Is ActiveRain-Just Another Tool in the Toolbox?  At the AR Conference in Scottsdale, AZ yesterday, the AR website was proven to be NOT just another tool in the toolbox, but rather a TOOLBOX in and of itself.  The challenge with any tool or toolbox is to find out what it does or contains and then how best to incorportate that into a personal tool that can be used regularly and efficiently. 

Learning to use a tool is similar to learning to drive a car.  Do you remember the first time you got behind the wheel with a parent or teacher?  What about your first listing appointment?  Did you have all of your tools and did you use them effectively?  So it is with ActiveRain.  To get started, get in the drivers seat, login, setup your profile, add photos, read some blogs.  Write one.  Take it for a spin and ask questions of friends, peers, coaches and staff. 

Staff is an important key here.  They can truly provide some "How to do this or that."  A number of attendees met with Brad Andersohn and Bob Stewart for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at Roka Akor restaurant last evening.  The relaxed atmosphere provided the opportunity to discuss the morning's event and have one on one dialog with both Brad and Bob as well as several sponsors. 

 The group discussed everything from cell phones for preteen children to how today's late teens and early twenty-year olds have grown up with technology and how this is driving older generations to adapt to the new technology and tools, or get left behind.  Adapting means change, change means seeking, finding and utilizing new TOOLS or toolboxes. 

So, it comes to the bottom line question.  As real estate and related industry professionals, what tools do we use to reach out to the consumer with our message in a manner that gets their attention and our information in front of them so that they come to us?  ActiveRain is one of those ways.  Lastly, for you, is ActiveRain-Just Another Tool in the Toolbox?