For sometime now, I've been wanting to go through ActiveRain's blog archives to see what members where writing about since before I joined in late August. I decided to get started this past weekend and I've decided to share my findings with you in a series of posts. I guess you could say it's and "oldies but goodies" blog carnival of sorts. So come along for the ride... it should be an interesting one!
These are some of the "Faces of ActiveRain" that make up the community, contribute and share their knowledge! (Hover over each thumbnail photo to see their name. Each one is mentioned in this post.)
>>> If you are not a member yet, what are you waiting for?Click here to sign up today! Membership has it's privileges!<<<
7/01/06 -
Matt wrote about the "power of the blogosphere", alerting us to the fact that one of ActiveRain's members, Stan Mackey, had essentially obtained Internet celebrity status for having listed Robert Scoble's house in Bothell, WA, which Stan blogged about the next day on BloggingSeattle as well as on ActiveRain the day after that (where I got a kick out of his expression "all web hell broke loose"). For those of you who don't recognize the name Robert Scoble, he's one of the authors of a book titled "Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers".
Matt asked the question "Why advertise the competition?", listed three possible explanations and debated the reason behind each one. His post makes for interesting reading for anyone who's thinking about including Google's AdSense ads in their website or blog.
7/06/06 -
In his excellent "Don't Save... Invest!" post, Trent Yeo urges people to build their wealth through real estate investments. Sound advice that we should all heed.
7/07/06 -
A new blog is born when Sue Melhorn takes the plunge and writes a post titled "My First Blog" in which she gives an example from her own life where change can lead to great things. Well done, Sue!
7/08/06 -
In what was among the first consumer blog posts on ActiveRain that describe a particular area of the country, Michelle Sotelo explained why she "Loves living in the Pacific NW"... and very well, I might add.
Margaret Rome explained how nothing gets her creative juices flowing faster than the "Unique Challenge" of marketing what many would consider an "impossible" listing. Several ActiveRain members shared their suggestions with her and contest winners were announced.
Matt... one of the brains behind ActiveRain... whose nickname while growing up was "mouse"... reveals to us his other passion besides ActiveRain (and his wife, Lydia, of course). Who'd a thought? I guess we'd better bone up on his hobby if we ever want bonus points. Just kidding, Matt! LOL! :-)
Rory Siems blogs about how Internet-based home valuation services such as Zillow cannot put a price on a great view. Just another reason why real 'live' agents are the key to correct pricing!
Of course, I could not include every post in this summary so if I did not include you/your post here, it's very possible you may find you/your post will be mentioned in an upcoming edition.
Stay tuned for more snippets from "ActiveRain - The Early Days".
40 Comments on ActiveRain - The Early Days (July 1-10, 2006)
What a great post. I feel like I am watching my kids walk down the graduation isle. I feel so proud for AR. What a great link to the past..
Thanks for all the nice compliments. I've updated the blog post to include all the "Faces of ActiveRain" that were mentioned in my post as a 'thank you' to them for having contributed. There's more where that came from in future editions, but it's a very time-consuming process, so hang in there... and thanks for posting a comment!
Are you going to e-publish a photo album of all 10,000 of us? That would indeed be a mighty undertaking - and of course you would have to link to each one!
Tony, no... it would probably take weeks just to do that! The thumbnail photos you see in the post are those of any of the members I mentioned in this post, in the order they are mentioned.
Wow Leanne, what a fabulous post, and what a great jaunt down memory lane. I've already looked at four of the posts you mention here and will hit the others before the day is up. Very cool idea and it made me smile! I would have given you a gold star but you already have a well deserved one here - Thanks for doing all this for us!
Great work Leanne - you're now officially "The AR Librarian" -- a title that should come with 100,000 bonus AR points. ;-) C'mon Matt, slide a big stack of chips to her for this generous effort.
Seriously, thanks for the kudos! I'm glad to bring attention to some of the many well deserved writers that helped get the AR blogging platform past first gear. What was sad to see was the fact that many of these posts did not have a single comment! Even more sad was to realize that some of these bloggers appear to have stopped blogging. I guess that's to be expected as it happens whether the blogging platform is AR or not.
Bill, I never quite saw myself as the 'librarian type' though I do love to read.
The "new librarians" of the digital age are far different from those we commonly think of. These are people that have really good online research skills and know how to find and organize information.
It is such an advancing career choice in this century that Fortune 500 companies are hiring this new breed as their Chief Knowledge Officers, and Google itself employs more than 75 "digital librarians" (I've heard). Google also embraces the associations and hard-working school librarians that work tirelessly to help kids transition from the 1900's physical library to the 2000's virtual library. So, my use of the term already embraces a new and emerging definition.
That's really cool, Leanne. ("Cool"? Ohhhh, I'm showing my age!) I feel really honored to be included. I've not spent as much time purusing AR as I did in the early days due to other obligations but I do hope to jump back in soon. AR is a fabulous concept that has been done right... can't say that about many RE sites.
Bill -thanks for the clarification. Now that you've put it that way, then - yes - I guess I could fall into the category of having really good online research skills. My online & offline friends/family can attest to that. I guess you could say I'm my own CKO (Chief Knowledge Officer). Another bit of 'alphabet soup' to add behind my name? :-)
Tim - well... if "cool" shows your age then I fall into the same category! LOL! Nowadays, the younger generation spells it the way they pronounce it... kewl.
