I was invited and accepted the invitation to attend the Virtual Real Estate Bar Camp yesterday and I would guess many of you did as well. What an amazing amount of material. It was also quite stunning to me how many of these presenters have a link here to ActiveRain. Then again, not so amazing if you understand the scope of what is provided here in our network, ActiveRain.
For those of you who did not attend I can assure you that you missed something that was totally outstanding. Both in the scope of the material that was presented as well as the quality of the presenters and presentations.
Certainly trying to rehash here in this post beyond a glimmer of what was covered, would be an exercise in futility. On the other hand, there were specific things that truly impressed me.
From an expansion of the concept of REAL TIME by Brad Inman and how it will affect the way we function in the real estate industry to Mobile Technology and it's place in facilitating the REAL TIME concept, I was certainly impressed that all this great information was made available to me.
Like anything in life, just being exposed to valuable information like this does not insure that it will make a difference in your life. Taking action and implementing these concepts into our business plans and lives, will.
A thought that often occurred to me yesterday was that out of the over 1 million real estate practitioners in the market places around the US , how many are even aware of the transformations that are taking place through out every aspect of the industry because of the new mobile technologies.
When we thought of technology in the past ( only yesterday) we would think of electronic media, Internet marketing , electronic communications etc. To have a better understanding, you would have to take those things and everything you already know , put it on steroids and then multiply it by a factor of 10 and you still would be just touching the tip of the iceberg. If this sounds a bit overwhelming, you might just be getting the idea.
One of the real highlights of the day came from a brilliant dissertation by Stephan Swanapool ( ActiveRain member extraordinaire) from a chapter in his new book, "Market Trends 2010". Another great presentation was from our own, Pat Kitano on Innovative Community Engagement.
Social media, is now transforming itself into Social Business. The creative have taken what people have a natural inclination to want to participate in, social friendships, because it can be instantaneously gratifying and turning it into the even more satisfying, business relationships. The pool of business prospects jumped from a somewhat limited perspective to an unlimited one , once again , a concept on steroids , multiplied by a factor of ten. The crown jewel , Twitter and the grand daddy of social networks ,Facebook of what was only yesterday thought of as "social media", has tuned up its volume into the new realm of "social business".
Mobile media is now no longer an option, it is mandatory to participate in the world of the Internet Empowered Consumers. The tools are becoming so advanced with new and greater speed of delivery, that we are now close to everything in our lives soon to becoming a layering of all REAL TIME events and having them occur simultaneously. Overwhelming for some, all in a days work for others. We have only to decide which if these two choices will apply for us.
I am sure you have all heard the expression " The Future Is Now" . After yesterdays great presentations, we could distill that phrase down and then reconstitute it again to be "The Future Just Happened and We Are On the Precipice of a Much Faster Future,soon to be upon us".
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VREBC was a huge success! Your post was a great summary and I COMPLETELY agree with your comment as to the # of real estate agents Nationwide that have NO CLUE as to the transformations of our business. I missed Stephen's session (I caught his in November). My favorite session was from Dakno about Posterous.com. That will be my new techy tool that gets put into service.
Hi William - I'm sorry I missed this. I'm hoping I will see more posts from those who participated and gain some secondhand knowledge. Thanks for providing some highlights.
William..Unfortunately I was stuck solving a problem that still is not solved....Banks that lose documentation..trying to settle a property that should have closed before Christmas....But ..next week is Rain-camp in New York and I am ready...Really sorry I missed this..Thanks for update
HelpfulHannah
William, this was my first anything and I really enjoyed it. I was concerned that my eyes were going to look a little funny from watching the screen most of the day. I was just amazed at all the information out there, the decisions that we must make in order to help ourselves as well as being able to assist our clients. I really, really, enjoyed it.
Hi Chrsitine, Thank you , it was simply amazing wasn't it. In some ways, I feel really dumb.
Hi Jenn, No worries. There will be another one in April. And I for one hope I can at least get some of the great information digested and acted upon by the time we are flooded with even more new innovative things.
Hi Hanna, I am so glad you will be attending the Rain Camp. I ma hearing that one is scheduled for Southern California in the first half of this year. This is my first Virtual Camp and in some ways, it is really efficient. The live event I attended was November was fabulous but it would need to be at least 2 days to cover what we had access to on line. All excellent and all needed.
