Hi Cyndee, looks like you had a great time. I wish members in Houston would get together!  I agree, I have made many friends here on AR.  Many more to come as well!

great post.  I am new to AR but not to the internet community.  Allthough new to this platform I can already see that it is a great community and I can not wait to get as involved as possible.

There is such a wealth of information and professionalism that is rarely found in any market.  This is great place to be.

Sometimes it is not only about business but the information that is exchanged that creates the value

Cyndee--I have not made the phone calls yet but have received two...One referral from Lisa Dunn from which I currently have a home listed and another from Thesa Chambers who called me out-of-the-blue to answer a question. It is a great way to make people "real" as we all really are!

I have traded many emails...not through the rain...with members. I wouldn't hesitate to refer clients to these folks...Will be picking up the phone one day soon. Thanks for the inspiration and reminder.

Have a wonderful time at the party! Wish it was closer so that I could go...Will be watching for the photos! :)

Stephanie - I agree - it's so nice to have a great group of people to refer to, go to with questions and just have fun with too! Leah and Katrina and I have been known to catch a Happy Hour now and then! TLW has inspired me to maybe Drink and Blog (LOL)  

You are such a great communicator and seem so open and real - you would be a great one to reach out and help newbies - I have several people I'm helping get started - maybe I could have them visit your blog and intro to you - you've made blogging look effortless! (Which we all know it isn't:-))

Cyndee - I did call you and can't wait to meet you in person! Way to go with being an active, Active Rain member. See, that is what I like about you - always out there making friends and being a friend. People like you make AR what it is! I will make more phone calls and comments.

Great Post...looks like you had a blast! You are my networking hero! Maybe I'll see you at a Main Event!

Yes geat post!!!  I have had several referrals from some great friends and members here.  There are some great people here!

Joe - Is this your visit to my blog - if so, welcome and thanks for taking the time - you are right I learn so much from others here and I can't begin to tell you all the great info I got from Ed's presentation today. I have several blogs rattling to be written. (Tonight I have to sleep some :-)) Hope to see you again.

Oh, yea, BTW, I am jealous you were able to sit in on a meeting and listen to Ed Rybczynski. Indiana just isn't on the speaking circuit for many! :( We usually have to go to Chicago or St. Louis for the biggies!

Awww, you guys!  Thanks for the mention here.  It was MY pleasure to finally meet you.  I definitely feel a friendship connection with you and I have ActiveRain to thank.  I also look forward to meeting Jack sometime soon.  Again, thanks for the kind words!  I can hardly wait to be able to refer a customer to you.

Cyndee, I try to comment on all of the new member posts.  Motivation is amazing when you are new to the site.  That is one of the things I loved about AR.  Thanks for the wonderful compliment!  I like your Localism posts.  I read most of them.  :)

Teri - each time I'm spoken with someone on the phone the relationship has gone to a whole new level. I highly recommend it. Thesa is one I picked up the phone and called one Saturday and had a great talk and now we both share often and really care about helping each other.

You are one of the writers I really enjoy - I believe we began around the same time and you add so much to this community - in case I haven't told you lately. Looking forward to learning more from and with you!  

Cyndee,

Yes, this is my first visit to your blog but I like it.  I will defintely be back for more as I get deeper into this thing called AR, lol.  I look forward to building relationships here and hopefully getting together with a few people along the way as well.

FYI, this is only my 3rd day on AR but I am hooked already. 

Paula - You are one of my special friends - and I think that our phone calls has definitely made us feel closer and more vested in looking out for each other. I also think that it's a blessing when Givers connect because there's such synergy that occurs. You know I think the world of you and so glad AR brought us together.

Debbie - thank you for your kind words - we are definitely long overdue for a phone call :-) I am so glad you're here and jumpin in. It would be great to meet in person! Thanks for commenting - its always appreciated here!  You know I'm willing to help you in way I can - you're doing GREAT!

Dear Open Home Mortgage - do you have a name? You know you can have both your company and your name show - I'm happy to explain how. Guess it would be great as we're talking here to connect person to person - it's hard for me to personally relate to just a company - just something you might want to consider! Glad you stopped by and hope you'll visit again!

Cyndee...you are always too sweet...and mentioning me besides!  I totally agree that meeting others would be a grand thing....if only we were closer to all of you...seems the Hawaii people are not too "into" this yet...a lot have joined but don't seem to continue. (maybe me and Randy are just hooked on AR..haha) I credit people as you who have gone above and beyond to keep the community on AR a positive experience. These are the people I like to "hang" with. WooHoo! 

