Richard Silver

Are you too old for tech? Why it’s not about age.

A very wise person once told me that “successful people get results and unsuccessful people get excuses”. Since then I have tried to live life with no excuses. It is a constant challenge to keep that promise, and the “age” excuse is the one the keeps boiling to the top; it’s the easiest one to indulge…. No matter where I travel, when the topic of technology/change comes up, I hear “I’m too old to change” and they are usually younger than...Continue Reading...

REALTOR Representation Guru Adorna Carroll Explains…

A few years back I did some work for the Real Estate Buyer's Agent's Council (REBAC) of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) as they were exploring how successful REALTORS were using Social Media. It was through that group that I met the most amazing trainer/teacher that I have ever come across: Adorna Carroll... Adorna is totally irreverent, and exacting in her teaching and understanding of Rules, Regulations and just plain common sense within the Real Estate community.  After a class...Continue Reading...

Last week at REBarCamp San Francisco.

Last Monday at the 3rd REBarCamp San Francisco there was a heated discussion generated by Joel Burslem's recent blog called "The Death of the Real Estate Blog" for 1000 Watt Consulting . I don't think that I have ever been in a room so filled with the movers and shakers of Real Estate Blogging...the Big Kahunas were there: Jay Thompson , Bill Lublin , Rob Hahn , Heather Elias , Derek Overby , Dale Chumbley , Todd Carpenter , Maya Paveza , Andy Kaufman , Mike Mueller , Ginger Wilcox , Kelly...Continue Reading...

Toronto: The Best Time of the Year!

For years friends have wondered why we stay home on long weekends and March break, and the last weeks of August....Sad to say but Toronto is at it's best at those times...basically times when as many people are away as possible. Traffic decreases and with it the stress levels on the roads, streets and in the Restaurants.... Toronto becomes more livable, casual and an absolute treat. I feel sorry for some of my friends who have drive the 2-3 hours to cottage...Continue Reading...

Lifestyle and Technology: People are talking about you!!

Last Summer a group of us techno-weenies were in San Francisco for a Conference and wanted to go out for a great dinner. After some discussion we decided on Chinese food and rather than walking aimlessly through Chinatown, we decided to YELP  the restaurant. For those of you who have not YELPED before...Yelp  is a website that is a repository of peer reviews, mashed with GPS . It uses the GPS to find you, allows you to search under numerous categories for...Continue Reading...

REAL ESTATE: January 2010 Article in “Today’s Buyer’s Rep”.

Almost a year ago I travelled to Chicago to sit in on a day of "rebooting" a course offered by REBAC,  the Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council of the National Association of REALTORS.  The course was called Innovative Marketing  and after a day of meetings and numerous subject matter discussions the course was relaunched in November of 2009. "REBAC is the world’s largest organization of real estate professionals focusing on BUYER representation. By providing specialized training and ongoing skill development, REBAC helps...Continue Reading...

Downtown Toronto News Is Up and Running!

Every morning I get up, head to the front door, pick up my Globe and Mail  and skip happily to the Toronto Section. What happens in the rest of the world and the world economy is important, but nothing engages me like breaking new in Toronto. Sadly, I find myself with the feeling that I am missing a lot of the Toronto goings-on, and head to the Internet going to several sources to keep up to date. (more...)Continue Reading...

Impressions of REBarCampNYC and Inman Connect NYC 2010!

So I have been home a week and trying to make sense of all the information that I gleaned in the four hectic days of meetings in New York City. Instead of the usual "Blow by Blow" and who said what, I will just give you some of my impressions: First and foremost, the four days were all about Social Media . Like it or not, just the way we used to say that Realtors with Technology will replace Realtors without it, now,...Continue Reading...

Lessons in Customer Service: Holland America’s Onboard Internet Service.

While on a Holland America  Cruise recently, I messaged my Facebook and Twitter friends that I was enjoying the "Techspert" classes that they had on-board.  Like a lot of Companies today, Holland America , is monitoring the Blogosphere and Tweetosphere and I heard back quickly that they "were happy I was enjoying myself". My response was to tell them that although I was, I thought that their Internet charges ($100 for 250 minutes) were excessive in view of the poor service (back to...Continue Reading...

New Year’s Resolutions 2010

It is the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. At this time of year there is a natural tendency that I have had to make New Year's resolutions. I'm sure that I am not that unusual and it is probably a trait that goes back through my family history. Was it a half-empty glass scenario? So this morning, I was taking a nice long New Year's walk...around the deck of a Cruise Ship as we are...Continue Reading...