Bryant - thanks, and yes... it did take some doing, for sure, but well worth the effort.
I hope one day to become the next "Blogging Sensation" and have one of my blogs premiered on your Oldies. It would be an honor. Keep on truckin and I'll keep on readin!
Everytime I get on activerain, it just blows me away the marketing brilliance they have employed and the thought "why didn't anyone think of this before now". It's just brilliant and will continue to grow. Now if I could only make the top 25 list! hahaha
Leanne you gave me such good homework today; I truly enjoyed going back and reading the posts you highlighted in YOUR post today; and I know that was the point, to read them! Sue Melhorn's post - what a great first blog with timely advice. Learning about Matt's hobby, I find that very intriguing. And Margaret Rome, well I read her post and then said what is the matter with you Carole you haven't added her to your associates list yet; I can't afford to miss her blogs, she is excellent.
Thank you again for all your loving efforts on this post -
Holy moly, Leanne, look at all those pics and links!
Shortly after joining AR in August, I started rummaging through the first posts. It really was a learning experience. It helped me to understand a lot. Thanks for putting out this guided tour. I would add 'historian' to your titles.
Leanne: I second Bill's nomination! It is strange to consider the first ten days in July of this year as distant history. Must be, though, because Active Rain wasn't even on my radar at that time!
You deserve an award! In fact, I think I will nominate you....
Ah the old days. I joined AR on June 17. A few days later I got an email from the Rainfather hinself, Matt Heaton, thanking me for inviting "so many members" to the network (it was about 12 people).
There were no blogs, no forums. We grew the network by word of mouth.
Paul Sullins (may he rest in peace) and I were slugging it out for the Number 1 ranking in the network. I remember when he got to 5,000 points -- I didn't think I'd ever catch him. FIVE THOUSAND POINTS?!?! I did catch him, but only briefly.
I remember Paul and I and a couple of others being accused of "cheating" to get points, and that there was NO WAY anyone could get 10,000 points unless they cheated....
Great Job Leanne! It's hard to figure waxing nostalgic about something that happened just 5 months ago... but there you are.. 5 months is eons in internet time!
Kristal, Teresa, Carl, Angus and Charles - thanks... and, yes, it truly is hard to believe that this was just 5 months ago... though as Angus (a.k.a. "Moo") put it - that's eons in Internet time!
Brad - I'd say you're already doing quite well with your blogging. Your friend gave you good advice in his letter and you offer some great advice of your own on a popular place known as "Some Day Isle". Keep up the great work and take solice in the fact that those who cut and paste from other people's blogs or websites may cheat their way up the point system, but as Marti Garaughty commented, "they never develop a following. You can't borrow a personality, a point of view or a brain..."
TLW - a simple "thank you" comment is sufficient... though a crystal ball that can give me tonight's winning lotto numbers would be nice, too. LOL! ;-)
Ines - it makes me wish I'd joined waaaaay back on July 9th when Kristal Kraft sent me the first of three invitations I'd receive (each from a different person) before I finally joined in late August. Oh, well... hindsight is 20/20!
Craig - I thought your video tours post offered up some good information and got some people's attention. Keep up the good work.
Carole - you get an A+ on your homework assignment, my dear friend!
Maureen F. - Historian? Maybe, but it makes me sound older than I am... I prefer Bill French's "New Librarian" description... sounds sexier. Glad you liked the guided tour.
Roberta -Thank you for the (2nd) nomination. Let me know if I make it to the virtual 'red carpet'.
Jay - Now that you have over 62K points, 5K points does seem like a lifetime ago, doesn't it? ...and what would I do without my 'mangos' to remind me that I should be eating more fruits? :-)
Active Rain archivist Leanne!!! With all due repect to Bill French AR is not a library... or we'd be getting shooshed... well not as much today as back when I worked in libraries in high school and college ...but Active Rain is not libraryish.
Great post Leanne. I read it yesterday... read some of the links and ran out of time to comment. Forgive me.
Thanks for doing all the work on it and sharing it. Definitely one to bookmark to come back to...
I was invited months before I actually participated. I stayed on from June I think with my funky little 100 pt total, not knowing what I was missing. The couple of months I've been active have been wonderful. What a great group, what a awesome concept!!!
Ed and Maureen - Thanks for stopping by... and for the compliments!
Chris - You're not alone... there are others who signed up early on and then sort of forgot about AR for a while. You're here now and that's what's important.
Carole - I'm glad you got a kick out of that phrase, even if the credit for it goes to another member. Hmmm... how to combine historian/virtual librarian/online researcher? How about Netrian? Just call me 'Lexy Netrian'. Yeah, that's it... that's the ticket! LOL!
Neat! I was just going through some of the "old timers" blogs and reading them and came across your blog. Great job Leanne! Looks like AR has come along way. One person that I didn't see in the post that came to mind was the late great Paul Sullins. He was one of the original members of AR and brought a lot of agents on board.
Roxanne & Shannon (M & M's) - Thank you so much for the nice compliment. Yes, AR has definitely come a long way since the "early days". Regarding Paul Sullins... I actually did mention him, except it was in my second edition of the "ActiveRain - The Early Days" series. If you enjoyed this edition, you will likely enjoy the second one.
South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter
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I would have given you a gold star but you already have a well deserved one here - Thanks for doing all this for us!
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What a great post. I feel like I am watching my kids walk down the graduation isle. I feel so proud for AR. What a great link to the past..