Our migration journey to Pillar 9™ is complete, but we’re still ear to the ground as everyone continues to learn and settle into a new era of streamlined technology for REALTORS^®.

Let’s cut to the chase – this migration has been harder than it should be. We knew it would be challenging, which is why I personally emailed every member the Friday before launch.

Unfortunately, we could not have anticipated that we’d be 65 minutes late with our launch, which flooded the Pillar 9™ help desk team, and nor did we welcome the news that CoreLogic created problems with the saved search transfer, which also naturally drove a large number of calls and emails. Frustration with wait times is understandable and absolutely the last thing we envisioned, even with a fully staffed and outstanding help desk team.

We are doing our best and we welcome your input to learn more about your experience with the move to Pillar 9™’s MLS^® System. I encourage you to share your feedback with us through this Pillar 9™ pop up survey. We’ve included some open dialogue boxes, so if you have a comment on this post, please feel free to use the survey as a platform for communicating those thoughts.

As you might recall from our communications leading up to migration, our two key priorities for this transition were the best possible user experience and an unwavering commitment to data integrity.

To date, over 1,400 CREB^® members have completed virtual Matrix™ training – way to go, but we aren’t there yet!

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to download the participant guide and watch the recorded Matrix™ webinar training. The session has been tailored uniquely for CREB^® members and will help you to navigate the new system.

You can also access additional information on the Pillar 9™ Hub and PillarNine.com, including Tech Tips, how-to guides, video tutorials and WalkMe, a great real-time support tool.

On the data front, over 11,200 active CREB^® listings were migrated to the new MLS^® System between July 7 and 8, which is more mountain than molehill, and just one of many big rocks that we traversed on our epic migration journey. We also migrated 13.5 million photos, about 900,000 saved searches and 218,000 supplements.

This is new era for real estate. We’re in the middle of something special in our industry. The new MLS® data fields were built based on the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) Gold Standards, which means you may see some new naming conventions as we set a new pathway for innovation to emerge and evolve into the future. This is another example of the multiple layers of change wrapped into Pillar 9™.

There are also some rules changes (harmonization) that coincided with the move to the province-wide database. The CREB^®Talk article New listings rules for Alberta REALTORS^® is a must-read as it provides important details and a link to a document that lists all the changes – don’t worry, there aren’t many.

As well, I want to hear from you directly if you have any questions about the ‘why’ of moving to Pillar 9™ - a shared provincial system and database. Do us both a favour and familiarize yourself with this November 26 CREB^®Talk article before emailing me at alan.tennant@creb.ca or calling me directly at 403-781-1359 or 403-461-2987.

Chair Sarah Johnston sums up our ‘why’ very eloquently:

“As a Board, we know that change in our industry is inevitable. Taking feedback from our last member survey where it was clearly stated that increased member professionalism and competence, reduced fees and duplication and a unified structure were preferred, the Board not only decided, but championed this path forward. While being at the forefront of change has presented its own challenges and many learning opportunities for us, we are still committed to the final goal. Our members will be presented with all of the data and tools possible to ensure they are best prepared to meet the ever-changing client needs. The future is near, and we will be ready!”

If you have a ‘how’ question and you’re looking for personalized technical support, please contact the Pillar 9™ help desk team—available to CREB^® members seven days a week at 1-866-377-8217 or helpdesk@pillarnine.com. 

As a reminder, the Pillar 9™ help desk team is not here to train members or field calls about rumours on Facebook. Use this resource wisely and focus more on re-learning the Pillar 9™ version of Matrix™. It has some differences than what you are used to, but it also has some cool upgrades and, best of all, you can help clients with properties across the province and they can see your listings.

There is no comments section below this CREB^® Chat because we are taking a more direct approach to learning what is on your mind. Please take a couple of minutes to complete the survey or contact me. I will chat with every one of you who reaches out.

As with any other new product launch, we will not stop working to improve this tool, so keep your suggestions coming. We are in the early, and let’s admit it, painful stages of moving towards an MLS^® System solution that makes better business sense for Alberta REALTORS^® – both from the perspective of an on the street business tool but also for the system to be Alberta REALTOR^® owned and operated. This is huge and the benefits may not be obvious today but be patient and keep learning it.

Bring forward your questions about why we did this or that, and we’ll talk. You can be assured; we will not rest until we get this right.

Alan Tennant
CREB^® President & CEO