Rebecca Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant

Saturday October 10, 2009 and Sunday October 11, 2009 marks Columbus Day Weekend AND Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

Oktoberfest is a traditional local fall event that I have taken my children to every year since I moved to Lake Geneva Wisconsin four years ago.  The first time I ever had hot Apple Cider with caramel and whipcream was at Oktoberfest.  The first time my youngest son ever road a pony was at Oktoberfest. 

Lake Geneva, WI Oktoberfest Events on Saturday October 10, 2009

 

Times: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Enjoy the food booths, farmers market, craft booths, restaurant Oktoberfest Specials, and Fall Color Lake Cruises.

Children's Main Entertainment Stage- 200 Block of Broad Street, Downtown Lake Geneva

Great Pumpkin Giveaway-200 Block of Broad Street-1 p.m.- Giveaway of 400 pumpkins 'til they're gone; 1 pumpkin per child 10 yrs. old and younger

Kids Activities Include:  Moonwalk, Hay Rides, Face Painting, Caramel Apples, Cotton Candy, Popcorn

 

Oktoberfest Lake Geneva, WI Events on Sunday October 11, 2009

Times:  11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Enjoy the food booths, farmers market, craft booths, Restaurant Oktoberfest Speccials, and Fall Color Lake cruise

Oktoberfest Street Dance- 2 noon- 5 p.m.- 200 Block of Broad Street-Music by a German Polka band; Oktoberfest Dancing by the Milwaukee Donauschwaben Kinder Gruppe1.

For the Kids From 11 a.m.-5 p.m.:  Moonwalk, Hay Rides, Face Painting, caramel Apples, Cotton Candy, and Popcorn

**  This Schedule is courtesy of my local county newspaper- The Walworth County Shopper Advertiser*

I hope this schedule helps people find this information online and plan for the fest accordingly.

It will be cool tommorrow and parking gets crowded so be prepared to park away from the downtown Lake Geneva Wiscconsin area and walk.  The intersection at Broadstreet will be blocked to traffic.

Make sure to bring quarters if you happen to get close parking because you will need it for the meters.

Dressing in layers will allow you to enjoy the festivites as they are outside and most people enjoy walking around Geneva Lake Shore and exploring the shops in the downtown area and their specials which are normally displayed on racks and at booths on the sidewalks downtown. 

If you have an umbrella stroller you might want to bring that instead of the big stroller because it gets crowded downtown, especially on the sidewalks with the tables and sales racks.

AND, unless you want to carry pumpkins around and other goodies all day...plan on taking another trip to the car or bringing a wagon.

Have fun and enjoy Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

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Recent Life Reflections...by Rebecca D. Levinson- May 2009

I am not a philosopher nor an anthropologist.  I am not a historian nor an ethics gatekeeper but there are a few things that have just really gotten to me over the past few weeks.

Today I am going to share a few.

1. Fear tactics in marketing

The article "Writing PPC Ad Copy That Delivers:  6 Best Practices" in the Spring '09 Issue of Search Marketing Standard the author David Rodnitzky gives some practical advice for writing PPC copy that delivers click thrus.  I was very interested in the content of the article and found it to be insightful, but was then saddened by Rodnitzky's statement in Item 6. of which he lists the basic human emotions that drive PPC ads, "....fear, greed, vanity and exclusivity". 

 

My thoughts:  In a web 2.0 world of online transparency, the old school fear tactics in the advertising world still elicit human response and action that drive purchases online. 

 

2.  Segregation of Community

- Online communities help us to extend our reach beyond the confines of geography and spanning across generational lines.  The ability to make meaningful connections and learn new things is stronger now than before because of technology.  Yet across many social networking venues there seems to be an emphasis on "who you know" even if those you know don't say much that is different from anyone else. 

My thoughts:  Having relocated a good 28 plus times in my lifetime, mostly during my childhood, I realize that we are more the same than we are different.  I would welcome a blue collar worker or a high profile attorney to my dinner table any day of the week.  I would react to them based on the content of their character, first, foremost, and always.

 

 

3.  Separation of Family Values

- I was looking at my 12 year old daughter Zoe's school papers last week and found a worksheet where she had to fill in the blanks of the different parts of the label of a prescription bottle of pills.  There were also questions on the worksheet that she had to answer when it came to different types of medication and their purpose and use.

