Active Rain came to town!
The room was full of people last week when the Rain Gang showed up. They came armed with T-shirts, goody bags and a ton of great technology tips and practical applications for them.
This day wasn’t for the weak of heart, the information came with the force of a fire hydrant unleashed on a hot summer’s day. No one complained we just wrote as fast as we could taking notes and hoping against hope we could remember it next week!
The excitment of learning is not the only attraction at Rain Camp, it's about getting to meet people you've never met in real life before.
Anyone who spends their time on social networks will know this to be a fact, when you finally meet for the first time someone you've been reading or chatting with, they hardly seem like a stranger. It's more like a big, happy family reunion. Everyone is hugging and laughing and having a good time.
So Raincamp goes like this, you arrive, stake out a place to sit then go find people you want to meet.
When the session started there was hardly time to take a deep breath, there was so much information coming at you it was hard, really hard to keep up.
Most find the best way to deal with it is to grab what they can and let the rest pass. There will be time to fill in the blanks later, as what we did catch will take plenty of time to impliment, so why stress!
Here’s my Top TEN Tips from RainCamp:
- Brad Andersohn’s presentation on the Top FREE Real Estate Tools 2009 http://slidesha.re/2rHprP
- Find out what influencers are talking about on Twitter, use Klout
- Active Rain now has a University where each day there is another interesting presentation you can tune into from the comfort of your chair!
- Agents are still using Archtelecom to capture leads with success
- 74.1% of the population is now online, 32% spent their spare time on the social web, 94% home buyers are between 24-44, 32% found their actual home online. If you aren’t online you don’t exist. (I said that! So Google Me already!)
- Ben Kinney is a real Pain you might want to friend him on Facebook and find out why. (hint, he sells a lot of real estate) Ben likes to SaveAWorm Facebook is really about building community and marketing your listings (not so much!).
- Save time by syndicating your posts to go from one network to the next. Then all you need to do is show up and respond to the comments.
- Twitter is a great way to prospect for leads, if you know how to set up searches. Geo chirp
- Feed your website to Wordle, it not only gives you a cool looking graphic, but you can see what words you focus on. Hopefully the consumer and not egotistical you!
- Build your brand, become and live the Purple Cow
Rain Camp will come back again soon. They plan to branch off into other specialties so it's not always about social media. The thought is next time we'll talk REO's or FSBO's or some current topic that will bring another fire hose of new ideas that come from actual practitioners and not some trumped up, sales trainer who never actually sold anything (at least in this millennium).
Just bringing that up because I'm oh so tired getting fed the same old hash and rehash. Give me fresh ideas, today's learning is about colaboration, community and sharing. We know the business, now we want to learn how to leverage the tools of social media so we can provide better service to the consumer while keeping our sanity.
Raincamp was a good experience for me. It exceeded my expectations, and I can tell you I've been to many industry events of the course of my years, I don't say that lightly.
Thanks to Jonathan, Bob, Brad, Lauren and Ben. You out did yourselves, here's a pat on the back!
kk
P.S. After the session, @Mizzle was spotted taking the Purple Cow concept all the way! Go Mizzle!
Broker Associate, ABR, CRS, GRI, ePRO, PMN, PNG
The Berkshire Group, REALTORS
3801 E. Florida Ave., Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80210
720-279-4599 ~ direct 303-953-5362 ~ fax
Selling Colorado Since 1984, Serving the Following Areas:
Hey, Kristal, thanks for sharing this, for all of us that didn't get to Rain Camp. Love your generous heart.
So sorry I couldn't be there. The link to Brad's power point is worth the price of a plane ticket! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the summary. I may actually get to some of these items.
Kristal: I'm glad your RainCamp was so fabulous. Ours here in DFW was fabulous as well. It's so nice to be able to be updated... and meet all the Rainers you've read about but never seen. Nice to put a real person with the blog post.
Krystal,
It was a great experience all the information that we got, etc, hope that now we can apply that and work hard, keep that great work !
Kristal - Thank you for sharing an informative and helpful blog.
John
Kristal thank you for sharing all of this information. The feedback on these Rain Camp's is great and I plan to go to the next one.
I keep hearing how absolutely incredible these events are, even from people that haven't posted on AR in some time. I'm hoping that there will be a RainCamp in conjunction with NAR this year so I can go too. Thanks for sharing your takeaways and that fabulous picture of @mizzle!
Wonderful tips! Looking forward to attending one.
Sarah
I wanted to go and lern about this new blogging thing and about the power of active rain but didn't because I am afraid of you and kind of afraid of @mizzle.
Thanks for sharing your summary.
Excellent report - will be reblogging for those that missed it here - looking forward to the next event in Phoenix whenever that may be.
