June 2005 Issue
Page 2

Licenses expire January 1, 2006 - 28 hours of continuing ed needed in 2 years prior to expiration. All 28 hours will be available locally September 12 - 15. We are negotiating with the course provider for a discounted fee for these courses. Any interested appraiser, please call Charley Nye @ 206-8267, so we can get a "head-count" of those who intend to take any or all of these classes.

NOTE: Some of these classes may be electives for brokers and salespersons also. More information coming soon.

REMINDER - FREE TECHNOLOGY HOTLINE!!

We have recently had some great feedback regarding this service available to you - FREE !! Here is the information again: 1-866-232-1833, Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern.

Information to have on hand when you call:

• Name
• Office Phone
• NRDS Number
• Indiana ID Number
  

Coverage Points:

• Operating Systems: Windows®, MacIntosh® or Palm Pilot®
• Real Estate-specific software such as Top Producer®
• Office management staples, such as Microsoft Office®
• Internet: Netscape Navigator® and Internet Explorer®, as well as Microsoft FrontPage® and major web design software
• Hardware: PC & MacIntosh
• The Living Network and Planet Realtor®

DIGITAL IMAGE RESTRICTIONS

The Board of Directors recently passed a new policy on submitting photos in the MLS. If anyone has any questions regarding the new policy, please call the MLS office at 875-3283 and speak to Association Executive, Julie Alert. The policy reads as follows:

• Digital images submitted to the MLS shall only contain photos pertinent to the listed property, floor plans of the listed property or renderings of the listed property. Digital images shall not contain contact information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses or website addresses, including use of embedded, overlaid, or digitally stamped information.

PHOTO POLICY CHANGE

ALL MLS OFFICES WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UPLOADING THE MAIN PHOTO OR SKETCH EFFECTIVE JUNE 16, 2005.

An office can give the agent(s) access to photo upload by notifying the MLS office in writing, however, the MLS policy pertains to the MLS office not the agent. This means OFFICES will be responsible for any photos or vacant land sketches not uploaded within the timeframe allowed in the policy. In addition, the quality of the uploaded photo will be monitored by the MLS for review by the Board of Directors. Quality is critical to maintain the usefulness of the MLS database.

Listed below is the photo policy adopted by the MLS Board of Directors. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the MLS office and ask for Julie.

Immediately following the photo policy are the format requirements for the photo.

PHOTO POLICY
The MLS photographer will take all photos until June 16, 2005. For the next 60 days (until August 16 th ) the photographer will take all photos not uploaded by the office within 72 hours of input. The office will be charged $25.00 for each photo or sketch not uploaded within 72 hours. After August 16, 2005, the photographer will no longer take any missing photos that the office is responsible for uploading and the charge will remain at $25.00 for the next 30 days (September 16, 2005). The charge for a photo or sketch not uploaded within 72 hours will increase to $100.00 on September 16, 2005.

MLS Photo Requirements:

The current MLS system automatically resizes and compresses photos uploaded in a different file size or resolution than required by the MLS. This can affect the quality of a photo and can cause photo distortion in photos uploaded with higher resolution. All photos should be saved at 32K and 640x480 image size (resolution). These are the same settings the MLS uses to resize and compress a photo.

File & image size are required to control how long a page takes to load and how much space is required on a computer using the desktop software. Another issue to be aware of is how close to the edge of the frame the house is when the photo is taken. If you shoot the photo with the house too close to the frame the ends may get cut off when they are uploaded. Remember, if the original photo uploaded is not the quality you want you can always upload another photo. There is no charge for changing photos. The best way to learn what the system does to a photo is to look at it immediately after it is uploaded. That way it will be easier to remember how the photo was taken and what needs to be adjusted to maintain quality.

Don't forget as of June 16, 2005, the MLS will no longer provide the main photo for listings entered into the MLS system. It will be the responsibility of the MLS office to make sure a photo is uploaded for all listings within 72 hours of inputting the listing. Participants can authorize agents to upload photos by submitting a written request to the MLS office. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Participant to make sure a photo is uploaded. Additionally, the Board of Directors will be monitoring the quality of the photos uploaded by members. The policy may change if photo quality is not maintained.

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