I was just thinking that with all of the other national conventions that are out there for NAR, for the different franchises, etc., how fun would it be if P2 had a national/international convention where we could all meet, network, hang out, maybe have some training sessions.  Has anything like this been discussed in the past.  Does it go on and I just haven't noticed?  I know we are all busy working but, for me, this is something that I think would be a lot of fun.  Honestly, I am not that interested in meeting all of the other Realtors from my franchise, but I think it would be entertaining, educational, and networking time well spent to meet my fellow P2ers!  What do you guys think?

Did anyone else read the article in last month's REALTOR magazine and start dreaming about having their own virtual online community?  The article discussed in length a new online trend, which I think will continue to grown and eventually become the new standard in a web presence, of developing and maintaining an online community vs. just a website.  Secondlife.com was used as the primary example of this type of medium.  I have checked it out, and for entertainment value, it was pretty neat. 

What I am thinking about is an online office where visitors to your site can create an avatar, wander through different areas of your site (i.e. financing info, new home purchase, selling your home, etc.) to find information just like walking through an office with a room on each topic, chat with other visitors who are currently browsing the site, even have a virtual assistant there who can answer general questions.  I even have been dreaming about developing a subdivision with model homes so that clients can "preview" and walk through the houses online.  I have a builder who is about to start construction on a subdivision with about 250 home sites.  I think it would be an amazing tool to draw visitors to the site and hopefully have them pick out a house they would actually come out and buy. 

Any input or ideas?  Am I 20 years ahead of my time on this thought?  I think I definitely need to go back to college and take some computer design and programming classes!  :)

Marcia

My local MLS board is now offering the free use of zipform online and/or zipform desktop.  When I first read about this, I was very excited about the possibilities.  But, then the "new" wore off and I haven't started really using it like I thought I would.  I did write one contract for a client using it, but she told me she was unable to open the file without subscribing or paying for the service.  So, I wanted to see if anyone else was using the program and what kind of success you have had with it.  I think it will be a really great tool for my business once I sit down and play with it long enough to figure out how it works.  So, my questions are:  Do your clients actually have to pay for something in order to use the service or did my client just "not do it right"?  Also, at this point, I don't even know yet what all this program is actually capable of doing for me.  It really doesn't come with much documentation short of buying the training CD and my board is not offering training on it yet.  So, if you are using the program or are familiar with its functions, I would love to hear how you are using it and what it can do!  :)