Thanks so much for the tips! I'm going to check them all out, and wait and hope for a rain camp near Charlotte
Awesome Job! Now I have a bunch more links to go check out. Can't wait for a RainCamp to come to SoCal.
Rain Camp San Francisco was awesome. It really made me look at my business and forced me to be proactive in making some changes.
Kristal, sounds like you had a fabulous time. Thanks for all the great links.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with us. I love Rain Camp and can't wait for them to come back to Seattle.
Appreciate the links Kristal, will check them out and maybe rethink Raincamp next time it comes nearby.
Kristal - Thanks for summarizing some of the great tips from your RainCamp. I'm waiting for it to come closer to me one of these days.
I would love to attend if it comes to the Chicago area - thank you for the update and all the great links.
Thank you Kristal! It was great to see you again. Mizzle tried to get me to stink my head in some mop bucket.....I guess I now know what would have happened had I falled for it :-)
Kristal:
Great post; thanks! I can tell you that RainCamp Dallas was one of the best days I ever spent in this business.
Excellent tips and very good summary! wonderful post!
Sometime I see your profile picture looking over your shoulder to the right, and other time to the left! You look beautiful any way! Why the switch?
Thanks for sharing
It is amazing how much further ahead of the curve that ARers really are !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for all the great tips. There is so much great technology out there. I would like to attend a Rain Camp if they are ever on the east coast.
Can't wait to Rain Camp gets remotely close to Alabama
Just when we think we've seen it all ... there's @Mizzle. Thanks for the recap, KK. Any plans to come to Las Vegas on April 1?
Kristal, your post almost makes up for not having a RainCamp in the Florida area. =)
Thanks for sharing your top tips so generously!
Krystal, great top ten list. I was looking for exactly this kind of post after the event to tap into the water hydrant of ideas.
Kristal,
Thanks for sharing some of the things you learned. Much appreciated!
Guess I know what my homework is this weekend. :-> Thanks, Kristal.
Kristal:
Thanks for the synopsis. I'm hoping there's another Rain Camp soon in Northern California! Meantime, I'm going to look into all the top tens you've listed.
KK,
Excellent! I've viewed your Top Ten Picks... not sure I understood them all.(Worms?) I'm going to the bookstore tonight; will buy "Purple Cow"!
Thanks for sharing RainCamp!
OMG I learned so much from this one post alone I've been dinking around w/stuff on here for an hour! I've got it bookmarked...thanks for sharing!!
Kristal,
I am bookmarking this . What a great post. Thanks for sharing.
Marianne
Hi Kristal -- This is the best info I've seen come out of a review of a RainCamp, so thank you, very, very, much for putting this together! :)))
So sorry I couldn't be there. I would like to go to Rain camp some day hopefully.
Patricia/Seacoast NH
Kristal,
I heard the information was overwhelming which translates in to get your running shoes on and get your butt in gear! Always good to get your perspective.
I'm planning on being at the RainCamp Charlotte NC (maybe Asheville?) but only if TLW can do a presentation on "How to Use a Whip and reach your target audience" (Must be a connection with "Long Tail..."somewhere in there...
Rain Camp is coming to Bellingham and this time I won't have to take as many notes the second time around! Ben Kinney is our OP, and yes, he is a real pain because he never gives up on us!
Thanks for your list of top ten: I have your page bookmarked! I am waiting for Rain Camp to come to Florida and hope it's sometime soon.
I was at Raincamp in Dallas and I am still putting to use the many tools that we were offered. An excellent experience overall!
Kristal,
Thanks for the post. Being new to AR I'm looking forward to a Raincamp in SoCal as others have said above. Jumped to Brad A's PPT and will definitely use a BUNCH of these tools. THANKS!
Brad R.
PS. Just saw the Raincamp schedule - SoCal is scheduled in Los Angeles for May 15, 2010.
Hi, Kristal! Thanks for sharing some amazing ideas. The Wordle is cool and kinda addictive. lol I wonder if AR has plans to be near my area, like St. Louis. It will cover Southwestern IL as well. Bob, are you listening?
Now I have to learn how to syndicate...
Informative and helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you I am going to bookmark and study this later.
Thanks for all the great comments! I appreciate hearing from you and particularly like the fact you are enjoying the links. Of course there's much more to RainCamp than I could ever include here, so be sure to sign up an go to one at the first chance you get.
Teresa ~ Blogging isn't for everyone. If I were you I'd get it up, hit delete and go on tour with that famous Daisy of yours.
John Novak, No I have no plans for Las Vegas anytime soon. Sorry! There's just not much to do in that town. :)
Kathy Opakta, I really can't fill you in on Save A Worm. It's one of those things, you just have to believe! or not.
