Oh, and I did mention myself (I was first alphabetically!)

Well, next week I’m going to my 4th REBarCamp here on my home turf in D.C. (or rather Northern Virginia). I’ve been to the two in San Francisco and went down to the Lynchburg one earlier this month.

I’ve found the experiences, the sharing, and the learning that goes on at these events exciting and invigorating and unlike what happens at most conferences where you are “spoken at” or “spoken to”

The tools of social media allow people to join the conversation. My favorite quote from the Twitter Conference I went to this past week was “You no longer have to yell at your television, now you can tweet about it.” Similarly, at an REBarCamp, the participants are NOT the audience, but rather active contributors to the conversation.

On a personal note, I’m looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

We did not have a sponsored lunch and sponsors were featured on the REBC/bellevue site and could leave bling on a designated table.

It did take some “management” to make this happen. The last Seattle event had more of a “commercial” tone IMO since they were trying to provide more value to sponsors and provide booths along the border of the main room. There were also “speakers” there with planned sessions…

I think each REBC will have it’s own flavor depending on who’s planning and who shows up. I always encourge participation.

At Lynchburg, I had some great conversations. It was a good group with a lot of open discussions.

I’ll be at REBCDC next week and plan on contributing to the conversation again too. Yes, no presentations… just discussions.

Part of the great feel of REBarCampOhio was due to the organizers and their dedication and devotion is really appreciated.

I didn’t get a sense of commercialism, and only one of the sessions smacked of stuff I didn’t care for in the attitudes of the presenters (not yours, Bill, your session was fabulous!!). Point being, not everyone will like every session or every presenter. Overall, the sessions were good, convos at lunch and between sessions were fun and informative. An experience I would like to have again, and will!

Of the events that I have attended, I can only recall a few occasions where a “vendor” made a pitch. I even abandoned my position “behind the camera” at one event because those who were making their pitch didn’t have a clue it was the wrong place and time to be doing that. Like Bill, you should vote with your two feet and find another session (or better yet, create your own).

Where else can you can you go to learn, share, network, and contribute to a worthy cause (love that aspect) and did I say network with such outstanding people? But don’t take my word for it, get yourself to a real estate bar camp and experience it for yourself!

Having said that, there is a lot to be said for seeing some of the same people and some of the people I know only from Twitter, the blogosphere, in general, or Facebook. It’s nice to be able to put the flesh and blood person together with the online persona. Good for networking. Good for referrals (possibly). Good for finding a mentor/teacher/kindred spirit.

I can see where they may very well lose steam after awhile, though. They require a lot of organization, sponsorship and attendance. REBAR camps won’t be the “shiny new penny” after awhile.