Change in Location!

Thanks for stopping back by! Have you submitted your email address so you can be notified of upcoming REBC events? You can do so on the right sidebar, just scroll down a bit.

The location for REBarCamp has been changed!  The new location is at 2105 Decatur Street, Denver, CO.

The DPPA Event Center offers our group more space and abundant parking (Bronco Stadium Parking).

Please make this change in your calendar for May 22, 2009.

Map of New Location and Driving Directions from DIA

Building and Protecting Your Online Identity ~ Presented by Mike Hostetler

The pool of presenters for REBarCamp Denver continues to grow.

I’m very excited to welcome Mike Hostetler (a real techie) to the REBC Blog.  Mike tells us about himself and what he will be bringing to the table at REBC Denver…

Who are you?  What is your background?

My name is Mike Hostetler.  I’m currently CEO of A Mountain Top, LLC, a web based software development company in Lakewood, Colorado.  I’m the proud father of a beautiful baby girl, with another child on the way.

My background is software Research & Development.  I’ve done R & D in a variety of industries, including government and telecommunications.  All of my experience has centered around the Internet in some way.  I’ve been involved in many of the new Social Media trends, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter from their early days.  My life is an open book online, and how my online activities are represented is the biggest single risk to me personally, but also the single biggest asset I have.

What are you doing currently?

At A Mountain Top, LLC, my role is to provide thought leadership in our programming expertise and to develop new product ideas.  We’ve got one product launching in early May, and another in the works.

I’m heavily involved with Open Source projects that help power the Internet.  They are very programmer focused.  The technologies I participate with are used on high profile sites such as Popular Science, ESPN, WordPress, Firefox and Digg.com.

Do you blog?  How long have you been blogging?

Yes, I currently blog at http://amountaintop.com.  I’ve been blogging for about 4 years.  My blog is a focused tool to help establish my credibility and experience with the technologies I claim expertise in.  As such, the content is very technical and focused on a narrow audience.

How have you found blogging to help you in your business?

Blogging has performed two very valuable services for my business.  First, it’s a platform that has helped establish public credibility in what I claim to know.  When my blog is the top search term for a particularly narrow technical problem, I am viewed as the expert.  This is then translated into connections with potential leads and sources of work.  I’ve gotten several leads and contracts through my blog.

In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of social media we should all be doing?

Small amounts of creative, original and useful content is incredibly effective.  The amount of content can easily be overshadowed by the quality.  No matter what platform, no matter how often, focus on contributing something others will find valuable.  The rest will take care of itself.

Are you coming to RE Barcamp Denver?  If so, will you present a topic?  And which one would that be?

Yes! I’m planning on attending RE Barcamp Denver.  I’ll be presenting on the topic of Building and Protecting your Online Identity.

REBarCamp is Growing!

The popularity of BarCamp has been overwhelming!  We have been advertising it via word of mouth and have grown to over 300 attendees with a month to go before the event!

After attending the wonderful REBarCamp Phoenix last week, we decided that everyone who wants to attend should have the opportunity to do so, therefore we are moving the venue.  We want to thank both MetroList and Armbrust Real Estate Institute for having enough faith in us to sponsor the very first (and totally unheard of) Real Estate BarCamp in Denver.  We really appreciate their vote of confidence in a yet untried event, if you hadn’t supported us early on, we may never have gone ahead with our plans. Thank you!

In the next week the new venue will be announced.  We are both excited and a little nervous about moving, it means we need to raise more funds (hint, hint) so we can keep this event free, but we believe we can do it.  Over the last month we have garnered the support of some wonderful new sponsors and have a few more who are showing interest.  With some more planning we know this event is going to happen and everyone who attends will enjoy it!

Just a quick mention, the event is scheduled for the first Friday just before the Memorial Day Weekend. This can be either a plus or a minus for some people. If you cannot come, please send your regrets to rebarcamp.denver@gmail.com so we can let someone else have your spot.

Now that the registration is open again, I would like to encourage you to “tell a friend.”  I’m sure you know of someone who would enjoy a great, fun learning experience.

Your Camp Counselor,

Kristal Kraft