Mark Menzella-We build websites for REALTORS®

So why is a blog about Internet Technology for the Real Estate Industry writing about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Well sometimes when things are passionate enough, mean enough, or is worthy enough, it is OK to go off topic.

Breast Cancer for me has a whole new meaning when it hits close to home. My sister was diagnosed and is currently battling this horrible disease. Bev and I are best friends and I cannot image a world without her. The old saying "It only happens to the good ones" certainly holds true here. Because in my book, there is not a better and more caring person on the planet.

I often reflect and try to make some sense of this whole situation and why people need to go through this. I guess that is one question that will never get answered. But what I can do to deflect some brain cells off that horrible reality is to try and make a difference.

So I thought I would dedicate this post in getting more people aware of Breast Cancer. If enough people know and care about the issue I am sure someday we can conquer it. I believe that one day, breast cancer will never steal another year from anyone’s life – and we will live in a world with less breast cancer and more birthdays.

This year in honor of Bev we formed "Team Bev" and I am walking in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event on October 24th at Bergen Community College in Bergen County NJ. The fact you are reading this far means you do care about the issue so please join in the fight.

So what can you do?

1. Stop over at the American Cancer Society Making Strides Website and read about the issue
2. If you live in the New Jersey, join Bev and walk for the cure. Join Team Bev here
3. Stop over at Team Bev's Facebook page, 100 fans in 30 days!
4. Make a donation to fight Breast Cancer
5. Just spread the word.
6. Leave a comment of encourgement here for Bev and all the other wonderful women affected by this disease.

Together we can make a difference!

Resources about Breast Cancer:

• National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Website
• American Cancer Society
• National Cancer Institute
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute
• BreastCancer.org
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

Day 2 was very eventful, REALTORS® went to sessions throughout the day, crowded into the exhibition hall and made their rounds to the many booths here at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This year seemed busier than last year and it looks like at least from the attendance the REALTORS are bouncing back. RE/Advantage is please to announce we had 2 winners today. Walter Szoludko from Davis Realtors won and AMEX Gift Check.

Perhaps the most popular topic of the day was the new enhancements we made to our IDX product. New Stantistics, custom URL's and increased speed were a big hit.

See Walter's Story

Patricia Feely from Heritage House Sotheby’s International Realty won a Website Design Package valued at $1,500. Congradulations Walter and Patricia.

Richard Katze and Charlie Oppler from Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty stopped by our booth to say they loved the website RE/Advantage created for them. www.prominentproperties.com

Charles Oppler from Prominent Properties Sotheby's and Ben Henderson

Scot Desort and I went to the SellState REO booth and were greeted with warm smiles and Ralph Barone has this to say.

Mary Davis and Nelson Chen

Today was loud and busy day 2 went superb and we are eager to be back tomorrow.

Bill Gilsennan, Ben Henderson, Nancy McKerahan, Anna Dimiceli

Personal Note: Today was very busy but also VERY productive. I loved congratulating our winners and speaking with new potential clients. Meeting current customers of ours was very gratifying because I actually got to the individuals on the other end of the phone during the website construction process! We gave out a lot of information/literature and ran many demos to visitors.

This is Megan Lade signing off until tommorrow...I need some sleep!

Welcome to Day 2 at the REALTOR Triple Play Convention in Atlantic City

Ben Henderson on YouTube from Atlantic City

As day 2 opens here at Triple Play 2009 at the Atlantic City Convention Center RE/Advantage is ready for the oncoming crowds of REALTORS® we expect to see today. We will be running demos all day and we are interested to answer all questions that come our way. Don't forget we are still giving away lots of cool stuff, drop by and say hello.

Coming Live From Atlantic City Today

Watch is LIVE in Atlantic City. Yes we are now streaming a live WebCast from Triple Play. There are 3 interesting educational sessions happening today.

View our Flickr Photo Gallery

Don't forget we are still giving away lots of cool stuff, drop by and say hello.

Yesterday's Recap

Yesterday was busier than expected! Visitors to our booth (#627) ranged from current clients to REALTORS® from out of state – RE/Advantage was excited to demo all of our products to both.

We had a special visitor come by that won one year free of IDX service with the GSMLS and another REALTOR® won an AMEX gift card. Overall I will chalk this up to a successful day!

A big shout out to one of our valued clients that also has a booth at the Expo. SellState Property Solutions Realty. Visit them at Booth 637.

Personal Note: Since this was my first year at Triple Play I was a bit skeptical and uneasy as the REALTORS® started filing in the convention center after their classes. I didn’t know what to expect when a burst of visitors came to our booth but after about an hour I was talking up all the REALTORS® as if I had been in sales for years! I was proud to get a several clients interested in our products enough that I have many follow up calls to make at the end of the week. Overall day one went well and I am more than excited to start day 2!

Our Live Twitter broadcast was also a success with many new followers coming online. Remember even if you are not down at the Convention you can still win with our TweetQuiz. Watch out for them throughout the day.

Some interesting classes going on today

• At 9am to 10.15am REALTORS® can attend a class entitled “Connecting with Online Consumers” with Bill Lublin.
• Another exciting class running from 9am to 11am entitled “Mobile Technology Survival Guide for 2010” with Max Pigman should interest anyone looking for more information on social networking.
• Then from 10.30am to 11.45am the most important class of the day! – “Understanding Social Media” with Bill Lublin. He will be discussing the top 10 social media questions today as well as the importance of social networking.

This is Megan Lade blogging in Atlantic City at the REALTOR Triple Convention.

Today is the first day of the Triple Play convention in Atlantic City. REALTORS® from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania will be in attendance to attend educational sessions and visit the Expo. The educations session hours* are:

• Tuesday, December 8th from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
• Wednesday, December 9th from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
  
• Thursday, December 10th from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon

*Designation courses begin on Monday, December 7th; Commercial Marketing Session continues until 4 pm on Thursday December 10th.

The Trade Expo hours are:

• Tuesday, December 8th from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
  
• Wednesday, December 9th from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
  
• Thursday, December 10th from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.
  

As I am writing this post Bennie Henderson and Megan Lade from our company are busily setting up our booth at the Expo.

Come down and see us at booth 627. We are raffling off AMEX Gift Checks and you can also can win a free website. We are also happy to announce some new and exciting additions to our IDX product. We have added some speed enhancements, listing statistics and custom URL’s.

Stop by and take a look.

Let’s get Social. To keep up with the trend of Social Networking – RE/Advantage will be posting daily blogs on Triple Play and also posting live in Twitter. If you have a question stop by our Twitter Page (twitter.readvantage.com).

Be sure to follow carefully in our Blog Posts and Tweets. We will be giving away some great stuff!

While I am not sure everyone may know Giuseppe Rossi but for those of you who do not, he is a soccer player for the Italian National team. But the interesting thing is he grew up here in the USA. He was born and raised in Clifton, NJ and at the age of 13 left for Italy to play in the Youth Leagues. He followed his dreams and they came true as he grew into a man. He is hoping to play for Italy in the 2010 Word Cup.

My daughter is an avid soccer player and on Sunday in a soccer tournament in Philadelphia she had the chance to meet Giuseppe. He was in the states for the summer and was watching his little cousin play. What a nice role model he was. With all the attention and the fact he was trying to watch his cousin play, he had the courtesy and class to still be attentive to all the fans. He was down to earth and had no problem talking to us, signing autographs or being in a picture or three.

It is nice to see such positive role models in the world. G - good luck in the 2010 World Cup!