With 26,000 members to train on a new MLS system, SoCalMLS general manager Russ Bergeron didn't want to repeat the time and expense it took to train people to use previous MLS access products, so he came up with a cool idea - take members and put 'em on ice for a day.

"You can do the math," says Bergeron. "Even if you get 300 people into a room, the time, expense, and lost productivity is just too much."

SoCalMLS had been using two systems - Stellar as a legacy system and XMLS as a parallel system, and opted to put members on one system - MarketLinx Tempo, so that everyone could be on one Internet-based system, among other reasons. That meant, though, that every member who uses the system had to be trained.

Why not train everyone in one day, he thought? Geographically, the SoCalMLS covers a small number of square miles in southern California which just happens to be dense with agents (membership has doubled in the last five years.) With the right venue, the agents could easily be trained in one location.

The right place was in SoCal's backyard - the Arrowhead Pond, an ice rink used by the NHL's "Mighty Ducks" and within twenty miles drive for every SoCal member.

Bergeron and his associates whipped up a training seminar to end all training seminars complete with sponsors and a trade show and expo.

The event will be held January 14th, 2004. Attendance that will rival the National Association of Realtors' annual convention with about 20,000 Realtors expected.

It will be the largest MLS cutover training event of its kind ever.

The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, says Bergeron, is a state-of-the-art 18,000 seat arena where the MLS training attendees will be given a two-hour ride through the new Tempo system at one of two scheduled training sessions. Along the facility's concourse, the trade show and expo will be held.

"Our service partners jumped at the chance to be part of the event," said Bergeron. "I have to thank all our exhibitors, especially eNeighborhoods and First American Real Estate Solutions for their generous sponsorships. Their involvement will draw people to the Pond and has helped offset some of the costs of staging this event."

Notifying all 26,000 MLS customers about the show was another hurdle. Agents using legacy and Internet-based systems have different ways of communicating.

"We have used every means at our disposal," said Terry Matt, SoCalMLS' director of training and marketing. "Over the past 3 months we have repeatedly used broadcast FAX, broadcast e-mail, courier service to every office, staff visits to offices and board meetings, log-on messages, pop-up messages, board newspapers, and just this week every customer received a postcard reminder. We've done it all. The idea was that everyone be given equal access to training on this outstanding new system so they could all jump right in the day it goes live.”

Bergeron says response has been overwhelmingly positive. "At first, people were skeptical, but now they're jazzed," says Bergeron. "Many brokers are making attendance mandatory for all their agents. Some are using the Pond event as their weekly sales meeting. Others are renting buses or limos to get their people there.

"Our Board of Directors and staff have worked long and hard putting this event together," he says. "It has been both fun and educational. We expect we'll be the talk of the town, if not the entire MLS industry."

Published: January 9, 2004

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