Thursday, March 06, 2008

Coming Back From California

I just got back from a fantastic conference in Laguna Beach, California at the Surf and Sand Resort. I highly recommend the location. The weather was beautiful, the people were total Californians, the view was fantastic, the beach was perfect, the waves were so loud that they gave us earplugs to sleep at night and the marine life was captivating (Kurt saw dolphins swimming off shore and I saw crabs running across the beach at night clapping their claws in the air). But that wasn't the best part.

What was really great was that I was able to meet a group of people who do what I do. I'm a communications manager, which isn't unusual. What's unusual is the type of corporation I work for: a multiple listing service. It's a niche industry. I've attended a variety of communications and real estate conferences to get more ideas on how to better approach my job, but nothing has been so beneficial as this conference! It was great to see how we were on the right track, but that there was plenty of room to grow. I won't bore you with everything that I took away, but the one thing that I came away with that I think everyone can benefit from, even if they don't work for an MLS is that no matter what you do, there is no reason you can't do it to the highest quality withing your ability. This was best summed up by the Fast Company magazine I picked up in the airport on my way home. In their article about the "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" the focused on Google who approaches their business with the following questions at the forefront of their collective mind:"Are we taking advantage of what we've got here? Are we doing enough? Are we doing everything we can?"