I’m so excited! The National Association of REALTORS® has selected me (and The Donald) to speak at their annual conference and expo again in 2011!

This is the third year in a row that we will speak on Property Management and Residential Real Estate Investments at the conference. The first year 2009, in San Diego, I thought, went seamless and perfect. I was nervous as all get out, but it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. The second year, in New Orleans, I was disappointed in myself. I felt like The Donald and I were all over ourselves. It’s like we couldn’t get it together. However I was pleasantly surprised with how the ratings came back. People didn’t seem to notice that we weren’t on our A-game (luckily).

So now we are Anaheim bound and have a lot of work set out before us. (Yay! Project!) Maybe the third time is the charm. My thoughts are that it will our best seminar yet!

We all remember the big Kanye West interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Music Awards where Kanye so rudely interrupted Taylor’s acceptance speech for the VMA award.  It’s been over a year, but the “I’mm A Let U Finish” drama was all I could think of when I read our NARdiGras evaluation that The Donald and I received this week for speaking at the National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference back in November 2010.

Kanye West and Taylor Swift interrupting each other at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

Our NAR remarks were really good and I was pleasantly surprised, considering I felt like it wasn’t our best presentation.  Something felt off.  Nonetheless, the audience seemed to think otherwise, so we’ll go with what they say.

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being the lowest), our overall score was 4.66.  The comments that were written in all ranged along the lines of “great presentation, nice job, high energy and very informative.”  The only negative comments were that the handouts weren’t the best (my fault) and that “the speakers kept interrupting each other.”  Oops.  We were both at fault on that one. (There’s that Kanye/Taylor thing.)

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t like Kanye and Taylor… more like the annoying State Farm Insurance commercial.

The title sounds salacious.  It’s not meant to be.  In fact, it’s kinda nerdy.

Six months ago, I blogged about the use of QR Codes in the real estate world.  And now that we’re gearing up for the convention next week, I’ve finally put the QR (Quick Response) code to good use.  It seems like the buzz on Twitter is that QR codes are going to be hot this year.  So I slapped it on my business card.  We’ll see how many people are really into it and how many look at me like I’m kinda nerdy.  Here’s how it works: make sure that you have a QR Code scanner app on your smartphone.  Once you do, launch the app and scan the code on my business card.  My contact info will automatically be added to your contacts on your phone and will sync to your computer.  You can then hand the business card back to me and I can re-gift it to someone else.  I save money and the environment.  See…I can be green! <insert sarcasm here>

For those that have no interest in progressing technology, then I put the contact info on the back of the card.

Front & Back View of My New Business Cards

I’m less than two weeks away from the big real estate event of the year (The REALTORS® Annual Conference and Expo 2010) in New Orleans.  The Donald and I are speaking on property management and how to be profitable at one of the sessions on Sunday, November 7th at 11:00 am.  However I’m a little concerned that people may show up an hour early.

Daylight Savings Time falls on that same Sunday morning, November 7, 2010 at 2:00 am and it’s the time to set your clocks back one hour.  You know it’s fall: fall back, spring forward.

But, how many times have you forgotten to set your clocks back in years past, only to show up at church an hour early on Sunday morning??  You then realize that you missed the changing of the clock, you go home and get comfortable and don’t go back to the service because you think to yourself “heck, I’ve already been there today, why go back?”  Okay, granted my NARdiGras session isn’t the same caliber as church, but what happens if people show up early and then decide to do something else then don’t come back?!

Am I freaking out over nothing?  I’m a little nervous, can you tell?

And on a side note… don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. —Concerned Landlord.

Dear loyal Twitter followers, blog fans and Facebook friends,

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate you and thank you all for tuning in to me (even if it is only sporadically) and for often indulging my need for online attention.  You follow me because we share some sort of common bond either personally or in real estate, property management, type 1 diabetes, or for the mutual love of sarcastic rants.  Either way, you are my friend and I value my friends.  I have, however, discovered that not all of my friends are into the same things I am and a career in real estate may just be downright boring to you.  And that is why I write this letter.

The season of the real estate conference is here.  The National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference and Expo is one of the biggest highlights of my career and it happens every November.  It’s attended by over 25,000 people from across the nation who work in the real estate industry and are just like me.  This will be my second year actually speaking at the conference on Property Management with The Donald and I will be actively involved in all of the other activities, sessions and related events that will be going on November 4-8th in New Orleans.  My tweets, status updates and blog posts will be all about the conference and for those of you who find this kind of stuff boring are going to have the urge to quit following me.

This year, my updates will be on overload.  I was selected by the National Association of REALTORS® to be featured as one of 19 members featured on their NAR Conference Live web site.  This is where anyone who is wanting to attend the conference live (without actually attending) can see what is going on at the conference in real time.  This is a big honor for me and I’m excited to be on board.  But if real estate is not your thing then I am begging you, as my friend, not to give up on me.  Life will be back to normal after the conference and my over-saturation of real estate related tweets will slow down and my normal sarcastic updates will resume.

