Nitty Gritty Details for RE BarCamp St. Louis

We’re only 3 days away from RE BarCampSTL and the registrations continue to come in every day.

Here is a rundown of what will be happening to help you get the most out of the event.

Registration:

Yes, Re BarCamp is a free event for attendees. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cost money. We have sponsors covering breakfast, lunch, the venue and an open bar.

Since we get charged by the person for food and drink, we need to know if you plan to attend. We’re not saying that we won’t let you in if you show up at the door and haven’t pre-registered, but please be considerate and sign up so we can get an accurate head count.

The same goes for canceling your reservation if your plans change and you won’t be able to attend.

But I can only attend part of the day. Can I still come?

Of course.

My friend called me on Sunday and said she wanted to come too. Is it too late?

Absolutely not. We should have enough space to accommodate anyone who shows up at the door, though they may be on their own for food if we get an overwhelming number of surprise attendees.

Presentations:

As we’ve mentioned in prior posts, anyone is welcome to submit a request to do a presentation. In order to avoid having 5 people plan similar presentations, please leave a comment on this post with your topic.

If you can’t be there all day and need a specific time slot, let us know that too.

When you sign in on Monday morning, you will also be given an opportunity to submit a request to be a presenter.

Breakout sessions will be one hour long and will start at 9:30 am, 10:45 am, 1 pm and 2:15 pm. Since BarCamp’s are designed to be interactive, you should allow some time for discussion or questions.

We will have projectors and screens, so feel free to put something together on your laptop if you think visual aids will help. The plan is to have 3-4 breakout sessions during each time slot.

Depending on how popular your topic is, expect anywhere between 10-50 people attending. If you plan on bringing anything to hand out, you should arrive with copies already made.

Event Schedule:

Here’s an update on the day’s activities:

8:30 AM – Doors open

8:30-9:00 AM – Registration and breakfast

9:00 – 9:15 AM – Welcome and orientation

9:30 – 10:30 AM – Breakout session 1

10:45 – 11:45 AM – Breakout session 2

11:45 AM – 1:00 PM – Lunch and networking

1:00 – 2:00 PM – Breakout session 3

2:15 – 3:15 PM – Breakout session 4

3:30 – 4:00 PM – Social Media Mastermind discussions

4:00 – 6:00 PM – Open bar (beer, wine & soda) & networking

Evening – Tweetup after event to be announced

What to Expect:

BarCamp’s are relaxed events. Dress is casual or business casual.

The event is put together by a handful of volunteers who are trying to pull this together in between selling homes and running their own businesses, so while you can expect a fabulous learning event, don’t expect perfect event coordination.

If you don’t like how the chairs are set up for your presentation, move them.

If a breakout session is out of chairs when you come in, pull a chair off the stacks that will be around or grab one from another room. Or sit on the floor.

If you are in the middle of a great conversation that will offer more value then any of the breakout sessions, find a quiet corner and keep talking.

If you don’t like any of the topics during a breakout session period, find a few other people and start your own discussion.

A big part of the BarCamp experience is networking. Bring lots of business cards so you can keep in touch.

WiFi and Laptops:

The Stegton Banquet Center has free WiFi and we will have plenty of power strips available for you to recharge those batteries if needed. Bring your laptop, iPad or netbook so you can take notes and try out things during the sessions.

If you are on twitter, be sure to use the official hashtag #REBCSTL when tweeting about the event.

Still not sure you should bring your laptop with you?

If you are new to social media and are hoping to get started on twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or one of the many other social media options, you can probably even find someone who will help you download apps and get signed up.

Don’t have a laptop?

That’s ok. You can take notes the old fashioned way.

Questions:

If I left something out, just leave a comment below or send an email to Karen Goodman or Jessica Hickok.

We can also be reached on twitter (@karenstl or @sugarcube).

Should You Attend RE BarCamp St. Louis?

If you work in any facet of real estate, then you should attend RE BarCamp St. Louis!

While many of the attendees will be real estate agents, we expect to have lots of people in real estate related industries too.

• Lenders
• Title companies
• Appraisers
• Inspectors
• Rehabbers
• Investors
• Property managers
• Real estate technology vendors

You should also consider attending if you work in a business that could benefit real estate agents. Maybe you sell office supplies. Maybe you design websites. Maybe you have a restaurant where an agent might sit with clients to write a contract while grabbing lunch.

Get creative.

How could your business benefit by being connected to real estate agents? How could you benefit real estate professionals by sharing your skills with them?

Maybe you don’t work in real estate or have a product that real estate agents need. That’s ok. If you like houses, commercial properties, technology, social media, free training or great networking, then you should join us!

Just remember, all of the training sessions will have a real estate spin to them!

Selling Not Allowed:

I know I just suggested that if you have a service or product that could be a benefit to real estate agents, then you should consider attending.

Just remember, the format and culture of a BarCamp means that this is about networking and education and sharing. If you do a presentation and it is about your specific product, rather than how your industry as a whole can add value, you will probably have people walk out on your session and might just lose more business than you gain.

BarCamp etiquette is that there is no pitching your services or selling your product. You are welcome to tell people what you do, and if someone asks you about your services, then go for it. The best way to get business from attending a BarCamp is to simply network. Bring lots of business cards. Show people your smarts. Show them how helpful you can be. Show them that you are someone they want to work with.

Still trying to figure out how you can get your literature into REBCSTL so everyone will want to hire you?

Sign up to be a sponsor.

We’ll talk about who you are on this website, you’ll get recognized at the event AND there will be a table where you can leave some literature for people to pick up. Sponsorships start at $100.

Or offer us some door prize giveaways. Everyone seems to stop and listen when freebies are being given away.

Restaurant gift certificates, free social media/blogging training, computer tune-ups, graphic design, photo shoots…all GREAT giveaways!