Register for 2027
Register for 2027

Sept 29 – Oct 1, 2026

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Agenda
Opening Night
Sponsors
Photos

Agenda

Schedule subject to change. All times Eastern.

Registration

Level 6 | Reefpoint

Pick up your badge—your access pass to all Open House events—and get ready for the conference ahead.

Planning to join us for Opening Night? Check your badge for the Opening Night icon. If it’s not there, now is the time to purchase your ticket and avoid the lines at the door.

9:00 AM –

5:00 PM

Legal Forum

The invitation-only CMLS Legal Forum convenes licensed attorneys who advise MLSs for a focused, closed-door discussion of the legal issues shaping the industry. In-house and external counsel will examine emerging risks, policy developments, and practical considerations that affect MLS governance and operations. The forum creates space for candid peer exchange, timely insight, and informed discussion that helps legal leaders support confident decision-making within their organizations. *Invitation Only. Lunch provided at 12:00. Program begins at 12:45.

12:00 PM –

5:00 PM

CEO Forum

Level 4 | Sea Turtle

TICKET REQUIRED. SOLD OUT. The invitation-only CMLS CEO Forum brings MLS CEOs and senior leaders together for candid conversations about the forces shaping the future of MLS, including consolidation, artificial intelligence, data governance, and the evolving MLS model. Facilitated by CMLS CEO Jessie Edgerton, this working forum invites participants to challenge assumptions, explore future scenarios, and engage directly with peers on the choices leadership requires next. Attendees will leave with sharper perspective, stronger connections, and greater clarity for guiding their organizations forward.

1:00 PM –

5:00 PM

MLS Matters: AI, Technology, and Data

Level 2 | Port Everglades ABC

Get ahead of what’s next. Explore what it means to be an AI-ready MLS, how to evaluate emerging uses of your data, and what you should expect from technology partners.    

2:00 PM –

3:00 PM

MLS Matters: Marketing the MLS

Level 2 | Port Everglades EFG

Take home new ways to tell the MLS story. See how MLSs are building trust, reaching consumers and turning data into compelling content—while learning what’s working in markets across the country.

2:00 PM –

3:00 PM

MLS Matters: Volunteer Leadership Through Change

Level 2 | Port Everglades EFG

VOLUNTEER LEADERS ONLY. You must be serving on the Board of Directors for an MLS organization to attend this session. The decisions you make at the board table will shape what your MLS becomes next. Join fellow volunteer leaders to tackle board/CEO alignment, partnerships, AI, data, technology and the evolving value of the MLS.

3:30 PM –

4:30 PM

MLS Matters: Compliance in a Changing Landscape

Level 2 | Port Everglades ABC

Get practical insights from MLS peers confronting today’s compliance challenges and learn approaches that can help protect data accuracy, cooperation and the integrity of the marketplace.

3:30 PM –

4:30 PM

Opening Night Party

Hidden Reef | Lobby Level

Ticketed event. Add an Opening Night ticket during registration or contact conference@councilofmls.org to add a ticket to your existing registration.

6:00 PM –

8:00 PM

Breakfast

Level 2 | Port Everglades

7:00 AM –

8:30 AM

The Lounge

Level 6 | Waterway Prefunction

Recharge, reconnect, and explore. The Lounge is your hub for networking, meeting with sponsors, and discovering new solutions that support MLS excellence. Whether you’re diving into conversation or grabbing a quick refreshment, this is the place to engage with peers and power your day.

7:30 AM –

6:30 PM

Registration

Level 6 | Reefpoint

Start the day with your Open House badge in hand—your access pass to everything happening throughout the conference. Need help with the agenda, event details or anything else? Open House staff will be on-site and ready to answer your questions.

8:00 AM –

1:00 PM

Open House Main Stage (General Session)

Level 6 | Waterway Ballroom

Open House brings the full CMLS community together on one stage. Day 1 sets the foundation with shared conversations, perspectives and ideas designed to challenge thinking and surface the issues shaping the future of MLS. Be in the room, join the conversation and carry the insights forward.

8:30 AM –

5:00 PM

Welcome to Open House

Kick off Open House with a look at what’s ahead over the next two days, plus local Fort Lauderdale tips and recommendations from our host, BeachesMLS.  

8:30 AM –

8:40 AM

Decide. Build. Lead.

Open House begins with a clear look at the choices shaping the future of MLS. Jessie Edgerton will frame the forces changing the industry and challenge attendees to consider what the MLS model must protect, rethink, and build to remain essential in the decade ahead.

8:40 AM –

9:00 AM

How To Lead When It Gets Hard

Leadership is tested most when the path forward is uncertain. Mike Staver will share practical strategies for making clear decisions, communicating with courage, and keeping teams focused and accountable through change, pressure, and difficult moments.

9:00 AM –

9:50 AM

The View from the Brokerage

Hear directly from brokerage leaders about where the MLS delivers indispensable value—and where their needs are being met elsewhere. This candid conversation will explore what brokers need from MLS organizations today and how the model can evolve to better support their businesses.

