Well I didn't blog or twitter about the event, I'm not good at it using just a cell phone.  I did spend the entire day at the event and learned a ton.  When I got to the event it was very well organized, which was very suprising to me for an event like this.  I walked in the door and was greeted by my own company, Your Castle Real Estate, one of the sponsors.  I was very suprised since I was unaware of the sponsorship.  That is another blog post.  They had our names preregistered and we got our name tags and proceeded to the opening session.  I was pleasantly suprised by the number of people I knew and it's always great to see a familiar faces in the crowd.

There was a giant projector (I'm guessing size was 25x25 feet) with "I cut my own grass."  It was up at the very begining as people are sitting down.  I think this is a great approach.  It gives people time to think about this obscure phrase and how it relates to real estate.  It's dangerous to give a wondering mind like mine to much time and I replaced "cut" with "smoke" and I get a laugh.  I'm a former stand-up comedian and my mind naturally tries to find humor in everything.

Jeff Turner is the opening speaker and gets it kicked off with a bang.  Ironically, he is actually talking about cutting his own grass with a lawn mower.  We see pictures of various lawnmowers, including his.  Some are Giant John Deer's and others are basic push mowers.  The bottom line is to use the right tool for the right job.  What is ironic and Jeff said that none of his neighbors in Southern California cut there own grass and he doesn't even know anybody who cuts there own grass.  The bottom line is Use the right tool for the job and do what is right for you. 

Now it all made sense!  It is great method of teaching to deal with something completely unrelated and to the topic and then tie it back into the idea at hand, social media and real estate.  I'm actually teaching a free class next week "The parallels of poker and Real Estate." Bottom line is to figure out what you want to accomplish and how to do it in a way that works for you.

He also talked about key concept that everyone needs to be drummed into their heads ACTIVE LISTENING!  Listen with intent.  This is not college where you just show up, and get a grade at the end.  Ask questions, get involved!  Here is a tip.  As a frequent speaker, we actually prefer it that way nine times out of ten.

On with the program!

Session 1 - The silent market

Session 2 - Twitter and Real Estate

Lunch break

Session 3 - Using LinkedIn