Las Vegas Gives Mobile Center Stage

As our plane touched down in Las Vegas, Nevada a sense of energy and excitement overcame the exhaustion of the 6 hour plane ride. Now this wasn’t my first time in Las Vegas, but it was my first time in Las Vegas for a real estate convention; The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World Annual Conference.  My business partner, CEO and founder of Mobile Card Cast, John Lim, would be speaking on a panel regarding mobile technology, adding to the excitement and energy which continued to grow exponentially as we made our way to Encore Hotel and Casino.  Mobile technology was taking center stage in the same city that has played host to Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra and today’s world renowned Cirque du Soleil.

Day 1 – As we jumped right into the thick of things with sessions like “ask the experts” (on social media – Facebook in particular) and Multichannel Marketing mobile made its presence felt.  Panelists across various industries referenced mobile technology as something that was and will continue to play a huge role in both media and marketing.  At 6PM when the networking reception and vendor fair began there was a whole section set up for the five mobile companies in attendance.  We began engaging attendees who strolled down mobile row by inviting them to take a quick mobile survey – to do so they simply needed to text the word survey to 88500 (you can still take by doing so although the prize has been drawn).  Three quick yes or no questions later participants were entered to win a 2 night stay at a Bellagio penthouse suite.  Not only were people excited at their chance to win, but the feedback we received was meaningful and the information was recorded in a fun interactive way that people enjoyed.

As we sat down for dinner at Tao with a group of clients, prospects and new friends there was no shortage of cell phones or use of them.  While we talked and ate I don’t think there was a single one of us who didn’t get a phone call, text message, update Facebook status, tweet or check-in.  As we all accessed and sent information non-stop through our mobile devices, in the midst of a great dinner with lots of engaging conversation it hit me; the more we looked at our phones the more we had to talk about!

Day 2 – Preparing for the afternoon’s panel discussion, Mobile Innovations: Strategies and Tactics, I was very interested to see how the turnout would be.  I wondered, are people ready to take the next step and learn about how they can effectively utilize mobile technology in their businesses?  The packed room signaled an overwhelming YES as the answer to my question.  As the presentations commenced I could see people in the audience connecting the dots on why and how this could impact their business.  Further proof of that was seen on other panels, such as Survival of the Fittest, where leading brokers from around the country spoke about what they are doing to thrive in tough economic times.  Ken Baris of Jordan Baris Realtors Inc. and winner of LeadingRE’s newest award (Congrats Ken!) discussed how the company’s Mobile Website has helped engage consumers and agents to produce more business.

Day 3 – The countdown to the live online drawing for the winner of 2 night stay at the Bellagio penthouse suite began.  With 15 minutes left the area around our table was packed with people texting in to take the survey before it was too late.  Even though there could only be one winner, everyone seemed to enjoy the excitement that technology provided.  George Brake of Margaret Rudd & Associates in North Carolina was our lucky winner.  He was hesitant to take the survey at first, but really glad he did – congrats and thanks for texting George.

As the curtains closed show came to an end one thing was overwhelmingly clear – the show may be over, but Mobile will be on stage in Las Vegas as well as every other state, city and town for years to come!

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