NAR Blogs Its Brains Out, But CommentsFrom Its Members Are No Longer Welcome

The new blog from NAR started off great and there is a flurry of new posts this week at the group's mid-year meeting in Washington, D.C. But someone in association leadership just pulled the plug on the Comments facility. It seems like the powers that be are determined to make it appear as though NAR speaks with a monolithic voice for its membership. There is dissent within the organization. There are concerned citizens within the ranks of NAR who do not agree with each turn on it legislative road map. Stifling communication is never a good idea. We urge NAR to reconsider its position and reopen its blog to comments from the public and its membership. -- Frances Flynn Thorsen

Comments

[Carol Williams]

Oh... this could definitely backfire. NAR may not like everything they hear, but they need to hear it, especially from those of us for whom they work. Have they forgotten who fills the bank account to write those paychecks?

[Pamela Geurds Kabati]

I'd like to clarify something. NAR has a blog called NAR in the News, launched about six weeks ago, that started out taking comments from day one and still does.

The blog Frances refers to her in her post above is a different one -- NAR Midyear News Coverage -- that launched May 15, at the start of the NAR meetings, and concluded on Sunday with a report on the NAR Board of Directors meeting. This short-term blog was designed to offer visitors to REALTOR.org an easier way to get at the news reports our team of editors from NAR Publications file at these meetings. We never intended to have this meeting coverage blog open to comment because interactivity wasn't the goal of this particular blog.

NAR's Center for REALTORS Technology, however, ran a blog at this meeting that had as its primary purpose member-to-member communication about the Midyear meeting.

Different uses of blogging with different goals.

As I said earlier, the NAR in the News blog, is ongoing and also takes comments. Clearly, not all one million members of the national association are ever going to agree to anything, and that's certainly reflected in the comments you can find on this NAR in the News blog.

Pamela Geurds Kabati
Vice President and Editorial Director
NAR Publications