First of all, you’re asking “What’s a BarCamp?” right?

In a nutshell, a BarCamp is an open workshop where people get together and share information and ideas on a given topic.  The real estate barcamp is apparently one of the fastest growing and more successful for this type of format… I think it has to do with the fact that we’re independent contractors and must get our information from our own sources so these barcamps provide an easy collaborative answer.

Traditionally, RE BarCamps are held in major cities which leaves those of us here in the Golden Isles or other places not close to a major city out in the cold.  Sure we could try and hold one ourselves, but I’m afraid the attendance would be meager to say the least.

Well, worry no more.  A Virtual RE Barcamp is scheduled for next week.  It’s all free and it’s virtual, which means rather than having to drive to Atlanta, Miami or Charlotte, you can attend in the comfort of your own office or home – in pajamas no less!   Go check out the site – it explains everything and ’see’ you next week!

Also on the horizon, RETechSouth is scheduled for March 2010.  This one will require a drive to Atlanta – but it’s huge and will be worth it!  More on this later!

I attended RETechSouth conference last Friday and it was one of if not the best Real Estate Conference I have ever attended.  I feel like I’m pretty well linked in with what is going on from a technology stand point in Real Estate and that the Real Estate industry as a whole is shifting towards a social media and Internet focus.  Those thoughts were confirmed but I was very excited to hear from some of the most forward thinking people across this nation who converged on Atlanta for my benefit. 

Here is a funny video one of the guys from the conference made. 

If you think the Internet will play a vital roll in Real Estate in the future I strongly encourage you to attend ReTechSouth next year but to serve you today I am one of the volunteers helping organize ReBarCampCharlotte.  A bar camp is the Un-Conference.  There is very little agenda except to learn about Real Estate from others and it will have a technology slant.  Typically a BarCamp is free for the attendees.  We are kicking around a few dates in the next month but acquiring a space is our main concern.  That should be settled by next week and I will have additional details for you.

I had an interesting time last week, appearing at two sessions that had more in common than just my presence. If you read down in this blog, you’ll see that I was on a panel of media members that addressed reporters and editors of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the mushrooming presence of so-called social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.) Later in the week, I attended REtechSouth, a one-day session on social media that was aimed at the real estate industry.

A common thread is that the reason the AJC and other newspapers are struggling is the same reason that social media is booming. (Update: The AJC is reportedly losing $1 million weekly, per this cnn.com story. And staff cuts were announced 3/25/00.) REtechSouth, more informative than other such sessions I’ve attended, demonstrated how various online writing, photo and video sharing sites can be tailored for specific uses, such as selling or marketing homes and related services. Going to a newspaper Web site, such as ajc.com, does not leave a user with the same shared experience.

And though many media types abhor numbers, here are some more related statistics: Before markets open today (3/23/09) consider these stock prices:  Time Warner (CNN, Time Inc.), $7.86. News Corp. (FOX), $9.08. Google, $330.16. Yep, the ruler of Internet search and the owner of YouTube is in a class of its own. Because it rules search, it also allows its data to be mined, and it generates much revenue from pay-per-click advertising.

So real estate, obviously struggling, is plugging in big time to sites that allow sales and marketing data to be tailored, and then displayed to a global audience.

How best to do that? Well, one interesting item came from Bo Gilbert of mRelevance, a public relations/social media firm that has offices in Atlanta and Chicago. His breakout session emphasized that a Web site’s “title tag” is the key to boosting the page’s SEO. Always before, I’d heard keywords stressed.

At another breakout session, Carol Flammer of mRelevance described a multifaceted marketing system that involved presence on various Web sites. Also noted was that recent home-page changes in Facebook could hurt Twitter, the popular mini-blogging site that is growing rapidly but can’t match Facebook for overall users.

Another interesting nugget, from a session led by Realtor Teresa Boardman, is that Google (there’s that word again) treats photos on Flickr (owned by Yahoo) like blog posts. (I checked on my own Flickr site — bsteve76 — this way. It’s true.) And what real estate buyer does not like to see pics of a property before buying? Hey, data at REtechSouth showed that 81% of home buyers go online for info before even selecting an agent.

So there’s more evidence that readers and consumers are driving changes in many industries. Adapt, or …

Another day, another social media conference. REtechSouth in Atlanta on Friday (3/20/09) aimed its message at the real estate industry, which certainly needs help now. But I found it more interesting and educational than some others I’ve attended. Part of the unique ambience was a musical intro and a living-room setting for panelists. Check my video.

Naturally, Twitter was a topic. But I’ve decided to save details of that for another blog post. Again, I and others “live tweeted” the event, sending out tweets and pics as things progressed. That always makes me feel like a one-person wire service, like in my early newspaper days when I’d stand by the AP machine and read unfolding details of sporting events.

Made me think, what if Twitter had been around 10, 20, 30 years ago? What could I have let my friends (and their friends, and their friends …) know about as they were happening. So, delving into the treasure chest, I’ve come up with some key lifetime events that I wish I could’ve gone online with.

– Jimmy Buffett, San Diego State, 1985/92. Not long after moving to the Golden State, I was a little homesick. But I noticed in the newspaper there that Buffett, who I long had followed, was to perform at the outdoor amphitheater. I scored a ticket, and it was a real shot in the arm. Among the highlights was a “sing along” session, where the Coral Reefer Band took a break and Buffett challenged the audience to keep singing when he would stop playing in the middle of a well-known tune.

I also saw him at San Diego State’s Aztec Bowl, the shelved football field, several years later when I was more established there. I loved how he opened  the show by walking onto the stage from a large airplane prop. That was a reflection of his then-thing of flying seaplanes. (Check his song “Jamaica Mistaka” for a related adventure.)

