On Tuesday, I attended RE Barcamp DC, in Herndon, VA.  Industry professionals came from all over to gather at the latest installment of RE Barcamp. 

I know that I had a great time, and I'm sure a great time was had by all.  There was a lot of sharing, a lot of learning, and plenty of fun had throughout the day.

One the great things about attending RE Barcamps as the Inman Community Manager is that I get the opporunity to give away great prizes.  This time, the prize was a Free Pass to Connect NYC '10 in January.  Needless to say, it was a coveted prize.  That makes me kinda like Santa Claus.  It's a good gig. 

In order to win the prize, I asked the attendees to write a blog post reviewing their experience at RE Barcamp.  Everyone who wrote a post then sent me a link, and the writer of the best blog post would win the free pass.  As I told the attendees, it is a highly subjective contest, so they needed to bring their "A" game.  

Boy did they.

Below is a run-down of all the RE Barcamp DC blogposts that were submitted.  At the end, the winner is revealed.  Let's take a look, shall we:

1)  Kathy Sperl-Bell, an agent in Delware, shared her experience and compared RE Barcamp DC to her early days in the computer industry.

2)  The next entry comes from Esther Kelly, of Northern Virginia, who came away realizing that RE Barcamps have a vibe of sharing and cooperation that is sometimes missing from the real estate industry.  

3)  While attending RE Barcamp DC, Ray Nelson rediscovered his motivation for using social media to help his real estate business.  

4)  Doug Francis shares the actionable things he learned that he was able to change and improve as a result of his RE Barcamp DC experience.  

5)  Laura Rubinchuk shared the lessons she learned.  If you think social media is anything like acid-wash jeans-- think again.  

6)  Tara Christianson was able to conquer her anthropophobia.  

7)  With so much focus on improving the industry for brokers and agents, Danilo Bogdanovic reminds everyone how valuable the RE Barcamp experience can be for clients. 

8)  D'Ann Faught recently broke her ankle skydiving.  This did not dampen her spirits for RE Barcamp DC, however.  She obviously had a great time "hopping around". 

9)  Derek Massey offered some incredibly insightful input and feedback for future RE Barcamps.  

10)  Maryland agent, Ken Montville, shared the rewards he received from interacting with people face-to-face in such an intense learning environment.  

11)  Maya Paveza shared her play-by-play RE Barcamp DC experience.  You'll come away from it understanding that people don't go to RE Barcamps for glory.  Maya discovers that it ain't always glamorous, but it is always rewarding.  

12)  Nannette Saunders shares with us an explanation of Lynchburg Squares, an uproariously fun game that everyone enjoyed.  I gotta admit, I'm a pit partial towards the picture she chose for her post.  ;-)

And the winner is. . .

Of all the great blog post wrap-ups that were submitted, there was one very clear winner.  One attendee that answered the call, and brought her "A" game.  Part of my promise was that the winner would be reposted here.  

So, with out further ado, I present to you the RE Barcamp DC wrap-up, er, I mean, "rap-up."  It is an original work (of course), performed by Arlington real estate agent, Jennifer Klaussen.  Enjoy!

You can check out the lyrics to Jennifer's rap-up at her blog. All of the bloggers did an incredible job, and congratuations to Jennifer. We'll see you at Connect NYC '10!

A new Inman News survey (click here to take the survey) explores the day-to-day challenges facing real estate brokers. Inman News is seeking participation from real estate brokers across the country in this survey. We define brokers, for the purposes of this survey, as those who manage/supervise agents/sales associates in some capacity, or who are sole proprietors who own the brokerage company but do not supervise agents/sales associates. If you are not a broker, please share this survey link with a broker you know: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ww6nM2Vf6Qj1YLwuo_2fpUiw_3d_3d.

Inman News will share the results of this survey in a series of upcoming articles.

Survey participants can enter a drawing for a pair of two tickets to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 13-15, 2010 (new registrants only are eligible for the drawing).

A sampling of survey questions:

--What do you believe is the most important service that your brokerage provides for its agents/sales associates?

--Which of the following currently represent the most rapidly shrinking segment of home sales in your market area? a) Short sales; b) Bank-owned (REO) sales; c) Move-up homes; d) Homes sold to first-time buyers; e) Second-home purchases; f) Other (please specify).

--What is the most beneficial industry rule or policy that impacts your business, and why?

The survey is a companion to the "To Be a Broker" editorial project, which features guest essays and profiles of real estate brokers that highlight the challenges that brokers are facing and their coping strategies for these turbulent times.

Guest essays should not be promotional in nature and are intended to offer brokers' strategies and insight about successfully navigating this economic downturn. These guest pieces should be no less than 300 words in length and can be submitted via e-mail to: future@inman.com.

