We’re back again this week with another edition of CREB^®Chat, featuring my recent Q&A conversation with Pillar 9™ CEO Shane Griffin on key topics related to the new MLS^® System.

A reminder to share your feedback through our Pillar 9™ pop up survey, which is open until Friday, July 24. The input from this platform is helping to drive real-time conversation between members and staff, which is leading to new communication opportunities and outreach to optimize the user experience.

One example is the recent addition of our new system mapping tool, which is now available on the Pillar 9™ hub on CREB^®Link.This comprehensive resource gives CREB^® members the ability to see all input fields from CREB^®’s MLS^® System (terminology before migration) beside the new Pillar 9™ MLS^® System (terminology now in use).

We know this migration has been harder than it should be. We will not rest until we get it right and your feedback is critical to do just that.In fact, your early feedback prompted me to sit down with Shane Griffin, Pillar 9™ CEO, and explore some of your questions. Here’s a close up look:

Alan Tennant:
Shane, we appreciate that the early days of a migration to a new system is very busy, but we thought capturing some of our recent conversations might help CREB^® members understand the new Pillar 9™ MLS^® System and become more familiar more quickly.

Shane Griffin:
Sounds great, I’m always happy to talk about the technology and it is always better to amplify the information to CREB^® members, across different platforms.

Alan Tennant:
Alright, let’s get going and let’s plan on the next edition being one that is driven by member questions.

Shane Griffin:
Excellent, they can email those questions to contact@onerls.com and we’ll keep doing this dialogue until the questions stop coming.

Alan Tennant:
Now that the dust has settled, why does the upgrade from Matrix™️ 8.3 to 8.4 feel like a step backward?

Shane Griffin:
Well first, the version itself is a pretty light upgrade in the platform, but the reality for members is that the changes they are seeing are driven by either the move to the new RESO standard or the move to migrate data from nine boards into one. The new version of Matrix™️ moves us a step closer to a much-promised upgrade to Matrix™️ that CoreLogic says will deliver a greater user defined interface.

Alan Tennant:
Let’s break it down, starting with the merger of the nine databases into one. Did the other boards just merge into CREB^®‘s database?

Shane Griffin:
Not really, moving to the RESO standard was something we were already working on at CREB^®. In fact, we are leading the work on a Canadian version of it, so we pretty much had to start over with a new database.

The fact that CREB^®'s data was the most extensive and compliant meant it formed the basis for the new database, but this effort is a collaboration and an opportunity to get everyone on one page.

I give the CREB^® board of directors a lot of credit over the past two to three years for their leadership in seeing the big picture. Keep in mind that CREB^® members have been focusing on database integrity for many years, which shows up in the data in a couple of ways.

The major focus for members at other boards during the migration has been on there being many more mandatory data fields. CREB^® members haven’t had the same ‘why are more fields mandatory’ challenge, but they will see some odd names for things that had to be used in migration, so the data could move over.

Every field list and naming convention needed to boil down into one and now that the data is captured in the right areas, we can drop away from using some of those terms that may look out of place.

CREB^® members that view listings posted by other board members into their database before the migration will see some empty fields such as room measurements RMS supplements or legal descriptions, but these are in listings uploaded before migration.

Our clean up work will focus on this, but in the meantime, please use ‘Report a data Error’ on anything you see. This is your database.

Alan Tennant:
Let’s talk about the RESO standard. Why does this matter and how is it going to make our members’ experience better?

Shane Griffin:
The key to any database operating at a high level and having value to users is that it be based on a common set of standards.

The real estate industry over the past several years created the RESO standard so that MLS^® providers, other technology suppliers and third parties who use the data, can operate in a consistent environment and that ultimately saves members money.

Alan Tennant:
Going back to how there are some differences in experience, the fact is that our members see differences between the system they used a few weeks ago and the new one. Why are there so many changes or corrections needed at this point?

Shane Griffin:
In some cases, for example the use of metric versus imperial in room sizes, we responded to member suggestions to give them the choice, but then we needed to ensure the choice itself was clear at the input stage. This seems like an extra step, but keep in mind that regulatory compliance is important in this system.

Another example is that in a few cases some wording or formats in search templates and emails is different and this is because despite all our best efforts, some ‘basic’ Matrix™️ terms were reset in the system. We will make adjustments as soon as we can, but making good updates takes time. We follow a process to make sure the change makes sense and doesn’t break other data in the system.

Alan Tennant:
What is the one thing that you want CREB^® members to know about their new system?

Shane Griffin:
We know this is hard. There is a lot to get used to in this system, but much of the change is not really Matrix™️ related.

We all have preferences in how we want to use anything online, but the reality is that one board driven systems are disappearing and that means the pain of moving into a larger partnership is inevitable.

CREB^® members have high standards and so do we. As we get through the bumps, everyone will see some new features, greater user choice and add-ons that are ours and done our way. This is the beginning of that journey.

Alan Tennant:
Thanks Shane, we appreciate you taking the time for this conversation.

CREB^® members, the next edition is yours. Please email your questions to contact@onerls.com and we’ll keep this conversation going with the subject matter that you choose.

To learn more about ‘the why’ behind our move to Pillar 9™, click here to view the information we shared with our members from the very beginning of the move to One Alberta MLS^® System.

If you have any questions on this or anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at 403-461-2987, or to my desk line at 403-781-1359, or by email to alan.tenant@creb.ca.

For everything else, please continue to visit the Pillar 9™ hub on CREB^®Link, which is updated as information becomes available. We recently expanded our FAQ’s based on your feedback, with direct access to Pillar 9™’s FAQ’s as well as direct access to Pillar 9™’s message of the day. 

More examples of your feedback in action.