I know it is inevitable that I will be asked (perhaps 100′s of times) “What did you learn from Inman Connect SF this week”? or “What was the most interesting thing you learned at Inman Connect SF”? or some variation of that general question. In years past I may have made something up to illicit a response like “That’s Nice” or “Wow, that’s great!”, but NOT this year!

This year something very accidental, yet incredibly enlightening happened and it all began with me accidentally walking into the wrong “MeetUp”…

It was like a Bad episode of “Reality TV”

Wednesday at ICSF was jam packed! Stuff happening from the morning bell to the 5pm cocktail call. I was constantly looking at my playbook, trying to decide where I was going…What topic? What room? What subject? It was crazy! So right after lunch I knew I wanted to go to a “MeetUp” of Real Estate Tech Vendors in Continental Parlor #2, that started at 1:00pm. Now the MeetUps were not necessarily open to the public, though they were not marked “Private” or anything, but they were designed for the Vendors to congregate and talk amongst themselves regarding what they were experiencing in the market. This MeetUp was Facilitated by a friend of mine, Greg Robertson from W&R Studios (Cloud CMA), so I knew he would let me “Sit in” on it. After all, I am a Techy!

So off I went on my merry way at about 1:10pm, feverishly typing away at Twitter on my phone, into Continental Parlor #1 ( for those of you who have had your morning Starbucks you probably got it, but for those who have not…I said Parlor #1!). Now in Parlor #1, I was not sitting in on my intended MeetUp, Real Estate Tech Vendors, but instead I was “Transported” to some unknown geographical location somewhere in the 1950′s … It was titled “MLS Operators, Vendors, and Staff” DA DA DUMB! (Cue the music from the 1950′s classic TV show, Dragnet!)

“Son-of-a-bitch!” I thought, I gotta get outta here! but I couldn’t. Something was mysteriously keeping me from moving, it was as if I were paralyzed. The conversation was about the “Consumers” (Keep this meaningless term in mind, it will come up again) perception of our Industry. Specifically, at that moment, about how when they see Listing data in multiple sources (MLS, Trulia, Broker Sites, Agent Sites ect…) that is not the same (different price, Sold vs Active ect…) they say “How stupid is this?”

That’s when it got interesting ….

Think Hatfield’s & McCoy’s, Shark’s & Jet’s, Snoop Dawg & Puffy!

Ok, so I will be the 1st to admit, I have a limited knowledge of the inter-workings of the MLS’s. I am however a keen observer of human behavior, and the overall atmosphere in this room was … hmmmm … What’s the right word? Depressing? no Frustrating? no oh wait… I’ve got it! EMBARRASSING!

Though the Facilitator, Marilyn Wilson a Partner at WAV Group (@marilynwilson), did her best to mediate, like a Beverly Hills divorce case, this was no small task. Don’t get me wrong, there were no punches thrown, no “F” bombs were dropped, nothing uncivilized, Though two MLS operators (one who resembled that Scottish Guy from Austin Powers movies & one who looked a bit like Santa Claus in the off season, ya know, beard was trimmed dropped a few pounds, but the whole grey thing was working for him) felt it was an appropriate venue to make off-color remarks regarding their sex lives. Then there was the MLS guy (who looked a bit like a character from The Sopranos) who felt very comfortable stating that “Brokers are the REAL problem, they refuse to fire the 53% of their REALTORS (c) who are a bunch of Morons and haven’t done a single transaction in over a year” that was kinda weird, being it had seemingly nothing to do with the conversation…other than that…oh wait…

The reason we are headed for Government regulation of our Data

… The room also had a number of bright young minds, from Tech start-ups, some Exec’s from 3rd Party Aggregators, and a few representatives of the Broker/Agent community. These folks were asking for some cooporation in areas like:

• Sharing of Data in more Open fashion
• Involvement by the MLS’s in a Rating system for Agents/Brokers/Affiliates/Aggregators
• More “Open-Mindedness” to new Technologies & Ideas
• An Intranet for the MLS’s to communicate with each other about questionable Vendors
• A more “Open” forum for New Vendors to present ideas

Ya know, Stupid stuff like that!

