September 11, 2001 – was a world changing day. I remember going to work in my car listening to the Howard Stern show on the radio, when Howard started talking about a plane running into the World trade Center. The first thought that went through my mind was that a small plane had run into the huge buildings, but when I walked in to my office, everyone was talking , huddled around a small television, looking at the video of the first plane hitting the towers.

I remember clearly the shock, and the endless news coverage of this incredible disaster, The day seemed to be an endless series of shocks as the information about the other planes and their fates unfolded. With family in New York and the Washington D.C. area, we were frantically calling to see where everyone was, breathing easier as we located each family member, our sadness deepening as other families were shown on the news, frantically trying to locate fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters. The search for survivors was dramatic and disturbing and the firemen raising our flag in the rubble created a scene for our generation as memorable as the flag raising at Iwo Jima was for our father’s.

We were at war and we learned to live with changes in the way we travel. We got used to increased security at the airports, going through metal detectors, removing our shoes, not carrying liquids, and getting to the airport with plenty of time to spare for the security process. With the economy occupying so much of the news and our lives, we take a lot of things for granted.

After speaking at ReTechSouth yesterday, today was the day to fly home. The people who held the event had arranged for a van to take us to the airport, but the driver needed to fill the van and the trip was 45 minutes long. As a result I arrived at the airport a little later than I would have liked. The airport is rather large, and I had to ask for directions in the terminal. After getting the directions I was focused on finding my way through the atrium to go through the normal stages of security, when I heard some clapping off to my left. I stopped and looked to see what was happening and search for the celebrity that caused such a stir.

I was moved as I saw a column of uniformed men and women making their way through the atrium as the people around them applauded and waved. With a lump in my throat I put my bags down, stopped and started clapping myself.

Its been over 7 years since 9/11, but every time I see someone in uniform, I keep having the impulse to stop nd thank them for their service or ask them if I can buy them a drink or a meal, or do something for them, but my innate sense of shyness stops me from bothering them. However that doesn’t mean that I am not grateful to each and every person who endures hardship so that the rest of us don’t need to. Today was a chance to publicly do something small to show that gratitude and appreciation. This post is just another way to accomplish that . I hope tomorrow brings another chance like these.

Image by reeltor99 via Flickr

2008 was a tough year. And its not one I’m sorry to see leave.

The challenges we face in business are just  part of our business, which is now and has always been cyclical. But  2008 will always be the year that I lost my best friend, suddenly, without explanation (not that an explanation would have helped) and without reason that I could understand. It was a year that made a change in my life that I still find myself struggling with, and would seem to have little to redeem it.

Time is very subjective for me. It seems like I have been without my beautiful wife forever, and yet when I think about something that happened in  July when she was still the vibrant funny presence in my life, it seems like just yesterday. I find myself thinking about that and about this major change in my life often these days. It was during one of those long ruminations I realized that many of the people that I find my support from weren’t even in my life a year ago.

I “talk” to people every day that make me laugh, provide support, make me think, and help find things that interest me. I am invested in their lives and hurt when they hurt, cry and laugh when they cry and laugh, and seek their opinions and approval. I smile when I make them laugh, and I am proud when they are noted for their achievements. People like Ines, Ginger Wilcox, Benn & Lani Rosales, Jeff Turner, Teresa and Jack Boardman, Chris Griffith, Kim Wood, Sarah Cooper, Jonathan Dalton, Kris Berg and so many others who reach out to me regularly and make my life a little brighter.

A year ago I was aware of the RE.Net but not fully engaged. And when I became engaged, I found a world full of people to connect with, who had much to offer. I just wanted but I did find a need to share how grateful I am for my social media friends and acquaintances (yes they are “real” friends even if the roots of our relationship began in the virtual world).

So what does this have to do with 2009 being a better year? I just returned from Inman Connect in New York, where some of the predictions for the coming year’s economy were grim but the bloggers and social media types that were present were telling me that they were finishing a pretty good year. There were stories of international buyers, and community members making referrals, and people contacting them because they had written reviews of places they ate, or shopped, or worked.

The opportunities in the market may have gotten smaller, but the population fo real estate agents has also. And there are more and more people who are learning that by being good members of their communities, and participating in social media in a meaningful manner, they will be the consumer’s choice when the consumer needs them.And of course, there is the other important social media marketing feature – it costs so little, and returns so much. Unlike traditional interuptive marketing, the more you do , the less it costs.

So embrace your community, and as you give love, you will get love, and on the way, probably increase your business opportunities. But you will increase the people that you interact with. I only hope, for your sake, that they are as special as the people I found to interact with in my world.