Happy Birthday! To my Brother, Bryan
December 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
Today is my brother’s 21st birthday. Bryan wrote me a very nice post over on his blog for my birthday. I figure that turnabout is fair play, and besides, I do love the little bastard. 
So, here it is– the list of the top 21 reasons that I love my brother, Bryan (in no particular order):
1) He is a good person.
2) It is in his nature to help others, even when it is of no benefit to himself.
3) He thinks he is the handsome one.
4) He lets me think I am the smart one.
5) He lets his big brother give him advice, even if he doesn’t want to use it.
6) He is always looking for ways to contribute to his community.
7) He isn’t afraid to ask for help, and he is smart enough to listen when he does.
He’s always willing to go out with his brother and sis-in-law, even though he is a popular dude, and his friends want to see him when he comes home from school.
9) He makes good choices, especially when bad ones might be easier.
10) He’s not afraid to do the unconventional.
11) He’s not afraid to speak his mind.
12) On the rare occasion he might make a mistake, he learns quickly, and never makes the same one twice.
13) When we play video games, he lets me win every once in a while.
14) He watches me officiate, even when I know there are better things he could be doing with his life.
15) He has never complained about his birthday being on Christmas Eve. Quite to the contrary, he loves it.
16) He’s not a complainer, he’s a doer.
17) He has a personality to which people are drawn, and he uses that attribute to do positive things.
18) He is graduating a year early from college, all through hard work and dedication to school.
19) He left Fluvanna County High School a better place than he found it. He left a positive lasting impression there. He knows what it means to be a Fluco.
20) When someone says to me, “oh, you must be Bryan’s brother,” it is always followed by something positive.
21) He is going to spend his 21st birthday not getting drunk, but at a family dinner. (of course, that doesn’t mean that his big bro won’t share a beer with him)
So that’s it. I could go on and on, but 21 reasons on his 21st birthday seems like just enough.
Happy Birthday Bryan! (from Kari, Marco, and Aubie, too)
The final fabric is in. . .
December 20, 2008 | 4 Comments
The final pieces of fabric came in for the RE Barcamp NYC/Bloggers’ Connect NYC ‘09 surprise. Take a look, and be sure to check back on January 6th to find out what all this fabric was for.
Make snow when it’s cold (or “making the most of every opportunity)
December 15, 2008 | 2 Comments
I live about an hour away from Wintergreen Resort. being a ski resort in Virginia, they need to make their own snow. The other night, I went up there with Kari and Patsy to eat dinner, and to see some snow. Much to our delight, it was so cold that the resort was very busy making snow all day long.
It’s a good thing they were, because the temperatures aren’t supposed to get below 50 during the day for the rest of the week. Wintergreen knows all to well that they need to make snow every chance they get. They make the most of their opportunities, because their very existence as a ski resort depends on it. This got me to thinking. . .
More Fabric comes rolling in. . .
December 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
Ginger Wilcox
Kris Berg
Robin Fenchel
Justin McHood
Grant and Gia Freer
Rudy Bachraty
Natalie Langford
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
Jay Thompson
Center for Realtor Technology
Jim Duncan
Remember, if you want to get your fabric in, just mail it to me at:
Daniel Rothamel
86 Joshua Lane
Palmyra, VA 22963
I’m pretty sure that if you get it to me by Friday, the 19th, I should be able to include it, so GET TO SENDING!
Mobile post sent by RealEstateZebra using Utterli. Replies.
People are sending in their fabric for the big surprise!
December 3, 2008 | 8 Comments
So the first 5 pieces of fabric have arrived for the big surprise. The first five submissions came from:
Jeremy Hart
Mike Mueller
Jennifer Rathbun
Matthew Rathbun
Teresa Boardman
All very cool submissions. A few others have let me know that theirs are on the way, so I will keep everyone updated. In the meantime, what are you waiting for? Send me your fabric with your URL on it so that I can include it in the surprise. All you have to do is send it to me at the following address before December 14th:
Daniel Rothamel
86 Joshua Lane
Palmyra, VA 22963
And, if you want to see what the surprise is, you’ll have to meet me at RE Barcamp NYC on January 6th, or at Inman Bloggers Connect NYC ‘09 on January 7th. It should be interesting. . .
Naming names in the call for participation in my RE Barcamp/Connect NYC surprise
November 25, 2008 | 21 Comments
A few weeks ago, I made a video calling for people to send me scraps of fabric with their URL’s on it so that I could put together a special surprise for Connect NYC ‘09. Guess how many pieces of fabric I’ve gotten?
NADA. ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH.
WTF!!!!!
Seriously? No one could find the time or inclination to send me a piece of fabric? This is pretty messed up. As a result, I’m making one last push to get some fabric from folks. And I’m naming names. . .
These are the people from whom I expect to receive something. Don’t let me down:
Benn and Lani
Dustin Luther
Joel Burslem
Rudy Bachraty
Jay Thompson
Ginger Wilcox
Andy Kaufman
Brad Coy
Mike Price
Jeff Turner
Teresa Boardman
Greg Swann
Jim Duncan
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
Rob Hahn
Matt Fagioli
Chris McKeever
Danilo Bogdanovich
Tony Arko
Heather Elias
Jeremy Hart
Ben Martin
Matt Rathbun
Kris Berg
Todd Carpenter
Grant and Gia
Why am I calling these people out by name? Because every person on that list has already shown their dedication to the profession of real estate and improving their profession through outreach to the larger real estate community.