Each and every time a bright young mind in the Vendor community, or a Consumer Advocate, or a Forward thinking Broker offered a suggestion (some of which, to me of course, were awesome) they were met with the same response from The MLS Boys…”Good Luck with That!” and then came the round of “Belly Laughs” (led by Scottish Guy, Santa, & Soprano Guy)…at first I was amused by them myself. then when I realized that they came from a deeply rooted “Arrogance”, rather than a playful sense of “Humor”, I was faced with the realization that our Industry was “doomed” to be regulated. No one, and I am convinced, No one will be able to get these two opposing sides (Old School & New School) to join together and bring our industry into the 21st century.

The “Straw” that broke the “Consumers” back

It was all made so incredibly clear by a comment from “Soprano Guy”, in response to the statement from Marilyn Wilson “it’s abundantly clear, from all the polls, that the Consumer overwhelmingly wants the Rating System”!

Soprano Guy then blurted out “Who”? “The Consumer”? “That’s not my Customer, The Brokers are my Customers. They pay my bills, not the Consumers”.

In Closing…

You never know what life has in store for you. One minute everything’s all “peaches & cream”. You’re minding your own business, happily “Tweeting” about that nights cocktail parties, or the crazy new Technologies you just heard some Geek talk about on stage and then …. BAM! … Your visions of your industry’s future are shattered by a room full of “Closed Minds”…though it was “riveting” and certainly more interesting than the “Meet The Leaders” segment downstairs, it was then and will forever be my most disappointing “Wrong Turn”

I don’t know how this gets fixed. I just know somebody with the “Schwag” to do it needs to get involved and fix it!

If not, Obama (or the next elected leader of our country) will!

Stay Blogging My Friends!

@TheRECoach

I have known hundreds, if not thousands, of Realtors and Brokers as well as RENet professionals over the years. Some, I am proud to say, are now my friends. I take the profession seriously, and as someone who is constantly reading posts and stories on the Internet, I have been saddened by the recent onslaught of negative perceptions of what these people do, and how they affect the home buying transactions. So many times they are being labeled as “Unethical”, or “Piranhas”, and I may have over reacted to this simple exchange on Trulia, but maybe not???

You be the Judge….

Question – “

what should I offer for 21861 Palamca, MV. Thank you

That’s it! I did not change it at all, so you get the feel that this is suspect from the start…

Answer #1 – Hi XXXX,

It’s really hard for an agent to suggest an offer price without ever actually being there to view the home and to see the type of condition the property is in. There are many factors that can go into offering a final purchase price, and some of the factors include actually being there to see the property itself. Are you working with an agent/realtor right now? If you do not have representation I highly suggest you hire a professional realtor that can help walk you through the whole process.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask

This Guy, did the best. Actually asking in his reply, if they are working with a Realtor, though he does start to give some advise, I thought this was ok, and I was probably too tough on him in my comment,but wait…

Answer #2 – As XXXXX said below, unless we see the property and the condition of it, we can’t tell you what to offer. I will tell you it most likely will go over the asking price. That area doesn’t have anything else less than $600,000. I’d be glad to check it out for you just let me know, I live very close to where those homes are.

Nothing! nothing about working with someone??? (PS – This was a Broker)

Answer #3 – It will probably have multiple offers and end up selling for at least $25k more than it’s listed for. I hope that helps. Let me know if you’d like an experienced South County Realtor to assist you in your quest to acquire a home.

Seeing a pattern here???

Answer #4 - This is a short sale, great location, nice floorplan, needs clean up and permit work on deck on master balcony, new carpet & paint. Lender is Indy Mac and it was scheduled for trustees sale, which has been postponed. Key is having an agent with a strong track record with short sales and writing a strong, clean offer. I can help you if you need help….let me know.

Am I crazy? or is this wrong? BTW – This Agent was a Trulia “VIP” and a Trulia “Pro”

Ok, so here was my comment – (I may have been under the influence of recent posts I had read)

While I love Trulia Voices, as well as Zillow Answers, for the role it plays in educating the consumer, it is questions like this one that make me “cringe” a bit…the Real Estate profession continues to come “under fire” for a perceived “lack of ethics” by the consumer, and though XXXX came close to asking, no one actually checked to be sure this consumer was not currently in contract with a Realtor? Many who read this will get the impression that our industry is “dog eat dog” or “cut-throat”, devoid of ethics and standards as we compete for a client. While I find it, overall, quite the opposite. The Agents and Brokers I have met are true professionals, active in their communities, and share openly their knowledge and expertise with others in the profession.

