If real estate agents are an "Endangered Species" is it time for Intelligent REdesign?

Apparently, a segment on NPR's Morning Edition entitled, Real Estate Commissions Under Pressure, says a major story will appear this Sunday in the New York Times Magazine calling traditional real estate agents an "endangered species." 

The use of the phrase "endangered species" tickles me, because The Real Estate Cafe is planning a series of meetings / online chats with real estate change agents and consumers in New England to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ralph Nader's appearance at one of our real estate roundtables in 1996.  The title for the series is "Intelligent REdesign," a deliberate pun on the evolution versus intelligent design debate raging across the country.  What better place to host such an event than "Darwin's," a wifi cafe outside Harvard Square?  (Darwin, survival of the fittest, endangered species, Intelligence REdesign, get it?)

The goal of the yearlong series is to:

1.  Help real estate consumers, both buyers and sellers, become more aware of new moneysaving real estate business models, and choose the one that best matches their needs. 

2.  Involve consumers directly in the process of "redesigning" the real estate industry to better meet their needs.  We've ...

seen some client-developed tools that would make real estate programmers and agents envious.

3.  We'd also like to identify issues and mobilize consumers to call for long overdue industry reforms, including the possibility of filing our own legislation here in MA.  Is anyone aware of similar efforts by individual consumers, or organized consumer groups, to introduce pro-consumer legislation in their states? 

If you would like to participate in the Intelligent REdesign series, as a featured guest or online participant, or have an issue you think consumers would find interesting, please let us know.  Our first online chat was a smashing success, generating a 36 page transcript.  Should we host another "Bubble Hour" to discuss the pending sales index the Massachusetts Association of Realtors is releasing on Monday, March 6th?  If we get together in person, maybe we can combine it with a planning session for the Intelligent REdesign series?