Rob Hahn, the Notorious R O B, had an interesting blog post about where the rebarcamp experience has gone… from where it started.

I was lucky enough to make it to the first real estate bar camp (rebc), in San Francisco, in 2008.  It was a really cool experience.  The thing that most struck me about the event was that it was built on and based in sharing.  It was completely peer-to-peer. There were no PowerPoint presentations, no scheduled presenters, no vendor alleys.

Since then, I have been to a few rebc events in different markets.  I’ve even been involved in organizing one.  And I have seen a variety of events, from the fairly heavily commercialized, to the zero presentation model.

The issue that Rob pointed out was that many rebc events had morphed into a “Social Media 101″ or “Tech 101″ class format.  One presenter (likely with a PowerPoint presentation) would lecture the rest of the attendees on the subject du jour.  It wasn’t about peer-to-peer interaction, but rather, it became about a more traditional class experience… with a free lunch and free T-shirt.

What is the solution? So many real estate professionals (real estate agents and mortgage brokers) seem to need that entry level instruction from folks that aren’t necessarily product vendors.  At the same time, those of us that have been involved in social media and technology for a while now REALLY need to get feedback and interaction at a different level.  We are actually pretty left out…

Advanced technology and social media discussion and training is pretty tough to find… or an arm and a leg… or completely “vendor targeted” (use our system, blah, blah, blah).

So, what’s next?

Related articles

• A simple case for REBarCamp (areweconnected.com)
• Rumor and Innuendo… (lanebailey.info)

I have it on shaky authority that there will be an real estate technology event on May 18th, 2011 in the Atlanta area.  It is rumored to be a collaboration between rebarcamp Atlanta (#rebcATL) and REtechSouth (#retso).  The rumors are that it will be a hands on workshop focusing on implementing technology and social marketing plans like those developed during #retso and #rebcATL.

Like I said, this is an early stage rumor…  There is no word yet on cost, venue, presenters or any other details… but keep an eye peeled here and at rebcAtlanta.com for the latest details and rumors.

Related articles

• Unwrap Some Cool New Schwag Yesterday? (lanebailey.info)

Right now there is a small core group looking at the feasibility of a real estate bar camp in the Atlanta area.  If we can put it together, the event will be held this fall… September or October is the likely time frame.

Here are a couple of posts on Active Rain with more info about #rebcATL (that is the ‘official’ Twitter hashtag for the event).

Should Atlanta have a reBarCamp?

A little more about an Atlanta rebarcamp

On the second link there is a webform asking about what you might want for a rebc.  We’d love to get your feedback in order to make a better experience for everyone.  It also give you the opportunity to volunteer…  There will be lots of opportunities for volunteers from now until the event concludes… and then I’m sure planning will need to begin for the 2011 #rebcATL.

We are also putting together a FaceBook Official Page for #rebcATL.

Are you planning on hitting REtechSouth in Atlanta?  As usual, I have a discount code for tickets.  Brad Nix gave me the hook-up to deliver a 10% discount (affiliate link… that is where the discount comes from) on all ticket levels.  Here is how it breaks down:

• All Star Admission $134.10 + $3.35 EventBrite fee.  This is normally a $149 ticket.  It includes event access on both Thursday, Mar. 25th and Friday, Mar. 26th.  It will get you in to all of the learning sessions…  You can see folks like Jeff Turner, Amy Chorew, Brad Carroll, Ilyse Glink and Heather Elias… and WAY more.
• MVP Admission $179.10 + $4.48 EventBrite fee.  This is normally a $199 ticket.  This includes everything in the All Star package, as well as special seating, access to the MVP/Speaker’s Dinner on Thursday evening and access to the MVP Lounge.  Those that went to New Media Atlanta had a blast in the Rock Star Lounge hanging out with the speakers.
• 10 All Star Ticket bundle $891 + $9.95 EventBrite fee.  Yep, you get a discount on the discount.  This is 10 $149 tickets for just $89.10/each.  The bundle normally sells for $990.  Grab some folks from the office and get a discount.
• 25 All Star Ticket bundle $1687.50 + $9.95 EventBrite fee.  That brings the price down to just $67.50/each.  Brokers, bring the WHOLE office. Ramp up production with technology and social media marketing in the new year.

I will be there!  I can’t wait.  Brad has built REtechSouth into THE event in the Southeast for real estate technology and social media marketing.  In just a couple of years, this event has become one of the premier conferences to attend, regardless of where you live and work.  Atlanta is an amazing place in the Spring.

Last year I had the opportunity to attend the speaker’s dinner.  I HIGHLY recommend the MVP Admission for that reason.  Imagine yourself standing in on a conversation with Jeff Turner and the Notorious R.O.B.  At the previous REtechSouth I was able to spend some quality time talking with Pat Kitano and Tom Royce.  The luminaries of the re.net will be there…

Don’t forget, these tickets will likely sell out, especially the MVP tickets.  they are limited by the size of the dinner venue.  Don’t miss out.  Here is the link again to get the discount.

Catch #retso on FaceBook, too.

from Lane’s Active Rain blog

He ran through several genres of topics, and even addressed the “Back Noise” channel… by putting it on the screen for all to see.  (Be aware, there is a bit of profanity, and while Chris didn’t “drop the F-bomb”, PLENTY of people on Back Noise dropped it all over the place)

Ranging from neophytes to experienced, the common thread was a desire to learn and grow.

The first order of business was to talk about one of the basic conventions of marketing on social media… Don’t be a butt-head… engage others with meaningful conversation.  Educate your target market.  Interact with them.  Listen.

We also talked about building future events.  The next event is going to be in Cobb County on August 26th.  Midtown should come soon after that.

The core group was divided between Midtown, Cobb and Gwinnett… with a couple of hardy professionals venturing from Athens, too.

During the networking talk, FaceBook Fan Pages, Active|Rain, WordPress and Flickr were all being discussed in various parts of the room.

For more information, feel free to visit our FaceBook Fan Page.  We will also be coming online with a WordPress MU blog, too.  As soon as it is live, I will be posting the address for that as well.

The event will be from 7am to 9am at the Duluth Diner on Peachtree Industrial Blvd, just south of Pleasant Hill Rd. in Duluth.

They are opening up just for us, so we need to have an idea of how many people are going to be there.  This will allow them to set the appropriate level of staffing.

We have put up a new Fan Page on FaceBook for Social Media Breakfast Atlanta.  Drop in, become a fan, leave a comment and let us know if you can make it to the event… or even if you are able to help do an event in another part of Atlanta.  We are VERY spread out.  We are already working on an event for the Marietta area and would like to be able to have events in Midtown and the Southside as well.

There is a little more info here as well about the event.

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Currently the plan is to have events rotating to various parts of the Atlanta metro.  We are so spread out that having events in only one location would make it tough for a lot of people.

We haven’t set a date yet, but we are planning for the second meeting to take place in Cobb County.  We would like to also be able to hold future events in the South Metro area.  In order to do that, we would love to find a partner in that area to coordinate the event.

You might know Ken as the KC half of the JCKC Twitter Tuesday program on BlogTalkRadio.  Despite the Twitter-specific name, they talk about all sorts of social media and networking, and bring in cool guests from a variety of social media spaces.

This is NOT only open to real estate professionals.  In fact, we would VERY much like to have people from outside of the real estate industry.  We will be discussing how to effectively and responsibly utilize social media for business.  The discussions will range from basics for beginners to advanced topics and integrating social networking and social media like blogging, Twitter and FaceBook into a broader marketing strategy.

We’d love to hear from you!  We need to have an idea of how many people are going to make it to the event.