The Road To Raleigh. Reflections on My First REBAR Camp!

I heard of these things called camps. But I've never been able to attend. I had the first North Carolina REBARCamp on my travel schedule for Charlotte back in May, but it ended up not happening for me. So, when I learned of the Raleigh event, I was on board and nothin' was stopping me from ending my rein as a Camp Virgin!

At first, my plan was to take my car, enjoy the 6 hour drive listening to XM radio or some training cd's. But then there was rumbling amongst my Active Rain bud, Lane Bailey, Patty Keller and Kathy Drewien that a road trip was in the making. Hmmm, I thought? I'm such a control freak when it comes to driving, do I want to do this? Then I thought of the mileage on my new car (that has 10K on it in just 5 months) and I said, "I'm in." Well let me tell you, that decision was almost as important as attending RDU BarCamp itself!

I volunteered to make the snack bag, and it was packed with nuts, cookies, crackers, trail mix and a cooler of sodas and water!  So on Thursday morning, we loaded up in Lane's mini-van, and "The Road To Raleigh" began. By the time we had made it to Commerce (about an hour out of Atlanta) I was ready to break out the pen and paper and start taking notes...the learning had already begun! Kathy Drewien turned me onto UberTwitter, and I'll never be the same again! OMG! I can now tweet from my Blackberry instead of just when I'm here at the computer!!  Then I gained Google Reader and Maps and my Blackberry was later our GPS to find the StudioPLus Suites where we were staying in Cary (since we all forgot our paperwork...how convenient!) Anyways, my Blackberry has since run out of battery power twice, something that never happens!

As mentioned before, it was already a fun trip with my AR pals Lane, Patty and Kathy! But of course, there was the anticipation of Beer for Bloggers Thursday night, and the reunion with my dear friends, Connie Harvey from Nashville, Debe Maxwell from Charlotte and the one and only Susie Blackmon from Maggie Valley! And my more recent friend from New Media Atlanta, Lori Bee was there too!  I was somehow brought on stage for Powerpoint Karoke, a first for me and thanks to whomever gave me the hardest set of slides to work from! From here, we ventured across the street to the Bonefish Grill where I got to enjoy an evening with the ladies of SSM....Nanette, Lori, Connie, Ann Allen and Debe! It was a delightful dinner and some great conversation too!

On to Friday morning and REBARCampRDU......

Having never been, I was not sure what to expect. I'd heard the stories of the schedule being decided by the attendees, and so it was!   After a P.E.P. talk from David Anderson (P.E.P. being Participate, Engage and Plan) we were off to look at the schedule and see where we wanted to expand our knowledge. Of course, there were two things at the same time I wanted to attend, but having heard of this guy called @realestatezebra from Twitter, I figured that was here I would head! His topic of Creating Content For Your Blog certainly peaked my interest...and he kept me glued to my laptop for notes and his every word. (I'll branch off on these session in future posts!)

Next, someone from the #REBCRDU decided that I was a "thought leader" and had words of wisdom to share...scare me! So next, I was on a panel discussion about FaceBook Fan Pages! Hmmmm! What can you say to people in just 40 minutes about such an indepth subject! But, along with my associates, we were able to talk with the group about Fan Pages, and the value they can bring to your real estate business. (Not to mention using your personal profile for business is a violation of the TOS of Facebook, and could get you kicked out!) BTW....click on the picture, visit our Facebook Fan Page, and become a fan....PLEASE?

Next was Blogging 201 with Diane Tulman from Zillow.com. More great tips! I came to the resuce of one Nannette Saunders as we were past a 12Noon lunch time and the trailmix from the roadtrip snack bag that made it to my briefcase was a welcome nibble till we broke for lunch!

Lunch was a chance to visit with friends, and catch up on e-mail and phone calls!  Then it was on to a most informative session on Posterous by my other AR pal, Susie Blackmon along with the Carroll Team from Dakno! This is one exciting new tool I'll be mastering quickly to keep me out on the forefront of social media! WooHoo...I love all these new toys! It's like Christmas in November!

The last session I attended, unfortunately, I was only there in spirit. I had some sort of upset tummy, and really only partially listened to what was another awesome session on LinkedIn....one being held earlier in the day, and repeated again due to the interest in this other social media tool. So, I skipped out silently and walked back to the hotel to rest for a bit. I was woken by a call from my friend Connie and soon, Grey Goose and cranberry had made all right in the world! LOL! We slipped out to the Bonefish Grill where many of the attendees had headed for cocktails, conversation and dinner. I must say, two nights in Cary, NC, and I ate in the same restaurant both nights! Make me laugh!

Saturday morning had us round up the clan, and now it was The Return To Atlanta! Another great time spent talking real estate, and throwing around ideas about everything from a motorcoach to New Orleans next year for NAR to a visit to the great Peach Butt. (I'll let the photo speak for itself.)

Funny, before I left ATL for my first BARCamp, I had mentioned that I was going to such an event to a couple real estate people in ATL. They had never heard of such a thing! In fact, our crew of 4 were the only people FROM Atlanta!!! I guess we'll consider ourselves on the cutting edge then! But, it was everything I had hoped it would be, and maybe more. I met people I've been following on Twitter, such as @HobokenCondos (Walter Burns) and made some new friends like Ann Allen from Birmingham and Kathleen Herron from Sarasota.

I'm no longer a Camp virgin, and you can bet I'll be headed to more of them in the future! I'll be writing more about some of the sessions and sharing some of the great things I learned, for those of you that missed out!

But I suggest you get a REBARCamp on your "bucket list" of things to attend related to real estate! They are awesome!