Today is the day of REBarCampLA and I am going to miss it! I didn’t want to miss it. I would have much preferred to be there, connecting with all my online friends and making new ones. For me it was a matter of economics. I’m close enough to cover the 370 miles in a matter of hours. I know there are people flying from all over the country to be there! I was there at the inception for the first one. REBarCampSF08 and it rocked! Oh well.
This post isn’t about all the great people flying in. It’s also not about how wonderful the BarCamp experience is (and it is).
Instead it’s going to be more of a little rant. Yeah, I said RANT!
1st. The REBarCamp Experience is free to attend. It’s free because generous sponsors come forward to cover the room and board. (yay for the sponsors !)
2nd. Many smart and knowledgeable people take time out their busy schedules to share, to instruct, to guide. Some represent a company, others do not. Still others might be direct competitors of yours in the very same market. Yet all of them offer their insight for freely. They are willing to share what they have learned with you and help you become better at what you do, no strings attached.
3rd. The REBarCamp experience is custom tailored and adapts to every level. The experienced tech geek and the newbie both will find a wealth of valuable information. Walk in wanting to learn what this thing called Twitter is? You can do that! Want to learn how to tweak your .php to customize your RSS in order to get a better ROI from your SOI? Don’t we all? You can have that covered as well, and have it covered by someone who has done it effectively!
All this sets the bar pretty low for local real estate professionals to NOT attend and that’s where my rant comes in. Wouldn’t it be great if every sales professional was required to attend a BarCamp prior to starting in Social Media?
Let’s play the “How’d you hear about REBarCamp?” game
If you read about the event on this blog, that blog or any other blog, good for you! You score 10 points. If you read about it in your feedreader – score 20 points! Did you comment on a post about it? Add 5 points.
If you read about it in LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, score 20 points. If you ReTweeted about the event - collect another 20, no let’s make that 40. Have you used the correct hashtag? (#rebcla ) Have you Twitpic’d or seen a Twitpic, a QIK or Ustream from a previous REBarCamp? Have you watched the great http://Dakno.tv streams? That’s worth another 20 points.
Ok, now total up all your points.
Now, for the bonus and final question. How many local real estate professionals who don’t blog, who don’t twitter, who don’t Facebook, who don’t participate in anything Social Media… You know, the “Old School” agent… How many of those types did you grab by the hand and forcibly escort to an REBarCamp?
That’s my rant. While the REBarCamp experience is a great benefit to all, the message isn’t reaching those that might benefit the most. The absolute social media beginner. You can’t say that you mentioned it to them at a sales meeting and it’s their fault they didn’t act. You have to forcibly take them.
So while it’s too late to bring someone to REBarCampLA you have a few more chances. (sourced from the Dakno site)
RE BarCamp Portland
04/23/2009
622 SE Grand Avenue
Portland,OR
RE BarCamp Portland Website | #REBCPDX
RE BarCamp Phoenix
04/23/2009
7408 E. Osborn Road
Scottsdale, AZ
RE BarCamp Phoenix Website | #REBCPHX
REBarCamp Charlotte
05/15/2009
TBD
Charlotte, NC
RE BarCamp Charlotte Website | #REBCLT
RE BarCamp Denver
05/22/2009
7100 East Belleview Avenue, Suite 211
Greenwood Village, CO
RE BarCamp Denver Website | #REBCDEN
RE BarCamp Philly
05/27/2009
TBD
Philadelphia,PA
RE BarCamp Philadelphia Website | #REBCPHL
REBarCamp Salt Lake City
06/05/2009
230 W. Towne Ridge Parkway, #200 (the Salt Lake Board of Realtors Campus)
Sandy, UT
RE BarCamp Salt Lake City Website | #REBCSLC
rebarcamp.com/slc/
RE BarCamp Boston
06/12/2009
The Loft - 319 A Street
Boston, MA
RE BarCamp Boston Website | #REBCBOS
RE BarCamp Chicago
06/15/2009
200 S Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL
RE BarCamp Chicago Website | #REBCCHI
RE BarCamp San Francisco
08/04/2009
208 Utah Street
San Francisco, CA
RE BarCamp San Francisco Website | #REBCSFO
REBarCamp Miami
Still in planning stage
09/??/2009
TBD
Miami, FL
RE BarCamp Miami Website | #REBCMIA
rebarcamp.com/miami
REBarCamp Lynchburg
10/08/2009
Holiday Inn Select
Lynchburg, VA
RE BarCamp Lynchburg Website | #REBCLBG
REBarCamp DC
10/27/2009
TBD
Washington, DC
RE BarCamp Washington DC Website | #REBCDC
rebarcamp.com/dc
While I would love to make it to each and every one of these events what is much more important, especially if you are local, is to get as many of the “old school” person(s) to attend instead. Do that and you’ll be scoring massive points in my book!
BTW: If you failed the bonus question you lose all points! But if you attended a REBarCamp you got much more in the way of valuable information than any silly game I might come up with!
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