Let’s tackle a couple issues at once here. You’d probably appreciate having a little extra traffic to your blog or website. The people in your area probably like to have a little fun. Let’s bring the two together.

I saw a simple idea for a disposable camera tied to a park bench with a little note beside it telling people the camera was left there just so they could take pictures, have fun and he’d be back to pick up the camera that evening. They took their pictures, and you can see them here. If you have cards for your blog (and oh, you should!) maybe you could leave a little stack of them next to the camera and tell people in your note that pictures will be available soon on your blog. (You could even make a Real Estate Show from the pictures you get back. Just sayin’.)

If you find that you like the idea, this could even become a traveling experience – try a bench on main street, a hometown sporting event, maybe tied to a lamp post along a parade route. Think of someplace where people may gather and be happy, and see if there’s a way to throw a camera in the mix.

Another variation of this idea is to set a disposable camera free and see where it goes. The Disposable Memory Project does just that and prints the pictures from around the world. Since you’d probably rather have local attractions, consider setting a camera free (or giving it to someone to start off) in a waterproof baggie with a sign in sheet, a little stack of your blog cards and a postage paid, padded envelope to return the camera to you for developing. You can print instructions at the top of the page, such as “Please take a picture of your favorite view in Putnam County” or “When I have visitors from out of town, I take them here” and let them know to check your blog in the future to see how it turned out. Each person just takes a picture, signs the sheet and passes it along to the next person. The last person to take a picture can drop it in the mail to you.

With themes like this for each camera, you can feel free to have several cameras out there at the same time. Understand that cameras may not always find you again. I recently took three cameras to a convention and immediately received one back. A friend is bringing another to a future meet up, and the third is just missing. Not a bad record, really.

If you’re wondering, “Why would I want to do this?”, I’ll tell you.

• It should bring each one of the people that comes into contact with your cameras to your blog. They’ll want to see their picture and the ones that came afterwards.
• They’re also likely to share your link with friends, family or coworkers along with the story about how they got involved.
• It will give you search engine attracting photos you might not have thought to take on your own. If you set loose a camera with a request for a “Favorite View,” you may get back a “Sunrise over the Kanawha River”, “Ducks at Hurricane City Park” or “Flowers at Midway Greenhouse.” Give photo credit to the photographer and you have a new friend, too.
• Also, it just makes people SMILE. It’s as simple as that. You shared a little something unexpected with them and gave them a bright spot in their day – sometimes that’s enough.

And if someone is going to remember your name, isn’t it best when they smile when they think of you?

My mobile blog fest begins tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM.

That’s when the entire Turner family, six kids and two parents, will head off on our annual road trip to West Virginia. I blogged all along the way last year on our CA TO WV… AND BACK AGAIN blog. This year I’m doing it again, only I’ll be using as many new technologies as I can to chronicle our journey.

The main tool this year? Utterz.

Most of the posts created on our famiy travel blog will be generated using Utterz. I’m confident I’ll be able to show a number of creative ways to use some of the technologies that have surfacec since our last trip a year ago. I’ll also be using Twitter, Brightkite, editable Google maps, and other mobile tools. in addition, depending on bandwidth, I’ll be using some live video streaming, Real Estate Shows (of course), and I’m even going to throw in some Eyejot This! action along the way.

This trip will certainly provide the breadth of creative opportunites required to show how versatile some of the latest, proven technologies can be. But what I’m really hoping is that it will serve to get your own creative juices flowing.

So, come join us… virtually. There may not be any more room in the truck, but there’s plenty of room on the ‘net. I think we’ll all have some fun and you may get a few new ideas along the way!

In case you missed the pevious announcements, I will be moderating the “Beyond The Written Word: Videoblogging And Podcasting” seminar at Bloggers Connect in New York.

The Bloggers Connect panel will consist of Douglas Heddings, Senior Vice President, Prudential Douglas Elliman; Rachel Natalie Klein, Founder, IntoTheBox.tv; Daniel Rothamel, Realtor, Strong Team REALTORS; Blogger, RealEstateZebra.com; and Mike Price, President, ML Broadcast. And I hope some of you will be able to attend.

