Over the last few weeks, Inman News has retooled our free headlines e-mails in an effort to highlight our top real estate news stories and content at Inman.com.

We want to know what you think. Your feedback is important: Please email us at readeropinion@inman.com with any comments.

If you're not already registered to receive our headlines e-mails, you need to sign up for a free Inman.com account. Thank you!

A couple weeks ago we launched the "Future of Real Estate Commissions 2009" survey. We had a great response from our readers and would like to thank everyone for their valuable feedback.  As promised, we held a random drawing of the survey participants for a chance to win a $250 Amazon.com gift card.

And the winner is:

Jeanne  Hutchinson - Realtor at RE/MAX New Image in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Jeanne serves Saginaw, Tuscola and Genese Counties and has been in Real Estate since 1995. 

Congratulations Jeanne!

Inman News has embarked on a major editorial project and we need your input.

Please take a few minutes to write a paragraph or two (no more than 400 words) on any or all of the following questions. We plan to publish your responses on Inman News with your picture and credit you for your contribution. Only answer the questions you are comfortable answering, ignore the other ones.

1.  Imagine how the real estate industry will be different when we recover from the current downturn. (Pick an area such as brokerage, title, lending, technology or consumer behavior, or address the entire industry.)

2.  How will the business model or business practices of the title, brokerage or lending industries change in the future?

3. Will the industry be regulated differently in the future? If so, how?

4. What must the industry do now to prepare for this new direction?

5. What technology trends will change the industry in the future?

6. What skills will the real estate agent of the future require?

7.  How will real estate advertising dollars be spent in the future? How will real estate marketing be different?

8.  Will sales activity in your local housing market contract or expand in 2009? Will national sales activity contract or expand?

9. What will drive the expansion or contraction?

10. Will local home prices decrease, increase or remain stable in 2009? 2010? Will national home prices fall, rise or remain flat in

2009? In 2010?

Please send your responses in a Word document, along with a high-resolution headshot of yourself, to future@inman.com. Please include your full title and how you would like to be credited. We are offering a free pass to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in New York City to the author of any submission that we publish in full (valid for new registrations only). The conference will be held Jan. 7-9, 2009.

Bloggers Connect has been a popular component of Inman Real Estate Connect for a few years now.  For every new edition of Bloggers Connect, attendees have learned more about blogging and social media.  But just because the event has been successful doesn't mean that it can't be better.

That is why, this year at Bloggers Connect NYC '09, attendees will have a completely new experience.  The program has been reformatted to include more intense information sharing and to include more time for interaction and Q&A.  That is just part of the big changes. . .

This year, for the first time ever, we are conducting a LIVE BLOG MAKEOVER.  That's right, one lucky blogger will have an opportunity to have their blog completely made over, improved, and tricked out using the input of the expert presenters and attendees at Blogger Connect.  Leading the way will be expert blog builder Jim Cronin, who will be providing the winner with their new-and-improved blog courtesy of the Real Estate Tomato. 

Here's how it works:

1) Submit your blog for a makeover. To do that, simply leave a comment in the Inman Community Blog Makeover Contest Group. In your submission, make sure that you give the URL for your blog.  Most importantly tell us why you think your blog deserves a makeover. Any type of submission is fine, you can write the whole thing out, make a video and link to it, be as creative as you want. The more creative, the better. This isn't a random drawing, so keep in mind that the quality of your submission matters.

2) We will collect submissions from THE COMMUNITY GROUP ONLY through December 14, 2008.

3) We will then select one winner, who will be announced on December 17, 2008.

4) The winner will receive a full conference registration to Inman Connect NYC '09. (winner to cover his/her own travel expenses)

5) During Bloggers Connect, the winner's blog will be discussed by all the attendees and presenters, who will offer their insight, input, and expertise as to how to create the most effective blog.

6) Using the input from Bloggers Connect, the winner will work with Jim Cronin and his team at The Real Estate Tomato to build a completely transformed blog.

7) We'll follow up with the winner and with Jim periodically afterwards to see how the blog makeover has affected the winner.

If you have any questions, you can leave a comment here, or send me an email:  Daniel.Rothamel@Inman.com

So, what are you waiting for? If you have always wanted to do something new with your blog, but never thought you had the time or resources, now is your chance! Make your submission here, and who knows, maybe we'll see you on stage at Bloggers Connect getting your very own blog makeover!

I think we all know Real Estate is in uncharted territory. Everyone is looking for answers and now, more than ever, we want to help unravel the mess. 

