I attended the Inman Connect event in San Francisco last year and met lots of people I knew only from the real estate blogging world–and others who would become good friends.

Could I resist missing this event, where we can peer over the bloody edge of the envelope and see what’s in store not only for the real estate market, but in the technologies that serve and propel this economic sector?

Not a chance!

I am already calling real estate blogging buddies around the country to see if we can connect at the Connect this summer. The event will be held at the Palace Hotel–where we will be able to peer over the bloody edge of the real estate technology envelope, go to beer blogging events, and take lots of photos.
This may have little to do with Luxury Real Estate, but I hope you enjoy this rare hippie footage with Scott McKenzie singing that classic “If You Come to San Francisco.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

© roberta for Luxury Home Digest, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogger, blogging, connect, inman, luxury, market, real estate, san diego, san francisco, technologies

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Its fun to peer into the crystal ball and try to divine what fortunes lie ahead. It also helps when you have a visionary providing some tips and guidance.

Pat Kitano and Kevin Boer are two visionaries worth following, and they are convinced that 2008 will be the Year of the (Authoritative) Blog Network. Kitanos article is a great read that provides good information and understanding of what blogging networks are and how they can benefit both the consumer and the blogger.

An authoritative real estate blog is what the California Chapter of the Womens Council of Realtors plans to launch at the end of January. They are tapping their membership seeking capable and knowledgeable real estate bloggers whose personal real estate blogs will feed into the California WCR Blog Network.

All of the members contributed blogs will be indexed and offered as an encyclopedic resource for home buyers and sellers. As with most blogs, consumers will be able to enter into casual and anonymous, if they choose conversation with the blogging authors. Consumers and agents will be able to ask questions ranging from open houses, to market insights, to home selling strategies. The goal, says Kitano, is to promote the free exchange of real estate knowledge without any sales pitch.

Kitano and Boer, with Domus Consulting Group, are working feverishly to have the California WCR Blogs online by the end of this month. The site will feature mapping tools so viewers can check not only houses for sale, but can also find participating and local WCR bloggers to learn more about neighborhoods, market trends, home features and other real estate related topics.

The WCR Blog Network is revolutionary, says Kitano and will provide solid benefits for both the real estate consumer and the blog authors. œThe WCR Blog Network home page in effect acts as the ˜main newspaper to aggregate and distribute the published content of their agent œeditors. As a content repository, the blog network is positioned as a search engine magnet, and the resulting traffic flows through directly to the participating agents blogs. Each blog, he says, is a separate website that reflects the personality and special expertise of its author.

The WCR Blog will be non-denominational, in that the blog authors will represent many different real estate companies, and their blogs may come from any number of frameworks including WordPress, TypePad or other available sources.

As a member of the Womens Council of Realtors, I am tickled to share that I will be a representative blogger for North County San Diego when the WCR Blog debuts. For additional information, click here.

© roberta for Luxury Home Digest, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: author, blogger, blogs, california, network, Pat Kitano, real estate, realtor, san diego, WCR, Womens council of realtors

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