PacRim 2008 is the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® annual conference. This year it was held at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on September 18 & 19, 2008.
This year the internet was front and center. Social networking and blogging, including Active Rain were featured topics at this convention.
Bob Stewart the Community Evangelist from Active Rain was the speaker at one of the breakout sessions (I did not make that up. It is actually on his business card). I was extremely honored to be asked the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® (HAR) to do the introduction. Bob did a terrific job of introducing the HAR members to Active Rain and Localism.com. Bob also explained how Active Rain helps you build up GoogleTM juice. There were a few Active Rain members in the class, many happy to meet Bob and learn more about how to make the most of blogging. A few from the neighbor islands wanted to meet me and get pictures. That is proof Active Rain can make you a celebrity.
The keynote speaker was Active Rain member Stefan Swanepoel who is the creator of the Trends Report. He gave us a great overview of the direction the industry is heading. It was really exciting to meet him in person and pick up a signed copy of the report. One of the topics he covered was women's role and success in the real estate industry.
Saul Klein, real estate internet guru gave a wonderful presentation on the use of the internet for our industry. Blogging was part of his presentation. He spoke about Real Town Blogs and the benefits gained through social networking.
The last speaker of the conference was Doug Devitre an Active Rain 
member who is known for free and cheap technology tools and techniques. I got the honor of taking a CRS class with Doug a couple of years ago in Colombia, Missouri. This year he was a presenter at the CRS National Sell-a-bration in Waikiki. He was a hit there. Doug came back to teach a class for our pre-licensing instructors. His appearance at the PacRim was his third visit to Hawaii this year. On Thursday he did a long class for the instructors. On Friday he wrapped up the conference with an excellent presentation of how to utilize technology in our business. He emphasized free and cheap. Gotta love that!
At the conference I got to meet and speak to several of the Active Rain members from the neighbor islands. I left the list off this post, it could get long and I was afraid I might miss someone.
My next trip is to the NAR Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida in November. I look forward to meeting up with many Active Rain members there.
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That is great to hear. When I go to any real estate convention, I like to go and see speakers who are into talking about social networking and increasing your Internet presence. Thanks for sharing.