I’m not saying the consumer, XXXX, nor the 4 Realtors whom answered before me, did anything wrong. I am saying that it could be perceived that way, and it would take away from the fact that our industry is proud of it’s ethics and standards.

So the question is…Was I way off base, or was this an opportunity for the industry to add to it’s “Black eye”?

I always respect the comments from our GEB readers, and will promise to take to heart any constructive criticism regarding this post. I said what I said, because I care about this industry, and the fine people who work in it…

Stay Blogging My Friends!

@TheRECoach

I built a simple column in my Tweetdeck called, of course “Human Aggregators”. In it I chose an initial group of 24, of my then, 500 or so Tweeps. This 24 was whom I considered highly capable based on my years of following them on Twitter, meeting them at BarCamps, drinking with them, talking with them,  and in many cases going to them for help when I had a question regarding Real Estate on the Internet. I then stopped going to my Google Reader and simply clicked on their recommended “reads”, from their Tweets.  

I found that I cut the time, I had dedicated to this exercise, by more than 60%!!! While maintaining, and maybe even improving my exposure to quality Blog posts. Posts that were informative, educational, humorous, and down right entertaining. I love having that time back to dedicate to other useful activities like; My family, my friends, golf, coaching little league, and so many other things.

It’s not that I am telling everyone to do this, but if you are one of the 4.2 million Real Estate Agents struggling to get a handle on Social Media, give this a try! think of it as your “Training Wheels”, when you are ready, take em off and fly!…

…and to get you started, here are my “Top 10″ “Human Aggregators” (in no particular order), as I have paired them down from 24…

** With nik_nik, you get “egg-roll”…meaning you also get the guy she sleeps with, @ReggieRPR - Reggie Nicolay – Dir of SM for RPR. Together they form one of the finest Duo’s in The RENet!

So there you have it! My “Top Ten”  if you have someone you think should make my list, let me know! I would love to have an opportunity to be edumacated by them. I will put them in my “HA in Waiting” column, and who knows, they may make it to “Big Leagues” some day

Stay Blogging My Friends!

The Coach – @TheRECoach

                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

www.LivinOnTheCoast.com

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

Ok, so I’m hosting “The World’s Best IRL Meetup” for VREBC (Virtual REBarCamp) yesterday in Costa Mesa w/ The talented Ms. Stacey Harmon (and a Cameo appearance by Everyone’s Tech Guy, Loren Nason) when during a break in the action a fantastic, intuitive, spontaneous discussion breaks out! (that’s why we do the IRL Meetups for VREBC, so people can talk to other people, instead of “Vegetating” in front of their laptop in Jammies!, but I digress)…so anyway, Stacey answers the very real question from one of our attending Realtors, Jerry Reed of First Team Real Estate…”How the hell am I supposed to have the time to read all the damn blog posts in my stinkin Google Reader?!” (ok, so I spiced it up a bit)…Then the “PEARL” comes wafting from her lips…

“I don’t even use a Reader anymore, every time there is a really good post, somewhere in the REnet world, someone in my Twitter Follwers “Tweets” about it!

Then, OMG…wait for it….Another (highly intelligent) Attendee, Paul Mobley, MBA -CEO | Broker of Infinite ROI, Inc., “Blurts” out…wait for it again…lol…OMG…”Kinda like a “Human Aggregator” huh??? PEARL #2….OMG! “Human Aggregator” I LOVE it!

So look….

A few examples of some of my favorite Bloggers errrr “Human Aggregators”…(relax Nik_Nik, I still love you more than Reggie, just couldn’t find one of your Tweets while I was writin this…lol)

ReggieRPR RT @mattdollinger: Apple Tablet to Ship in March for Around $1000 [REPORT] http://ow.ly/T6Pm 10 minutes ago from web

blogboy2 Must reads (for SPR agents) including Cap & Trade Will Destroy Real Estate, Everything Twitter & more: http://ow.ly/T0kK 33 minutes ago from HootSuite

FrancesFlynnTho RT @JohnDMcClung: Five Key Housing Issues to Watch in 2010 http://bit.ly/60Nn6V about 1 hour ago from HootSuite

Who needs Google Reader???

