As the NAR kicks off its 2002 Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., there is the promise of a lot of fireworks. This year, the NAR's 7000 attendees square off against the banking lobby which is also pitching woo at legislators to allow them into real estate brokerage. The NAR's position is that big banks entering the real estate industry will reduce consumer choice and raise the price of real estate services. Banking says they are already in the business, they just need some formalities ironed out.

Realtors® will meet, individually and in groups, with key legislators to discuss proposed regulations and legislation that affects the industry. NAR says that several members of the Senate and House of Representatives and federal agency representatives will address real estate legislative and regulatory issues during a number of forums, including NAR agenda-friendly Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D.) Other sessions will include the latest in real estate technology, buying and selling trends, and economic predictions for both the residential and commercial sectors of the market. In addition, nationally recognized speakers will lead education sessions in business, leadership and management topics.

Senator Clinton was a big hit with Realtors at the opening session, as she vowed to support the NAR on a wide range of issues important to the Realtor and homeowner communities, including sponsoring a bill to the Senate designed to prevent banks getting into real estate brokerage.

NAR President Martin Edwards urged Realtors to continue their support of the Community Choice In Real Estate Act.

NAR Chief Economist David Lereah reported that, so far, home sales are on track to set another record year. An annualized projection of 5.78 million homes sold in 2002 would beat last year's record of 5.3 million homes sold. Homes appreciated at a rate of 5.8 percent last year, while home sales generated $212 billion in capital gains.

Other than that, for this reporter, the convention news will be challenging to get. Except for the NAR developing news, the only other likely news source is the Trade Show, where real estate vendors and their PR personnel will be making announcements - mostly new products and new versions of old products.

Most PR personnel have all memorized the same playbook - hold any news until the convention, then release it along with everyone else's and hope that theirs is the news that the media will pay attention to.

While there are some benefits to releasing news at a trade show (more people might come to their booths for a look-see,) I'm not so sure that strategy works except for the largest companies.

If your company isn't publicly held, or about to take over a vertical market, your press release could get lost in the shuffle. Also, by waiting until the convention, you miss the opportunity to use leading news services to help get people to your booth before the trade show starts.

You would think that most reporters would get excited at convention time when news rains down like manna from heaven. But that's the problem. Everyone is getting the same press releases, and the quantity that are released at convention time really makes them competitive. That wouldn't be a bad thing except that most news media can afford to do only their top picks of stories, and we hope we don't all choose the same ones. Complicating the matter is the challenge of developing good stories, made doubly difficult when few companies make sources (besides the PR executive) available for comment.

The PR person is usually overwhelmed and overcontrolling, and seldom makes a great interview anyway, because they can't help but think in terms of company hyperbole. Most competent news reporters want to speak to company officers, not PR personnel, even though it is the PR person's job to act as buffer between the public and the company. With no offense intended, an interview with most PR personnel usually reads like an advertorial, giving neither the company nor the news media much credibility.

Convention news would be a lot more exciting if PR people tried the following instead:

1. Find out what kind of news each real estate news service is interested in instead of blanketing them all with the same press release. Know the chain of command, and the appropriate editor or reporter to send releases.

2. Don't assume your news will be always be found on PR Newswire or Businesswire. Make sure choice editors and reporters receive simultaneous personal copies via e-mail.

3. Find out what types of stories individual reporters cover, how they like to work, and know their deadlines so you can deliver materials in time to get your company chosen as a source, or to keep a story about your company from getting scrapped because a source couldn't be found.

4. Call industry editors and reporters with the news of the upcoming convention announcement. You don't have to ruin your own embargo date, just say you have some news coming and ask if the reporter would like to schedule an interview or preview the new product. Have times already set aside with company VPs for comments. While interviews with company leaders are always interesting, be willing to mix it up with other company personnel who aren't normal spokespersons. A new product review complete with an interview with the designer could be a lot more interesting than the same old interview with the company president talking about how wonderful his/her company is.

5. Follow up with the press release addressed to the reporter, and offers for further help

6. Reserve some facts from the release. Tease the reporter with facts, figures, etc. to be found elsewhere like on the company Web site or at the booth.

7. Have general industry sources, facts, and figures ready that can help reporters develop a story in context. If you become a valuable source of information for the reporter beyond that of your own company's news, you could get your company included in more stories in the long run.

8. Realize that in a vertical like real estate, most people read more than one news source. Try to vary quotes to different news organizations.

9. Remember that news agencies aren't PR firms

10. Know the difference between news and advertising. We do.

Convention news would be a lot harder to write, but the resulting stories would be a lot more interesting for readers.

Published: May 16, 2002

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.