If you choose to stick it out with me, then here are a few things might help you understand some of the crazy-ness about to come:

#NARdiGras: it’s the Twitter hashtag for the conference. The hashtag is searchable and you can follow anyone who is tweeting about this specific conference.

#REBCNO: RE Barcamp New Orleans being held on Thursday, November 4th.  You’ve heard me talk about real estate barcamps before, right?

YPN: Young Professionals Network.  I am the 2010 Missouri State Chapter chair of the YPN and on the 2010-2011 Co-Chair for the Greater Springfield YPN.  This is the group that “networks” quite well and at the national convention is networking on steroids. I also blog for them nationally on their YPN Lounge.

There are probably a thousand things I am forgetting to mention in this letter to you, my friend.  At the very least, please walk away with this— I appreciate you as my friend/follower and I hope that you will stick it out and support me.

Sincerely,
Jessica

*Editor’s Note: This post was supposed to publish on August 13, 2010 once an internet connection could be found after landing. However, the idiot author of this blog placed the post in draft status rather than publish status.  So… internet connection or not, it did not get published in a timely manner.  For full reading enjoyment, we suggest that you pretend like you are reading it from last week.  The idiot author would like to formally apologize to her readers for this big, fat publish fail.

Recently I have been a maniac pressure cooker ready to blow.  But this pressure cooker is simmering down with a long overdue Kauai beach vacation this week.  Which is also giving me a lot of time to think and re-group and as I cash-in in this 2009 year-end bonus from The Donald.

In my attempt to disconnect from work, I find myself not starting off well with the five-hour flight from LAX. I am still a little frazzled and I can’t quite wind down.  So of course, with my super Macbook Pro, I am using the 300 hour battery life to it’s full potential by knocking out several pending work projects.  These projects include the work on our National Association of REALTORS® annual conference presentation keynote.  I’m slowly easing myself away from Microsoft Powerpoint, because

• I am
• Getting
• Sick
• Of
• Bullet
• Point
• Lists

So, I am switching everything to Apple Keynote.  You know me, I do heart Apple, and we’ll see how it goes.  Either way, it’s buh-bye bullet points.

I am now getting a little restless with working on the presentation (believe me, it’s not easy setting up office in flight), so I am going to move on to writing our lead RRP course for Missouri Real Estate Commission continuing education credit.  I’ve still got a little over two hours before we land.  However, writing about lead based paint doesn’t excite me, but this is a good thing because I am getting distracted with thoughts of the beach…. Eh, nevermind.  Work will be there when I get back.

• A
• L
• O
• H
• A

Smile!  Nothing works me up more than having my photo taken.  Especially when it’s a scheduled photo shoot.  I always get so nervous.  The backstory to this specific photo was that this week The Donald and I had a scheduled appointment to have new head shot photos taken.  The head shots were not taken for my fictitious acting career, but for my real estate career.  You know… for the standard REALTOR® business cards that say “call me for all your real estate needs!”

Actually, the pictures were taken so that the National Association of REALTORS® can update their online speaker directory for the upcoming annual conference and expo in November.  We were selected by NAR to present our “8 Ways To Profitable Property Management” at the conference which will be held in New Orleans November 5-8, 2010.

So while I am pulling together the 8 Ways seminar that I’m thrilled to present, I’m going to list out my 8 Ways This Scheduled Photo Session Sent Me Into a Tizzy that lead up to picture day:

1.  I have an extra baby tooth in the front of my mouth on the top.  Most people can’t tell, but I feel like it looks like a giant snaggle tooth.

2. I never know what to wear, so I always stick with black. Hey, it’s slimming.

3. It never fails, my hair doesn’t lay right on picture day.

4. I have this recurring dream that I’m in the 5th grade and school pics were taken just after gym class when I was all hot and sweaty.  Oh wait, that wasn’t a dream.

5. Double chin phobia.  Need I say more?

6. I desperately need to get out in the sun and get some color. (Hello Hawaii vacation this August!)

7. My nails really need a manicure.  Nevermind, I don’t have time and duh, they don’t show up in the pictures.

8. How can I say “cheese” without feeling cheesy?

Thankfully, the Photogenic Angels were looking over me that day and I actually ended up with a decent shot, snaggle tooth and all.  That, or maybe it was the Photoshop Magic Angels.  Not sure which, let’s just hope that they stick around until November.

I received some exciting news this week that The Donald and I were chosen to present “8 Profitable Ways to Property Management” at the National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference and Expo! Therefore, we’re headed to New Orleans in November 2010 for a repeat performance. w00t!!

