After leaving the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo at about 2 PM on Friday afternoon, I thought I would take a quick trip to the top of the Venetian parking garage (14 stories up) to take some photos. My plan was to snap a few quick pics and then get away from the Strip before rush-hour traffic hit.
After my last shot I began the descent out of the parking garage. 14 ... 12 ... 11 ... 10 ... a little delay ... 9 ... a longer delay. Checked a few text messages, moved a couple of feet, checked a few more, dead stop.
Fifteen minutes later I was down to level 8. Realizing it could be well over an hour before I would see daylight, I picked up my cell phone and Twittered "Anyone up for a late lunch at the Venetian?"
Two minutes later Bill Wendel from RealEstateCafe responded. He had been following me on Twitter since reading my ActiveRain post, "A Quick Social Networking Survey." I grabbed the first available parking space and took the elevator down to the Food Court to meet him.
We ordered our food and sat down near a Crye-Leike agent from Memphis, Ellis Rankin. He and his wife told us about their experience working on the Habitat for Humanity house, as well as last year's project in New Orleans. We talked about the giving nature of REALTORS®. Bill mentioned an idea to create an interactive map of all of the projects that agents are involved with, and we even talked about using Twitter for 'micro-philanthropy'.
After the Rankins left, I asked Bill about the origin of RealEstateCafe. He told me that he was a fee for services agent, and his brand was built around a menu of services. He even has an ice cream truck that he uses "to turn every open house into a block party." Smart marketing!
Just as we were finishing lunch, Bill spotted Steve Kantor, creator of Project Tinkertoy, a plan to survey 1000 agents in one week and publish a book of tips for the 2008 market. This concept was so unique that Seth Godin mentioned it during his session. Amazingly, Steve had a copy of the finished book with him - produced in just one week! See www.realestatein2008.org for more info.
I could have waited out the traffic in the parking garage that afternoon; it might have been only a temporary delay. Thanks to Twitter I was able to meet people like Ellis, Bill and Steve, to network and share ideas.
It was an example of a simple Web 2.0 social networking tool being the catalyst for a great real-life experience. A technology that helps us communicate across great distances while we're mobile had brought a few of us together for some special moments.
The Twitter FAQ says "Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives ... Possibilities are endless." In this case, Twitter helped me get out of a jam and share some fascinating moments in the lives of a few new friends.
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