If you didn’t get to sit in on our August Town Hall meeting, you can listen to the recorded broadcast here.   Get comfortable as we spend the hour talking about the difference between Direct Input and Broker Direct Feed, the future of Upstream beyond listing management and some fun questions from the audience.

PILOT UPDATE

Upstream continues to make progress supporting “Direct Input (DI)" and the new "Broker Direct Feed (BDF)."  As a reminder:

• DI: Members input their listing using Upstream's interface and entitle downstream recipients access to their data.  There are no data or fidelity limits, and the broker is in complete control of the distribution.  MLSs pull a broker's listings from Upstream providing IDX and VOW services and any syndication the broker does not want to manage themselves.
• BDF: Members input their listings directly into their respective MLS.   The MLS provides a broker "back office" feed to Upstream allowing the member to enhance their listings and control distribution.   MLSs continue to providing IDX and VOW services and any syndication the broker does not want to manage themselves.

 
The "Broker Direct Feed" model is provided for MLSs not ready for direct integration giving participating brokers immediate distribution control while waiting for "Direct Input" to come online at a future date.   Broker Direct Feed is a temporary solution while participating MLSs work with Upstream on planning and resource requirements.
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Projected Direct Input (DI) Markets 

• RMLS Portland, OR (Operates a Proprietary MLS system) 
• MLS Listings, Sunnyvale, CA (Split system with CoreLogic back-end database) 

 
Projected Broker Direct Feed (BDF) Markets 

• ARMLS, Phoenix, AZ (Flex MLS-FBS) 
• Northstar MLS, Minneapolis, MN (Split system with CoreLogic back-end database)
• NTREIS, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• West Penn MLS, Pittsburgh, PA (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• GSREIN, New Orleans, LA (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• Austin Board of REALTORS®, Austin, TX (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• Miami Association of REALTORS® Miami, FL- (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• RealComp II, SE Michigan (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• CVRMLS, Richmond, VA (CoreLogic Matrix) 
• Memphis Area Association of REALTORS®, Memphis TN (Paragon MLS - Black Knight) 

 
We will be demonstrating both DI and BDF real world examples at the NAR Annual Convention, November 3-6th.

DEVELOPMENT

The development team released Sprint 17 that included these updates:

• Listing management interface 
  • Password management and login components 
  • ListingId generation 
  • Search refinements 
  • Coordinator view refinements 
  • Photo and document processing optimization 
  • Saving, autosaving, and cross device handling 
• Business rules engine 
  • Automated hydration from collection layout 
  • Update from modified collection layout 
• Admin interface 
  • MLS roster automation 
  • Synchronization with Upstream application database 
  • Member type management 
  • Office management 
  • Associate products to brokerages and other business entities 
  • Vendor and product audit history direct feed 
• Infrastructure 
  • Nightly build automation 
  • Automated test scripts 
  • Prior release code debt paydown 
• Broker  Direct Feed
  • Prototype import application and feed management 
  • Develop mapping features and ETL support to Upstream database 
  • Automate and schedule RETS access 
• RMLS implementation support 
  • Listing status movement: edge case support 
  • Listing status movement: triggered by date 
  • Field mapping testing 
• MLS Listings development support 
  • Convert features to RESO feature type collections in OData API 
  • Update OData API with additional features 
  • Assign and transmit Upstream listing Id instead of MLS Listing Id 

 
The RMLS (Portland, OR) integration project remains on schedule and will entering QA in the coming weeks.  Planning for Pilot brokerage usability testing that follows the production implementation is being performed in parallel.  Customization to support the MLS Listings (Sunnyvale, CA) integration have begun in parallel.   

STAFFING
 
No headcount changes or additions.  We continue to run lean!
 
AGREEMENTS

We continue to iterate on the Letter of Intent (LOI) between Upstream and the MLS community with great help and support from our MLS Advisory Group.   

 GOVERNANCE

 The Upstream Board of Managers approved these changes to the Operating Agreement:

• Extending the Board of Managers terms to October 2018.  This was required as the Upstream board must be voted on by "members" as outlined in our Operating Agreement.  We will not have sufficient members until we go into production this year.
• Changing the Executive Committee makeup to include the second NAR representative to align with the NAR funding agreement ratified in June.  The new Executive Committee has these members:
  • Dan Elsea, [Chairman], Owner - Real Estate One
  • Craig Cheatham, [Vice Chairman], CEO - The Realty Alliance
  • Cary Sylvester, [Treasurer / Secretary], VP Industry Relations - Keller Williams
  • Tom Salomone, [NAR], Owner - Real Estate II
  • Rei Mesa, [NAR}, President & CEO - Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida
  • Alex Lange, President & CEO - UpstreamRE LLC

 NOTE FROM THE CEO

We've been "heads down" here at Upstream getting ready to go live with RMLS and MLS Listings using "Direct Input" and preparing our first three "Broker Direct Feed" markets (ARMLS, NTREIS, and NorthStar) for their November debut.   You can feel the "flywheel" getting momentum as we work with the pilots and our advisory committees and have commitments across both the MLS and Broker communities.    I'm excited at our new pace and look forward to reporting our progress in the markets.

Additionally, we are working through a new revenue "membership" model which looks very promising.  Early price testing has been well received, and we hope to ratify the model at our October board meeting followed by an immediate announcement.