I’ll also be joined by two other members of our Real Estate Shows team, Bill Leider and Joe Fenton.

If you’ll be at Connect, we must connect. (I have swiped most of this entire paragraph from Jay – The Phoenix Real Estate Guy) I’ll be at “Beer with Bloggers” on Tuesday evening ( Zillow is buying. They have VC money.). If we miss each other there, give me a call or text me at 818.917.8418 and we’ll get together.

This weekend my family and I had a little adventure. We drove up to Blackwater Falls in Davis, West Virginia. The park and the falls were indeed gorgeous, and I felt some of my stress slide away while I soaked in the beauty. (Just “some” of my stress, because apparently I like to keep some.)

The falls and the views were worth our three hour car trip. But the real reason we were there was to meet Jeff Turner, his wife Rocky and their family.

Yes, I finally met my boss — what a strange world we have with the internet. I was as impressed as I expected to be. Jeff and his wife Rocky have six kids, and each and every one of them is incredible. Together they are one amazing family! I loved getting to meet Jeff and letting our families goof off together.

I’m proud to have my name associated with this company. The people that work for Real Estate Shows are hard workers, and they have a lot of joy in what they do. Working with these people is fun! They also have a lot of joy in their lives outside of work.

And just in case you’d like to unload a little of your stress too, I made you this Real Estate Show.
Watch and relax.

I spend far too much time on Active Rain, reading blogs and making friends … er, NETWORKING. There’s so much information just freely given among experts in all real estate fields — it’s a gold mine!

A couple of my favorite people there are Broker Bryant and his wife, TLW of Tutas Towne Realty. They have a wonderful Real Estate Show that acknowledges their adjusting market while remaining firmly upbeat and encouraging.

Now that is a funny Show! And what a great message — there IS hope, call Broker Bryant!! Wouldn’t you like to spread a similar message in your area?

We’ve all had ups and downs lately, it’s best to have a sense of humor about it all. It’s even better to share that sense humor with our clients. They know what the market’s like, they’re in it. They may be feeling frustrated themselves. Humor is a great tension breaker!

Use your Shows creatively, give them a good laugh and get to work!

Matt Bless made our day today.

Some of our clients are not just real estate agents and brokers, they are also musicians. Some of them are excellent musicians. And sometimes they like to share. It doesn’t happen as often as we’d like, but when it does, it really makes us smile. Matt leads The Matt Bless Trio and gave us permission to include in our library a 30 and 60 second version of his trio performing “Little Sunflower” by Freddie Hubbard.

“I’ve always liked the harmonies, the switch back and forth between minor and major scales, and the Latin feel,” Matt said. “Since I play piano primarily for my own enjoyment, it’s nice to have a forum for getting my music out there, even if it’s mostly anonymous.”

Matt obviously hasn’t see his name next to the new “Sunflower” addition to our Member Originals section of the music library. He’s not so anonymous anymore either. Here is the 60 second version of his fabulous submission.

Matt, thank you for sharing your creativity and your love for music with all of our members! Be sure to check out Matt’s other songs at www.MattBlessTrio.com.

I had the pleasure of a breakfast meeting with Joel Burslem from Inman and The Future Of Real Estate Marketing, and Pat Kitano from Transparent Real Estate.

L to R: Joel Burslem, Pat Kitano, and me.

I have to thank Pat for once again getting me out of the office. He’s very good about that. I had not met Joel before, so it was an extra bonus. We spent 2 solid hours laughing and sharing ideas. It was refreshing. Both of these guys are very bright and passionate about the real estate industry. I look forward to meeting with them again. If you’ve never visited their sites, go click on the links above. I think you’ll like what you find there.

An aside: As is my habit, I had my Kodak v705 with me. I’ve been testing its ability to stitch panoramic shots right in the camera everywhere I go. This time Joel got to be a guinea pig in one of my tests. He looks so excited to be in the photo! This was done without a tripod.