We are also accepting multimedia contributions, including online video and audio clips, photographs and other media that you feel illustrate and illuminate the daily working life of real estate brokers. These guest works are subject to review and edits by the Inman News editorial department, and Inman News will retain copyright of all published work.

Click here to take the To Be a Broker Survey.

Just got word about a very interesting new idea from Jim Cronin at Real Estate Tomato.  Jim is putting together the first ever virtual REbarCamp to be held on Nov 17th (2009) right after the NAR convention in San Diego.  A key aspect of most bar camps is the on-the-fly nature of the sessions.  Things just develop organically - based on who is there and whatever they want to talk about. 

This new bar camp will be a full day of predetermined webinars with unlimited participants. Having the schedule set in advance makes great sense because it would be really hard to manage potentially hundreds of subject/session ideas on event day.  Jim is also creating a framework where local agents can plan F2F (face to face) meetups that could happen all over the country - if enough people jump in to make it happen.  Should be a really cool day.  Can't wait to see how it all comes together. Jim, you can count on Inman to support this cool new concept.

By the way, there's also a "real" REbarCamp happening the day before NAR in San Diego.  REbarCamp San Diego is November 12 (2009) and Jim Marks is the organizer there.  San Diego looks like it's on pace to be the biggest REbarCamp so far in the 15 month history of the concept.

Got a funny caption suggestion? Type a comment to share it with other readers.

Who was the first person to post a for-sale home listing on the Internet? Inman News Publisher Brad Inman (@BradInman) posed the question in a Twitter post (click to read) today. If you know who it is, tell us. We would like to profile this individual and learn about the inspiration for this first-ever feat. (And did the home sell?)

Flickr photo by mrbill.

I've never actually been to a wordcamp - but I've heard some great things from those who have.  It's kinda like a barcamp but very specifically and (I think) exclusively about wordpress and how to use the many plugins and tools associated with wordpress.  If you're a wordpress blogger, this could be a very cool day. 

Just found out that there's now a Real Estate WordCamp set for Monday, April 12, 2010 in Denver. 

Let's check it out together. 

(note to self: check snow conditions for late spring ski day on Sunday:)

So, are you connected?  Got some influence online or off?

Wanna help us promote Inman Connect in your local market?

We're looking for some great folks all around the country to jump in & spread the word.

Of course, you're sure to ask...  "what's in it for me?"  And, I think you're really gonna like the answer :)

The new Inman Affiliates program can quickly get you a complimentary event pass to

Inman Connect NYC - and it might just put some nice $$$ in your pocket.

Apply for an affiliate relationship here by filling out this simple form.

We'll be right back in touch to let you know more details.

It's been a whole 6 days now since I joined the team here at Inman News.  People have been asking lots of questions about why I'm here and what we're "up to" :)  It's been a lot of fun sort of NOT answering the questions directly because there's some secrecy around many of the big changes to come and around some of the exciting stuff that you'll see at Inman Connect NYC (and future events).

The many details about where Inman is going don't matter as much as the understanding about our direction.  Our direction is toward an even more diligent & clear voice for the real estate industry.  Inman News has been one of the strongest voices in real estate for many years now.  That's nothing new. But, we want to be "the" voice - The Voice of Real Estate.

So, here's the twist...

"voice" in our 2.0 world is no longer about one directional megaphones.  It's about community & conversations & shared learning. The direction and intention of Inman News is toward an ever expanding embrace of our amazing real estate community.  From this blog to the larger Inman.com site to our Inman Connect events, we've got renewed focus around connecting all the best information with the right people.

We're asking ourselves questions like those below...

• How do we deliver even more value to our industry?
• What stories and topics does the RE world really care about?
• What does "the very best conference/event in real estate" look like (or how do we make it even better)?
• How do we encourage the true leaders in the real estate community (online and off)?
• What's next in real estate marketing?

The most important answer of all is your answer.  What's your answer?

My first official act as an Inman employee (other than the obligitory HR paperwork and such) was to attend part of REbarCamp Silicon Valley. I flew in from Atlanta just in time for the very beginnings of happy hour (nice timing, huh?).  I didn't actually attend any sessions because the alure of the VIP lounge was just too strong for me to resist.  I've been to a bunch of barcamps so I was way more interested in seeing people and catching up.

There's some other details about this barcamp that made it a bit unique like the very cool venue, but that's not really what I wanted to talk about here.  The key take away for me from this barcamp was actually a deeper awareness of how much we all need and want community.  The session titles matter - and they are helpful - but I think the real draw with bar camps is how much fun it is to connect with a couple hundred like-minded individuals and talk about some stuff. 

This photo is from the "immediately-after" party (to be followed later by the after after party).  Had some great conversations here.

Thanks so much to Julie Ziemelis and Hilda Ramirez for their hard work organizing #rebcsv!

What were your impressions of the day?  Or the Party?  or whatever...