The Center of all things Real Estate! Happened to drop by the olde iPhone Twiiterific ap today to save me an hour or so….TY

InmanNews New FOREM blog post: Building Brand and Influence Through Social Media – don’t miss LIVE LABS @ Connect NYC! #ICNY http://ow.ly/T6q7 about 1 hour ago from HootSuite

Who needs RSS Feeds???

Sometimes, I feel like “Geekin” (check out my series of posts on Web 3.0 for more details of Geek Needs. It will make your brain bleed!). So when I feel like Geekin, I get a Tweet from this “Lunatic” (jk Boris, jk)

Boris Most Anticipated Betas of 2009 http://tnw.to/11PnI about 2 hours ago from Tweetie

Heck, The Director of Social Media for N.A.R. has time to fill me in on what’s important! Saved me about 3 hrs on this one…SWEET!

tcar RT @mattdollinger: RT @kitmueller: RT @SPARKt Have you signed up for the info on #SPARKt3 coming on Feb 26th? http:/SPARKt.org about 2 hours ago from Seesmic

Who needs Email Updates????

How about this? One of my favorite RENet regulars, Pat Kitano of Domus Group (with another one of my favorites, Kevin Boer), does my dirty work! Looks like I got more time for the beach!

pkitano On Active Rain | 10 Real Estate Predictions for 2010 http://bit.ly/5nYqRi about 2 hours ago from bit.ly

Who needs …..? (Damn, I couldn’t come up with anything clever here! But you get my point =})

I even know when something good hits Zillow Answers!!! Right from “The Man” himself!

spencerrascoff Buyer interested in Venice CA home, Zillow Advice: http://ow.ly/T6mK about 1 hour ago from HootSuite

Thank you Mr. president, I won’t let you down!

So to recap… put your “Human Aggragators” to work for you! Save yourself about 6-8 hours a week, and GET A TAN! Ha!

BTW – Since I am saving you 5 hours a week (Minimum), and the average Orange County Realtor makes…hmmmm..about $175 per hr, please enclose a check for $875 (about 1 weeks savings) in a plain mannilla envelope, and send it to:

Eric Bryant

TheRECoach

69 YouDaMan Lane

ThankYouSoMuch, Ca. 90069

See ya next time Kiddies!

“The Coach”

“Web 3.0 – A Post Intended to “Define” & “Design”, - Original Post Nov 2nd

Web 3.0 – Discussion #1 – “OMG, I Never Thought of That!”  #2 Nov 20th

Web 3.0 – A Series of Posts Intended to “Design” & “Define” – Question #1 Discussion #3 Dec 3rd

Web 3.0 – A Series of Posts Intended to “Design” & “Define” – Question #2 Discussion Dec 10th

OK, now let’s look at the responses to Question #3…

There is a prevailing thought amongst those who are working on Web 3.0 that the web will be ”Curated”, what does “Curated” mean to you?

Jay Thompson – “it’s like what a Museum guy does, they curate. They take care of things, and decide what the public will see”

Tyler Hurst – “We all are Curators, right now, by what we choose to share on the web. We share things that we think are relevant. We share them on applications like Twitter and Facebook. We “curate” our information”.

Me – “OK, I want you to think beyond Real Estate right now…Maybe, as Kevin Kelley suggested, we are looking at the evolution of the web in a type of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and thus becoming The “7th Kingdom of Life“. Each day of our existance  we leave behind a “Digital Footprint” by what we do (writing a blog post), where we go (the navigation in our car), what we say (our Tweets and Facebook updates). This information is “harvested” by the web and will be used to create a “Digital Image” of who we are. It will be the source of information for “The Semantic Web“, and could quite possibly evolve into a force that thinks for us, using that very information”…..SPOOKY!

Zane Burnett – “I think Eric just excited me”. I don’t know if anyone has read of Vernor Vinge? He wrote an essay on “Singularity”, which hypothesized that all the needed info will be captured by the year 2025 or so and at that point machines will be “On Par” with humans.  

He also said that “We will have reached the point where the web can decide to “arbitrarily” choose one choice over another” He sited “Wolphram Alpha” as an example of the web thinking for itself. Crazy? Maybe, but it is very scary thought for some.”

