed to use the term “Realtor” in a domain name except in very limited circumstances. You could, for example, use “MikeLefebvreRealtor.com”, but “AppraiserRealtor” isn’t going to fly, dues payer or not.
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The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
What was the aim of the contest? Was it to create an advertising video? If this was the case, what sort of media would this type of movie by shown on? I am intrigued as the content is very well presented and unless there is a very viable media, such a good movie may just not get what it sets out to achieve.
I think it's one of the THE most creative "Virtual Tours" of a home I've ever seen to date!
Why is it that when someone breaks the law and gets called out on it they feel it gives them the right to act like a jerk? Trademark law is very important to many companies and in this case our association.
WOW — that's the first "virtual tour" video I've ever seen that was compelling enough to make me watch the whole thing from start to finish.
Hands down the most creative way to use video to showcase a listing I've seen. It offers all of us that are interested some great ideas to go above and beyond the typical slideshow phototour.
A very good use of video. I have to hand it to the creater of this one, they did a great job.
Jay,
Don't know how I missed this post? Google alerts must be sleeping on the job! Thanks for the post and thanks for all the comments (My apologies to Ken Smith. 99% of the time, I KNOW when I'm being a jerk. This time I didn't). I've also moved my blog over to http://www.theuncommonagent.com. It's a WordPress theme and DOES allow comments. Love Tumblr, but I agree, reader comments are essential. The Century 21/YouTube contest wraps up in the next week or so. Please keep your fingers crossed and send positive vibrations my way! The grand prize in this one, $21,000 to my sellers, would go a long way towards a much-needed price reduction! Other entries can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/century21
Thanks again Jay. I enjoy your work!
Mike Lefebvre
The UncommonAgent
(fka The Appraiser-Realtor)
: )