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.
Vicki Moore
May 7, 2008 at 4:31 pm
RSVP – check. Twitter – check. LinkedIn – check. Anything else I should do?
Jonathan Dalton
May 7, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I’m most likely going to be a mid-day drop-in … that’s the day I’m flying in to SF for the whole thing. Wife wouldn’t let me get away with a fourth night in the hotel. 🙂
Morgan
May 7, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I’d love to participate/present whatever – I’m thinking video. Let me know – looking forward to it!
Morgan
Andy Kaufman
May 7, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Vicki – Just get ready to participate. Thinking about leading a session?
JD – No problem. Make sure to RSVP & make it down when you can.
Morgan – Whatever you want. I figured we’d talk about it at lunch tomorrow.
Jay Thompson
May 7, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I just added a couple of topic suggestions on the wiki.
I don’t have travel arrangements yet, but am thinking I’ll be in SF on Monday.
Andy – as we briefly discussed, do you think one of you local types could post some hotel suggestions — that would be convenient to both BarCamp and Connect? Or maybe we’ll just all crash at your place. 😉
Wonder if putting a “I need a room mate” section on the wiki would be helpful?
Andy Kaufman
May 7, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Hey Jay- Let’s definitely put a room mate section on the wiki. great idea.
Honestly, I’m not the best person to ask about downtown SF hotels. I’ll ping some other SF city folk and see if they can help us out on that one.
Jim Duncan
May 7, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hook me up with a hotel recommendation, please!
Marc Grossman
May 7, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Andy, I have reasonable reservations at the Galleria Park Hotel, which is just a couple of blocks away, but don’t know of their availability.
Todd Carpenter
May 7, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Last year, I stayed at the Mosser. It’s just a few blocks from the Palace, and from the BART. https://www.themosser.com/
The rooms are VERY small, but clean and nice for the price. Not all rooms have their own bathroom, so you have to upgrade for that. I booked through hotels.com at the last minute and it was around $130 a night.
Also, the rooms do not have AC, but you’ll never need it. SF is always very cool in the Summer. I plan to book their again this year.
Teresa Boardman
May 8, 2008 at 4:46 am
I volunteered to present a topic
Jay Thompson
May 8, 2008 at 7:42 am
Todd – Please tell me $130/night gets you a bathroom….
Maureen Francis
May 8, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I am so totally excited about attending that I can barely stand it! Really.
Todd Carpenter
May 9, 2008 at 2:11 am
Jay, yes $130 was the upgraded price for a private bath. And the bathroom was nice.
Matthew Rathbun
May 9, 2008 at 6:00 am
I HATED agent meetings for a variety of reasons. 1.) 90% of what was said could be reduced to an e-mail. 2.) Hearing other agents brag or breach client confidentiality in a sad attempt to sell their listings was more than I could handle. Spend that time trying to find buyers, not telling agents about your sales. 3.) I simply can’t sit for two hours weekly (yes 2 hours – every week) listening to stuff I already knew. 4.) I wasn’t engaged – as an agent we would get overloaded with offers to do biz. Free lunches, give aways etc… I always wondered – if these loan officers, title companies etc, were so great how do they have time to take my time? Shouldn’t they be working with this huge client base that they want to share with me?!?!?
I have worked for brokers who incorporated training and interaction into the meetings and dismissed vendors & bragging and been VERY successful at motivated and educating agents.
Brad Coy
May 11, 2008 at 12:18 am
Don’t know why it sometimes takes me days to get around to catching up with some of these posts. At any rate: I just posted a session and sponsorship. Looking very much forward to July’s event. From what I’m seeing, this promises to be different – in a good way 🙂
Andy Kaufman
May 12, 2008 at 6:48 pm
#9 – Marc, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll pass it along to people who are looking.
#10 – Hey Todd, nice find on The Mosser. $130 in the heart of downtown SF is a steal.
#13 – Maureen, so are we. REALLY looking forward to having everybody in town.
#16 – Hey Brad, better late than never 🙂 Thanks for everything!
ines
June 25, 2008 at 6:28 pm
better late than never! I’m in! what can I do? (and stop hogging the wiki Andy) 🙂