Last week I experienced a live concert on Sunday afternoon. The Victoria Symphony orchestra (Tania Miller, Conductor) was performing "The Planets" by Gustav Holst. This is a collection of a musical tribute to each of the planets in our solar system. There was an addition of a multimedia work on a giant screen behind the orchestra which accompanied the music. The visual portion is produced and directed by Jose Francisco Salgado,PhD who is an astronomer and science visualizer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. What a combination of sight and sound!

I encourage any of you to attend such a performance if you see your local symphony orchestra pairing this extraordinary and unique offering. I felt wonderfully surrounded and a part of the music while at the same time transported to another place. The best part was the reminder that I/we are pretty small in the greater scheme of things. A good reminder when I/we get wrapped up into life and forget that the world is not revolving around me/us. My experience was a rich gift indeed.

Morgan Carey has just posted a very exciting announcement at the REW Blogs regarding the launch of his new IDX demographics plugin, you can read the blog post here. To celebrate the launch of his newest IDX product, he has also authorized a promotion for the first 100 subscribers which includes 25% off all common upgrades and his super popular and market exclusive LEC (limited edition custom) product or if the LEC is not in your current budget or not available - CORE IDX installations are 50% off! The URL for the blog post is http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/morgan-carey/8453/show/ - He is asking that anyone who has questions regarding this promotion please ask them in the comments section of the blog post (as opposed to telephone or email) - He is going to be super busy during this promotion and he really doesn't want to miss your question (or your order) so posting on the blog is the best place to ensure you get seen before it sells out.

The second annual Real Estate Webmasters Summit is coming to Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, from July 30 to 31, 2009. This is the event for North American agents wishing to learn how to leverage their websites to their full potential and to maximize both leads and sales. CEO Morgan Carey will be personally teaching classes on search engine optimization, lead follow up, and leveraging IDX data from a search engine marketers perspective, and Eric Blackwell, owner of EricOnSearch, will be there to teach authority building and networking online.

Real Estate Webmasters are going to be giving away an LEC (Limited Edition Custom) plus one year of hosting / SAAS fees (US$10,840 value) to one lucky attendee. Last years winner was Mike Taylor - if you ask him if coming to the conference (even without winning the LEC) was worth it, he will be likely to provide a glowing review - but hey, winning a $10,000 website isn't all that bad either.

This summit is a business writeoff to come for a vacation in the most beautiful place on earth. Yes you will learn, yes you will network, and yes you should not miss the conference for all the business reasons mentioned, but c'mon people - this is Vancouver Island, the Pacific Coast of British Columbia - it is probably on most everyone's bucket list anyways. Write it off and come early, stay late, and enjoy all the pacific north west has to offer. See you there!

Well one of the perks of shopping at the road sidestand, versus something that you might pick up at the big box stores from half way around the world, is the character that goes with it.

When I stopped by to check out the stand at the corner of Thompson and South Road, I found this sign. I would have been happy to pay 50 cents for my new Greek Oregano seedlings, but thought the marked down price of 25 cents was great. I wasn't really planning on any more herbs for the garden, but what the heck !

I got a free laugh out of the deal as well and thought it was a great marketing approach, a little different then we see in our Real Estate promotional material.

Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News
Published: Monday, March 16, 2009

Fresh from a two-year working holiday in New Zealand, newlyweds Stefan and Sonja Iwasawa are ready to settle down and start a family. And the timing couldn't be better for the biologist and his wife, as housing prices pull back and mortgage rates drop. Falling Bank of Canada rates are gradually trickling down to the mortgage market and that's starting to attract new homebuyers, while some existing owners are looking to remortgage.

That's helping to buoy consumer confidence after sales plummeted following the uncertainty of the economic meltdown in October. Brokers are getting busier as a buyers' market develops for first-time buyers and homeowners look into cutting their mortgage payments or financing home improvements. While a gap remains between the key lending rates and how much banks charge to borrow, mortgages are heading in the right direction for consumers. "Everyone was talking about it's a good time to buy," Iwasawa said. "We just came back into the country and parents and friends were all saying you don't ever see it this low. We were thinking about doing the family stuff and we thought 'why not jump into the market?'"

For the full story see click here

The photo is of my clients Stefan and Sonja referred to me buy a past client.

To view my Nanaimo real estate listings and other MLS listings click here