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Inman RE Connect - I Left My Heart (and Blog) in San Francisco

Do you remember when you were really young, and how you looked up to your favorite mentors? I recall going to my first Rock Concert at the Oakland Coliseum, called the "Day on the Green". I was just starting out on the guitar at age 12. I will never forget Peter Frampton walking out on stage, the crowd going nuts, and Peter mastering that fret board right in front of me. I went home, put my guitar in the box, and shoved it under my bed for months. He was so good on that guitar, I wanted to quit!

That's how I felt at the Inman Real Estate Connect held in San Francisco this week. The Bloggers on that stage were just mind Blogging...I mean boggling! These Bloggers are so good at what they do, and they're successful in their businesses too. Made me want to just quit right there! LOL! There was so much great information and knowledge being shared at the Bloggers Connect, my head started to spin. But, I came away with a much greater understanding of, and the purpose for why successful agents Blog. The One Day Conference covered so much. There were panels of Bloggers that discussed some of the following topics:

Bloggers Connect Panels

Finding your voice
Monetizing Your Blog (Making Money)
Keynote Address: Sitting in the eye of the Storm
Show Me The Leads
Blogs and Social Networking
Creating Virtual Communities
Widgets, Gizmos, and other Doo-Dads
10 Tips from Top Bloggers
Understanding Your Audience
Using Photos or Not ...and so much more.

The one thing that really emanated through-out the conference, was Blogging for success and growing your business!

As a highlight, Active Rain finally announced the Winner of "Project Blogger!" Boy was that a long time coming heh? If I were to share everything that happened at this event, I would have to do a 4 part post, so I decided to put all my photos into a "Bloggers Connect Real Estate Show". I hope you'll enjoy these as much as I enjoyed putting them together.

One of my favorite parts about this event, was getting to meet so many of the people I have been Blogging with this year. I finally got to meet them in person. They are actually ®eal people and are even nicer than their "Cyber Character" I have come to know and love. Yes, I left my heart in San Francisco, but my Blog comes with me. Now my quest is to apply what I have learned, and then go share it with others who were unable to attend.

Always "Pay It Forward!"

Here are some links to other shows I created for Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, CA.

Announcing the Winner from PROJECT BLOGGER!

Meet some of the other ACTIVE RAIN MEMBERS that were there.

What other BLOGGERS attended this event?

"RainMaker" Special - Signup Here and Get New Member Discount
RainCamp™ - "Because The Way We Do Business Online Has Changed!"

Posted by Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager on 08/03/2007 02:36 AM

Comments (67)

sf connect, bloggers connect, san francisco

Post is included in group: Blogging & SEO

67 Comments on Inman RE Connect - I Left My Heart (and Blog) in San Francisco

AUG

2007

Brad.. the shows are great.. looks like a wonderful time.. would have loved to have been there..

Thanks for sharing. Looks as though a good time was had by all.

Wow - Brad thanks for all the pics that was a fabulous job - felt like I was there

Brad, these were fantastic little slideshows. It must have been amazing to attend such an event....perhaps some day I will be able to and who knows, there might even be one in Canada some day !

thanks so much for putting this together....

Brad, Fabulous videos. I find it amazing that you managed to do all that inspite of everything else. Connecting with others takes time and dedication. You never cease to amaze me. You are a god!

thanks for sharing. i wish i could have been there. i always looked up to my grandad. he was a great role model, a great friend and in many ways a father to me as well. my first concert was pat benetar when i was 12. i know how you feel about just wanting to quit, lol. i was 40 when i decided to change careers and get into real estate. you look at all the top producers who are younger than you, and you are thinking, why did i do this. lol. however this business is very rewarding in many aspects and i wouldnt change a thing.

Brad - Thanks for sharing the pictures. I am sure it was a wonderful event and you came away with tips you can incorporate in your business. Time well spent.

Brad, thanks for making us feel apart of the conference.My heart was there and I have thought of everyone so much these last few days. Can't wait to hear all the posts about your bullet points. One reason I love Activerain so much, you feel apart even if you couldn't be there.

Brad,

Looks like it was a great time..when are they coming this way?:)

Great post.... excellent job with all the Shows. It was almost like being there.... Congrats on the feature..

Excellent Brad!!! I've been waiting on pictures. Good job!

Thanks for putting all of those shows together. I really enjoyed watching them. It's fun to see what everyone looks like. Yes, most of us have pictures, but sometimes the pictures people post on their blog, don't really look like the real them. So it was cool to see all the people.

This was great, Brad. What a terrific photographic journey. Glad we got to meet briefly - let's do it again (Orange County August 25??). Thanks for including me in your travels.

Jeff

This is a great post, Brad. I'd love to know if they are going to publish any of the notes to the seminars that were scheduled - ten tips from top bloggers? Would love to know more...wish I could have been there!