Ok, so….we reached a point in the discussion that begins to test ones ability to open their minds to possibilities. Many times in life we are faced with that opportunity, and many times we “dismiss” it. Weather you choose to believe this is possible, or not, if you took a moment to do a search for [Semantic Web] or like topics, and you saw the individuals working on the theory, and the billions of dollars being invested into being the 1st to prove and master it, it would have to make you think….Why would the most brilliant minds in the world be working on it? Why would the worlds largest corporations be bankrolling it? and Why would every country have people dedicated to being there 1st?

It makes you think! and I hope, it “gets you in the game”…

Help us “Design” & “Define”, leave a comment!

Next Post, question  #4 (final question) – How are we gonna pay for all this?

The Coach – Business Development Rep for “The Pango Group”

“Web 3.0 – A Post Intended to “Define” & “Design”, - Original Post Nov 2nd

Web 3.0 – Discussion #1 – “OMG, I Never Thought of That!”  #2 Nov 20th

Web 3.0 – A Series of Posts Intended to “Design” & “Define” – Question #1 Discussion #3 Dec 3rd

OK, now let’s look at the responses to Question #2…

Is there any harm in discussing Web 3.0 now?, and Why did we pick the moniker Web 3.0?

Zane Burnett – “Yes it can do harm, here’s my analogy of why…It’s like playing a game of Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey with no Donkey! so at the end of the day, all you have is a wall full of holes”

Jay Thompson – “Naming it is stupid! it is what it is. I see us setting ourselves up for disappointment. It doesn’t really mater though, because we can’t stop it”

Me – (commenting on a Chat room quote by Chuck Reynolds; “Talking about it means nothing, being the guy who invents the next Twitter, is where its at”) “That’s my point, names don’t matter! It’s conversations like this that matter. We are getting in the game. and I would disagree about not knowing what it will look like, we do know, or at the very least, may know. It will look like our visions, our needs, our desires and someone much smarter than I am will make those visions a reality. It will be [The One] that Kevin Kelley refers to in his video (The next 5,000 days of the Internet). Think in regards to the movies I referenced in post #2 in this series. These were all just visions, thoughts, dreams and now they are reality. Like the cell phones we now all take for granted as part of our everyday lives are simply the “communicators” Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock were using in the TV series, some 30 years ago!”

So what can we take from this? We all agree that it’s coming. Some may feel that we are premature, or out of our realm, which may or may not be true. What I is true is, you can sit back and let others shape this, or you can “get in the game”.

“Put me in Coach, I’m ready to play”!

…and for the next “Gifted” individual who is looking for “The next Twitter” as Chuck referenced, I want my Tweets and FB updates etc to appear on my car’s Nav Screen! That would be totally cool!

Next Post, question  #3 – They say that in the next generation, the Web will be “Curated”, what does that mean?

The Coach – Business Development Rep for “The Pango Group”

Web 3.0 – Discussion #1 – “OMG, I Never Thought of That!” (Nov. 20th 09)

I wrote the 1st post (Nov. 2nd 09) “Web 3.0 – A Post Intended to “Define” & “Design”, here on Geek Estate Blog, because I felt it was the best venue to begin an open discussion on a difficult, Technology related, topic and here I am with my 1st follow up post resulting from the very 1st comment I received on my original post on my personal Blog instead. Not that the comments here on GEB weren’t great, because they clearly were, and I am so “Geeked” to follow up on them as well. In fact, they inspired a “Round Table” style discussion that will take place on Blog Talk Radio on Tuesday Nov 24th at 10am PST, so hold on to your hats, because with the infamous Phoenix Real Estate Guy Jay Thompson, Tyler Hurst, and Zane Burnett of HouseofZane.com as my fellow panelists & Moderated by Steven Groves, I know this is gonna be the “Springboard” I had envisioned, when I came up with this crazy idea!!!

BOY, was I right!!!! The Round Table discussion, entitled “The Great Web 3.0 Smackdown” (Click for a link to audio recording) The participants were varied…Jay Thompson / www.ThePhoenixRealEstateGuy.com, Tyler Hurst / www.TDHurst.com, Zane Burnett / www.HouseofZane.com and of course, the ultimate instigator of this whole event, ME / www.MyRECoach.com. We had a real geek (Zane), a wantabe geek (Me), a Broker/Blogger (Jay), and a Social Media & Technology Consultant (Tyler) which, overall, made for a great & varied discussion on Web 3.0.

