Family Reunion can be broken down into two different types of events; group sessions and breakout sessions.  The group sessions are for everyone and are high energy and highly informative.  This years group sessions include Gary Keller's Keynote, the Vision Speech, the State of Your Company, and the Inspirational Brunch.  Scattered amongst the group sessions are the breakout sessions, and this year there are 8 breakout session time slots.  During each breakout time slot there are between 20-28 available classes where you pick what you want to learn.  Think of it as a Choose Your Own Adventure!
​For the full list of breakout click here.

What is your ONE Thing?
What is the ONE Thing that you want to learn or take away from Family Reunion this year?
Focus on this and put it in the form of a question.  Is it "How to get more listings", or "How to increase my lead conversion ratio", or "How to own my farm" - then put it in question form - "What do I need to do to successfully farm?".  Now ask that question to everyone you cross paths with at Family Reunion.  Ask them how they farm or what they did to successfully farm an area and notice how many of the answers align and are fundamentally similar.

Plan your breakout sessions around your ONE Thing to maximize your education.
The more you focus on one topic the more you will learn and retain regarding it.  If you try to learn a little bit about everything out there, you will will come back with some notes, but no real retained information.

When is this happening?
Later this week, your current Classic website theme will be upgraded to a new responsive theme.
What do I need to do?
Nothing! Your current theme will magically be responsive. It will look like it does now only visitors will be able to see your beautiful website on their phones and tablets.
How will I know when my new website is ready?
We’ll send you an email notification when the new theme is live so you can view your new website and even choose between two responsive themes.

Conference Room 1
Conference Room 1 has been updated with a new 50" TV and now has a more modern HDMI connection when using your own laptop or tablet.  If your device does not have HDMI we do have adapters available to check out at the Front Desk.

*if you wish to continue to use the old VGA connection you will need to use Conference Room 2.

Conference Room 3
We will be adding a TV in Conference Room 3 shortly and will notify you when that upgrade has been completed.

I will keep you updated as we continue to research and upgrade our office technology.  Check back here to see what new things we have rolled out.

​Over and over in my breakout sessions I heard the presenters talk about the experience, the best experiences are "sticky" and they keep the clients engaged and keep them coming back.  Josh talked about his loyalty to a particular bank, not because he liked his bank at all, but they had a great experience with their mobile and online tools.  Another presenter talked about her loyalty to a particular airline because their mobile app was powerful and had everything she needed in an simple and easy to use interface - even though she actually hated that airline in all other aspects.

With Josh's leadership, I feel the next 12-18 months will bring many new things in terms of technology for agents, all to better the client's experience.  

​Well those websites are almost here, they will begin to launch in mid-March and will be fully launched by the end of May.  Once the new websites launch we will be offering training classes and workshops to help you get your new site up and running so watch for updates soon!

The way Josh Team explains it, KW will be using the tools Placester already has as the "core plumbing" and building something bigger and better than both Placester and eEdge combined.  Team says “Right now, portal sites and most data aggregators don’t know about transactions until, at the very best, 30 days after the transaction occurred, and they have very little coverage,” noted Team “One of the opportunities we have, by having so many agents doing so much volume and growing — we have data before the house has even closed. By connecting that data and leveraging that power, we can provide very meaningful data sets well before anyone else is aware of those trends and turn them into insights that will help our agents give more insights to buyers and sellers in real time.”

​Josh has also committed to making the tools universal, that is “The single agent in Idaho needs a different tool kit than the mega agent team in Manhattan,” he noted. “They need a different set of tools, they need to talk to their consumers differently, and one of the things we’re excited about this new platform is agents will get to ‘a la carte’ their own solution and it won’t be. You can pick your solution using a central infrastructure and it will all be connected on the same data model.”

The less frequently used buttons will be moving to the additional screen which will also create a better user experience.  The photos have also been improved upon, with larger photos when browsing and a more modern look. You can also encourage  your clients to access the HomeKeepr section of the app and create a profile.  This will allow you to share your vendors with your clients and even send push notifications if you choose.

This may not be the most ideal for you, but I can tell you that it is better than what every non-KW agent has on Zillow & Trulia - which is the profile photos & information of the four Premier Agents who have purchased the zip code.  Often you are hard pressed to even find yourself on your own listings...unless you are with KW that is!

Don't want to be on camera?  Don't worry, there are plenty of videos where all you need to do is read the script - you aren't even on camera!  There are over 200 videos currently available and the number keeps growing.  And, because you know me you can get a $50 discount on your annual membership.  Just head over to www.kwvideo.com, check out the free videos, and then sign up using coupon code KWVJUNE1 and put my name in the Referrer box.

This was a phenomenal KW Family Reunion and I feel KW is already ahead of the industry in most of their technology.  As for the things in the pipeline, I am incredibly excited for the changes and growth in tech tools available to you.  This company will have impressive amount of powerful tools in your toolbox in the coming months.

Windows 10 was released today as a free upgrade if you have Windows 7 or 8 and pre-registered.  The free upgrade will be available until the end of the year so there is no big rush to upgrade just yet.  I am currently upgrading my laptop as I write this blog post...but I have always been an early adopter of new technology.  So far Windows 10 is the smoothest upgrade to date from Microsoft, but there are still a number of things to consider before taking the plunge.

Think of Windows 10 as a sort of a hybrid between Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.  First off they brought back a Start Menu, it is just a new style from the one you were familiar with.  Also, there is a new virtual assistant named Cortana built in to the operating system, a new web browser called Edge and some new features if you have an Xbox One.

I think you should definitely upgrade and I know you want your Start button back, but I wouldn't necessarily be in a huge rush to do so today.  Windows 10 has the functionality and usability of Windows 7 with some pieces of Windows 8 integrated so it will work well with most of the programs and websites you use today.  However if you are still using that 10 year old version of Photoshop or Microsoft Office 2003 you may need to upgrade those programs as well.  Also, if you are using any old programs from the XP days, they will most likely not work with Windows 10.  So if you just can't let your beloved ancient computer programs go yet you better not upgrade until you feel comfortable putting those programs to rest.

You have to be running a legitimate copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to get the upgrade.  You also have to have your Windows Updates current.  Once you have your Windows totally up to date you should see the "Get Windows 10" app down by your clock in the lower right corner of your screen.  Click the Windows flag icon and reserve your free copy.  Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 in waves so you will be notified when your upgrade is available.  When it is just follow the prompts begin the process (oh, and allow up to 2 hours when you begin the upgrade!).

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