Paula - you can't believe what great info he shared - I felt blessed to be able to hear him in person. I can't tell you how hard it was to make it - My check engine light came on at 4:30pm yesterday and my mechanic stayed late so I could make sure it was safe to drive, We're in the process of negotiating a purchase contract and have a listing to finalize and a million other things but I was determined to be there and it was definitely worth it. 

Cyndee... I totally agree. Excellent post. I have written a few on this....  one the other day in regards to phone calls and several on AR members that I have met in person. Again, great job.... and message.

Joe - WELCOME TO ACTIVE RAIN!! You are off to a great start. I hope those that visit will click below and say "HI" to you as well. glad to have you here and hope to see you here often.

Friends, Please consider taking a minute and welcome one of our newer members, Joe Zapata  http://activerain.com/blogs/joezapata

Woo Hoo Sally - look at the quality of these comment - these are great members and their quality shows - I'm honored they would take time to comment and I agree with you and Ed quoted Tom Peters today saying "You become what you hang around with!" - In life and in blogging I like to surround myself with caring people of character and integrity - I'm honored that you choose to hang with me - that is a high compliment in itself.  

You are right - it must be so hard being in Hawaii - not an easy place to hook up  - but maybe we can all plan our fantasy get together in Hawaii one day.

Welcome Joe...thought I'd say it here as well even though I already commented!  Will hop over there as well.

Stephanie - I absolutely low your straight forward posts to consumers about doing business as buyers and sellers - you inspire any posts rattling in my mind right now :-) thank you for reading my localism posts (do you rate them? It really helps - I'm trying to do that more myself now)

Cyndee, what an amazing post!  Great job!  Excellent ideas and fun pictures!  ENJOY your get together next week.

Peggy - I have to tell you that Jack loved your posts and is usually giving me a heads up before I get there. It was great meeting you and glad you're close by :-) Hope things work out with your family so we can go to Orlando together.

Cyndee, I need to work on rating posts.  I forget to most of the time.  For you, I will start now.  :)

Jeff - thanks for the compliments! Having been here longer than me I'm sure you've made some great connections. Thanks for taking time to weigh in and confirming we're on the right track!  

Stephanie - with the way Localism posts are published (by rank on date) now it's really important we rate them -especially the really good and really bad so the consumers are exposed to the best of the best when they get to Localism. Thanks for doing that for me - I really appreciate it. 

Irina - we too are long overdo for a phone call:-) Jack & I also always enjoy your posts - and seeing your success - like being featured on Localism this week! We're in your corner and appreciate all you do to support us as well. Thank you my friend. 

Thanks for an illuminating post!

Wayne and Lynda - thank you for the kudos - I have to tell you interestingly enough I'm thrilled with all the new faces to my blog that are popping up - it's exciting to meet new AR members -thank you for taking time to give me some great feedback :-)   Hope to see you back soon!

Fantastic post.  It's good to know that people are here to really drive and create business - for not only themselves - but for their fellow Active Rainers!

I have met many friends since starting active rain.  it is a wonderful place

Cyndee - I haven't read all of this in detail I am in the middle of a mini-crisis but I want to say it sounds like you had a good time! I will come back and read it in detail hopefully tomorrow.

How fun.  One of my best friends I met online in a birth board.  We have babies born in the same month and she was my first client!

I think AR is great. I have some online friends but also folks I see, who are at or from AR

Deirdre - I can tell you the business thats bubbling up here is better everyday - but I have also received or given 10 referrals to my peers - it's great to get an insight and get to know people here that you can refer to. I am so excited you chose to stop by - thanks! Hope to see you again. 

Bruce - I couldn't agree more - glad you took time to visit me today - would love to have you back again!

Ashley - sorry to hear about the mini-crisis - I was actually trying to work you into this article because I really enjoy our phone calls. (my fingers need a rest sometimes :-))

You are a perfect example of being one of the most giving, supportive, people I have met here and learned from - thanks for all YOU bring to this community! I'm so glad I picked up the phone to start the ball rolling - I think you'd agree it's a great way to get to know someone better - wouldn't you?

Dawn - Welcome - is this your first visit to my blog? If so - I hope you'll visit again if not - thanks for taking time to check in on me :-)  It is fun and by someone taking the first step - we've now met and are creating special friendships too!

Steven: AR is GREAT! And I believe you get out of it what you put into it. People have been VERY kind and helpful to me. I appreciate eveyone's encouragement - thanks for stopping by.  