When I asked Zoe about the worksheet she told me that her class had to complete it because so many kids are latch key kids and if they get sick they will know what to do when they are home alone.  She also mentioned to me that her class also had to watch the movie "Supersize Me" and she almost got sick at the end and didn't make it through the movie.

My thoughts:  I wish I had planned my work schedule better so I could home school my children.

 

 

 

4.  Death of Newspapers

- The only newspaper I read anymore is my local Lake Geneva Times and the Community Shopper that come 2-3 times/week to my door.  I used to subscribe to the Chicago Tribune and pick up a Milwaukee Times on Sundays but not anymore.  I can usually pick up story lines that interest me much faster online.  At a recent dinner with family I asked a full table of 10 adults who buys newspapers and the only ones who did were my sister and her boyfriend to line their gerbil's cage.

My thoughts:  I hope the great reporters of our time are able to find jobs as community journalists in online venues and I hope venture capitalists will support community journalists because good investigative reporting can take significant financial backing.

5.  Trickle Down Effect of News- The Insanity Factor

- My son came home from school last week and told me that a new student had just come from Mexico to their school.  The kids were teasing the child about having Swine Flu. 

Earlier this week I read an article about more Swine Flu crazed action, "China Forces Dozens of Mexican Travelers Into Quarantine".

My thoughts:  Apparently leading by example is actually leading by panic.

 

You won't often see me rant about "How a blog sucks" or sock puppet commenting, c'mon with an adoption rate of social networking and blogging in the real estate industry of 7%, people are still learning. 

But life reflections....real human stories and offline life, this is the stuff that gets me going and that I think about, write about, talk about, am "transparent" about.

I welcome your conversation on my blog and I am inviting your discussion- turbulent, reflective, or celebratory, please feel free to chime in about your recent life reflections in the comments below.

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Why don't people blog? They just don't want business. They are scared. They are antiquated.

Polished to Perfection? I hope not. I'm a REAL person and this is my BLOG

Yesterday I held a seminar for a local real estate franchise, Keefe Real Estate in Walworth County Wisconsin. The seminar, "Community Equals Profitability" was about building a strong community using social networking, blogging, and yes, belly-to-belly offline marketing strategies.

During the seminar I explained how there's more then one method a real estate agent can use to become a content provider. We discussed blogging, podcasting, microblogging, and the "dreaded" vlogging. I encouraged the agents to give it a try by going on Facebook and recording a quick message for a friend.

BUT....there was something missing. I hadn't really given vlogging a whirl yet, but I realized the power of this multimedia tool enough to introduce it as a viable option in my seminars. Enough to post about it on my blog in my New Year's Series,

"New Year's Consideration: Vlogging in 2009" and receive this comment,

"I'm still trying to get a handle on blogging! Is vlogging in your future?

I said yes. I continue to preach, but I haven't yet practiced anything but the art of procrastination when it comes to vlogging. I don't wear yellow feathers very well so here I go and what I want you to notice is,

• I am not saying anything earth shattering.
• Not the best lighting and no retouch on the makeup
• No staging of my messy office space

In other words, it's not perfect, but it is really me.

I recorded this yesterday afternoon. I had to mess around with some software and then decide where I wanted to upload the video to. I am truly a novice at vlogging but it was kinda fun.

I'll still blog than vlog more often. I enjoy writing the unspoken words. It fits MY business needs and I can do it comfortably, anytime of day, even in my pajamas.

So no more yellow feathers, maybe a few stray hairs:-)

Polished to Perfection? I hope not. I'm a REAL person and this is my BLOG.

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Here's my motive. It's much more fun to exercise with friends. Stretch your blogging limbs, get your oxygen flowing, and contribute to this Social Media Marketing Madness by commenting below with a link to a post about any of the social media marketing methods you have blogged about.

Yes, I am saying self promote. So holla at this blogging girl and send a little link love back to your blog in the comments below. As part of my cool down I might just follow up with a post that lists ALL of the contributions listed in this post.

Time for a social media marketing exercise on hump day. On your mark, get set, GO.