Hi Barb, I nearly filled a notebook with notes. I am glad to know that a lot of the sessions were recorded and I will avail myself again of the ones I missed as well as a refresher for those that pretty intense. I am very pleased that I could arrange my day t accommodate this full day event. With everything we do costing so much and this being totally Free, it feels like they gave us a million dollars worth. Come to think of it , it might actually be that amount.
I only wish I could have heard all the speakers, but the ones I did listen to were great. I especially liked Stacy Harman on Facebook.
With respect to Social Media and Mobile advertising...
You know how when the Internet was first getting going, we'd look at demographics for the 'Internet' buyer separately from the 'Traditional' buyer. Today we rarely separate these and they are all just 'Buyers'.
Today we time to note the 'traditional marketing' we are doing separately from the 'social media' we are doing. Eventually those will blend into 'marketing'.
And I know at Zillow we pay close attention to what our 'mobile' users are doing verses our 'site' users. Eventually those will just all be 'users' too.
As these areas continue to gain speed, they'll eventually just be considered 'traditional'. But I am sure by then they'll be 100 new things on the horizon for us to emote about!
Great post!
Hi William, I eagerly logged in - (an hour early LOL) -- waited with great anticipation -- and then (much to my surprise) had phone calls and dropins at the office. It was an unusually busy floor day! Needless to say, I missed most of it, and I'm looking forward to the recorded versions.
Thank you so much Sara. As we progress, I am sure you are so correct. I like your blog and subscribed today. Quite interesting posts.
Hi Mary, I know what you mean but I turned everything off and only took calls and made calls during the in-between sessions. It requires some doing but I didn't want to miss anything and I am glad I did it this way. I think of it as required class time and it is just too important. But I want to review the recorded sessions too. Too much to take in all at once and be able to utilize it. So I intend to spend some more quality time reviewing. The sessions were fantastic.
Hi William! I have to concur - the VREBC yesterday was the bomb! I wish I could have attended ALL of the presentations! I spent a number of hours in there and I learned TONS! I found all of the sessions I attended to be very informative! I "sat in" on Kendra Todd's "45 Minute Branding Boot Camp", Sherry Cris' "Next Generation Brokerage", Brad Andersohn's "Blogging Tips For Beginners", Sue Adler's "How I Started Over in a New Market and Went to $50M/year in Sales in Just 4 Years" and Bernice Ross' "Seven Serious Social Media Mistakes Most Agents Make". My head was whirling by the time I had to log off, but I am really glad I took the time to attend. It was very interesting to hear about brokerage in the future, get blogging tips which this newbie desperately needs (!), and I was simply amazed at how much I didn't know about Social Media when taking in Bernice's presentation! Pages of notes taken - and I can't wait for the next one!
Hi Carole, I wish I could have as well. There were 28 hours of presentations. That is amazing just in itself. I think we will all get a link for the the sessions we could not attend, at least this is my understanding. That next generation brokerage presentation was awesome , I only saw a small part of it though. I surely would like to view a copy of that mind planner that was used. I fully expect that to some of the upcoming business models. M wish is I was in my20's and just starting out. What an amazing career the new younger generation will have. And things will have a different look and feel and the way they will garner business leads will be a much more natural event using social business ( currently known as social media). With all the new tools of the trade and the way business will be conducted makes so much more sense than the way it is being done today ( by most professionals- a few are way ahead of the curve)
Brad did a great job with the Blogging tips. Even seasoned bloggers must have picked up some really good ideas and different ways at looking at what we do or at least should be doing.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your insights about the event here in my post. I didn't go into much detail as I reserving some of the materials for new posts as I get better acquainted with the material.
Hello William-I had to work yesterday on a important project at work. Boxing up a years worth of daily vitamins for each of our troops that were leaving for Iraq on the 8th so I am glad to hear that there will be another in April. I won't miss that one. Great recap my friend. I can tell you are excited. <SMILE>
Hello William,
Thanks so sharing so much of this yourself. Sorry I missed it too, signed up, yet was slammed with other issues. Sounds like this was a great one.
Late today I read though the CAR 2009 buyer survey 30+ pages and of course online marketing and buyers responses to it was a big part of it. It makes me wish even more I hadn't missed it yesterday.
William,
Very informative :) thanks for coming with these great posts as always, long time not checking your blogs my friend, keep these up !
