2007 Active Rain Year in Review – A Hawaii REALTOR’S® Perspective

I was quite honored to be asked to participate in the 2007 year in review.  2007 is the first complete year for Active Rain.  It was a wonderful year and I look forward to being part of many more with Active Rain.

Many of us find this forum to be such a terrific way of sharing knowledge with other top professionals in the real estate industry and a great way for the public to find us and check us out.

Let's start with some of the 2007 events here on Active Rain that stood out in my mind:

• The First (?) ActiveRain Meme - Jay & Francy Thompson (This was actually posted the end of 2006, but had a huge impact on 2007)
• In January the Dashboard underwent a big change to try and improve participation and interest.  It also helped level the field a little for newer members:  Points, dashboard changes and other stuff...
• We also saw the addition of localism coming online: Posting To Localism  http://www.localism.com/has proven to be a giant addition to Active Rain and to the value of the Rain for real estate agents.  Many of us are gaining new clients as a direct result of our localism postings.
• In the end of January mine and many members favorite addition to Active Rain - SPELL CHECK!!!
• Project Blogger gained a lot of attention earlier in the year.  Coaches teamed up with apprentices and had a bit of a competition to learn and grow in the blogging process.  There were too many posts to count during that period of time.
• Spammers and Scammers also found our forum to be exciting.  The Rain Gods made some improvements to our system including new crazy graphic words.  ActiveRain System Changes
• In June Active Rain had a series of 1^st Birthday Bashes: Meet your fellow rainers - ActiveRain's birthday bashes
• System enhancements kept coming: New batch of ActiveRain enhancements
• Advertising was added to Active rain and several of us bought ads along with many outside vendors: ActiveRain Ad Network
• Active Rain had a series of member gatherings around the country capped off by the big one in Las Vegas during the NAR convention which I got to attend: ActiveRain Member Appreciation Party - NAR Convention Vegas.  In January we will be having the first one held outside the 48 continuous states:  Active Rain Gathering in Honolulu - January 28, 2008

One of the great things about Active Rain has been the willingness of them to continually upgrade the system to make it better and better.

This is the hardest section for me.  I am struggling with which great blog posts from 2007 to list here.  No matter which ones I select I will think of many others I missed.  I do not want to slight anyone here.  I apologize in advance if I missed one of yours that rightfully deserves to be here.  I also reserve the right to add more posts later.  These are in no particular order.

• Sherman and Broker Bryant mount up for battle! - "B.B." Broker Bryant (Bryant is the expert on range pricing and selling in tough markets)
• Toilet for sale - house comes with it. - Rick & Ines (One of the absolutely funniest posts of the year)
• COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT REVISITED with AN INTERESTING ANGLE - Lenn Harley (All I can say is don't mess with Lenn)
• Don't "Follow The Leader" if you want more business - George Tallabas (a great marketing post, George continuously shares his  great insights)
• Oh! Crap! How Am I Going To Get That Out Of The Lake?...ROAR!   - TLW (This is one of several of her posts that I absolutely think were among the funniest on Active Rain.  Billie is also one of the first to welcome me to the Rain and she taught me what SVW meant)
• $$$ CASH BACK AT CLOSING $$$ - Ralph Roberts (Ralph has the best posts about mortgage fraud.  His posts are not as widely read as they should be)
• Do You SEO? - Laurie Manny (One of the more educational posts from one of the best Localism experts)
• Judge and the Jury - Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman (A good friend and partner in crime here on Active Rain)
• Hawaiian Legends - Nightmarchers, Menehune, and the Tiki Gods - Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman (OK I put two for Sally.  She is the queen of Hawaiian culture)
• Meme Tutorial and Alphabetical Index of all Memes on Active Rain! - Lucky Lang (Possibly the longest post I read all year)
• What's all the Drama about!! PART 2 - Blogging Bertha (The introduction of Bryant's alter ego, making fun of the whiners who did not get featured)
• There are No Short Cuts to Becoming a Real Estate Professional - Randy Prothero (One of my favorite topics; professionalism)
• "It's Time to get MAD!"  - Rich Jacobson (He wrote many great blog posts to help with netiquette and how to best blog.  This one was a great motivational kick many of us needed)
• A Green Building Conversation For Today's Changing Market  - Jeff Geoghan (One of the most popular blog posts ever that didn't get featured)
• Picking your inventory - Kristal "K.K." Kraft (No list would complete without Kristal.  At the AR gathering, I was looking for someone with half a face.  She does not look like her picture)
• I'm a little bothered by a comment I just read. - Leigh Brown (Great tips for agents when taking listings)
• Ten Reasons Why I Hate Blogging - Jeff Dowler (I funny post I missed the first time around)
• Sellers should answer this question...Do you want to own your home or do you want to sell your home? - Neal Bloom (He had several other great posts that are members only.)
• Jeff Turner (I thought long and hard about his posts.  There are so many that have been beneficial to my blogging and my business.  I could not pick a favorite.  My advice is to subscribe to Jeff's posts, you will learn so much from him)
• Please Don't Throw Me Any More Gold Stars - Margaret Rome (A great job of lightening it up)
• Are Buyers Really Liars? - Monika McGillicuddy (A thought provoking post)

2007 was a time of much change in the real estate industry.  Active Rain provided us a forum to share tips, tactics and strategies with each other.  I found Active Rain to be an oasis.  After a long day of balancing my business and personal life I could take a break unwind and recharge.

Active Rain also gave me a terrific forum with http://www.localism.com/ so the public could find me and the useful information I had to share.

Just one plug before I sign off.  I hope to see you at the Active Rain Gathering in Honolulu - January 28, 2008.

I want to say MAHALO (thank you in Hawaiian) to everyone responsible for making this the great place it is.  Have a great 2008! 

Hauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year in Hawaiian).