Hi Brad, what a great recap of Inman's Real Estate Connect. It sounds like you had an amazing time and learning experience. The videos were a very nice touch. Thanks for sharing them...

Kaye - it was awesome, wish you could have been there too!

Bob and Carolin - It WAS a great time had by all, there were so many there, incredible!

Cyndee - glad the feeling of being there came through in te photo slide shows. One day we'll meet at an event such as this. I look forward to that someday.

Jo-Anne - I think you have a calling....you should put one of these on in your area! Don't wait for it to come to you, go out and make it happen!! Imagine the results you could get from consumers by putting on an event like this andbeing the expert everyone looks to. Just a thought, thanks for your kind and always welcomed comment! B-)

I loved being able to see all these shows - this was a heart warming post to me. I wish I could have been there.... thank you so much for sharing.

I love, love, love conferences! They are always so inspiring. I tried to bring up blogging at a national interior design conference last year to add as an emerging issue. The older leadership quickly dismissed it. Technology frightens some and blogging has a language of its own. It's great to see its strength in the real estate world and to see how savvy real estate agents of all ages are. I think those in the know have the upper hand in the future. You are already ahead of the competition, stay encouraged.

Brad... it was great to meet you! You were certainly the camera hound this trip. Nicely done.

Brad - It sounds like everyone had a great time! This was my favorite post about BloggerConnect, loved the videos. I can not imagine how much there was to learn.

Brad - What a wonderful recap of the events and the photos told the story behind the story of friends just hanging out, learning and growing in SFO. Thanks to one of my favorite men in the Rain.

Great videos Brad..next best thing to being there!

Let me guess...you went to the Widgets Lecture first?

Thanks for putting this together for us. Am kicking myself for not going. Won't miss the next one.

Marie - I am no God, but I am Gods! (Big Smile) It was an action packed day trying to learn all I could, meet all I could, connect with as many as I could, and photo as much as possible. Loved every minute of it, now I am on fire to create my very own blog out there in the sphere. I'm just not sure which direction I will go right now...time will tell!! :-)

Douglas - Pat Benetar, I just saw her at the Marin County Fair just last month. Man...doesn't time fly?? :-)
I have learned this over the years, A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins! Hope you don't mind my little Bradism here....

Jennifer, there is much to incorporate as there was so much learned and shared there. We have a head start with a tool that will become common ground for all very soon....Blogging! It will be as much a part of our daily lives as email, cell phones, and space travel....hahaha!! It Will!! Stay encouraged...someone said that here in these comments I think!!

Brad - thanks for coming over to introduce yourself. I was so glad to meet you in person - just wish there was enough time in the "day" to have some serious one-on-one time with you, and each of the others I met there.

Missy- thanks, but you were there in spirit right? I think there will be many more posts to come regarding the SF Connect. I 'll be watching for them too. :-)

Neal- it was great, not sure of the tour schedule or if there even is one. I think you should put one together in your area, or you could fly me out and we'll do it together. Don't laugh...I'm serious! LOL!

Desiree- thanks! Glad you liked the shows. Had no idea my post got featured, been a while since I had one of those. I guess when you have 40,000+ members posting away, makes it tough to find 20 to 30 to feature a day......(poor moderators)...they have such a thankless job! My hats off to them every day. The unsung blogosphere heroes!!

Bryant - glad you liked them, thanks! :-)

Angie - I agree about the photo thing. Some people looked like their photos, and some didn't. It was fun playing the game of who's who all day. I met some great people just because of mistaken identities. One guy came up to me and said "Hey, how ya been? Don't you remember me from New YorK? We went out and partied together with Tom!" I had to break it to him that I had never even been to New York and he must have partied a little too much with Tom! LOL! We ended up talking for a few, and I connected with another fellow Blogger. Way Cool!!

I say everyone should update their photos at least anually. Should be mandatory for every member. No Avatars, No High school photos, No cropped faces and logos, just a good ol fashioned photo of you recently. Probably never happen! LOL!!

Jeff Dowler - It was great finally getting to meet you. I will never forget back when I joined AR, yours was the very first post I ever read. Happy to tell you, I'm still a subscriber and reader today. I wish I could be there the 25th, I'll be away, but we'll hook up again someday soon I hope. I'd love to get to know you wonderful folks from sunny southern cal. I really enjoyed the event. Thanks for letting me take the photo of you, and sharing it here on my Blog. You are a gentleman and a Blogger!! LOL! Thanks Jeff! B-)

Jeff Geoghan - I am not sure if anyone will be posting their notes from the event. There were many taking them and there were many to write down. I'll be sharing what I can as I learn to implement what I came away with. Active Rain STILL has more to offer through it's members and networking than any conference will ever have. Look for more posts coming I'm sure.... B-)