William - wish I could have been there (here?) but client obligations take priority right now - new listing, a couple of offers, etc. I look forward to hearing from others about the event. I really enjoyed the Posterous discussion at REBarCapSD and need to do more with that, among other things.
Thanks for an insightful overview.
Jeff
Hi Sharon, I think you would really enjoy this and it ties in to so much of your talents as a VA. Much of what was presented by these talented presenters was cutting edge but I am getting into it more and more and fully expect to embrace much of what presented.
Hi Lynda, I haven't read that piece but need to. It ties in so much to all this and really begins to set the direction more clearly of where we are heading.
Thanks Ray, when the next VREBC comes up, you should attend . I am sure with your skills you will be able to embrace these new trends very quickly.
Hi Jeff, Business obligations have to come first. As timing worked out, I was able to clear the day and wow, what a great experience. Even more intense and more material than the live camp in SD. Posterous is also something I need to look into . I talked with Pat Kitano today and I told him I would call you about Breaking News program.
That was a fun way to spend the day. I had it on on my computer while working. I was in on the chat rooms in the first 4 sessions. So nice to not have to travel and spend money on hotel, flights, food.
Jim did a great job organizing.
I have to check this out and Live the expression that the future is now
Hi Missy, Despite the few glitches it was wonderful. What an undertaking. So many things that had to be orchestrated all at the same time and then making sure the presenters were ready. Wonderful!
Hi Janice, Thanks for stopping by. The next Virtual Real Estate Bar Camp will be in April. You can get the schedule from the RealEstateTomato.com It was fantastic.
I had a great time at VREBC... I'm glad many of the sessions were recorded so I can go back and re-listen. The future is here...
re: Sara... When I worked in Title, we called it IT Marketing... It dawned on me a while ago... all marketing utilizes some form of technology... so, it's just marketing. Good point...
I bet it was a good seminar William but then again you can learn pretty much anything you want hear on a daily basis!
Hi Rene, I just got an update and the recordings will be available within a couple weeks for each of the sessions (28 sessions, I think ). The next VREBC is tentatively scheduled ( not confirmed) for April 6th.
Hi Bill, While I would agree in part, the amount of material these presenters put together created whole concepts as opposed to bits and pieces we could likely figure out on line if we know all the questions. I don't, I know that and while I can and do understand some of the differing aspects of technology and how to apply it, being willing to set aside the time all in one day, 4 times a year ( quarterly VREBC ) is like going to college again.
Your argument is well taken and any person motivated enough can go on line and if they can navigate around all the differnt subjects,could lkely amass the same information. But if you don't know the subject, it would be hard to search a term you hadn't heard before or remembered. That would be true of any student, dedicated enough to learn for him or herself all that they could learn in college. But , would they? That is where I think the difference lies.
Not a lot of reason to re-create the wheel if someone will deliver it. If you feel you already know what you need, they are always looking for good presenters and you would be great! I know Jim ( who puts this together) and he would be delighted to have you present. Just let me know and will even contact him to reach you.
Always appreciate when you come by Bill and thanks for the great comment.
I agree with the "outstanding" comment. I enjoyed the brief glimpse into the classes you attended that I did not!
William, just thinking about the speed technology has advanced in just the last 10-20 years, you better be prepared to think and act fast to be able to keep up with what is lying ahead.
H Cheryl, There will be another class in April and am certainly going to make an appointment with myself for that date and attend.
Hi Silvia, What is lying ahead I trust will be much more integration with systems and that will be quite useful. I think of the many of us as pioneers and then the ones that come in later will have everything all set up for them and user friendly to boot.
Hey William,
I like all tech stuff as you know :) so, it will be good to check one webinar , I have not checked that yet, great post as always !
Ray, you are a natural for all this technology. The next VREBC is in April. April 6th comes to mind. Not firmed up as yet but I think that is the proposed date. As soon as I have confirmation, I will book the day off so I can attend again. It takes me a few times of hearing to get things down. You will get it the first time. :-)
Hi William...I'm sorry I missed this event, it would have been interesting to be there. Thanks for reporting for us.
Hi Fred, I believe the next VREBC will be in April. The 6th is the tentative Date and I can tell you it was awesome. I have already set aside that day in my calendar, not to make any other appointments. Of course the actual day is not firm as yet. Still tentative. I will write another post announcing it as we the date firmed. Well worth taking the day off to be a part of it.