I have an enormous amount of material, between the synopsis of the show itself, and the printout of the Chat room (Some of which I will share with you in my upcoming posts, some of which I just Can’t, because it may seem a bit “off color” [Special Thanks to Chuck Reynolds and Wes Novack for that:)] ). In any case, it was an incredibly diverse discussion, with lots of great points and opinions, but ultimately EXACTLY WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR as I stated above. It will be a great starting point for, what will eventually be, a full blown Panel Discussion at an upcoming N.A.R. or Inman event. I am sure of that.

For the next few post I will be breaking down the five questions posed by Steve Groves, our commentator, to the panel and the answers each panelist gave. Hopefully leading to even more input and discussion by you, the readers. so, without further ado (never understood what ado was???)…

Question #1 – (Stemming from a quote by Jason Calacanis of Mahalo.com … “Web 3.0 is the creation of high quality content & services, produced by gifted individuals, using Web 2.0 as an enabling platform”) Who are the gifted Individuals?

Tyler Hurst – “There is a fine line between “gifted” and “challenged”, ask my girlfriend” (paraphrased), but I see Web 3.0, not as the development of such content and service, but more of the “Filtering” of them. It will be more about “Sifting through the garbage”

Jay Thompson – “I’m still trying to figure out what Web 2.0 is!”

Zane Burnett – “Tyler made a good point (insert lots of laughter here) when he said that it is about Filtering and “Niches”. The gifted will be alot of good people doing what they do best and eventually what they all do will come together as “One” and the Web 3.0 tools that can be used by all of us”

Me – “I started this whole mess to find them after I first listed to Kevin Kelly’s Video (The next 5,000 days of the Internet)! Who knows, this may be them, or some of them, or will lead to finding them?”

Next Post’s question – Is there any harm in discussing Web 3.0 now?, and Why did we pick the moniker Web 3.0?

So come on you “Gifted People”, get in the game! Join in on our discussion and comment…We had 14 for the last post, let’s beat the crap out of that with this one!

Can’t wait to hear from you guys

The Coach – Business Development for “The Pango Group”

But, I digress, back to my point. I received this comment from Judi Nield, shortly after my original Blog…

“Yes! Yes! YES!! Brilliant! Your comments remind me of the movie Eagle Eye – an amazing futuristic flic about how a hub source, a technology called “The Eagle Eye” uses data from cell phones, internet, media sites, traffic cameras, etc to compile endless amounts of data for everyone in the world… and uses that data to then control the world.

Though the movie is quite a sensationalized concept, I sincerely think there is significant truth to your Web 3.0 theory.”

OMG! I thought, think about how true this really is??? For decades, Hollywood has given us a secret “Glimpse into our future” and here are just a few examples…

From a post on TotalFilm.com that I found entertaining, as well as fascinating…

Future-seeing movies aren’t always accurate (T2? Judgement Day? 1997? No). But, thanks to the joy of hindsight, we can celebrate the stories where sci-fi became sci-reality…
The Film: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

What It Predicted:A memory-washing procedure – created by Dr Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) and offered by Lacuna, Inc. and now…”Dutch ‘boffins’ have discovered that a common heart medicine might help people suffering from traumatic memories by erasing them from their heads – just like from out of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.”

The Film: The Truman Show (1998)

What It Predicted:Reality TV was in its infancy when Andrew Niccol posited the idea that we could watch someone live out the mundanities of their life on television.

The Film: Blade Runner (1982)

What It Predicted: A smog-covered, sprawling future-LA cityscape dominated by giant, animated billboards.

The Film: Videodrome (1983)

What It Predicted:A sort of merging of the corporeal world with the hyperreality of video and television – by way of user-generated material. That, we think you’ll find, equals YouTube!

The Film: Soylent Green (1973)

What It Predicted: A world choked with pollution and overpopulation that’s led to energy wars and meteorological chaos…Uhmmm, GLOBAL WARMING?

The Film: Short Circuit (1986)

What It Predicted: War-bots that can think for themselves on the battlefield.

The Film: Forbidden Planet (1956)

What It Predicted: The crew of United Planets Cruiser C-57D all came equipped with tiny communicators and cameras on their belt buckles…Can you say iPhone or Blackberry?

