RE BarCamp is quickly approaching, and in less than three months, we’ll all be getting together in San Francisco for what’s going to be an amazing day full of real estate, technology and most of all, awesome people.If you’re like me and you’re talking to people about RE BarCamp, I’ll bet you’ve had to answer the “What is a BarCamp?” question over and over again.
While the official, ” It’s an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.” response might be a good first answer; I didn’t really feel that it conveyed the energy of the event too well.
Thankfully, I just happened the find this list of “Stuff To Know About BarCamp” that I had saved from a previous BarCamp the other night and I thought it really does a good job conveying what sets it apart from a normal seminar/convention.
- RE BarCamp is ABOUT YOU. This isn’t one of those conferences where you sit back and wait for something to happen… you MAKE this stuff happen! Pitch in! Lead a session!
- RE BarCamp is NOT ABOUT YOU. It’s about everyone here. Be ready to share all of the cool stuff you are working on, but also be prepared to listen to what others are doing. RE BarCamp is about relationships, not selling.
- Take a chance and present! What do you have to lose? All of us here feel the exact same apprehensions. This may be your lucky break!
- You will learn more here than you’ve ever learned anywhere else… if you make yourself available to it. Go to as many sessions and meet as many people as possible. Even better, go to sessions you know nothing about and by people you don’t know
- The beauty of an open grid is that we also get the chance to practice our negotiation skills. if someone has a similar talk or has put themselves in a time slot you covet, talk to them about switching or merging. it’s all about collaboration.
- Everyone participates. ways to participate: volunteer to help, give a session, record your notes on the wiki, clean up, etc. BarCamp needs both giving and receiving to function.
Pretty cool, eh? I think it really helps paint a better picture of the type of event that we’ll be putting on and I’m hoping that will help set the tone in moving forward as we start gearing up for July.
Moving on, I’d like to focus on the “Take a chance and present!” line from the list above.
Looking at the RE Barcamp RSVP list. I’m beside myself in anticipation of what types of sessions are possible with participants of this caliber. If you’re interested in Real Estate 2.0 and the evolution of the industry, this is going to be the place to be.
Over the next few weeks, I thought it would be really cool if we could start settling on which topics that we’d like to present on and start blogging, talking, twittering about it.
I’m going to be on Daniel Rothamel’s ZebraTalk show this Thursday at 12pm EST talking RE BarCamp and if you have an idea for a session that you’d want to lead, call in and let’s get the conversation started.
