Most people know, the world is a Twitter. This social networking platform has MANY uses for many types of people. The effectiveness of it's use depends on the effectiveness of the person sending the "tweets." Of course, there is worthless dribble on Twitter but there is also a TON of breaking news, community specific information and opportunities to communicate with people you may have never had the opportunity to meet "in person."
I am really looking forward to this Wednesday's TweetUp in Tempe at the Sign of the Whale. Why? Because I know it will be a FUN time and a great chance to network with some really talented Tempe business owners. This TweetUp is being promoted by Jack Smith of The Social Latte which is a great resource for anyone interested in Social Media. As a Tempe resident, Jack really has a good feel for our community and is always looking to give back, help small business owners and have some fun. Jack and I worked together on helping the Tempe Chamber of Commerce implement social media as a business strategy. The Tempe Chamber is a great Chamber of Commerce and some of their members will be joining us as well. People like Nick Miner, a commercial real estate broker that I have enjoyed meeting at other Chamber events. The guy knows Tempe! I believe Joan Jakel, a very talented Tempe business attorney, past "Business Woman of the year," personal friend and all around great gal will be joining us as well as a bunch of other really cool people.
From the invite we hear... "We'll have a private room with Happy Hour pricing from 5-7 for networking and socializing and then I'll be bartender from 7p - 10p with DJ Mike..." More info on the twtvite page!
All are welcome! So, come see "Jack the bartender," have some fun, hang out with some really cool "Tweeps" and write it off as a business expense! Ok, scratch the business expense thing because I'm not your accountant or a CPA so, just come have fun!
When: July 8th
Where: Sign of the Whale 1706 E Warner Rd Tempe, AZ
Happy Hour and networking, 5-7pm - DJ and heckling of Jack while tending bar... 7-10pm.
Tempe Arizona has a ton of great communities and offers many different types of housing options. Camelot Village in South Tempe is a place where neighbors know your name and the sense of community is alive year round.
The annual Camelot Village 4th of July parade and picnic is what the 4th of July is all about. Neighbors gather and have their own parade through the subdivision with flags a flyin' and horns a blowin.' The Tempe Fire Department sends a truck for the morning festivities as well. Kids of all ages enjoy a good old fashioned celebration which ends up at Stroud Park where the grill is fired up, neighborhood businesses pitch in to offer raffle prizes and everyone has a chance to relax and have a good time. Stroud Park is located just East of McClintock Drive and just South of Guadalupe Road. The 101 Freeway is to the East providing residents easy access to the entire valley.
The parade starts at 9:00am and is a perfect start to the day. Afternoons can be spent by the pool and the evening can be spent watching the amazing Tempe Fireworks show at Town Lake.
Most of my friends know that I am a huge sports fan and that I "sort of" like the way social networks can help people reach large audiences of people. I think the new site that our friend Matt has developed is a really cool idea. I was fortunate enough to get to hear a little bit about it at a real estate conference that I attended last year with Matt and I can tell you, the guy knows his stuff. If you have kids that are involved with sports, this is a great way to communicate with everyone involved. I know there are other applications but, you will have to check it out for yourself.
Yesterday was a big day for me, after 8 months of planning and product development work finally launched my new startup, Timu. Timu gave me a chance to apply many of the lessons learned with designing and building ActiveRain to another market, amateur sports.
It's a social networking platform specifically built to solve the communications problems encountered by athletes, sports teams and their fans. Online social networking is a natural way to solve many of these problems. Yet, existing social networks provide disjointed solutions that do not handle sports specific features, such as player rosters, game results and statistics. At the same time existing sports web site offerings provide little interactivity and user engagement.
Individual athletes can setup an profile on Timu in minutes. Profiles can be customized with information about the sports they participate in, teams they play on, and their competitive highlights. Photos, videos can be uploaded, and various “widgets” can be added or modified. These profiles serve as one center of communication within Timu.
Coaches, players, or parents can create a team center for your team on Timu. Team centers provide many features like team news, schedules, player rosters, photos, game results, statistics, statistics and a wide range of commmunication tools. All of the people associated with the team can be invited to become members of the team center, which can then function as a hub for team communications.