Bob Stewart ~ thanks for all you do for us. It was a great time. I think you were wise in keeping with your natural color. @Mizzle can handle it, actually on her it looks natural! :)
Bookmarked, great content and wonderful links.
Geochirp was one of my favorite new places from Raincamp Dallas.
Nice summary! I need to go check out all your links now...
Kristal - there are some kool tools here thanks for the information I am off to play with wordle to see what one my blogs looks like.
Thanks for sharing, I'm really looking forward to attending when RainCamp comes to my area.
Thanks....can I go to the next one even without purple hair?
What an incredible event. It was an honor to be around such talented people all looking to take their business to the next level. I cannot wait for the next event.
We look forward to hearing you speak at Realtor Rally in April! :O)
It sounds like you had a good time, and I completely agree about mixing things up. Social media this, social media that... we get it, I get it... if others don't get it, leave them behind and let's move forward!
I like your signature and I think I clicked on all your links in your blog. Thanks for sharing
KK - A well deserved featured on what seems to be THE EVENT of the year. I agree with Vicki!! We can always count on your to get to the real heart of the information. What a terrific top 10 list. You're bookmarked so I can review again and again.
Jeff
I missed Rain Camp, going to be at Denver Bar Camp!
Thanks for the info Kristal. I sure hope Raincamp comes to Nashville.
Kristal,
Great summary and powerful documentation to share with some friends on the fence about the upcoming Las Vegas Event on April 1st. Airfares are cheap and rooms are almost free.. so come on down to the Las Vegas RainCamp. Should be just like the others! Thanks Kristal.
Hey all, thanks for the continued comments. I am enjoying reading them. Yes, purple hair is optional, only because there are many colors in the rainbow! Be creative folks!
Yes, REBarCamp shall return to Denver!
Yes, I'll be speaking at Realtor Rally...fair warning!
kk
Everyone should take the opportunity to attend Rain Camp! It is jam packed with valuable information to help take your business to the next level.
Kristal, that is great! Thanks for sharing your top 10! I hope to make it to a RainCamp soon!
Kristal, I had been trying to find Wordle again and couldn't remember the name - it was Brad who introduced it to me in a post last year. Thanks so much! And for all the other tips as well.
I love the analogy of Rain Camp being like an unleashed fire hydrant. It's so true.
I'm so looking forward to a Rain Camp in our area. Nashville is a likely place and I plan to attend. Thanks for the info !
Kristal,
Rain Camp Denver was certainly intense. Wish I would have gotten the chance to say hello to you while I was there. The room was filled with energy, and so many great people. Thanks for sharing this with us all.
Thank you sooo much Kristal for sharing this. Vicky Nagy re-blogged this which is how I found out about this. Can't wait till Rain camp comes to DC. Great post.
Kristal when I found out Rain Camp was coming to Denver I said I'm going but wouldn't you know I had business I had to attend to that week. I really wanted to go. Since I couldn't be there I really appreciate people like you taking the time to write about your experience and sharing what you learned. It's the next best thing to being there.
Would love to attend ...... Hope to catch one soon. Have a Great Week!
Kristal,
Great review... I was on the fence about going to RainCamp in Vegas on April 1st and your post made me jump! I have just come back from the Arizona Association of Realtors Midwinter Conference and had top 10 reasons to go to a Convention or Event in your business field. I will add the upcoming RainCamp info in Las Vegas on April 1st and hope the low airfares will encourage others to come as well! I will link back to this post so they can read first hand why they should go to RainCamp. Will look forward to learning all the scoop first hand! Thanks.
WOW the slideshare has so much information. Thanks for sharing, I have bookmarked.
I was very disappointed that I couldn't make to the Denver Raincamp. I knew it would be full of great information, plus I was looking forward to meeting people like you who I feel I've come to know through AR.
Thanks for bringing some of the info to those of us who couldn't make it.
Have a great day!
Mike
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I joined ActiveRain 3 months ago and am EXSTATIC to go to my first raincamp event and meeting you all.
I attended my first in January and met so many that I've corresonded with over the years. I'm so thankful for the knowledge I've gained through Activerain and how it has helped me with my career!
Kristal - Rain Camp will be here next week and I already can't wait to go.
I'm STILL trying to get to RainCamp in Florida!!!! I only have a WEEK to do this JUGGLING ACT! I want to be there!
This great info. How do I learn more?
Thanks for the great post and links. I've bookmakrked this one!
Hello Kristal, I've been doing a little snooping around for tips on what to expect on RainCamp Atlanta. Happily I came across this post of yours. I've visited a couple of the links you've provided and bookmarked this post. Just wanted to say thanks.
Kristal,
You keep popping up with quality content. You are my role model for the week. Well done!
Regards,
Patrick