So in case anyone was wondering, where in the world have I been?  Well, the past 7 days have been nothing short of a whirlwind!  Last Friday I awoke at 4:30 in the morning for a last minute decision to head to REBar Camp Raleigh-Durham aka #REBCRDU.  I drove the quick 3 & a half hour drive and was instantly greeted by many of our wonderful members.  I got to enjoy a wonderful day Lori Bee, Daniel Rothamel aka The Real Estate Zebra, Kathy Carson, Thom Abbott, C-Tann Starr, Lane Bailey Debe Maxwell & so many others. 

David Patterson did a great job opening up the event & gave ActiveRain some major props.  As the event began, in true Barcamp Fashion, I was asked to participate in a Blogging 101 Session. It was great to share about all the wonderful features of ActiveRain as well as how a blog can be used to increase your business.  I had a great partner for this session in our very own Debe Maxwell.  There were about 125-150 in our class with standing room only.  

Then, on Monday I headed out of town for Washington, DC to speak to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the Mid-Atlantatic Region.  The drive up north was great and I really enjoyed traveling up I-95 and seeing all the fall colors of the trees lining the highway.  It reminded me of my days of living in Pennsylvania and traveling to the beach during the fall.  The vibrant colors of the leaves always put a smile on my face.  In fact, the hotel I stayed at had some wonderful colors right outside my window.

Tuesday morning I joined Victoria Baker & Darrin Friedman at an even that Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage hosted called Real Estate in the Round.  It was an event that had over 400 agents in attendance from all around the Baltimore/DC metro areas.  Once again, I was given the opportunity to share all about the benefits of ActiveRain and how this wonderful network can be used to increase your bottom line.

This was a great opportunity to meet many wonderful agents and introduce them to ActiveRain.  Many new members signed up that day and before long will be experiencing all the same types of success stories that so many of our members already have. 

On Tuesday Morning, I headed to Reston, VA for an opportunity to share my Blogging Basics 101 class in person with about 20 Coldwell Banker Agents.  I shared with them in person the tips to writing a successful blog to make it show up well in the search engines while having an appealing blog for consumers.  After we finished in Reston, VA we then drove to Columbia, MD and did the class again for another branch of their brokerage.  In total, over 20 new members signed up on Wednesday and are trying out ActiveRain as a new Rainmaker!

As if my week had not already been hectic enough, as I finished up my final class in Columbia, I received a call from my father & my wife.  In panic, I quickly excused myself from the classroom to see what was going on.  I was greeted on the phone with some really shocking news!  My father informed me that I was about to become an uncle again! 

My brother & sister-in-law that were expecting in December had made a visit to their Dr. that day and she made the decision that it was time to have the baby now!  So as I drove home on Thursday from the DC area, I was constantly informed with progress reports on the birth of my nephew.  Then around 4:30 I received the big news. 

My nephew Jace Gabriel was born at 4:12 PM.  He was 7lbs, 5oz and 20" long.  Both him and mom were healthy & doing great!  I was delighted to hear this news, so as I drove home from DC in the remnants of Hurricane Ida, I knew I would have to add a stop onto my already 9 hours of driving at the hospital and see the newest addition to the family.

I was glad that I did.  Here is a picture of him that I shot at about 5 hours old.  He is beautiful and wonderful.  It reminded me of the day my little girl was born and my life forever changed. 

So while in the last week and a half I have driven over 1,800 miles, spoke in front of almost 1,000 people, it was all definitely worth it!  The new friendships formed, the great knowledge I learned & also shared made each & ever minute spent valuable to me.  Not to mention the blessings of a growth in my family while gone! 

So in case you were wondering, I am still alive, I am still teaching the basics of blogging. I have been busier than ever while loving every moment.  Over the next few weeks I have several other brokerages & MLS's set up to speak about ActiveRain & the basics of blogging 101.

So, if you have a brokerage or MLS that you wish for me to teach the basics of blogging to, feel free to contact me and we can see what we can do to schedule something over the next few weeks. I'd love the opportunity to share about all the wonderful features of ActiveRain as well as the power of having a blog on the world's largest real estate network!