I arrived back from my week at the Inman News Real Estate Connect Conference last night a beaten woman. The schedule is always back-breaking, and this year was no different. There were the panels, of course, and my suitcase made the return trip laughing in the face of the 50-pound limit thanks to my swag booty.
Most of my tireless compadres dutifully uploaded photos of the event throughout the week and even managed a blog post or two from San Francisco. This being my third Inman event, I made the determination early on that I would be declaring a bloggy break. While Steve held down the fort (and, by all appearances, we still have a business, so I thank him), I took in as many of the panels and events as I could without killing myself in the process.
Every day, beginning with RE BarCamp, continuing on to the Blogger’s Connect pre-conference, and culminating in the main event, a two-day “let’s see how quickly we can make heads explode” exercise in delivering information and technology solutions for the real estate industry, reminded me that I am not getting any younger. At past events, my mission was always to do it all, attend every session and party, foregoing only the non-essentials (eating and sleeping). With age comes wisdom, and I was able to just say no on more than a few occasions. While all of the cool kids were out enjoying the social functions until the wee hours, and recognizing my limitations, I unfortunately missed several professional networking opportunities.
But, not all.
While I suspect the nice folks at Trulia were not nearly as amused as Jay Thompson and I, we had fun only two geeks could by hijacking their Marker Man at the Trulia House Party. Of course, being a girl and all, I am fully aware of the dangers of over-accessorizing, so I let Jay wear the shoes.
So this morning I am attempting to rally and face the day. I am easing into it, still diverting my eyes from an inbox with 133 unanswered messages screaming my name, but I will be back to full swing in no time. It’s always good to be home.
Photo credits: Ines, Phoenix Real Estate Guy
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Mary Pope-Handy
07.26.08 at 10:44 am
Kris,
I heard you speak on one panel and moderate another, and you did a fantastic job. It’s fun to hear you too.
Good luck with the “re-entry”!
Kris Berg
07.26.08 at 11:00 am
Mary, Thank you, and I love that term “re-entry.” After my appointment, my first order of business will be to go hunting and gathering. My refrigerator looks like something out of a horror film after leaving things in the hands of one man and two teenagers.
Jonathan Dalton
07.26.08 at 12:12 pm
How did I miss you in the Marker?
Tried explaining to the wife I was working the entire time. After a quick re-examination, I think I was down to 74 minutes.
Kris Berg
07.26.08 at 12:26 pm
JD - I told you all the cool kids were on the rooftop deck. You just didn’t believe me.
Jay Thompson
07.26.08 at 2:42 pm
Huh, my anti-spam word is “cheers” — seems appropriate.
Kris it was, as usual, an honor and pleasure to be in your company, and to share a panel with you (can I steal that photo?)
Your restraint was admirable, and something I’d like to emulate someday when and if I ever grow up.
You looked simply stunning in the Marker Man outfit. I can’t decide if the funniest part was you climbing the stairs, or trying to drink in that thing…
And those truly were the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.
Kris Berg
07.26.08 at 4:04 pm
Jay - You may, of course, steal that photo. I stole it from Ines.
Rudy from Trulia
07.26.08 at 6:26 pm
Hola Kris!
Fantastic seeing you again. The pics of you in the Trulia Markerman outfit are classic……Jay was rocking the shoes so hard he didn’t want to take them off - said they were super squishy comfortable. Maybe we’ll seel them on zappos soon.
This week was a whirlwind…..I’m still catching may breath and trying to restore my voice which was lost do to all that “socializing”
Richard Silver
07.26.08 at 6:44 pm
Really enjoyed your panel…you have a great sense of humour and yourself. Good on you!!
Just had a great day in Calistoga…mud bath, massage and facial!!
Needed to decompress…back to Toronto tomorrow…
Congrats again!! Go get a massage!!
Richard
Greg
07.26.08 at 7:59 pm
There’s a 13 year old female in my house who wants to know when she’ll get her shoes back.
Next year I’m going to live life on the wild side and try and experience the ‘green days’ for myself. Chris hope you and your posse had a great time ( you know you’ve arrived when you have a posse) and EXTRA KUDOS to Steve for doing the dirty work….as we men were meant to do, especially in my house(you’re welcome honey). Looking forward to the info leaking out in the forthcoming days to those of us forever landlocked in the heartland.
Matt Kelly - RMC Vanguard
07.27.08 at 8:07 am
Hi Kris:
Was great to meet you at Inman. The “Oatmeal” quote was a classic!
Matt.
David Bethoney
07.27.08 at 11:36 am
Hey Kris, I wish I could have made it last week to meet you and to listen to you on that panel. I look forward to meeting up soon at another event!
Good one for the panel
07.28.08 at 11:10 am
Last Friday there’s an excellent write up of the latest in real estate fraud scheme by OC Register reporter John Gittelsohn. It makes for quite a fascinating read and demonstrates professional journalism is not dead.
–920 W Camile St., Santa Ana, CA 92703
–1 beds, 1.0 baths, 846 sq ft
–10/2001: purchase price of $210,000 prior to RE Bubble
–11/2005: purchased with 100% financed subprime money for $565,000
–11/2006: foreclosed to lender $478,000
–10/2007: purchase by investor-flipper for $304,500
–12/2007: transferred deed to Asset Disposition Venture Capital LLC
–01/2008: sold to Mario and Paula Gomez for “$625,000″
With the credit market tightening up, real estate professionals are getting mighty creative here. The investor-flipper does the usual lipstick on pig routine. The investment group then dangles a $30k incentive and a 52″ LCD TV to fish for a buyer with good credit.
The price is listed as $500,000 when the Gomezes came knocking, but that quickly changes to $625,000 when it comes time to close. With a mysterious “gift” of $125,000 already sitting in the escrow account, the Gomez signs away and disregards the minor technicality.
The escrow officer doesn’t mind either, in fact, “It sounds to me like the seller helped out,” she said. “If someone gave them $125,000, what’s the problem? That’s a beautiful thing, if you ask me.”
Well, that beautiful thing is straight up fraud! The bank is trying to get back to the traditional tried and true lending standard with minimum 20% down. So what are the real estate pros (cons) doing? They bypass that requirement by hiking up the price 20% and bestow upon the buyer a 20% gift, which just gets back to the seller at the close of escrow.
Just another way to defraud the gullible banks. With so many bad seeds infiltrating its ranks during the fraud infested Bubble Years, looks like the Ugliness that is the Real Estate Field is here to stay.
Aaron Rose
08.06.08 at 3:09 pm
Kris,
I attended the Inman Connect conference and was part of the audience during one of your panels. I like your thoughts on blogging and how social networking will be part of many agents daily routine. I noticed on your homepage you have a link to floor plans. Our company (currently based in LA County) has recently opened an office in SD County. I would be interested in speaking to you about our services and how we can help assist you with your web marketing efforts. Please see the link below:
http://www.floorplaninc.com/1455