What’s odd is that I’m more excited this year than I was last year. I know what to expect and I know how much fun it was last year so there is no sense in letting my nerves eat me alive and stifle the excitement.

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of the REALTOR® brand and profession and not just because I am one. Every fall, NAR holds their annual conference where 25,000+ REALTORS® embark on a 4 day conference and huge expo trade show. The phrase “birds of a feather flock together” comes to mind when I attend these conventions… [insert sigh of content here]… I digress. Anyway, I’m proud of my profession and really like what I do.

Ok, so now it’s market research time. What kind of questions do you have about managing residential rental property? Or, if you’re a landlord yourself, what kind of advice or tips should I give in my presentation? Throw it out there, let’s see what sticks.

I can already taste the Cafe du Monde coffee and fresh beignets. Like I said… Sooo excited!

As Smokey The Bear would say, “Only you can prevent forrest fires.”  Uhh, no I can’t because I have tried.  I am speaking of the figurative forrest fire, not the literal ones.  I’ve been known to have too many irons in the fire at one time, but my irons have caught fire and now I’m right in the middle of a huge forrest fire and trying to put it out.  But it’s what I love to do, so here’s the 911, I mean 411 of what’s up.

First, Springfield’s 2nd annual Walk To Cure Diabetes was this past Saturday, May 22, 2010 at Jordan Valley Park.  It was a fantastic day for it and you can see all of the pictures here.  We had just over 500 people there and raised $75,000 for type 1 research.  It was great to have close friends and family come in town for it.  There was even a post on it, written by Scott Strange (who drove down from KC) over at Strangely Diabetic.  Not to mention, Sarah Blacksher wrote about it too.  It was a huge event and I will post on it and my thoughts about it later.

Next on my radar is RE BarCamp St. Louis. June 14th at the Stegton Regency Banquet Center in St. Charles/St. Louis, MO. All my REALTOR® friends getting together to talk tech.  I’m so thankful for outstanding friends like Chris Drayer and Karen Goodman (just to name a few) for their help in getting this off the ground.  You guys surely rock!!

And of course, there are all of the continuing education courses.  It’s a renewal year for Missouri real estate agents and The Donald and I have been teaching classes like crazy. There’s one going on tomorrow.

My new company web site should launch this week (or next).  And who knows whatever happened to that getpaul iPhone app.

Following that is the Dexcom/Omnipod event in Springfield.  This is scheduled for June 24th and was technically supposed to happen this year, but it was put on hold.  Now it’s back and in full force.

And uh, there’s that personal blogging thing.  As usual, the ball gets dropped here too.  It’s dying of smoke inhalation.

This isn’t necessarily one of my shining, glory moments in this story I am about to tell you, but it is one that will make you think twice before calling me one smart cookie.

I like to pride myself on having a sense of direction. I have a good idea on which way is North, East, South and West just like I know you should Never Eat Soggy Waffles.  Last week I traveled to Nashville, TN for a two day conference for Real Estate Barcamp Nashville (#REBCNASH) and Wordcamp Nashville. (#WCNASH).  Nashville is approximately an 8 hour drive almost directly east of Springfield, MO.  So if you travel on Highway 60 east of Springfield, you cross the great state of Missouri, go through a hodge-podge of small Kentucky towns, you’ll end up in the beautiful city dubbed the country music capitol of the world.  Not too hard, three states and just a couple of highway changes.

On a side note, the “camps” were amazing and worth the trip.  As expected out of an REBarcamp, I gained lots of knowledge and new ideas from my fellow colleagues in the real estate field.  And Wordcamp was a whole new thing for me where I could camp out (in a wi-fi enabled, air conditioned room) with fellow tech nerds who love the WordPress platform.  Holla!

I was lucky to have a friend come with me and we chose to the make the long trek back to Springfield after the closing sessions.  We left Nashville at approximately 5:00pm which put us crossing the Missouri State border and the dead simple, westward 4 lane highway back to Springfield around 9:00 pm.  It was dark and quiet highway and that is where I lost my beloved sense of direction (I can only guess).

Somewhere I decided to take an exit and drove 26 miles out of my way.  I didn’t realize it until I saw a sign that said “Welcome to Arkansas!” I yelped (not socially as in “Yelp!ed”, but as if I had been a kitty with my tail stepped on).  I looked at my friend and we both gasped “how the heck did we end up in Arkansas?!”  I guess I got sidetracked and lost my sense of direction.  The only way back to the right highway was to go back the 26 miles.  I think I made that 26 mile trek back in about 12 minutes because I was so mad at myself.

Go ahead and laugh.  But you can’t say that you’ve been in four states within 8 hours.  I’m now registering for Wordcamp Fayetteville.

Yeah...I'm not supposed to be here.