Currently Timu supports about 30 different sports ranging from baseball and soccer to unicycling. Each of these sports has it’s own section or hub on Timu including photos, videos, game results and discussions. Timu members can participate in the conversation at these hubs about their sport. As Timu grows we will be providing the ability to view these hubs by region, subsection of a sport, or even by sporting venue.
Rail Life is having a contest to win a FREE VIP pass and a Cinco De Mayo t-shirt. Join the Rail Life crew, our friends and the Depot staff as we sport the coolest Cinco De Mayo shirts in town. All you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on their blog. <-- The Depot Cantina "VIP" Party Pass includes cover charge, 4 drinks and a taco platter($5.00 cover charge begins at 3pm.) Rail Life will draw from the list of comments on Monday at 6:00 PM. The winner will be notified by email Monday evening.
The Depot's doors open at 10am with 13 hours of live music beginning at 11am. Bands include:
2 Tone Lizard Kings
Tyme Will Tell
Silver Medallion
Katastro
Claybyrds
Getting to Macayo's Depot Cantina is easy! Just jump on the light rail and head to the Mill Avenue district. Exit at the 3rd / Mill light rail station and head west one block to the Depot. If you have never ridden the light rail before, be sure to purchase a light rail pass prior to boarding! Currently, an all day pass is just $2.50.
The place is sure to be packed, so take advantage of a park and ride lot and look for the Rail Life banner out front and inside the patio where we will be hanging out!
Tempe is a great community with a ton of fun things to do... Have fun, stay safe and enjoy the lifestyle!
REBarCamp Phoenix is not like any traditional conference most people have ever been to. In fact, it is billed as an "un-conference" where the agenda is created by the attendees the day of the event.
REBarCamp is FREE and will be held April 23rd at Scottsdale Stadium which is centrally located at 7408 E. Osborn Road (Northeast corner of Osborn and Drinkwater) Scottsdale, AZ 85251. This beautiful venue is a perfect setting where we have over 4000 square feet of available meeting space. "Breakout" sessions will be held in several different rooms where topics can range from:
Social networking - what and why...
Blogging (basic to advanced)
Google Adwords / Pay-Per-Click
Using Twitter effectively
SEO strategies
Podcasting and video blogging
Link building and the power of inbound links
Analytics (understanding where your traffic comes from)
Blog and web site platforms
Marketing with Statistics
Baby steps, where and how to get started
Paperless transactions and mobile technologies
Over the past couple of years, I have met some really great people from the "re.net" and have learned a lot from them. Having attended the very first Real Estate BarCamp in San Francisco and another recently in Seattle, I can tell you this format is an amazing way to connect with people who really know technology and social media, and it is a great way to learn in an open, hands-on environment.
Who should attend? ANYONE in the real estate, mortgage, title or affiliated businesses, people with an interest in technology and social media, business owners, etc, etc.
Why attend? It's fun, FREE and educational. Yes, it's FREE to learn from some of the best in the business.
Who's coming? Ourlist of attendees is quite impressive and includes some of the best agents and bloggers in the valley. Heck, Russell Shaw and his fantastic real estate "mojo" will be in attendance. We are talking about selling chances to "fire him" to raise money for a local charity. :-) In addition to some seriously talented locals, we have a lot of really amazing people coming from all over the country. If you are an Active Rain user, don't miss The "X-Broker" and the newest additions to their crew in the world famous Dustin Luther and Jim Marks! While Active Rain is a great supporter of BarCamps, it is their community that can help rock these events. Some *really* fun people I know or have met via this network are coming from other states to join us. People like, Lisa Heindel, Amanda Hall and Elaine Hanson are coming to see if Paul Slaybaugh is as crazy "IRL" as he is in cyberspace. (they ain't seen nothin' yet!) Kristal Kraft, Chris Griffith and Ginger Wilcox are a few more that will join us as well! (sorry, I can't list em' all)
Our sponsors: BarCamps are free to attend but NOT free to put on. There is a TON of work that goes in to pulling this off and we are fortunate to have a great team of organizersworking with some amazing sponsors to make this all happen. Our current list of sponsors is as follows. (BIG thanks to all of them!)