Marti - thanks for the compliments. Coming from you, one of the most subscribed to Bloggers, I take that very personal and appreciate it mucho grande!! B-)

Thesa - I'm glad this was a heartfelt post to you. It was heartfelt delivered as well...sorry we didn't get to hook up today. Thanks for your tip and now here's the one I promised you. To resize any of the Real Estate Shows to the size you see in my post, simply go into the HTML code and change the width and height numbers. You also have to change the "noscale" to read "scale" otherwise you loose your image off the show. Here's an example of the html code for you:

Just change these 3 things: "noscale" to "scale" and Width from "535" to whatever you want. Same with the Height, just remember to keep them equal. If you lower the width 200, be sure you lower the height 200 too. Let me know if this helps you with your next Real Estate Show Post, if it does, I'll send you my bill!! LOL...just kidding. Thanks for your tip today about how to catch these cut and paste blogging criminals. I didn't know how to do that before. This was what I like to call an exchange in fair value, more commonly known as "just sharing with friends"!! B-)

Rachel - great comment!! You would have enjoyed this event. No rejection there, maybe some difference of opinions, but open minds willing to embrace the future of Blogging. It was great!

Jeff Turner - It was an honor to meet you sir!! (Huge Smile) You are all they say you are! A well known and reputable Blogger in the Industry. I wished we'd had more time to spend together, I know we'll meet again soon. It's not enough that I have to look at your smiling face on the cover of Active Rain everyday as the "FEATURED" Member for all California. You and Brian Brady are burned into my gas plasma screen! ROFL!!

Thanks Jeff...I was photo hounding that day wasn't I....so was someone else we all know and love!

Paula - it was a great time. Thank you for saying that my post was your fav, I'm sure there will be many others that will be just as good or better. I got home early so I had a slight advantage. Look for posts from all the other members in the slide shows above. There will be some great information coming from these folks soon......as always!! :-)

Marlene - It was very special meeting you finally. I am so sorry you weren't feeling well, Laurie Manny was a little under the weather too. The short time we had and the few words exchanged will be long lived in my memory. You are a very special and classy lady, I always wish the very best for you and your family. I look forward to us meeting again, and we will, but next time we'll have more time. Hope you're feeling better tonight!! Be Blessed!! :-) BTW - this is one of my fav photos of the day!!

Joan - hahahaha!! ROFL!! Actually that was the one thing I didn't pay too much attention to, I went and shot all these photos instead. Do you think I should add some widgets to my blog? hahaha! Thanks for the laugh. You have a great way of making me do that, thanks!!

Gary - we missed ya, next year will be even better! After going to this one, I don't think I'll want to ever miss one of these when they come around. Look forward to meeting you next year!! :-) Don't kick yourself too hard, there are plenty of great folks here that will share with you all we learned.... Ok, well maybe some little kicks, just to keep you motivated for next year! B-)

Sharon - I do hope we'll be able to get together again in the future. I really really enjoyed meeting you. Our talk in the lounge was a little contraversial by a couple of the folks in our circle, but the time was still enjoyable. Just being in the presence of such success made me warm and fuzzy all over!! (Big Smile)!

BTW - How many posts left your laptop from this table that day...I'm going to your blog now to see! LOL!!

AUG

2007

Brad! Thank you for sharing your experience with shows and pics. It feels like we were there, too. You identified everybody which helped a lot. You were one busy photographer--thank you!

Brad

This was great....I love all this recap stuff.

Brad - it was the scale vs no scale thing I was missing thank you so much - would have loved to be in SF - maybe I could talk them into doing something in Sunriver for all those that love to ski :o)

What a great way to show everything and everyone. I have to say you are on to something with everyone having to have a photo we would recognize! I will say we ladies are the worst.

Yolanda - Glad you enjoyed the photos. Next best thing to being there I think! :-)

Kevin - it was good times and good people! I like recaps too, but nitecaps are better!! LOL!

Thesa - Glad we got that fixed for you. Probably only a small percent of readers will even understand what we're talking about, but hopefully this will help any others who are having the same issues! Been there, done that... :-)

Sandra - You like that idea huh? LOL! Men are just as bad!! I need to update mine soon, but I still do look like that...a little....maybe......sort of....hahahaha!

Brad.... this was great, I wish I was there. I watched each video, looks like a great time. But one thing.... you have about 4 to 6 different topics listed above and very brief. I would love to hear a breakdown of each one. Example.... Sitting in the eye of the storm. What does this mean? Another... the top 10 tips from top bloggers.

In any case, I would love to hear more about this. Thanks for sharing the videos MR Kodak. ;o) They turned out great.

jeff belonger

Ahhhh Jeff, so you want the steak, and not the sizzle, well that's the main course to be served later. The "eye of the storm" was presented by Redfin, and he seemed kinda lonely up there...but I'll expand on these at a later time if other members don't report details before I can get to it. Thanks Jeff! B-)

Thanks....looking forward to it. And yes, I want my cake so I can eat it, all steak, and even the key to the Playboy Mansion. thanks....

