The folks at Active Rain have been big supporters of the RE Barcamp movement from day 1. What started out as an idea that we thought would bring together a few thought leaders in the RE.net has turned into a nationwide movement. Thanks to all of the AR staff and AR members who have ever been involved with an RE Barcamp. It wouldn't have had the success everyone enjoys without the hard work and generous support of AR.

There were a lot of other companies who also supported the effort with just as much support and enthusiasm. I dont want to offend anyone by forgetting them so I wont take a chance on making a list, but you know who you are and that you are appreciated!

To read more about my thoughts on RE Barcamp a year later, visit the MLBroadcast blog

Active Rainers can now embed their MLBroadcast episodes in their blog posts. E-mail support@mlbroadcast for instructions. it's easy:

I had an opportunity to do a podcast interview with Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibrary.com. Gary was the keynote speaker at the recent Inman Connect conference in NY. In the discussion he expands on his vision of the RE Pro of the future and passionately shares some meaningful and actionable methods for capitalizing on social media. Tune in and check it out.

As of today we have eliminated the $49 set up fee for MLBroadcast. Now there's no reason for you not to become a broadcaster of your content. For only $29 you can convert your listing or community photos to professionally narrated videos that are broadcasted to a wide network of video podcasting and web video sites like YouTube or iTunes. If you haven't tried it yet, visit http://www.mlbroadcast.com and get started today!

Here's a round up of RE related links from around the web that you should be reading.

Mike's Corner (Hey it's my blog, it should be first on the list)

Bridging the Gap. Real Estate Blogging Basics

An irreverent Look At Real Estate Blogging

Featured Realtor® Blog - Loco Musings

After a full year, I find another worthy Realtor® Blog To Feature

GeekEstate Blog

Free Data Sources For Your Web Site

An excellent round up of great resources for your blog or site.

Agent Genius

Agents, Legends In Their Own Minds...

I'll have more to say on this issue in an upcoming "Gap" post on Mike's Corner. You won't want to miss it.

Future of Real Estate Marketing

MRIS Takes on Search Sites

I think HAR.com just got leapfrogged in the world of public facing MLS sites.

Redfin Corporate Blog

Promoting Your Home For Sale on Twitter

A Redfin seller gets her geek on. Check out the link to Guy Kawasaki's guide to Twitter while you're there. Nobody gets more out of Twitter than Guy. Just ask him. No need - I did it for you, listen here.

Late Addition
Matthew Ferrera

Why IDX Is A Really Bad Idea

The idea of broker reciprocity is a good idea on the surface, and I am not promoting that you abandon your efforts to market the entire database of your listings, however, Matthew makes some really great points in this post. I have always been amazed that agents do not see the importance of creating a quality, public facing presentation in the MLS for their listings. They still seem to be written in agent to agent RealtorSpeak and let's face it, the vast majority of them are crap. Crap photos, terrible copy and overall just really sloppy efforts. It's food for thought that you wouldn't want to pollute your professional marketing materials with someone elses lack of effort. What do you think the solution should be? What alternatives are there? Do you abandon a display of IDX entirely or do you think you should be able to sanitize the listings for your prospects' protection. It's an interesting dilemma.

That's it for now. I'm kinda of trying to get my bearings on what to post here at my AR digs. I'd love it if you could tell me what you would like to hear about in the world of Real Estate marketing, technology and new business models. Lemme Know

Without the support of Active Rain, Rich, Brad and the avid AR members that were in attendance, REBarcamp Houston wouldn't have been nearly as successful. I owe a debt of gratitude to this great group of people.

This event has sparked a renewed interest in my involvement with AR primarily because of the passion of the team in place at AR and their sincere desire to provide tools that work and the education to put them in motion. The best attended sessions of the day were conducted by Rich and Brad. They were extremely dynamic and the attendees walked away with valuable knowledge and insight.

We will be posting a full wrap up story at the official REBarcamp Houston site as soon as I catch my breath. The AR posts, photos and multimedia are plentiful and very fun to view.

Thanks to the sponsors, friends, volunteers and my family for making this so enjoyable and successful.

See Ya Again Soon!

MP

Be there!

If you're anywhere near Houston and you've always wanted to meet ActiveRich or ActiveBrad, you're gonna get your chance. The intrepid AR community captains are bringing the rain to REBarcamp Houston. Haven't piqued your interest enough with that? How about Jeff Turner? Ever want to know how he keeps that huge brain of his inside that shiny dome? Come to REBarcamp Houston and ask him about his perspective on technology, new media and more. Have you set up your Zillow profile yet? Want to know more about Zestimates or the Mortgage Marketplace? No problem, Drew Meyers will be bringing his insights from Zillow down from Seattle as well. Did you know Trulia just hired a community manager? Did you know it's none other than Frances Flynn Thorsen herself? That's right the social media maven is going to be trekking to Houston to share with you how to kick start, energize and maximize your social media skills. What about data? Altos Research is sending Scott to tell us why its more important than ever. BuyWaterfronts.Com will be there to show talk about their new start up too. How about the Geniuses from Agent Genius, Lani and Benn? They will be here to share their blogging and social media chops too. Those are just the sponsors sending people to the event. Check out the web site to see how generous people from all over the country have become involved. Click through to their sites, check out their wares and thank them for helping us put together what promises to be one awesome event.

I need a small favor from those that have RSVP'd already. I need you to do it again, (WE NEED ALL SPONSORS TO RSVP AS WELL) we have a new form that drops into a spreadsheet. Our old form gave us some fits and I think we missed some folks. If you haven't RSVP'd, what are you waiting for?