Last, but not least (I could go on for far too long) my friend, Stacey Harmon describes some Los Angeles BarCamp thoughts.
To read comments from some cool people from the re.net world, check out the responses from my BarCamp post on the Rail Life blog.<--- You won't get 25 points from commenting there like you do on Active Rain but you can see what some cool people like Jeff Turner, Ines at Miamism.com and Joe Ferrara from Sellsius think about these types of events. You can also see the "theme song" for REBarCamp Phoenix as written by Phil Sexton. (see comment #12 on the Rail Life post) Phil has promised to do a live version at BarCamp which is sure to be worth the price of admission!
Please feel free to join all of us at this fun event! Your RSVP is greatly appreciated!
All work and no play? No way! Since BarCamp is Thursday and Technopalooza is Wednesday, it is easy to get a feeling of drinking from a fire hose of information. No fear, we have TWO very fun events scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday nights where some great networking will occur. First up is a "pearing" which will be"socializing, mixing and networking" the night before BarCamp sponsored by redPear! The following night, after BarCamp, we will have "PhxAfterBar" sponsored by PhoenixPowerSearch.com at Salty Senorita. (drawings for door prizes etc!) Check the site for details!
Arizona real estate professionals looking to take their business in a whole new direction are in luck. ARMLS 2009 Technopalooza is coming soon to the Mesa Convention Center! The event is followed by REBarCamp at Scottsdale Stadium on the 23rd which means, you have AMPLE opportunity to learn more about blogging, social media and new, exciting ways to reach larger audiences of people than ever before.
What the heck is an ARMLS Technopalooza? Simply put, it is a technology fair for ARMLS subscribers!
Said Calie Caterhouse of John Hall & Associates,The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service is really going all out this year planning this extravaganza that marries technology and real estate. Most of us involved in social media are already acutely aware of this union, but it's nice to see it in print from someone of "higher authority".
So - if you're in Arizona and in real estate - you'll want to mark your calendar and plan on attending this day long event.Dustin Luther is a featured speaker with his presentation titled "Using Social Networks to Build and Engage your on-line Community". Sounds too good to pass up.
Also schedule to speak is Jason Edwards who is a Master Trainer with Floyd Blackman. Jason will be speaking on "Blog is the New Black: Converting on-line Blogging to Real Life Appointments"
Technopalooza April 22, 2009 8:30 to 3:45
Mesa Convention Center 263 North Center Street Mesa, AZ 85211
Events Schedule
8:30 Continental Breakfast
9:00 "Using Social Networks to Build & Engage Your On-line Community" Dustin Luther- frequent presenter at Inman Real Estate & NAR
10:30 Exhibitor Showcase Time Exhibitor Booths will be open from 8:30 to 4:00. Exhibitor Showcase times are scheduled to avoid conflicting events.
11:00 ARMLS Specialty Classes: New ARMLS Rules and Regs Portal to Your Future for More Business Creating a Compelling CMA The Cromford Report 12:00 Lunch & Learn Agent Technology Panel Lunch tickets $15 - email events@armls.com for tickets Nick Bastian - 17 yr career REALTOR® & founder of raillife.com Jay Thompson- Inman News: one of "Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers" 2008 Dru Bloomfield- focuses on FlickR and Twitter to build Sphere of Influence Jonathan Dalton- reporter & freelance writer turned REALTOR and blogger Dustin Luther - from 4realz.net - Moderator
1:00 Exhibitor Showcase Time Exhibitor Booths will be open from 8:30 to 4:00. Exhibitor Showcase times are scheduled to avoid conflicting events.
1:30 Blog is the New Black: Converting On-line Blogging Activity into Real Life Appointments" Jason Edwards- Master Trainer for Floyd Wickman
3:00 Exhibitor Showcase Time & Ice Cream Social Exhibitor Booths will be open from 8:30 to 4:00. Exhibitor Showcase times are scheduled to avoid conflicting events.
Electronics Recycling by E-Waster Harvesterswill be on site from 8am to 4pm to collect old computers, monitors, printers, laptops, cell phones PDAs, servers and mainframes. Just drive up to drop off!
