Riding the REBarCamp Wave

If you have not attended a Real Estate Bar Camp and you are in the industry – I have one word for you:

WHAT!!???

The first one was in San Francisco right before Inman Connect in June of last year and the masterminds behind it were Andy Kaufman and Todd Carpenter (they are both kind of a big deal btw)….together with the help of a few key people like Brad Coy, Mike Price, and others who are welcome to smack me if I didn’t mention them.  They thought …. why not grab the original bar camp concept and apply it to the real estate industry?  If you have not noticed, our industry is talked about quite a bit in the blogosphere because we have immersed ourselves in new media and we are getting results.

Since REBarcamp San Francisco in 2008 these have taken off like wild fire!  From Denver, to Philly, Charlotte, Orange County, Boston, and many more …..Chicago going on right now. (check out a list at the rebarcamp site – each one has their own site)

What is an REBarCamp?

Straight from the ReBarCamp site –

RE Bar Camp is 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.

and from the REBarCamp/Orange County (scheduled for June 25th, 2009)

The most interesting thing about a BarCamp is that it is user/attendant created: the program is developed by the attendees at the event, using big whiteboards upon which a schedule is hastily put together, that can be rewritten or overwritten by attendees to optimize the days’ events.  The goal of BarCamp is to reach out to new people who will increase the common intelligence about new technologies, and to create opportunities for cross-fertilization between people and new ideas.

Why so many, so quick?

Obviously, many of us are not lucky enough to be able to travel across the country to attend these one day “unconferences”, so involved locals have taken on the role to organize these in their home towns and throw their own flavor into the events.   I have had the pleasure of attending 3 of them (SF, NY and Philly) and couldn’t wait to get one started in Miami, not only to learn from my peers and network in my backyard, but also to be able to share Miami with the people I’ve learned to love in this business.

How are REBarcamps put together?

It takes one person to raise their hand and make the decision and then grab a group of volunteers and find sponsors.  It is a free event (although there has been discussion about paying to attend).  Sponsors make the event possible by covering expenses incurred.  For REBarCamp Miami for example (scheduled for September 14th, 2009) – it was David Gibbons from Zillow that asked me on Twitter “when are you doing REBarCamp Miami?”…..and the ball started rolling.  So many people are involved in the back end organizing venues, giveaways, websites, logos…..

Make sure you take a look at the BarCamp’s schedule for your area and make it a point to RSVP and attend!  The information offered is priceless and the fact that they are hands on workshops where you can participate and add your grain of salt is what makes REBarCamps so powerful.   I personally find these events to be invaluable and getting super excited about Miami in September **there were rumors of renaming it “MOJITO CAMP” or even better:

but the rumors are not true….this is not about me people! it’s about coming together in a great place to learn from eachother, with or without mojitos! UGH!

** article originally published on AgentGenius.com **