I was able to attend a presentation yesterday by Dr. Stan Humphries, VP of data & Analytics at Zillow, and the man behind their housing data. He gave a speech to the Real Estate Roundtable at the Rainier Club where he discussed US housing data in freakish detail.

Though this kind of information is not known to be rocket science, Stan is, indeed, some sort of rocket scientist, and brings a level of depth to the subject heretofore unplumbed by researchers.

I was the guest of Spencer Rascoff, previously known as CFO & VP of Marketing Zillow, but whose true claim-to-fame is that he’s the new (yes!) National Real Estate Examiner. (I’m merely the local “Seattle Real Estate Examiner” and can only look at his national platform with jealousy and awe.)

The presentation was at the Rainier Club, founded in 1888 as an exclusive private gentleman’s club. According to HistoryLink, no ladies were allowed at the time it was founded (nor anyone not of European ancestry nor Protestant religion.) But the now non-discriminatory club is currently a “vibrant, thriving institution whose membership comprises civic leaders of both sexes and all races.”

I’m organizing a luncheon there on September 18th, for the 10th anniversary of HistoryLink, the first and largest encyclopedia of community history created expressly for the Internet by Walt Crowley, Marie McCaffrey, Paul Dorpat, and various other historians and writers. If you are interested in local history, I urge you to sign up for their weekly emails or make a donation. It’s a great way to keep up on local history and current events, and then you’ll also be one of the first to find out about the luncheon as, when tickets go on sale, it’s sure to be a sell-out! You can sit at my table.