By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
Real estate professionals came in droves to a conference that had no agenda.
Nearly 600 attended REBar Camp, the real estate “unconference,” which returned to Jacksonville in January for its third year.
Organized by industry volunteers and facilitated by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, there was no way to know ahead of time what business insights would be gleaned.
As an “unconference,” the discussion topics were generated by participants on the fly. An event brochure listed only the time-frames for five 40-minute breakout sessions, with eight slots apiece set aside for unnamed subjects.
A sign-in desk was prepped with stacks of sticky notes, so each participant could grab a sticky on their way in, scribble down whatever burning problem stood between them and their dream of millions, and stick the question to an ideas board.
Organizers sorted the sticky notes into categories and the day’s program began to take shape. There would be Lead Generation on Facebook; REOs, Auctions and Short Sales; Property Management Cha-Ching; and more.
An army of facilitators stood ready, waiting to be assigned — or not — to sessions that matched their areas of expertise. Before beginning, attendees heard ground rules: No pitching of products or companies and no monopolizing the conversation.
“It’s better than a conference,” said one woman, rushing off to “Listing Like a Boss” or to “Creating Raving Fans,” she couldn’t decide which. “Instead of talking about what’s in the books, we talk about what’s really working.”
At a session on lead generation, Keller Williams broker Lori Mieczkowski told her group of 60 she was there to guide the conversation.
“What would you all like to know about?” she said, etching their answers onto a flip board with a blue magic marker. The outline kicked off a lively discussion on how Realtors can find new customers.
“Call on past customers,” one person shouted.
“How do you call on past customers when you’re just beginning and you have no customer base?” another shot back.
The group debated the merits of Internet lead generation service BoomTown, social networking site ActiveRain and web hosting company GoDaddy.
Some gasped at hearing 50 Internet leads would convert on average to only one customer.
“It’s hit or miss, but you can’t afford not to do it, because everybody starts their home search online,” one agent said.
Another warned the Internet should be a small part of prospecting.
“I’ve gotten more business by building my sphere of influence,” he said. “I talk to my barber, people who work on my car, people at the library — they all get my card.”
After 40 minutes, discussion ended. A 15-minute break followed and then everyone was on to the next group.
The format seemed to work.
First-time REBar attendee Leslie Johnson, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty, had just attended the session on Creating Raving Fans.
“It’s everybody giving their ideas on what’s actually working, instead of one person just shoving an idea down your throat,” she said.
REBar organizer Kim Knapp said “it was a zoo” coordinating a schedule organically the day of the event.
But, she was smiling as she rushed between facilitating Creating Raving Fans and Farming the Big Harvest.
“At this event people have the opportunity to hear what they want to know,” she said. “We go by the rule of two feet — if you’re not getting what you need at a session, walk out and go to another one.”