Oh Brad - all of us who couldn't attend (but definitely will next year) are anxiously hearing for more details... please?

Wow, Brad! Looks like a great time was had by all. Thanks for sharing and posting those videos. The amount of expertise in that group is pretty awe-inspiring!

AUG

2007

Hello Brad,
What a great opportunity and learning experience that must have been. If you felt inadequate, it is a very good thing that I was not there, seriously. Thank you for sharing with us, photos great.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Looks like a great time. We would love the opportunity to go to something like that. Are they coming to Chicago anytime soon??? : )

Jeff - Content you shall have, for the key....I'll have to make some calls!! LOL! :-)

Calie - no begging! hahaha There will be more posts by many others who attended. I don't want to steal all the thunder!! I will be sharing more tid-bits in the future. Thanks!!

Carol - the level of expertise at this event was almost over-whelming, an awesome time for all who attended. Hopefully you can make it next time. :-)

Cynthia - I don't think it was so much feeling inadequate, as it was overwhelmed. There really is so many things to consider if you are going to be a successful blogger. If I were a REALTOR®, or a Lender, it may be different. As a title and escrow guy, I am still trying to help my clients with becoming successful with their blogging efforts. It takes great a great commitment, and lot's of time. You must have a mentor/coach if you're going to reach the top quickly. I hope to be that mentor for the clients that support me. This is just one of the ways I hope to support them in return. So far, so good! You are on your way to being the best in your area! Don't give up!~ You are ahead of the curve and it's a new day in Real Estate with technology! Persevere!! Focus on the goal, and any dream can be yours!! B-)

Ann - If you were truly inspired, I hope you'll join us next year! There is no way my post can stimulate the TRUE inspiration that came from the Real Estate Connect Event! In person is the best, honestly!!!

Brad - Thanks for sharing all of this. You are an Active Rain Star! Blogging has gone so mainstream since the old days just a few years ago. Keep up the good work.

AUG

2007

Wow. I'm SO jealous! Great photos. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Lisa Hill

Lisa - it's my pleasure. I know you're in Florida, and that you will have similiar events there. Please do the same in the event you make it to one of these in your beautiful state. Thanks for your comment. :-)

Brad nice job. I was at the Bloggers Connect and I am real excited about blogging. Plus, I was just reading all the blog responses and I saw my picture with Sharon. It is amazing how connected we all are! I ma paying it forward too. I am enlightening all my assocaites iof the benefits of blogging.

Brad, Looks like a lot of fun and useful info... Maybe next year I will go, after all that is where I am from, it would be nice to get back to the Bay Area again. You brought back memories for me with the Day on the Green. My first was Boston, Eddie Money, Sammy Haggar all on the same ticket. Thanks for that.

Brad, Great job on the videos! It really captured the experience as I saw it also. It was great meeting you and discussing all things blogging at the AR bloggers lounge.

AUG

2007

Wendy - I am so sorry I didn't get to introduce myself to you. Guess I was a little camera crazy that day. Now I know what you look like and will make sure I look for you next time. Thanks Wendy, glad you were there!! :-)

Donna - we'd love to see you there next year! Just for the record, those were all my favorite bands growing up during the 80's era. I just recorded a song with the Bass Player from Boston just last Xmas. Ironically, it is called the "Realtor Blues!" Here's a link if you want to hear it. Thought you might get a kick out of it!
THE REALTOR BLUES

Jan - It was really nice meeting you as well. You are one of the few that somehow slipped under my radar for getting photos. I'll get ya next time. LOL! I remember our conversation, and wish you all the best in your Blogging efforts!! Thanks! B-)

Brad

These were a great reminder of how much fun we had and I really like the one about the Blogger Project Contest!!!!

Thanks Joeann - we did have a ton of fun, and it was nice to see everyone come together for such a great event. I really liked the Project Blogger Contest portion of the event too. Mainly because it was finally over!! LOL! So much time, effort and work went into it, was it any surprise that Mary Pope-Handy win?

Thanks for sharing these memories with us. It was great to meet you!

Hi Sharon - the feeling is mutual. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Thanks for stopping by to say hi! B-)

AUG

2007

Brad- I never would've thought that blogging was actually an area of expertise for some people! I guess if you spend enough time practicing something... Great post; it makes me look at blogging in a different way.

Joshua - like golf, there is much to consider to be good at the game, some win big, some loose big. Blogging is not for everyone, but neither is golf. You'll only be as good at anything, as YOU want to be...
Look at Blogging everyway possible, you may see something that no one else can see, it's such a new thing, there is so much to be discovered, just imagine and dream, then make it a reality!! :-)

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