My Day at the Minnesota Realtor Expo – 2009
September 24, 2009
The Minnesota Realtor Expo was held yesterday, September 23rd, at St. Paul’s Riverplace. I spent the day with 400+ other people going through 5 breakout sessions and a trade show to better enhance my skills. The sessions were all well done, here’s what I attended -
- Marketplace Issues – a session that discussed Realtor contractual issues and client service recommendations. This was helpful as there are so many important rules we must follow to make sure we are doing right by our clients.
- Minnesota Real Estate Pricing Perspectives – this breakout by a national speaker discussed how Minnesota’s real estate market is near the middle of national averages and our job growth/loss has been better than many. The thing that really caught me was his projection for broad interest rate hikes in coming months & years. A 1% jump in rates reduces a buyer’s purchasing power by 10% and he projects 2% in 1-2 years.
- Effective E-Mail & Tech Savvy Realtor – These 2 classes were taught by the same national speaker. I pride myself on being ahead of the curve with my 21 years at Microsoft so a lot of this wasn’t new but I did pick up some nice tips like using a Flip video camera some additional web sites that will improve how I interact with clients.
- Resourceful Marketing for Realtors – Led by the Minneapolis Area Association for Realtors Communications Director, this session discussed a lot about social media and how to better enable it to serve clients. When I got back to my office I fired up a Facebook business site and a Twitter account.
- Here’s my Facebook Fan Page – Become a Facebook Fan
- Here’s my Twitter Page – Follow Me On Twitter
- Connect with me on Linked In – Linked In Profile
Minnesota Zoo – Apple Valley’s Family Destination
September 9, 2009
The Minnesota Zoo (Minnesota Zoo) in Apple Valley, MN opened its doors on May 22, 1978 to great fanfare as a new concept in how they display animals.
Throughout the years it has gone numerous renovations and expansions so that it now houses 2,700 animals across 449 different species.
The Zoo is divided into 6 main sections (Wikipedia – MN Zoo Details) -
- Minnesota Trail, featuring animals native to Minnesota
- Northern Trail, featuring animals of the north (above the 45th parallel)
- Tropics Trail, an indoor walking trail featuring animals from the tropics
- Discovery Bay, an activity area themed around marine wildlife
- Russia’s Grizzly Coast, (brand new in 2009) a part-indoor, part-outdoor new multi-million exhibit featuring animals from Russia’s Far East and the Kamchatka Peninsula.
- Family Farm, a petting zoo themed around farm animals
Many Dakota County families find great value in getting a Household Membership which allows multiple trips without feeling you need to do the whole thing each time - Membership Info This works well too as their are many changes ongoing at the Zoo. For example, today’s Star Tribune points out that a batch of new dolphins will be here temporarily – Dolphins Visiting Zoo
Finally, the Minnesota Zoo is also home to a great IMAX Theater which hosts many unique shows on it’s huge screen & high-end audio system as well as 3D shows – Great Clips IMAX Theater
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