Podcasts Catching the Attention of CRE Pros

[IMGCAP(1)]CHICAGO—Locally based Jones Lang LaSalle attracted attention recently when it announced it was bumping up its technology initiative with the launch of the industry’s first podcast program. “We’re the first real estate company to share individual perspectives in this convenient and succinct format that subscribers can review and evaluate at their own convenience,” says Lauralee Martin, chief financial and operating officer.

JLL reports its OneView PodCasts generated more than 1,000 subscriptions within two days. However, the boast that the digital media files were an industry first wasn’t entirely accurate.

A podcast, for the uninitiated, is a buzzword for technology that allows users to download audio and video files from the Internet to their computers, iPods, mobile phones or PDAs, They’re sort of like radio or television programs you record in advance to listen or watch whenever–and often, wherever–you want.

A handful of commercial real estate groups have earned recognition as podcast pioneers, including Starboard TCN Worldwide in San Francisco. They’re using podcasts on a regular basis as general business and marketing tools. Starboard, for instance, has been producing weekly podcasts since Sept. 2005, sharing office vacancy rates, rental rates and new listings for office space in San Francisco and the Bay Area. “We beat Jones Lang LaSalle by more than a year,” says Hans Hansson, a Starboard principal and its chief podcaster.

Several real estate trade organizations, including the Beverly Hills, CA-based International Real Estate Trade Organization and the locally based CCIM Institute are also producing podcasts.