Inman News is excited to introduce Robert Shiller, Co-founder of MacroMarkets LLC, Co-creator of the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, and Professor of Economics, Yale University, as one of our keynote speakers at Real Estate Connect in NYC where he will be addressing: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do About It.

He predicted the dot-com bubble and the housing bubble years before it happened. More importantly, Robert knows why it happened—no one understands market volatility and the psychology that drives market swings better.  

If you want answers, join us at Real Estate Connect in NYC, January 7-9, 2009.  This is one event you can't afford to miss! Register today and you'll save $170.

The Inman Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers: 2008," is now available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download! 

 If you're not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join.  Once you become a Premium Member, you'll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features.  

The 2008 edition of the Inman News Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers," will be released tomorrow.  What can you expect from the special report?  Here's a glimpse from the introduction:

"There is a busy field of bloggers in the real estate industry, and some clear standouts that have built a loyal following. This annual list of most influential real estate bloggers recognizes those bloggers who are well-known, well-read and have a knack for stirring up discussion and debate on important, timely and relevant topics for the industry. In addition to this list of 25 bloggers, we provide a handful of notables who are also stirring up the blogosphere."

And that's not all.  The report also names 10 of the most influential blogs that focus on economic and financial issues, along with 10 of the best international real estate blogs.  If you want to know who the movers and shakers are in the real estate blogosphere, this is where you can find them! 

This special report will be available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download.  If you're not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join.  Once you become a Premium Member, you'll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features.  

One of the features available to Inman.com users is the ability to have a personalized signature attached to all of your comments on the site.  We enabled this feature so that folks could not only personalize their Inman.com experience, but also as a way of promoting their services to anyone who visits Inman.com. 

I previously wrote a post outlining the guidelines we had in mind for comment signatures.  Recently, we have discovered a need to make the guidelines more specific, so comment signature guidelines have been added to the Community Guldelines page.  Please take a look at them.

Basically, what it boils down to is this:  don't put more than 2 links in your comment signature, and don't link keywords, just URLs.  If your keywords are part of your URL, more power to you.  

We want to keep spam at bay, and we don't want to make the links in comment signatures "no follow."  If everyone could make sure that their comment signatures meet the guidelines, it would help quite a bit.

Also, if you see a comment that has a signature that violates the guidelines, just flag it.  I'll get it in my moderation queue, and I can send a friendly reminder to the user, reminding them of the guidelines, and asking them to comply.

I love reading all of the insightful comments from our users and members.  The discussions that happen here at Inman.com are robust, lively, and interesting.  I really want it to continue that way, just without the keyword links. ;-)

Thanks!

Inman News today released a late-breaking special report titled The Path to Disaster (PDF Download); which chronicles the demise of the housing market over the last few years.

From the report's introduction:

We dug back in the Inman News archives for some forensic evidence that foretold the catastrophic demise of the boom days, for those clues — some subtle and some now painfully obvious — that this was all bound to happen.

The 10 articles presented here — originally published from 2003 to 2007 — offer discussions of ominous housing-bubble theories, the rise and the risks of subprime lending and unconventional mortgage products, skyrocketing home prices, overbuilding, the potential for a widespread credit crisis, and other contributors to the problems facing the housing and financial markets.

The lessons learned from the latest extreme run-up and burnout phases in the housing market will perhaps guide the industry and its regulators in efforts to reduce the fallout from future cycles.

Inman News Industry Special Reports are available FREE to Inman Members or as a one-time purchase of $79. Join now for instant access to our entire Special Reports library. Other recent reports include 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders.

Become an Inman News Premium Member today!

Inman News is excited to announce our keynote speaker for Real Estate Connect NY 2009; Gary Vaynerchuk.  Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to YOUR World!

Gary is the Founder & Director of Operations for WineLibrary.tv.  He is a MUST see personality. He will tell you how to get a pulse. His enthusiasm, knowledge, creativity and revolutionary style is capturing national attention.  He's making waves on Conan O'Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, Mad Money, The Big Idea and Nightline.  Gary does what Gary is.

In what we expect to be an extremely entertaining and thought provoking keynote, Gary will give us his insight on how to Build Your Personal Brand in Challenging Times.

Connect NY 2009 is shaping up to be our best event yet.  If you haven't already done so, check out the conference program for an overview of our topics and speakers.

Connect NY 2009 will be held January 7-9, 2009 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.  Not Yet Registered?  REGISTER NOW!

Remember, Inman News' Premium Members save $100 off Connect registration. Join Today!