– Bruce Springsteen, Atlanta, 1973. A friend and I drove from Athens, GA, to Atlanta in February to see the noted boys of summer from California, the Beach Boys. The opening act, according to one poster, was “Bruce Springstin.” Well, that cozy gathering of 1,000 or so at the now-demolished Omni (the Beach Boys in winter? c’mon) got a real treat. I remember being very impressed by Springsteen, and remember “Born to Run” being in the song mix. “You’re dealing with professionals here,” he joked with the audience at one point. Two years later, when he hit the covers of both Time and Newsweek, the whole world knew he was right.

– Game 4, 1998 World Series (Yankees-Padres), San Diego: The Yankees were a steamroller that year, setting an American League record for regular-season victories. The Padres were a one-shot wonder, acquiring pitcher Kevin Brown in a push to win big (and get the locals to vote for a new stadium, which now is a reality). San Diego overcame the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs, but was no match for New York, losing the first three Series games.

I sat in the left-field stands at what is now Qualcomm Stadium as series MVP Scott Brosius got a late-inning double to seal the series sweep. The most memorable part was after the Yankees’ series-winning celebration had ended, the Qualcomm crowd remained and broke into a standing ovation in appreciation of a remarkable season by the home team. The San Diego players acknowledged by coming back onto the field for a curtain call.

 – USA vs. Brazil basketball, Atlanta Olympics, 1996. Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill were among the professionals on the second U.S. “dream team.” Brazil put up a good fight in the quarterfinals before falling, 98-75. I remarked to my cousin, who was with me, that Shaq only scored 11 points. “YOU could have scored 11 points on that team,” he told me.

– Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova, Amelia Island, FL, 1985. The event was sponsored by Virginia Slims, which shows how the world has changed. Evert rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in that episode of a long-running rivalry, set near Jacksonville. I was working at the Florida Times-Union newspaper at the time.

Not every tweet is priceless. But who knows what I and the world could have gained by information coming from those events. That’s why I take a camera and iPhone with me everywhere now. I had to go online to check details on some of the events I just mentioned. I don’t want to let that happen again.

At the recent RE Tech South conference in Atlanta, I attended a great presentation given by Ricardo Bueno.  While the presentation was on LinkedIn, one quote by Ricardo really stuck with me, “If you’re not on Google, you don’t exist”.

How true is that?  I think of the many times I have tried to learn something about someone, Googled them and got nothing.  In the world of Google, they just didn’t exist.

Do you want to do business with someone who doesn’t exist?  My question is, why don’t they exist on Google?  Is it a brand new business that hasn’t been indexed yet?  Are they trying to be obscure for some other reason?  It just raises red flags.

Google yourself.  Do you exist?  If not, go do something about it.

There are some really big names in Real Estate Social Networking and blogging scheduled to speak today.   For a full list of the speakers and events go here: http://www.retechsouth.crowdvine.com/calendar

Follow the event Friday here: http://twitter.com/retechsouth  When you are on that page you can just click refresh and you will see chat type post from people at the event as they learn valuable information. 

A live video feed is available of the event.

More updates to come……………..

Thanks to the meebo chat person who alerted me that the links above did not work!  Working now.

There has been a lot of great energy in the air at softRealty.com’s office in the past few weeks. We have been extremely active in preparing for the upcoming REtechSouth Conference on Friday March 20th. This is sure to be a not only educational, but also very entertaining event. I am really starting to get an idea of what kind of people are associated with the RE industry; awesome! softRealty.com has some great product offerings that are going to be released on April 1st and are going to be  presented at the REtechSouth Conference. The term Social CRM is being used to describe the new product Client Connect. I really think this product is going to help agents manage their clients and save money, especially if they also utilize Search Connect which is a FREE IDX.

The past few weeks we have been doing some pretty cool things with the look of the corporate site  www.softRealty.com as well as the UI for the Client Connect (keep an eye out for updates to both of those over the next few months).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Interning close to 35 hours a week at The Georgia Club has given me  countless opportunities to improve my skills in many areas. My responsibilities include writing/editing the weekly Member Newsletter and monthly Golf and Prospect Newsletters. I interview people and write posts for The Georgia Club Forum, use my graphics skills to create picture collages, forms and fliers, and update content on the website. I recently had the exciting task of developing a Facebook fan page for The Georgia Club Golf. This page, along with our newly acquired TheGeorgiaClub Twitter account, inspired me to create a “social media business card” for The Georgia Club, which will be coming shortly.

In addition to the work in the office, I recently attended The Georgia Club’s Elite 50 Dinner celebrating top real estate agents around the Athens and Atlanta area. It was there that I met Matt Fagioli, a social media junkie and one of guys heading up REtechSouth. He sparked mine and Sarah’s interest in attending the conference in March by promising it to be chock full of new ways to use all these brilliant social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, SEO, etc.) in ways that cater specifically to the real estate industry. 

Although my interest does not necessarily lie in the real estate field, it certainly does encompass ANYTHING social media-y. And with an internship at a company that has a lot to do with the real estate world, it can only help me right now.

Since The Georgia Club could not pick up the tab for my registration fee, Matt made a deal with me: do some PR for the conference, get in for free. 

A chance to build my resume with freelance PR work AND pick up some tips from social media gurus? Yes sir, I’ll take it!

For REtechSouth I will recruit participants, help staff during the event, gain 1000 new Twitter followers (@REtechSouth), and find Matt a new intern. Not sure how much the last request will contribute to the success of the conference (heh), but I will play along.

I expect this conference and this extra work to benefit me by gaining experience and stretching my learning curve. My time management skills become important now more than ever, as my PR Campaigns class gears up more everyday and work at TGC chugging right along. But I look forward to the new skills I will learn and or course, I always love a challenge.