Session 3: Late Night with Notorious ROB

For our third and final session of RE BarCamp: An Ocean City Evening, we will turn to Notorious real estate blogger, Inman News writer, consultant and unapologetic New York Jets fan Rob Hahn for a session entitled, “Late Night with Notorious ROB: Not What You Do in Social Media, but What Is Done To You!“ 

In this session, Rob will discuss topics like Net Promoter Score, lead management and CRM.  At least that’s what I think he’s going to talk about.  After a few drinks, I suppose any topic is up for grabs.

As with all of our sessions, we really look forward to great conversation.  It is your participation that makes any of these sessions a winner!

Session 2 Confirmed: Social Media In Real Life

Session 2 (which will really be the kickoff session for RE BarCamp: An Ocean City Evening), will be a one-of-a-kind presentation which will take the bits and bytes that confound us in social media, and break it down to a human level.  Led by Marney Kirk and Kim Wood, (with a possible cameo by Darrin Friedman) Social Media In Real Life will illustrate how Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter work, not from a technical aspect, but from a personal, human-to-human perspective.  Leave the laptops home, and shut down the iPhones and Blackberries — this is personal!

Session 3 will be announced Friday!

*Added note, Derek Massey TOO, will be in the skits, so look for his Linkedin persona to be thrown in the mix!*

Bring ‘em if ya got ‘em

As we’ve mentioned, we’re going minimal with this RE BarCamp.  Free location, no t-shirts, no audio-visual, no cost at all!  Just good topics and discussion.

As such, we’re encouraging those who have been to an RE BarCamp before to bring your existing lanyard and badge.  We’ve got a nice little sticker to put on your badge - passport style - so you can show the world you came.

Haven’t been before and don’t have a badge?  No problem.  We will have some generic (not location-specific) RE BarCamp badges for you.

Image Courtesy of Kim Wood

Session 1 Confirmed: Transparency v. Authenticity

For those of you who have attended an RE BarCamp before, you recall the “board,” a large makeshift “channel guide” where presenters can sign up to present and attendees can decide what session to attend.  We won’t have one of those.  Not because we don’t like them - we love them.  We are just limited in time and space, and therefore will only have 2-3 sessions.  As such, we decided to pre-select the topics and presenters, based in part upon feedback you have shared with us.

We are pleased to announce that Craig Barrett and Joseph G. Ferrerra, Esq. will be co-leading a session called Transparency v. Authenticity (Reputation, Financial and Legal Liability).  “Transparency” is a big buzzword in business today, and social media has only added to that buzz. The online world allows us to be ourselves and have real, human conversations with clients and colleagues from all over the world.  But when is sharing over-sharing?  What steps can and should we take to protect ourselves?  As a real estate professional, your reputation is one of your most important attributes.  We (and I mean ALL OF US) will discuss how we can share what we’re about without treading into dangerous waters.

Joseph Ferrarra is a self-described recovering attorney, social media strategist, guerrilla marketer, writer, talking head and Canasta player. Craig Barrett is a real estate agent in Southern Maryland with a background in internet security, who also enjoys long runs, swimming with jellyfish and chocolate milk.

But as great as these guys are, the discussion and ideas need to come from all of YOU, the participants.  Be ready to get your talk on! 

And Our Charity is….HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Being REALTORS, or people involved in the real estate industry, we all understand the value and need for homeownership.

This is why we have determined HABITAT FOR HUMANITY as our charity for #rebcocmd (Real Estate Barcamp Ocean City!)

**–UPDATE, AUGUST 24 — It looks like we will have DAVE MINGES, the head of Habitat for Humanity for all of Maryland, will be there WITH US on the 13th to take donations — AND can take credit cards! Thank you Dave, we look forward to the evening! — **

We are in the process of finding out how we can send a statewide donation, however, we DO have a link to donate online prior to our event — and you can CHOOSE which chapter you would like to support! MAKE SURE TO DESIGNATE YOUR GIFT — Choose Maryland (or whichever state you prefer) and all of the state’s chapters will appear!

We will have an area to donate at the event on September 13, but if you want to donate using your credit card instead of cash or check, here is your chance!

Make sure to comment on this post if you do so online so we can track how much money we raise for Habitat for Humanity.

We are very excited to be able to participate in helping others achieve homeownership.

See you on the 13th!

Photos of the Great REBarcamp Ocean City Location!

Thank you, Monica, for going to Mickey Finns to scout out the location and take photos to share with all of us for the REBarcamp Ocean City! It looks like a fantastic location right on the water — great for relaxation and discussion all in one.

Here is the link to Monica’s photos on Flickr. THANK YOU MONICA!

Photos by Monica McNamara

Hashtag for event discussion on Twitter: #REBCOCMD

Questions and Confidence

As I was out running jogging laboring like a punch-drunk bear in the heat the other morning (that fact is itself blog-worthy), it occured to me that RE Barcamp — every RE Barcamp — provides, at a minimum, 2 takeaways.  Two (2) seemingly mutually-exclusive takeaways:  Questions and Confidence.

Questions:  None of us have all of the answers.  None of us have perfected how we market and/or run our business.  The starting point for getting better is asking questions.  Sometimes, the more basic, the better.  I will bet (almost promise) many leave an RE Barcamp with more questions than answers, and that is a good thing.

Confidence:  Confidence to dip your toe in the water that is new marketing, social media, Web 2.0, technology…whatever you want to call it.  And just because you have questions, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have confidence.  A strategy is a great thing to have when employing social media to enhance your sphere of influence, but you don’t have to be able to write a Wordpress plugin (or know what one is) before utilizing these tools.

If you’re coming to Real Estate BarCamp: An Ocean City Evening (or any RE Barcamp), set your expectations for many questions from participants, and from yourself.  Please ask them as they come up…many will have the same questions.  And hopefully, you will leave with the confidence to try at least one new tool to make your business better!

Here’s a great video by Jeff Turner to prep you for any RE Barcamp.

Session Topics

Because of the limited time and space we have, we are likely to do away with the board, and select some topics and presenters/facilitators in advance.  Not sure exactly how we’re going to select the 2 or 3, but it’s never too early to start talkin’ and discussin’.

So, what would you like to talk about?  Please use comments section below post.  Thanks!

RE BarCamp: An Ocean City Evening

Welcome!

In the spirit of REBarcamp, three local Maryland folks decided to organize something useful, informative, and fun for real estate professionals, while piggybacking on a wonderful conference put on by the Maryland Association of REALTORS.

September 13, 2009 marks the debut of RE BarCamp: An Ocean City Evening.  A combination of Beer for Bloggers & REBarcamp, this promises to be an enjoyable  night of learning. Our plan is to have 2-3 sessions, the first beginning around 8 pm. We are looking for attendees who have a desire to learn, participate, discuss and interact. Our goal to have a learning experience to make real estate a better place for both professionals and consumers!

This event will help to kick off three days of networking, classes, and good times at the Annual Conference for the Maryland Association of REALTORS.

We are excited to be putting this event together in the fantastic locale of Ocean City, Maryland. A vacation destination with beautiful beaches, excellent restaurants, and bayfront recreation, this is a perfect place to visit and relax.

As plans develop, we will update you more. Meanwhile, if you would like more information, including location, the invite has details, or you can email us at rebcoc@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Monica McNamara, Derek Massey, and Marney Kirk

Authored by Marney Kirk and Derek Massey