Join the Committme.

It is a commitment of time (oh the hours and hours), energy and money (not all expenses will be reimbursed and the lost business due to your time investment is worth noting). However, you will find good people trying to do what they think is right.

Unfortunately, you will be classified as the ‘young techie’ and in their eyes that means you know how to use the internet well, mastered the pda, and generally have nothing else of value to add beyond answering tech support questions. Please fight thru this stereoype and prove your value by being forceful with your ideas for improvement. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Matt, I’m a great alarm clock and we support you!!! 🙂

Ken – You’re showing your age using words like “moxie.” Haha. Good thing my mom used to use that word or I’d be running to a dictionary right now. Thank you Ken, thank you.

Brad – All things I’ve considered. My answer to the time/money issue is simple. If I don’t try to change and work within our various associations, my money and time won’t matter if I let them take it all away. You can help – keep doing what you’re doing. (I don’t want to admit this in public, but you’re one of my real estate idols.)

Vance – That’s an interesting take on the time commitment. By using more time, you learn to focus more. It’s true, but I hadn’t thought of it that way.

Benn – You said:

Question everything, and always put the needs of the membership above your own, and the day you can no longer be who you are is the day to step down.

I have never backed down from a question, even if it sounds naive or stupid. Part of this is about the needs of the membership (myself included). And as for stepping down – I left a great, fun, and lucrative job for that sort of reason. I loved being a rockstar, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be anymore. I felt as if I wasn’t serving the needs of my fellow band mates or the fans. For lack of a better phrase – I was half-assing it. I left.

Louise – I don’t have enough time as it is, but the fact is, I can no longer use time as an excuse to watch everything from the sidelines. If I can’t be a part of it all, then I can’t complain near as much as I do.

Lani – Thanks. You know, I still think the “Million Realtor Plus Lani March On TAR” is a great idea.

Mark – I think you should. I’m scared to death of the time commitment, the unknown, the new…but if I don’t try, then I’m just another warm body doing my job. I want to see real estate move forward and although I’m a realist and don’t think I’m going to walk in there and change the world – if I can change one tiny little thing, I feel I’ve done what I came to do.

I actually hated this post. I was frazzled yesterday. I mean what I said in it, I just wish it had been better written. In fact, most would call me insane for attempting this and I missed one amazing bit of word play – “Committme”/”Commit Me” (insane, get it?). From here on out, I will have Ken Brand ghost write all my word play.

Good for you Matt!

My motto has always been to get involved or shut up and suffer the consequences.

I’m on my local MLS committee, and the Pro-Standards committee at my Board of Realtors. Participating in the meetings and discussions is valuable education, and there’s even a chance of making a difference!

Some of the old timers (who think “We’ve always done it this way”) can be educated and influenced when they get to know and respect you.

Just be gentle, or you will scare them away!

Good luck!

Vicki – That’s a good motto. We lived life the same way in the band. Stop your whining and start your working. We all broke the theory from time to time and complained or moaned, but it only made us work harder. Try touring England for two weeks (it doesn’t take much to tour through there) knowing full well that you haven’t sold a record. Guess what? Those tours of crappy clubs in the worst places made us into someone in the UK. Sometimes you have to suffer a bit to be where you need to be, but crying about it won’t get you anywhere. I’ll try to be gentle, but I will share my thoughts and work to learn more and explain what I already know.

Brad – I learned from you early on to be myself. You were the first one to really drive that home to me with those early email conversations. Louise could be a great ally for you…you just need to convince her you won’t take all of her time.

Louise – If anyone would be awesome to work with in the local associations, it would be Brad. Plus he’s offering to “be the beer” (I think a tried that once after reading a Zen book and having a couple of beers – I don’t remember the results).

Carolyn – Great advice and encouragement…thanks! I just sent an email to our last chairman of our local board to see if he could offer me any advice. I’ve been in contact with a few “big names” in our association (I figure they’ll at least know my name by the time I get there!) and just that experience is becoming fun and firing me up just a little more each time I get an email. I see your point about being open to other committees and I am, there’s a few I can’t imagine I would perform well on (right now), but I have a couple in mind so far.

Hey Matt, Yep I know I can learn soooo much from Brad, he is a local Real Estate icon (at least in my eyes). I am amazed at all he does and am glad you have found encouragement from his words. I again state I am envious of your “just do it” attitude. It’s definitely something I can learn from. I think it’s great that your passion for your industry and the change to come has caused you to step up to the plate…it has definitely made me think about some things.

Do it to it, Matt! I applaud you for coming to this conclusion in light of last week’s controversy. How do you fix what’s broken? Become proactive, that’s how! Good luck with your goal, Matt…hopefully you’re duties won’t cut into you’re blogging time.