I’ve spent the last few days in San Francisco at the National Association of Realtors Conference. This is where the top of the top come to share their knowledge regarding everything from staying motivated to emerging trends.

Last year, I had trouble finding the emerging trends. I came home with some great tips and new connections, but not much in the way of ‘new’.

I’m happy to report this year was the opposite. I connected with fewer people, but gained real insight as to where we are heading, not only as an industry, but as a society.

Several words and terms floated throughout my interaction in classes (esp. Errol Samuelson and Todd Carpenter)  and with start up companies (Zurple) including: inbound leads, interactive marketing, predictive marketing and big data. Since I only stop at my friend’s and companies I haven’t heard of booths in the expo, I may be a little lopsided on my view, but it seemed all of them were woven with a common thread.

Big brother is watching (and has been longer than any of us realize).

We have come to a point where data is available in massive quantities and there are companies poised to show us all how it can be a benefit in our businesses and daily lives. While there are those that won’t like it because it’s all too invasive, there are many others that will be using it to their advantage.

I’m a Android and ‘all things Google‘ fan so I already have a comfort level with this technology. When Google analyzes my calendar along with traffic on the route and notifies me that I need to leave a little earlier than normal with an alarm. .. I’m not mad. The fact that it knows I’m out and about exploring San Francisco, then makes recommendations right on my phone…I’m still not mad. 🙂 I do enjoy convenience, but I wonder at what point does it stop being a cool convenience and become invasive to me?

It certainly will be interesting to watch companies emerge and consumers react. It was fun getting to see it all firsthand here at the NAR Conference.

Thanks for the hospitality San Francisco. I’ll be back.