Light rail expansion plans have been quite the topic of discussion lately due to reports in the paper and because of a Mesa city council presentation where Metro recommended the extension of light rail down Main Street in Mesa. The route appears to make a lot of sense to Metro and to the council, as the questions and comments at the presentation appeared to favor an extension along Main Street. Many of the reasons to favor the plan have to do with demand, development and potential for growth. The high cost of light rail was analyzed against other options and is thought to be superior in long term costs and return to the community, by moving more people and creating economic development opportunities in the region.
There has been a great deal of study and analysis on three different routes for light rail expansion in Mesa, as well as bus and rapid bus along the same corridor. Several months ago, discussion centered around Mesa expansion, costs and parking questions, and the feeling was (in my opinion) that Main Street made a lot of sense. Some new options have been made since then, with one ending the line just east of Mesa Drive at Lesueur Street, instead of at Horne. Apparently, some opposition has come up near the Horne area due to parking challenges and neighborhood concerns. For those familiar with Main Street in Mesa, Lesueur is directly west of Pioneer Park on the north side of Main with the mormon Temple on the south side of the street. Currently, there is vacant land at the NW and at the SW corner of Lesueur and Main where they could add a small park and ride structure. This park and ride lot could be closed or re-developed if a new park and ride lot is built after future extensions are added.
There are some neighborhoods nearby that would likely see some real change, and the proximity to Pioneer Park could bring a fun and interesting dynamic to the equation. Historic homes and small businesses near this area could benefit from the fixed mode of transportation that would run through downtown Mesa, where there have been revitilazation plans for as long as most of us can remember. Many are of the opinion that the direct route along Main is the best choice. With it's street-facing shops, Main could really thrive with these transit-oriented developments. Other benefits are the fact that less property would be needed if they go straight along Main, as opposed to heading to 1st Street or First Avenue before continuing east; and the fact that a direct route east on Main is faster, because of the time it takes to make the additional turns. If the goal is to get further east and to move people efficiently, then taking the tracks off of Main Street would be un-wise.
While funding is always a huge hurdle, it appears the current extension is a piece of the larger puzzle whereby the system can be extended to Gilbert Road and even serve the Gateway area in the distant future. This morning, I recall Mayor Scott Smith saying that it "opens up a whole new world if we get to Gilbert Road", and he went on to mention that the return on investment getting to Gilbert Road is significant. Plenty of talk surrounded the fact that billions of dollars in economic development have been attributed to light rail in Phoenix and Tempe via the initial 20 mile "starter line." Mesa, with just a mile of track, is looking to get some of those large economic development dollars to their city, which may seem odd to those that still think of Mesa as having a "small-town-mentality".
For now, no "official" decision has been made as to the light rail extension, but there is mention of a city council meeting on May 18 where a decision could be made.
Expansion plans are interesting in that, the entire line benefits from the "city within cities" mentality that is catching on here in the valley. These neighborhoods are changing and it is fun to watch. If you have any questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425. You can also learn more about these communities and about the Phoenix Light Rail system by visiting the real estate section of RailLife.com.
I realize that "luxury" homes, lofts, condos and high rise units mean different things to different people. For this post, I chose the $750,000 price range to begin my search of some really cool homes near light rail. Today, I looked at a search and found 59 homes priced at $750,000 and above available in this "city within cities" that we call the light rail corridor. The highest concentration is near Hayden Ferry in Tempe with several in Phoenix along Central Avenue ranging from gorgeous single family homes to luxurious high rise living.
Here is a partial breakdown of the data:
Active listings priced at or above $750k - 59
Avg, list price $1,173,036 (low, $759.9k - high $3.3 million)
Approximate square foot range: 2,609 sq ft. (low 791 high 5,537)
Average list price per approximate square foot: 504.14(low 188.68 high 1,078.38)
Cumulative days on market: Average 273 days (low 13 day high 924 days)
If you have any questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425. You can also learn more about these communities and about the Phoenix Light Rail system by visiting www.RailLife.com.
Here is an example of some of the cool homes at Hayden Ferry. Let me know if you would like a list of any others.