Cyndee, Thank you for your blog.  I believe I have been making some real friends on here too.  I have meet two people from here and have talked to others.  This is a place to meet others and help each other grow our businesses and our personal lives.  We affect others everyday.  This is a great place to make sure that we touch others lives in a positive way.  Let's make a new real friend today.  Thank you for opening our eyes and removing the blinders.  Earl "The Pearl" Sorrells

Earl - thank you for taking the time to share how it touched you - it's a great compliment and caring act to comment and support others like me - I really appreciate it. Hope to see you again. What does Earl "the Pearl" mean - there must be a story in there :-) 

Cyndee... I'm looking forward to hearing Ed speak one day. I'm glad you got the chance. I'm also looking forward to meeting with a smaller group of folks here in the area on a more regular basis. The AR gathering put real people to the faces and names and it clicked. It fabulous.

Jeff - I have to say I'm not sure I've ever received a comment here from you so I am honored - you know how much I respect you and your product. You're one of the people I would love to meet in person as well.

Ed was a passionate speaker that helped a lot of professionals see that actually "sloppy business practices" could cause you to lose everything - He was so friendly and welcoming and I'm glad I made the extra effort to get there because it was definitely worth it.

I agree - when you can meet in small groups - a special connection takes place. The most impressive thing to me is how it all transends "company lines" - NONE of us work for the same company, however, many would be my first GO TO person.

We still have a rain check on talking about RES...hope we get to connect via phone sometime soon!       

Cyndee, any time.  I don't know what I am still doing on here.  I have to get up at 5 tomorrow and go out of town.  It is 1130 and I am falling asleep, but I have to write you back.  My grandmothers name was Pearl.  She was a great inspiration in my life.  Besides that when you look up Earl "The Pearl" on the web, My name comes up.  There are only a couple of us one on there.  I am with the greats.  I will talk to you later.  Earl

Earl - thanks for the insight on the name - very cool - lets both go get some much needed sleep! Have a safe trip and look forward to catching up when you return. 

Great post and information!  I would love to hear Ed speak as well!

Thank you to the Moderator that chose to feature this and thank you to all the First Time Visitors to my piece of the Cyber beach. As I like to say...the Joy is in the Journey - thanks for making my day! 

Ana - If you ever get the chance - do it! He was doing CE credit seminar for title professionals but I would think it would be great for mortgage and real estate professionals too since fraud doesn't happen without many parties being involved. Thanks for visiting.  

I am late but I made it here.  Great post!  I have also made some good friendlships on Active Rain.  That is one of the many benefits from this forum.

I have been able to more than double my personal and professional contacts in the short time I have been here. AR is making me a better loan officer

Without a doubt!  May the business of all Rainers grow and may friendships continue to develop from this medium!

I enjoyed your posting and really like the way you brought in other ActiveRainers, with links no less.   I haven't had the same opportunities that you have to meet other folks, except for making a referral to an ActiveRainer, but it occurs to me that I should take the initiative to make that happen.  Thanks for the inspiration.

Cyndee,

Love this post! The people here are real and the connections are real. Hopefully someday I will get to meet the many people I have grown very fond of here like you have. BTW, Love the idea of a Fantasy getaway in Hawaii! :)

Cyndee, I accept your challenge!!  :o)  I saw a post from a Newbie yesterday and welcomed him, then checked in again this morning and he'd done a couple more posts.  Had to encourage that, so he received a couple more comments.  But there's more to it, isn't there?  I'll have to send out cards again or make a few calls. 

Jealous that you got to meet Ed, Peggy and so many others!!  :o)

Just last evening, I got a call from an Active Rain friend in New Hampshire with a very nice buyer referral for Northern Virginia.  The buyer is looking a tad out of my personal georgraphical area, but my partner in Stafford County was ready to jump right in an help. 

The power of the Internet is truly awesome.

HI Cyndee-

Your pictures are awesome and it does look like you and Jack have  been having a good networking time.  AR is a great place to make friends, even better when we get to physically meet them.

You're doing everything right----especially like the idea that you are meeting with your referral group on a regular business.  Great job!

Hi Cyndee, wow that looks like so much fun! I would love to sit in on one of Eds presentations. I know he is  weath of information. Can't wait to see/meet you on the 23rd!

Great pictures, I love candid shots. Can't wait for ours in Michigan. I think Ed is great so I know you learned alot.

Randy: I think that is a great benefit too! glad I'm getting to know you here - I'm not sure our paths would have crossed otherwise.   

Cyndee,  Really enjoyed this post,  I look forward to the day when I get to the point you have in establishing not only contacts for referrals through AR but even better... friends.  Looks like lots of fun and thanks for sharing!

Tom: I can't think of a better way for a mortgage professional or other to get to a realtor - congrats to you! 

