Many of my friends are ar #RETS (ReTechSouth) mingling and uniting and re-uniting with each other IRL (In Real Life). I am not there, but WILL be doing some IRL mingling this Sunday when some of my online peeps make it to Colorado Springs for a NAR event.
Although these friendships are CREATED online, it is the IRL times that solidify the awesomeness that we all share.
I did some IRL connecting today as well. There is only about ONE other prominent real estate blogger in Colorado Springs and for as much as we tweet back and forth and chat with each other on Facebook, we had never really “met IRL” beyond a passing “hello” IRL. Her name is Kathy Torline (@COSRealEstate) and works with Colorado Springs luxury home foreclosures.
Lately, I have begun to really look at all my IRL relationships and realized that I really didn’t KNOW her at all. So, the other day I decided to ask her to join me for a cup of coffee.
Today we met for coffee and our hour-long (or was it 2??) conversation could have easily lasted all evening. Sometimes you never know what to expect from someone IRL … even when that someone is in your own city! But, what was once an online friendship has now turned into great IRL friendship.
We were able to chat about the recent change in her company and the various implications – (She was a Prudential Agent until the local owner dropped the Prudential affiliation, leaving Colorado Springs Prudential-less as of yesterday.)
We talked about how important “culture” is in a local real estate office and how sharing cool ideas with your “competition” is always better off for everyone in the long run.
We talked about short sales and shared ideas on how to better serve the sellers in these situations.
We talked about all kinds of things that IRL conversations let us talk about, without the distractions of email notifications, direct messages or random thrown sheep.
Thank you social media for introducing me to my new friend, but …
IRL ROCKS.
*Image courtesy of one of my favorite people via a social media site.
Chris Shouse
March 20, 2009 at 7:39 pm
That is a neat story and I love it when I meet my online friends IRL It is so wonderful and I am glad you have a new friend in your town:)
Mariana Wagner
March 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Chris – I love IRL.
Stacie Wells
March 20, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I got to meet “one of your favorite people” today at REtechSouth in real life and it was fabulous! It was my first time for meeting many of my Tweeps and Facebook friends in person. I’m so thankful for all of the friendships that I have that have been forged online, but you’re so totally right – IRL rocks!
Mariana
March 20, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Stacie – Sweet!!
Tim McDonald
March 21, 2009 at 9:17 am
I couldn’t agree with you more! The amount of people I’ve met through sm networking has been staggering, but those relationships take on a whole new level when you meet irl. I love events where I can meet at least one person irl, but feel like I hit the jackpot when there’s a handful of them.
Great article and dead on!
Mariana
March 21, 2009 at 11:35 am
Tim – I love when I feel like I have hit the jackpot! w00t!!
BawldGuy
March 22, 2009 at 1:21 pm
One of the key differences I’ve noticed when speaking at or attending conferences/seminars, is the chance to meet folks with whom a relationship and commonality has already been established. There’s nothing like having someone see your face light up when ‘meeting’ for the first time irl.
Back in the day, with the exception of the locals in attendance, almost everyone was a stranger. That’s simply no longer true, and a happy change in my experience.
Bill Lublin
March 23, 2009 at 2:29 am
@Mizzle – Though we talk about how social Media facilitates conversation and allows us to meet new people, the whole deal really is about taking that to the next level whether its making a business contact or a social contact – at some point the best part is executing on the introduction.
And just for the record – You were missed at ReTechSouth –
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
March 23, 2009 at 11:52 am
My son told me yesterday that my Internet friends are fake – and when he saw this photo
he said “I guess you are normal next to your fake friends” 🙂
Jay Thompson
March 24, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Like I said in Colorado Springs, IRL is the best social network, no exceptions.
It was wonderful to finally meet you in IRL, and though I am often a sarcastic smart-ass I mean it when I say meeting you was the highlight of the trip.
teresa boardman
March 25, 2009 at 7:12 am
I can’t keep up with my tweets at conferences. I want to share my experience with my friends but I really enjoy being with the people who live in my computer. I don’t get to spend much time with them and I truly treasure every moment. My voice is still hoarse from yelling over the music at the noisy parties. There isn’t anything more important to me than being able to have a conversation. I want to see peoples faces and hear their voices.
Missy Caulk
March 26, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Well Mariana, thanks for letting me know what IRL means…I had no clue and was thinking darn another aycronim to learn.
I love meeting friends IRL, you can skip over the weirdness of meeting people the first time.