9:50 AM –

10:20 AM

The View from the Brokerage pt. 2

Technology is rapidly expanding how brokers operate—and many of their needs are being met beyond the MLS. This conversation brings brokers and technology providers together to explore how those tools are evolving, why brokerages are turning to solutions outside the MLS, and what these changing expectations mean for the future role of MLS organizations.

10:20 AM –

10:50 AM

Networking Break

Level 6 | The Lounge | Waterway Prefunction

Step away from your seat, but not the conversation. Use the break to recharge, make a connection, explore the exhibit booths and grab some coffee before heading back to the Open House Main Stage.

10:50 AM –

11:05 AM

A Conversation with Zillow

CMLS CEO Jessie Edgerton and Zillow Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson come together for a wide-ranging fireside chat about the future of the MLS and the marketplace it supports. They’ll explore the role of advocacy, how MLSs can continue adding value, why transparency remains essential to a high-functioning marketplace, and how technology and changing consumer expectations are influencing the evolution of real estate.

11:05 AM –

11:25 AM

Three Futures for MLS: A Debate

What could the MLS become over the next decade? Three speakers will make the strongest case for three distinct futures—MLS as infrastructure, MLS as platform, and MLS in managed decline—before challenging one another’s assumptions and implications. Attendees will hear competing visions designed to sharpen the industry’s choices about what comes next.

11:25 AM –

12:15 PM

Lunch

Level 2 | Port Everglades

12:15 PM –

1:30 PM

A Conversation with Compass

CMLS CEO Jessie Edgerton sits down with Compass Founder and CEO Robert Reffkin for a deeper look at Compass and its perspective on the changing real estate marketplace.

1:35 PM –

1:55 PM

Why Advocacy is More Important Than Ever in the MLS Business

In this session, industry legal experts and MLS executives explore how MLSs can contribute a stronger, more informed perspective to policy conversations at the federal, state, and local levels. MLSs sit at the center of real estate activity in their communities. They see what is happening in the market now, maintain reliable housing data, and work directly with the practitioners who experience the effects of policy decisions every day. That gives MLS leaders a valuable role in helping policymakers understand how housing markets function and how proposed policies may affect the people they represent.

1:55 PM –

2:25 PM

An Open Marketplace: Northwest MLS’s Approach to Listings and Industry Change

Northwest MLS CEO Justin Haag returns to Open House to discuss NWMLS’s commitment to an open, fair, transparent, and comprehensive marketplace. In this session, Justin will detail how the independent, broker-owned MLS navigated a year of significant industry shifts.  He will share how NWMLS’s new listing option balances sellers’ need for enhanced flexibility during the early stages of a listing with buyers’ need for access to the open marketplace.

2:25 PM –

2:45 PM

Industry Structure: Where Consolidation is Taking Us

Consolidation is reshaping the MLS landscape. Industry leaders will examine the forces driving combinations, the tradeoffs for organizations and markets, and what a healthy, sustainable MLS ecosystem could look like as the industry evolves.

2:45 PM –

3:15 PM

Networking Break

Level 6 | The Lounge | Waterway Prefunction

Fifteen minutes, plenty to do. Grab a cup of coffee, stop by the exhibit booths, catch up with a new connection or continue the conversation from the Main Stage. And while you’re there, show some love to our Open House sponsors.

3:15 PM –

3:30 PM

Shuttleworth MLS Executive of the Year

3:30 PM –

3:40 PM

What Market Structure Economics Tell Us About the MLS

Explore what economic research on two-sided markets and data cooperatives can tell us about the MLS model. This session will examine where the structure is durable, where it is vulnerable, and what may need to change as AI, platform competition, and data consolidation reshape the marketplace.

3:40 PM –

4:10 PM

Reaction Panel: What We Heard, What It Means

A panel of MLS CEOs reacts to the day’s biggest ideas, tensions, and unresolved questions. Expect candid perspectives on which arguments challenged their assumptions, what the industry still needs to confront, and what they will carry forward from the conversation.

4:10 PM –

4:45 PM

Networking Reception

Level 6 | The Lounge | Waterway Prefunction

Join the CMLS Board of Directors for an hour of conversation, connection and community. Catch up with colleagues, meet new faces and continue the discussions sparked throughout the day in a relaxed setting before the evening gets underway.

5:00 PM –

6:00 PM

Chair’s and Champions Reception*

Level 6 | Anchor Salon

INVITATION ONLY  Since its launch, Champions of MLS has grown from a bold idea to a national voice for MLS advocacy—thanks to early supporters like you. Now, as the industry continues to evolve, we’re inviting you to be part of shaping what comes next. By supporting Champions of MLS, you’ll help ensure MLS remains a driving force for transparency, access, and innovation in real estate. Let’s come together to celebrate the progress we’ve made—and commit to the future we’re building. We’ll also take a special moment to honor our Chair, Nicole Jensen, whose leadership continues to guide our shared vision for the future of MLS.