It has finally been announced thatNAR's new social media manager is..... Todd Carpenter. After months of rumor and speculation, we now know who sits in the hot seat.
Many of us know the amazing job Todd has done with Lenderama and with REBlogWorld and have been impressed with the passion he has for social media.
NAR says " We loved Todd's ideas, his easygoing manner, his reputation and how knowledgeable he is about social media. We also really valued his relationships with so many REALTORS® who are using blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media channels to connect effectively with one another and with potential clients and customers."
This has the chance to really help with some of the current ideas NAR appears to have about social media. Many of us hope this hiring will be a great fit for all involved. I've had the opportunity to meet Todd a few times at different events and am confident he will bring a great perspective to this new position.
Now, I sincerely hope the NAR will show us here in Phoenix some REAL value and make sure Todd attends REBarCamp in Phoenix on April 23rd! It's his job!! :-)
One of the great things about a BarCamp is the connections you make and the people you meet. That's one of the many reasons I am so excited to be helping with the BarCamp in Phoenix on April 23rd. Much more on that to come in the very near future! ( make sure you mark your calendar! )
My recent trip to Seattle for their BarCamp is no exception as it was where I met my new friends, Kevin and Monica Ray from Access Realty. I enjoyed this post from them for a few reasons.
1, They made it sound like I am a lot smarter than I really am.
2. It was well put together.
3. It was about Twitter which is a tool that I believe can be used very well in our business.
Even though we aren't in Montana, I hope you enjoy the following post written by Kevin and Monica. There is some great information that can be used in any market. Make sure and stop by their blog and to follow them on Twitter.
I read somewhere that with Twitter, people either love it or they don't get it. There are a few brave souls in Missoula on Twitter but we haven't reached the numbers you see in other areas yet.
I didn't "get" Twitter at first but realized I was hooked last week when I sent my husband the following email on our anniversary to get him to check his Twitter account:
I tweeted at you from the Tweetdeck and blipped you some songs :)
So what is Twitter and Why do you Care?
Simply put, Twitter is a Social Networking and a Microblogging tool. It allows you to send status updates - similar to Facebook, and read others status updates - called "Tweets". Tweets can be up to 140 characters and are more "real time" than what you find on Facebook or other Social Networking sites.
According to Wikipedia, "In November 2008, Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research estimated that Twitter had 4-5 million users.[2] A February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranks Twitter as the third largest social network (behind Facebook and MySpace), and puts the number of users at roughly 6 million and the number of monthly visitors at 55 million.[3]"
The site Twitter is not overly impressive but they have written the software in a way that others can develop applications to use with Twitter. This is where it gets interesting as there are hundreds, and possibly thousands of application you can use for Twitter - including Tweetdeck, Twitterberry (for Blackberry), Tweetie (for iphones), Twitterific, and Tweetbeep.
A few of my favorites include -
Tweetdeck (use on your desk top to better organize Twitter)
Twellowhood (find out who is using Twitter in your area)
Twitter is a great tool to stay in touch with friends, family, business partners, and is also a tool to network with potential clients and others in your industry. It's also a great way to organize Tweet Ups (meetups in Twitterease) and fundraisers. A fundraiser we attended in Seattle was Twestival that raised $3787 for Charity Water.
You can follow events or topics if a hash tag # is set up such as #twestival for Twestival and #Rebcsea for RE Bar Camp Seattle.
Twitter is a powerful business tool once you understand it - just ask @Raillife's Nick Bastian, a brilliant marketer who is able to use Twitter to update the community about its new LightRail system, and sell real estate.
Oh, and once last thing, I blipped my husband two songs for our anniversary using Blip.fm where you can be your own DJ and send your Blips across Twitter, but that's another post.
Kevin and Monica Ray are Missoula Real Estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. For more information on Western Montana, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.YourMT.com.
Nick Bastian talks Light Rail Real Estate with Fox 10
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Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
I read somewhere that with 
Twitter is a great tool to stay in touch with friends, family, business partners, and is also a tool to network with potential clients and others in your industry. It's also a great way to organize Tweet Ups (meetups in Twitterease) and fundraisers. A fundraiser we attended in Seattle was Twestival that raised $3787 for Charity Water.
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