#RETT Opens its Doors to Anyone & Everyone
Posted on February 10th, 2010 in Deedstreet News | 13 Comments »
About two weeks ago at 2:00am, Dean Ouellette had an idea. He had recently seen a channel 12 story featuring Gangplank (for those unfamiliar, Gangplank is a Phoenix center for innovation, where web professionals of all sorts meet to collaborate and benefit from the free flow of information) and wondered why the same concept couldn’t be applied to real estate.
Not one to let a thought disappear into the night, Dean quickly emailed Jay Thompson, Justin McHood and Nick Bastian. Justin responds; thinks it’s a great idea. Jay says he’s been thinking about this concept for a while. Nick likes the idea as well.
Fast forward to this past Monday night. The idea continues to be batted around. But you can discuss an idea to death. Eventually you just need to jump into the water and do it. And that’s exactly what happened. The next morning, the first gathering took place at Cherubini Coffee Company in Tempe, AZ. Formally, the gathering is known as Real Estate Tech Tank (#RETT). Informally, they are just a “bunch of real estate types (agents, lenders, title) sitting around in an open space, working, chatting, collaborating.”
So who showed up? Obviously Dean, Jay and Nick showed up, as well as a bunch of Phoenix RE tech “regulars,” such as Shane Hollenback and Bill Risser. But two “suits” also showed up after overhearing about the gathering on Twitter. They came by to talk about a real estate software product they were working on. And this is exactly what Dean and the guys had envisioned. Anyone & Everyone can come by. Pitch a product, talk shop, throw around some ideas….whatever.
My first thought is #RETT is the logical extention of RE BarCamp (#REBC). In fact, Dean originally thought the name of this gathering should be called RE BarCamp 364 (#REBC364); as this is where you would go the other 364 days of the year that your not at REBC, if you’re looking to collaborate with other RE pros.
For Dean, Jay, Justin, Nick, Shane & Bill, it just makes sense. They go back and forth on twitter so often, talking real estate, it can make your head spin. So, they might as well spend the working day under the same roof. For anyone and everyone else? Well, they hope you come by to see if it can make sense for you.
And despite being only two days old (at least in terms of the actual gathering) they are moving forward in a hurry. Justin has already been working on some sponsors and has secured a more appropriate space than the coffee shop for future gatherings. I beleive he will be informing the group of where the new space is today at 9:00am at Cherubini. Also, a website for the gathering is going to be launched next week.
So can this work? Can a bunch of good people come together everyday and colaborate effectively–in a business that has often been noted for it dog-eat-dog approach? Well, I’m going to drive an hour out of my way today to Cherubini and begin to find out.
Doug
13 Responses
Doug,
Great synopsis of the last few days. We’re looking forward to seeing you down there today.
Shane,
Thanks. Looking forward myself. Will be there after lunch.
Doug
Can it work? Yes.
Will it work? I think so.
Thanks for the post, Doug. See ya’ around!
#rett
Doug, nice post!
Anyone reading this — welcome to the #RETT party, hope to see you soon!
Who says Real Estate geeks aren’t cool?
Great concept! I’m really looking forward to see how this plays out. Definitely has the potential to become something “big”. It is great how you guys come together, collaborate – and then share. Thanks and best of luck.
As always you guys are more than welcome to operate RETT out of Gangplank facilities if you want. We would gladly welcome the diversity.
Now this is what the RE.net is all about! What an awesome idea – I am really looking forward to watching #RETT develop and grow (and wishing I lived just a wee bit closer to Phx).
It’s great to see people who are working for or own other companies colaborating together. We have more in common than we give ourselves credit for sometimes. Good luck and get creative.
[...] RE.net is a buzz about a new collaborative coworking environment amongst local RE agents called RETT? Ask Andy Kaufman his thoughts, of course. Andy Kaufman “founded & was lead organizer of [...]
Okay, you really got me excited… and will try and stir up one of these meet-ups in Northern Virginia. Glad you guys are still awake at 2:00 am to come up with this stuff!
How is this different than the blogging/technology alliances that are going on all around the country?
Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea and anytime there is free-flowing ideas it can’t be wrong. We need more events like this all over the nation to spawn the growth of real estate into its next phase.
Hey Toby!
RETT is not an “event”. At its most basic level, it is “co-working” space. A place where real estate types can go to work — individually, or to collaborate with others. Or both.
We are starting to have short “seminars” in the space, but these aren’t events really. They are just regularly scheduled … training sessions, brainstorming sessions, whatever.
I hesitate to call RETT an “alliance”, as that sounds exclusive to me — you can come if you are in the alliance, and if you’re not, you’re out.
RETT is open to all. Some will stop by on occasion, some will practically make it their office and be there on a daily basis. Most will fall somewhere in between.
Make sense?
Thanks Jay. Regardless of what you call it, I like the idea.