Kaushik: Glad to hear things are going well for you. Hope to see you back soon

Margaret: Links is one of the ways you really help others here - it's FREE and so many never do it - plus if you give em you're more likely to get some too!

Suzanne - i'd love to make it to Hawaii too :-) - thanks for the kind words.

Sarah: Great job - can't say i'm surprised :-) you're such a sweetie. Sarah - Ed was Fabulous!!!

Lenn - glad to hear things are going well for you too - thanks for taking the time to comment and visit!

Cynthia; I couldn't agree more - I guess my favorite part is that most serious blogger are the same people I would want to refer to and learn from because they are committed, hard working pros. Glad to get to know you here. 

Diane: Thank you for your kind words - I feels right. How far are you from Kill Devil Hills? My parents own a condo there.

Lysa - you're one of the peopel I can't wait to meet either! thanks for adding me as an assoiciate too! If you believe you become who you associate with - there's no higher compliment - You embody all that is good here.  

Missy: It was truly a day - I can't wait to jot down and share what I learned. Thanks for stopping by and for being one of my newest friends here. Have enjoyed talking with you on the phone as well.  

Therese: You're taking the first steps by engaging and leaving thoughtful comments - where are you from?

Cyndee,

From what I have read, you made a great choice with Peggy Edwards! And I would have loved to hear Ed Rybczynski speak!  I have followed his posts since the day he joined.

You have done a lot for Active Rain in the short time you have been here. You do not simply post and comment but you go out of your way to relate to people. Don't think that it goes unnoticed by others! (I am amazed at your schedule, though, just reading it was exhausting!)

Karen - thank you for your kind words - can you tell I am a "people person" (LOL) I appreciate your support more than you know. 

P.S. I do have longer than normal days (;-)) - but the end result has been wonderful. Glad to have you visit - it's been way too long:-) Hope things are going well for you too! 

Hope you get to hear Ed sometime - it was so insightful!

Hi Cyndee, AR really is a great place tp build lasting relationships. I've never had so many friends in my life. It's a good feliing.

BB - I agree, especially like you we work for a small brokerage so it's like having all the benefits of a national "big company" network with none of the expenses or micro management. ::-)

Looking forward to meeting you in person next weekend - on the 23rd!

Wow, I really enjoyed reading your post and your comments.  My heart is filled with inspiration. I have not been very active lately for many reasons but I know that I need to and want to. AR is so addictive. I am often amazed at the quality of people and the amount of sharing that goes on here.  Thanks again for the post. I will have to send a couple of people cards and maybe one day I will get up the nerve to call someone.

Hi Cyndee,  Thanks for asking...I'm from Jenison, MI which is a suburb just about 20 minutes outside Grand Rapids area.  ")

Michelle -so glad to have you here. Glad this post inspired you - I know I am inspired by many here myself.  Gotta ditto the "addiction" but my new friend Peggy Edwards post yesterday gave me a new Positive term "facination" - you should check it out! 

Therese- You should consider introducing yourself to Missy Caulk from Ann Arbor Michigan - she's a great gal on Active Rain and in her community. I love knowing people nearby that I can refer to and vice versa. She's very helpful too. Hope you'll visit me again (We have lots of snow birds and relocations from Michigan - never know when we could work together too :-))    

Cyndee, I hope I can make it to Orlando as well amd meet all of the AR Florida Players. Great post by the way

Mitchell - I hope so too - I'm looking forward to meeting many of the local AR members.  THanks for the kudos. See you in Orlando (see I'm believing for you :-))

I just wanted to be comment #75.  ;o)

Sarah - it's so nice to have you dancing here today - it's been too long :-) I miss the early days when you visited so often - I know so many newbies for you to encourage - just wanted you to know I still enjoy your special visits  

This is an awesome post - I love it when real life connections are made in person but the internet was the vehicle that brought you together - that to me is the real beauty of this technology - bringing together people who may have never otherwise met, locally, nationally and globally.  What a great blog!

Cyndee, I am sure you are behind all this. Without you I don't think anyone would have thought of getting together. Your supportive, generous, and caring personality comes through in all of your post. I feel so lucky to call you my friend.

Karen - thank you for your kind words - I agree it's all about the Real People not just Points :-) - It's opened the door for me to get to know leaders in our field I would have never known. I feel blessed myself!

Mana; I can't claim all the credit - but you KNOW I'm all aobut the people and real relationships my BFFE. Thank you for the kind words and daily support - you are a true GIVER yourself and if people havent' visited your blog they should - they'll meet a great lady and Realtor!