5:30 PM –

6:30 PM

Luggage Room

Level 6 | Reefpoint

Drop your bags, stay a while!

7:30 AM –

4:00 PM

Registration

Level 6 | Reefpoint

Stop by registration to pick up your badge, ask a question or get pointed in the right direction. Open House staff will be on-site throughout the day to help you make the most of your conference experience.

8:00 AM –

12:00 PM

Breakfast

Level 2 | Port Everglades

7:30 AM –

9:00 AM

The Lounge

Level 6 | Waterway Prefunction

Recharge, reconnect, and explore. The Lounge is your hub for networking, meeting with sponsors, and discovering new solutions that support MLS excellence. Whether you’re diving into conversation or grabbing a quick refreshment, this is the place to engage with peers and power your day.

8:00 AM –

3:00 PM

Open House Main Stage (General Session)

Level 6 | Waterway Ballroom

Build on the conversations started across Open House, moving from insight toward action. Stay engaged as leaders connect ideas, explore opportunities and identify what comes next for MLS organizations and the broader industry.

9:00 AM –

3:00 PM

Leading the Moment

Day three opens by connecting the questions surfaced the previous day to the decisions ahead. This session will identify the key tensions shaping the MLS and set the stage for moving from diagnosis to action.

9:05 AM –

9:20 AM

The MLS Value Proposition: Saying It Out Loud

The MLS model creates significant value—but can the industry explain it clearly to the people who matter most? This session will examine how MLSs can articulate and measure their value for consumers, regulators, and policymakers, and build a stronger, more persuasive case for the role of MLS in the marketplace.

9:20 AM –

9:55 AM

Hall of Fame Award

Celebrate an MLS icon who has given us a lifetime of leadership and elevated the MLS industry.

9:55 AM –

10:10 AM

Networking Break

Level 6 | The Lounge | Waterway Prefunction

Stretch your legs, refill your coffee and keep the conversation going. Take a few minutes to visit our exhibitors, connect with fellow attendees and thank the sponsors helping make Open House possible.

10:10 AM –

10:25 AM

Legal Landscape: The Ground Is Still Moving

The legal and regulatory landscape surrounding MLS continues to shift. This conversation will examine how antitrust scrutiny, participation and data-access rules, Clear Cooperation, and government interest in real estate are shaping MLS governance—along with where organizations still have room to innovate and move forward responsibly.

10:25 AM –

11:05 AM

Data Ownership and Monetization

MLS data is both a core asset and a shared industry resource. This session will explore what data ownership means in practice, opportunities and guardrails for responsible monetization, and how licensing strategies can create value for participants without undermining the cooperative model.

11:05 AM –

11:35 AM

AI Governance and Data Policy: What You Need to Have Figured Out

AI is moving faster than most governance frameworks. This practical panel will examine the policies MLSs need now around staff AI use, vendor data licensing, subscriber guidance, and data governance—while distinguishing what can be decided locally from what will require broader industry alignment.

11:35 AM –

12:15 PM

Lunch

Level 2 | Port Everglades

12:15 PM –

1:30 PM

CMLX Graduation

Level 6 | Waterway Ballroom

Join us to congratulate our CMLX graduates and celebrate the 11th anniversary of the CMLX program. Graduates: please gather in the Speaker Room just beyond the exhibit hall 30 minutes prior to the ceremony. 

1:30 PM –

1:50 PM

Strategy Salon

Strategy Salon brings the day’s biggest themes together for an unscripted, interactive conversation focused on turning insight into action. MLS leaders will react to what they’ve heard throughout the day, identify emerging opportunities for MLSs and the broader real estate ecosystem, and explore what those ideas could mean at the organizational level. Then, the conversation opens to the room. Ask questions, challenge assumptions, share your perspective and help identify the actions and takeaways worth carrying forward.

1:50 PM –

2:40PM

Turning Insight Into Action

Open House closes by turning three days of debate and insight into action. CMLS will surface what it heard from MLS leaders, connect the conference’s major themes to organizational priorities, and invite attendees to define what “Meet the Moment” means for their own organizations.

2:40 PM –

2:55 PM

Back to Days
Speaker Directory

Welcome to Open House

Open House is where the MLS community gathers to think big, connect deeply and explore what comes next. We’re glad you’re here in Fort Lauderdale.

Thank you to our local MLS host!

Beaches MLS

Not registered yet?

Visit the registration desk on Level 6, or email conference@councilofmls.org.

Email Registration

Sponsors

Sponsorships for the 2026 Open House are now SOLD OUT.
If your organization is interested in sponsoring Open House in 2027, please contact us at conference@councilofmls.org

Sponsorship Packet PDF
Become a Sponsor

Diamond Sponsors

Emerald Sponsors

Sapphire Sponsors

Pearl Sponsors

Opal Sponsors

PRESTA Team

Introductory

Technology Partners

Media Partner