Last week I was able to participate in an extraordinary and power-packed conference – the ERA IBC 2010 conference in Nashville (#ERAIBC).
ERA has done a really great job of re-branding themselves and truly embracing social media and web 2.0.
From their Opportunity Stations, to their Social Media Lounge, Twitter Sign-Up Station, Discovery Hub – it was clear that ERA is very focused on moving their brand and their agents into the ‘new way’ of doing business.
“Real estate is changing—it’s a new world for our industry,” says Charlie Young, president and chief executive officer, ERA Franchise Systems LLC. “Consumers are more knowledgeable, technology is delivering information that was previously inaccessible and the brokerage community is evolving in response to a new economic reality. At ERA, we are building ‘a smarter community’ of brokers and agents to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s consumers and real estate brokerage industry.”
IBC featured a variety of programs designed to enhance the learning experience and to help brokers and sales associates build meaningful connections that add value to their business. Specialized learning tracks featured education sessions, such as “Motivating Buyers to Buy,” “Make More Money with Social Networking” and “Seizing on the Recovery Market.” The sessions were hosted by industry experts and allowed ERA brokers to create a personalized plan to enhance their business.
I taught a one hour “Social Media Bootcamp” class where I coached agents through my “Top 5 Tips for Social Media Success” and helped to give them a simple and easy-to-use plan.
A highlight of the General Session was “Innovation Hour” with Inman News founder/publisher Brad Inman and ERA CEO Charlie Young. Brad and Charlie discussed innovation and technology in 2010 and what that means for the real estate community.
Personally, one of the best parts of the event was being able to meet and interact with the agents and brokers from all over the country (and the world) who came to Nashville. Some were not familiar with Inman News, so it was exciting to talk to them and let them know about the news we provide.
I know I am biased, but I am extremely proud to work at a company like Inman News where day in and day out, I get to see first-hand the award-winning and unbiased news that our journalism team puts together.
Hundreds of agents at ERA signed up for our free daily headlines service – if you haven’t signed up yourself I highly recommend it! You will get an email from Inman News 2x a day with the top real estate headlines of the day. It is a great way to keep up-to-date with nationwide real estate news and trends. I honestly think every agent should sign up!
I also met a lot of agents at ERA who had been enjoying our free headlines and decided to upgrade to a premium membership because it gives them unlimited access to our news, webinars, exclusive industry reports, discounts on our conferences (Real Estate Connect) and much more.
It’s very exciting to see the direction that ERA is headed in! ERA agents and brokers, if you attended ERA IBC please leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought of the event.
To everyone else….do you have an event coming up? Let us know! Leave us a comment below!
Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News
