Picture a room filled with REALTORS® gathered in small, informal groups, sharing their best ideas and tips for using the latest technology and social media tools for business. It’s unstructured, unconventional and what Real Estate BarCamps are all about.

So just what is a Real Estate BarCamp?

RE BarCamps are held all over the country and have been described as “user generated conferences” where the content is determined and driven by those attending. Sessions are added to the schedule on the fly, based on evolving topics of interest to attendees and presenters. And presentations are informal with plenty of audience participation.

A recent RE BarCamp St. Louis was no different. Attendees talked about everything from the future of virtual tours, effective ways to use video and the how to get the most out of blogging and Twitter.

There were so many great ideas and conversations. Here are few random tips and highlights from the sessions I attended:

• Think about making your blog your official website, sending your web traffic to one place.
• Don’t add music to your site. People often surf the web at work and they’ll be quick to jump off your site if music comes blaring out of their cubicles.
• Keep blog posts simple and concise. If you have a lot to say, break up the copy with multiple subject headers to keep readers interested.
• If you haven’t yet, invest in a Flip video camera. It’s an inexpensive ($150 to $280 depending on the model) and handy way to shoot video.
• If you do shoot videos, keep them short – two minutes or under is a good goal.
• Use Yelp, the user review site, to help manage your online reputation.
• Communicate with clients the way they want to communicate. If they contact you through email, respond by email.
• And finally, don’t get so caught up in return on investment that you forget to have fun with social media.