Inman announced on Monday that it has formed an advisory council of senior executives from across brokerage, technology, lending and real estate services, including names from some of the biggest companies in the industry.
The Inman Advisory Council comes as the company remakes itself from a real estate news publisher into a broader media, membership and community platform — an effort CEO Tom Bohn has dubbed “Inman 2.0.”
The initiative includes persona-driven editorial, AI-enhanced journalism, an evolving Inman Select membership product and community infrastructure built for real estate professionals, the company said.
“The real estate industry is in the middle of the most consequential reset in a generation,” Bohn explained in a statement. “As Inman enters its next chapter, we wanted the smartest operators, innovators and leaders in the business helping us think through what’s next.”
Those operators include leaders from Zillow, Compass International Holdings, HomeServices of America, eXp Realty and others who form the Inman Advisory Council.
That council will help guide the company’s next chapter, Inman said, with the 16 founding members engaging directly with Inman leadership on strategy for editorial, events, membership and community.
The council notably brings together executives from Zillow and Compass, frequent combatants and two of the biggest companies in real estate. It also includes leaders from LPT Realty, Brown Harris Stevens, SoFi, Lone Wolf Technologies, RealScout and others.
Bohn, who took the helm at Inman earlier this year, has described his ambition as building “the Bloomberg of residential real estate,” a vision he laid out in a recent podcast interview that emphasized trusted data, journalism and AI integration as pillars of the company’s evolution.
The advisory council is the most visible signal yet of that strategy taking shape.
“Right now, there’s a lot of noise,” Michael Valdes, CEO of LPT International and a founding council member, said in a statement. “People are looking for a trusted, impartial voice that can offer a roadmap in what feels like a chaotic environment.”
The council will hold its inaugural session July 28 at Inman Connect San Diego, the opening day of the company’s flagship conference, which runs through July 30 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina under the theme “The Reset Is Here. Build What’s Next.”
The first meeting will focus on what the industry needs most from its media and community platforms, the company said.
The founding members of the Inman Advisory Council are:
- Michael Valdes, CEO, LPT Realty
- Errol Samuelson, chief industry development officer, Zillow Group
- Sue Yannaccone, chief operating officer, Compass International Holdings
- Chris Kelly, president and CEO, HomeServices of America
- Bess Freedman, CEO, Brown Harris Stevens
- Wendy Forsythe, chief marketing officer, eXp Realty
- Lauren Henss, VP of marketing and strategic initiatives, First Team Real Estate
- Stephen London, president and co-founder, Fello.ai
- Matt Fischer, CEO, Lone Wolf Technologies
- Andrew Flachner, CEO, RealScout
- Marissa Brooks, senior vice president of corporate affairs, Zillow
- Eric Schuppenhauer, EVP and group business unit leader, Borrow, SoFi
- Anthony Lamacchia, broker-owner and CEO, Lamacchia Companies
- Jackie Soto, CEO, ehomes
- Dionna Hall, CEO, Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors and BeachesMLS
- James Harris, founder and CEO, Breezy
- Malte Kramer, CEO, Luxury Presence