The Film: The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005)

What It Predicted: This! The Internet. A user-generated, ever-evolving font of knowledge. AHA!!! Web 3.0!???? Hmmmmmmmmm

Get on board you guys! Let’s talk about this. Make a comment, that may lead to my next post. Make a comment that may lead to the next great Technological breakthrough. Make a comment that says I am an Idiot! I don’t care, JUST MAKE A COMMENT! …

and don’t forget to tune in to the panel show on Blog Talk Radio Tuesday Nov 24th PST and help us take the next step in “Designing & Defining” Web 3.0…

The Coach

My topic is Web 3.0, what will it look like? How can we help shape it? and most importantly, How can we use it to improve our “Internet Persona”? Be first to market, so to speak. It was just 3 short years ago that I, and many others in the REBlog space, began talking about things like Social Networking; using cool new tools like Twitter and Facebook to help create your “Internet Persona”. To help reach out to potential clients and peers in a more “transparent” way, a more “personable” way…and look at what has happened? Look at what some of the “early adapters” have been able to accomplish to this point, and how 80% of the Real Estate community is just now getting involved…

…yet for those of us who have been thinking and doing it for 3 years, we are already feeling it is “passe” somehow. we are (or should be) looking into the “crystal ball” for what’s next?

When I talk to groups of Agents, Brokers, or Salespeople in general I speak of Web 1.0 being described in a single word as “Availability”, Web 2.0 being “Transparency”, and now Web 3.0 as being … “Predictability”!

While I know this subject may be a bit “Edgy” or even “Obscure”, keep an open mind, and please…please…please comment on it. The discussions and forums that are created from your comments will allow us, as a group, to “Define” and “Design” the future of Real Estate websites, Blogs, and “Internet Persona’s” for years to come. We will be the “Early Adapters”. We will be “Ahead of the Curve”….so come on, think with me

Let’s begin with an excerpt from my personal Blog, AskTheRealEstateCoach.com…

“I like to think ahead, and thinking ahead right now means asking that question…What is Web 3.0 going to look like? I believe that the one word definition of Web 3.0 will be…Predictability…meaning that web presence’s will be riddled with predictability! They will know the answer before it is asked, they will provide information that the client didn’t even know they wanted, but they did! They will bring the client directly to the answer based on the actual need of the client, even if they didn’t even know it!

What does this look like in a practical sense? Follow along this scenario with me, I will use something very “common”, not really associated with Real Estate, so everyone can say “AH HA!” “I get what he means”

Our cars, our phones, and other electronic devices are equipped with GPS. This is a cool little feature that allows us to use our Navigation devices, set up map details, keep from getting lost, find cool lil stores, ect…but they are also leaving (creating) digital footprints of everything we do, everywhere we go. Our cell phone accounts have our ss# associated with them, so they can draw a clear picture of who we are from the information available via that ss#. Our income, our neighborhood, our education…starting to get it? The Internet now knows what I can afford, what I like to buy, what I drive, where I live, and with the GPS, now knows everywhere I go, and everything I do, via digital footprint. So if I am prone to buy Lexus automobiles, and I have an income of over $80,000 a year, and I drive down a particular street each day to get to work, and I buy new cars every 2.3 years, and I stop in at the Starbucks on the corner of 1st and Vine every weekday (See it, see it? Wait for it!) The local Lexus dealer will be placing advertising on the street I drive and in the Starbucks I visit 2.3 years after I bought my last car!

I can hear the skeptics amongst you right now, just as I heard the skeptics 3 years ago saying that Twitter, and Facebookwere stupid kids stuff! The advertisements will be virtual in nature and specific to each driver, not just me. They will come in the form of holograms..they will appear on navigation screens, and PDA’s they will come on my Starbucks receipt and the Guy or Gal behind me will get an ad for Irish Spring soap, because it has been 4.1 months since the last time he bought it at the Supermarket! SEE IT?”

Now listen to Kevin Kelly in this video. I know it is 19 minutes, and statistics say you won’t listen, but you can not truly understand this brilliant man’s theories unless you listen to the whole thing. So please, take a moment and really hear what he has to say…

Kevin Kelly – \”The Next 5000 Days of the Web\”

Now, let’s start talking! Your comments will shape my next post, then the next, and so on…I want you, our readers, some of the “Best & Brightest” stars of The REBlogsphere…my fellow REBarcampers, Rookies, Veterens, whom ever…Let’s “Design” & “Define”!!!

Can’t wait to hear back from you…

The Coach