Ali Corton

I recently forwarded a job posting to a friend of mine who writes about new media. The letter below is reposted with his permission from his blog:

http://www.ariwriter.com/2008/10/dear-social-media-manager-search-committee-of-national-association-of-realtors/

Dear Social Media Manager Search Committee of National Association of Realtors By Ari Herzog

October 23, 2008

To Whom It May Concern: A Facebook friend of mine who works in a Boston-area realty firm forwarded me a message last night thinking I’d enjoy reading it. Boy, was she right! It was an article published on the website of the MLS Property Information Network that indicated the 1.3 million membership-strong NAR is stepping into the social media limelight. To which I say: Congratulations! I won’t echo the details, qualifications, or arguments stressed by my new friend Paul Chaney, president of the International Blogging & New Media Association, who interviews NAR managing director Hilary Marsh; nor the various perspectives (and numerous comments, including Hilary herself) from Phoenix real estate agent Jay Thompson who writes at both his Agent Genius blog and over at NAR Wisdom. But there’s more.

The MLSPIN site points me to your Monster.com job listing, which includes the following 6 responsibilities:

1. Monitor real estate industry and related social media

2. Facilitate NAR’s participation in external blogs and social media

3. Maintain, evolve, and enforce NAR’s social media policies and guidelines

4. Train NAR staff and elected leaders about how to write for blogs and other forms of social media

5. Monitor existing NAR blogs and create new ones as needed to foster conversations about relevant topics or issues

6. Measure the effectiveness of NAR’s social media efforts

It looks good. Really! I’m glad to see a national association stepping up to the plate with full battle array and ready to engage itself and its stakeholders and members to usher in the 21st century. Looking further down the job listing page, I see you ask prospective candidates to send you a resume and a cover letter to a generic email address. Moreover, this listing is on Monster.com. I’m looking for income, but I’m not looking at Monster; it’s a great organization offering a super service but it’s overused and each advertised position, frankly, receives too many responses. Don’t you agree from past experience? To be fair, you’re also listing the job on LinkedIn, but again, you’re asking for the same information. Surely you view Monster and LinkedIn as different tools, right? One is a job listing database and the other is a professional networking tool. If someone sees your LinkedIn job listing, they’re probably already on the site and already have their “resume” and “summary,” so all that’s necessary is a LinkedIn in-mail message to Lisa Monde with a few lines saying, “Hi. I’m interested. I do X and Y. Google me for the rest. Let’s chat.” Maybe you’re baiting people to neither send you a resume nor a cover letter. Hmm. Oh, and how come your notes and discussion messages at neither your Facebook page, nor President Dick Gaylord’s blog (which I found by navigating from the Realtor.org home page to “About Nar” to “President’s Report” before seeing a link) specify this new role? And where is NAR on Twitter? I see nar_midyear, naraei, and ypn. Is that it? How come you didn’t use hash tags for the first two, like I mentioned #redsox in my recent article about how I use Twitter? Just wondering. Please don’t take my letter as negation, Search Committee. I think it’s awesome you’re doing this and, if my cursory search is any indication of the truth, your new person ought to be paid handsomely to bring you up to speed. Couldn’t Jay Thompson, author of the two aforelinked blogs, be your “evangelist” and help you find the person, rather than the person finding you? Wouldn’t it be neat if NAR could use social media to hire someone in social media? I recently wrote about Hiring 2.0 and how employers are hiring people online, too. If what I’m saying strikes a chord, I’d enjoy hearing from you. I’d like to see this work and I’m willing to work with you on a consulting basis to help fine-tune the right person.

Sincerely, Ari Herzog

P.S. I wonder how frequently this new candidate will avail him or herself of the “discounted on-site massages,” per the last line of your Monster listing. Nevermind; I can guess.

As a real estate lawyer, most Monday mornings are filled with phone calls from realtors and buyers discussing a property they saw at an open house on Sunday. But for the last few years, those Monday morning calls have stopped during the fall. The real estate market, like the other traditional fall activities of apple picking and watching the spectacular foliage, has given way on Sundays to a weekly regional Pigskin Holiday- the Patriots throttling whatever hapless opponent was on their schedule. But now with a certain quarterback who has led the Patriots to a 100-27 record on the injured reserve list, it’s time for New England to return to its outdoor fall roots. So out with feet up on the couch, potato chips, remote controls and HDTVs. Sundays will now again be packed with hay rides, pumpkins and jumping in piles of leaves. Although there won’t be a golden arm to lead the Pats to victory, we can savor the crisp autumn air, sparkling sunlight and a return of a busy fall real estate market.

Marc E. Canner, Esq.

The Law Office of Marc E. Canner

200 Highland Ave., Third Floor

Needham, MA 02494 (p) (781) 444-7766 (f) (781) 247-4225

www.cannerlaw.com

Many thanks to Marc for sharing his thoughts with us!

Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news, but as this headline came across my screen a few hours ago I felt it was my duty to inform dear friends and clients (many of whom purchased homes with me in this area) of the news.

We KNOW we live in a large town, in fact it was once deemed the largets town in the US, but to most residents in the quiet neighborhoods near these schools it is a small town full of city conveniences. But we rarely have such events occur here! When we do, it certainly pulls us closer together and the ties that bind this community are tied even tighter.

We are lucky to have great neighbors, great friends and a great network on which we can rely to share the news, be it good or bad. I am confident that by now my entire network is aware of the situation and as far as I know they are all safe and sound!

For more details click here: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/17380195/detail.html