That is the purpose of my surprise. I want to able to show real estate professionals around the country where they can go when they want information about technology or anything else that can advance the profession. I want to promote the folks who I know are leading by example. I want to be able to hold them higher as examples of what our profession can and should be. I can’t do that if folks aren’t willing to step up and at least send me a piece of fabric.
The people on that list aren’t the ONLY ones from whom I expect something. There are many others, those are just the first ones that came to mind. If you are reading this, and you are the type of person that is dedicated to improving the real estate profession, then show your dedication by making the simple gesture of mailing me a piece of fabric. I’m not turning away anyone who sends me something, but. . .
This is a one-shot deal. If you don’t send me fabric, then you find out what the surprise is, and you want me to include your fabric– NO DICE. Don’t ask me to get in after the fact.
If I sound a bit gruff about this, maybe that’s because I feel that way. I think that we, as a community of professionals, have done a lot of talking, but not enough acting sometimes. We haven’t stepped out of our comfort zone enough. We haven’t taken enough chances. I know that, personally, that is something I am going to work on changing.
Right now, all I’m asking you for a piece of fabric with your URL on it. How hard is that? It’ll be worth it, trust me.
In case you’ve forgotten, I really NEED to have the fabric to me by December 14th. You can mail your fabric scrap, with your URL, to:
Daniel Rothamel
Strong Team REALTORS
86 Joshua Lane
Palmyra, VA 22963
So, what are you waiting for? I’m going to let everyone know every time I get a piece of fabric. So who’s going to step up first?
Grandma explains the Pretzel/Cabbage theme baske
November 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I am not the audience, and what I plan to do about it
November 12, 2008 | 12 Comments
I had a great time this past week attending BloodhoundBlog Unchained and NAR 2008. I was able to catch up with a lot of friends, meet some people who I knew only as avatars, and make some new friends. All in all, it was a very rewarding experience.
One thing occurred to me, however, as I was attending the panel discussions and presentations. It is something that I think I have been feeling for a while now, but it never really hit me until this past week– I am not the audience anymore.
Allow me to explain. For every single one of the panels that I attended that had anything to do with social media, I already knew the panelists. Most of the time, I not only knew them, but knew them very well. I read their blogs, or have had meaningful discussions with them about all things technology and real estate. In that way, I almost knew what they were going to say before they said it. This is only because either I had heard them say it before, or I had said similar things myself.
In a way, I could have looked at this as a let down. I could have said, “well, gee, NAR 2008 and BHB Unchained were a complete waste of time. I didn’t learn anything.” It would have been easy to say that. But it wouldn’t have been the truth.
I did, in fact, learned two very important things:
1) I learned that their is a much larger audience for this information than I ever expected. Two of the NAR panels I attended about social media had at least 150 people in attendance, probably more. That is more agents and brokers than I expected, quite honestly.
2) I learned that the “RE.net” is made up of people who are eager to share their knowledge and experiences with an audience, any audience.
The fact is, much of the discussion that has been happening around the RE.net has been occurring amongst basically the same folks for about a year or so. That’s fine.
What has been happening most recently, however, is that other folks are starting to listen-in. Other folks are starting to get curious and ask questions. It used to be that everyone was too busy working multiple offers and running buyer assembly lines to pay any attention to talk of things like social media.
Now, things are a bit different. People have more time to consider what they are doing, where they are spending their effort, and how the market will look in the future. As they make these considerations, they are beginning to look at the things that the RE.net has been talking about for years, and say, “hey, that sounds interesting, tell me more.”
That’s were I come in (and so do you).
I might not be the intended audience for many of the topics that were presented at NAR 2008 and BloodhoundBlog Unchained. That does not, however, mean that the audience does not exist. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I believe that we will see that audience grow exponentially over the next 12-18 months.
The growth of the audience means that I have a responsibility (and so do you) to share what I can with them; a responsibility to seek out those who are searching for knowledge, and give what I can.
The “RE.net” can continue to have its own conversations, but the really important thing is to expand those conversations to include those who can benefit most from the knowledge, those we have yet to friend on Facebook, those we have yet to follow on Twitter, those we have yet to meet in person, for they matter most. If our industry is to truly be changed forever, it is those who must be reached.
I might not be the audience, you might not be the audience, but believe me, the audience is out there. They are willing to listen, they just need someone willing to share.
Are you that person?
Vote for the Zebra in the Virginia Blog Brawl!
November 12, 2008 | 2 Comments
The first round of the Virginia Blog Brawl is up for voting. Check it out, and vote for your favorite Virginia real estate blogs (don’t forget to vote for the blog that you are reading right now). Voting ends Sunday at Midnight.
Ben Martin and the folks at the Virginia Association of REALTORS have come up with some really cool prizes. Plus, the contest features what I think is the greatest tag line in all of the blogosphere: “Deletion Before Dishonor.”
Dustin Luther, Jeff Turner, and Rudy Bachraty show you how to engage your clients with social media
November 10, 2008 | 2 Comments
This video is a recording of the session held by Dustin Luther, Jeff Turner and Rudy Bachraty at the 2008 National Association of REALTORS Conference and Expo. The session was all about how REALTORS can use social media to engage their clients. Dustin, Jeff and Rudy do an excellent job of explaining how social media can enhance the ability to engage, and also show folks how it can be used improperly.
The video is about an hour long. The session was an hour and a half, but I got there a little late. I was assured by Jeff that I got the best parts.
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
