Hoosiers Now, Hoosiers Forever

You don’t have to be from Indiana to know that folks from there are called Hoosiers. Or at least you ought to know that, given the state’s nickname has been the Hoosier State for, well, forever. But as The Hill reports, it’s all totally for absolute pinky swear real now. That’s because the federal Government Publishing Office announced a few weeks ago it would now start officially referring to Indiana residents as Hoosiers rather than Indianans. That means every piece of federal government paper that mentions Indiana folks will refer to them as Hoosiers. Which is a good thing because that movie from 1986 with Gene Hackman about a tiny Indiana high school basketball team’s historic run to a state championship wasn’t called “Indianans” for crying out loud, it was called “Hoosiers.”

 

-- By RICH EHISEN

Faking It

The social media and political worlds are justifiably ablaze with indignation these days over so-called “fake news,” the should-be-obvious wackadoodle stories your grandparents or high strung aunt used to email to you but which they now share on Facebook and Twitter instead. Many observers feel that such stories – usually filled with breathless nonsense meant to get a less than sophisticated reader all fired up about something – directly impacted the recent presidential election. Smarter folks than me have been pondering how to combat the growth of such propaganda, with not much luck. But now, as the Los Angeles Times reports, a pair of California lawmakers have introduced bills to require Golden State schools to teach students how to discern real news from the faux variety. It’s far too early to know if they will ever become law, but whatever happens we promise to give you the real accounting of what happened.

Define ‘Contact’

In a list of legislative do’s and don’ts, not getting your groove on with the interns or pages ought to be a no-brainer for most folks. But apparently not in South Dakota, where the Argus Leader reports a special legislative panel recently voted down a proposal to codify a rule barring lawmakers from “sexual contact” with said interns and pagers. Opponents said there are already rules covering such behavior and new rules are thus unnecessary. Or as one lawmakers put it, he was “hesitant to pass something when we get into itemizing every potential wrongdoing that a legislator could commit.” That lawmaker? Rep. David Lust. You can’t make this stuff up.

Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite

Government definitely has its share of insect-like participants, but things recently got downright buggy for the folks at the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. As the Detroit Free Press reports, workers there had to be temporarily relocated to new offices after someone spotted a bedbug crawling around their chair. Exterminators using special insect-sniffing dogs were brought in. Two chairs were found to be hot...uh, have the bugs on them and were subsequently bagged and removed. But a week or so later another bedbug was spotted in the same area, so the exterminators and dogs were back again. This time officials are pretty sure they cleared them out. They are also pretty sure they have determined the employee responsible for exposing the office to the bugs. That person has not been identified but should be obvious – they’re the one nobody wants to steal a chair from.

Maximize Your Time Spent on Real Estate Research

Poor Alice. She followed a white rabbit down a hole and found herself lost. The fairy tale can be compared to research on the open web. For example, let's say your boss asks “how can we make our team more LEAN?” You start to answer and realize you’re not sure what that even means… and suddenly you’re off to Google, the Wonderland of information seekers. Then you type in ‘Lean’ and the madness begins. The Urban Dictionary definition (top result, and probably not the answer your boss is looking for) is quickly followed by 222 million results in exactly 0.95 seconds. Is it any wonder that conducting news and business research on the open web makes you want to disappear faster than a vanishing Cheshire Cat?

Many real estate professionals struggle to find relevant information in a timely fashion. The problem is that by failing to define the end goal, the path is likely to take a lot of unexpected twists and turns.  And that takes time, a valuable commodity for anyone, especially when you’re trying to transcend the competition. You need to have a finger on the pulse of your marketplace and be ready to move when opportunity strikes. You certainly can’t do that if you’re leaping down one rabbit hole after another. But beyond knowing why you’re conducting the research, you need to make sure you’re asking in the right places. And let’s face it, too often, the type of research that real estate professionals need to conduct leads to dead-ends, paywalls and out-of-date information if you’re relying on the open web. 

Instead of heading to the Wonderland of the web, consider using tools that can help you cut through the clutter—resulting in more focused, precision research that generates relevant results.  For real estate professionals, that means access to:

• Public records—including hard-to-locate contact data like personal email addresses and cell phone numbers
• Deep news, company information and industry insights with Alerts to keep you current on individuals and companies of interest
• Efficient search functions, such as linking ownership entities directly to principal contact information

The open web is awesome if you’re searching for cat videos, but it might not be the best tool for the unique needs of real estate professionals. What tools do you rely on?  

1. Download our free guide to selecting the best research tool for your needs..
2. Check out the tool that helps you search authoritative news and business information with advanced search, analysis and data visualization capabilities.
3. Share this blog on LinkedIn to keep the dialogue going with your colleagues and contacts.