Chris Smith, better known in the RE.net as TechSavvyAgent (TSA), is joining Inman as their new Chief Evangelist. As many of you know, prior to this, Chris did sales for Top Producer (owned by Move.com) and was the face behind TechSavvyAgent (now @Chris_Smth). Now, he’s moving into the role as the public persona for one of the most well known and respected media organizations in the industry — and it’s a company that stands to gain from the addition of a fresh personality (both online and at their conferences) from a known and respected professional. It’s obvious that Brad and the Inman team think Chris is the perfect man for the job. And I agree.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Chris over the last few months; I actually met him (and his cute kid) in person for the first time at Inman in NYC this January and finally saw him speak at Agent Reboot in Irvine. He’s as motivated and driven as they come, and has the unique ability to sell, certainly a valuable trait to any organization that most individuals simply don’t have.

Congrats to both Chris for his new gig, and the Inman team for landing an awesome, young executive with unlimited potential.

Update: Here’s a short interview with that Chris did with Michael McClure.

 

Here is the press release:

Alameda, CA (PRWEB) May 12, 2011

Inman News today announced the appointment of Chris Smith to the position of Chief Evangelist, effective June 1, 2011. Smith, a well-known blogger, trainer and personality in residential real estate, will produce and star in his own daily video series, to debut on Inman News July 1, 2011.

“Chris Smith is an expert trainer who has earned the respect and trust of thousands of real estate agents in North America,” says Tim Smith, Inman’s CEO. “Whether it’s telling agents how to use the latest technology, or showing them how to market listings effectively, Chris is able to make even the most complex topics easy. We are pleased to add him to the Inman team.”

As chief evangelist, Smith will be responsible for promoting best practices in real estate marketing, technology and sales on Inman.com, as well as Inman’s live events, including Agent Reboot. Smith has been a popular speaker at Agent Reboot, a 24-city event tour for real estate agents that presents the latest tips and techniques for sales and marketing in a fast-paced, six-hour live presentation.

Smith’s daily video show on Inman.com will debut on July 1. The show will feature Smith’s take on the tools and techniques real estate agents need to do their jobs every day. Each show will be 3-5 minutes in length, and will be available for free on the inman.com site.

“I’m terrifically excited to join the Inman team,” Smith says. “Inman’s deep expertise in real estate and focus on residential real estate fits perfectly with where I want to go in my career. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to deliver daily training to agents, and develop results-oriented content for live events.”

About Chris Smith
Smith joins Inman News from Move.com, where he developed and anchored the Tech Savvy Agent blog and social media presence. Inman’s readers voted TechSavvyAgent.com as one of the most influential blogs in the space just nine months after the blog’s launch. As the producer of TechSavvyAgent.com, Smith also developed the blog’s Facebook presence, garnering 17,000 likes in less than 18 months, along with 8,300 followers on Twitter. As a result, Inman’s readers named Smith as the People’s Choice for Most Influential Person in Real Estate in 2010. He was the youngest person, at 30, to be recognized as an influential player in real estate.

Although Smith originally joined Move.com as a regional sales associate to sell Top Producer (a leading provider of marketing and lead generation systems for REALTORS®), he soon found himself leveraging social media and technology to show REALTORS how they could improve their businesses in general. His expertise and results led to the launch of TechSavvyAgent.com, the embodiment of everything that Smith believes agents need to know to succeed with today’s informed home buyers and sellers.

Before joining Move, Smith was a loan officer with Quicken Loans, the largest internet-based mortgage operation in North America. He was a top producer at Quicken, and ranked in the top 20 loan officers among a 2,800-member team.
Smith is a graduate of Florida State University, where he earned a bachelor of science in sociology and interdisciplinary social sciences.

About Inman News
Inman News (http://www.inman.com) is the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, technology, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike. Inman’s award winning, unbiased and hard-hitting stories are known throughout the real estate industry. Agents and brokers globally trust Inman News as their first source of accurate, innovative and timely daily real estate news. For more information, visit http://www.inman.com.