Last Monday, Stacey Harmon (Pango Group’s Director of Social Media) and Myself, were blessed with a unique opportunity to host a “Meetup” for the Jan 4th 2010 Virtual BarCamp (VREBC) at First Team Real Estate in beautiful Costa Mesa Ca.
As one of the “Original BarCampers” dating back to its inception in S.F., prior to the Inman convention in 2008, I was desperate for a way to bring back the “True Spirit” of REBarCamps to the new and innovative “Virtual” BarCamp! When it was first suggested, as an “Anti-Convention” idea that fateful summer, we wanted a face-to-face exchange of ideas, in a relaxed atmosphere where true learning & innovation had an opportunity to blossom. We wanted to exchange “best practices” to further the advancement of technology in the Real Estate space through open dialogue. Then we wanted true exchange of currency at the local Pub for some “Icy Cold” ones afterwards! Some of my best relationships in this business came from that combination 
I’m not condemning the “Virtual” concept, quite the opposite; this new way of bringing REBarCamp to the masses is exactly the type of thing we were getting together for in 2008! I get it. I embrace it. I also wanted to keep that original spirit alive, thus the concept of “Meetups”!
A Meetup is simply an organized gathering of Virtual BarCamp participants in a single location, logging into the Webinars, as they are projected onto a common screen in the room. Its people gathering to exchange thoughts and wisdom, while the whole time having fun socializing and learning. And, it’s Awesome!
I could drone on and on about this, but I thought it better to let you hear it from the Participants themselves…Thanks so much for the great testimonials everyone….
“Eric – Thank you for being such a great host”
“The virtual bar camp, while full of good information and speakers, has the potential to be an isolated event with only short conversations occurring in the chat rooms or on twitter. Thank you to the Pango Group and First Team for hosting the VREBC Meetup in Costa Mesa and providing a space to have real dialog! Some of the greatest value for me came from the people IN the room not online. After all, the sharing of ideas isn’t a one-way street and sometimes needs more than 140 characters.
Paul Mobley, MBA
CEO | Broker
Infinite ROI, Inc.
“I wanted to thank you for creating the opportunity to meet and share thoughts and ideas at 1st meet-up Virtual Bar Camp!
The lay out was fantastic and the fact that you were so gracious in providing lunch, meant that we were able to focus on the sessions given and then had the opportunity to discuss among ourselves what was said, what we thought and in some cases, given a different perspective, which is something that I always appreciate!
On the plus side, it was great to bounce ideas off one another, on the downside, if we got carried away in conversation, it made it difficult to listen to the rest of the session…that was the only drawback for me…other than that….
I met some great new people, we shared wonderful thoughts on the realm of Social Media and how it affects us individually, and even were able to brainstorm ideas about creating your brand as your own…
I thank you again and look forward to the next opportunity to meet some more great people!”
Amanda Wernick
@FUNomenalRealtr
“Eric, thank you so much for sponsoring the VREBC meetup Monday. It was very well organized and very informative. My head is spinning with all the information and suggestions provided by the “presenters”, Stacy Harmon, Mike Mueller, Reel Productions, Nicolays, Brad Inman,etc. The list is too long to cover them all. I’m looking forward to the next VREBC. I will have progressed in my Social Media experience by then and will move up the knowledge ladder one more step. Can’t wait!”
Maren Sutton
First Team Estates
The next VREBC is slated for April of this year, and it is the hope of it’s organizers to have one quarterly. Start talking about the possibility of hosting your own Meetup, in your area or office. I promise you, it will be the best day of learning you have had in a long time. For more info on this, visit http://VirtualBarCamp.com for all the news, or become a fan of VREBC on Facebook!
If you would like help setting one up, we have been through it now, and have learned a great deal about how to do it. We are happy to share it wiith you, eager to lend a hand. Please send me an email at EBryant@PangoGroup.com and I will walk you through it….And Yes, you better believe we will be having another Meetup in Orange County in April, as well as a few others throughout California, hosted by other members of The Pango Group Business Development team! Watch our Blog http://PangoGroup.com for deatils, or again, send me an email and I will put you on the VREBC Distribution List!
Thanks as always…and a very Happy New Year!
The Coach
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