R4 Official Kick Off Day!

It's Monday here in Vegas, day 3 of our trip and officially day 1 of the 2012 R4 RE/Max Convention. I didn't get the camera out until well into the afternoon, so I didn't take many photos today, but what I did do was shoot a lot of video.  I regret that I didn't get outside at all because it was incredible outside today. Do you have any idea what +24 feels like after coming from negative temperatures in the tingle digits only a couple of days before? It would be positively heavenly.  You can always tell the tourists from the locals here even if they aren't toting a gargantuan camera with them - the locals at in light jackets and zippered hoodies, the tourists are in shorts, sandals and driving rental convertibles with the top down on Las Vegas Blvd. :)

Our day really didn't get underway until after lunch. We had a late breakfast/early lunch at the restaurant in THE Hotel. (That's what it's called, seriously) which was excellent. We all ordered omlettes made with your choice of ingredients. Mine had spinach, asparagus & feta.

Dianna was off to her first course shortly after lunch. I went shopping and picked up a couple of gifts, spent half an hour in the casino donating some money, then went back to the room intending to have a nap until my course at 3pm (I'm suffering from serious jet lag) but that was not to be. Just a few minutes after I got back to the room, Ron came up and asked me if I wanted to go through the aquarium, which of course I had been hoping to do at some point, so I got everything together I would need for the remainder of the day so I could go from there straight to my course.

The Shark Reef aquarium is quite a site to see if you've never seen it. I came here on my own last time I was in Vegas. It doesn't take long to go through, but if you've got the time, you can sit inside a sunken ship for as long as you like and watch all manner of fish and sharks swimming all around, above and below you. Imagine a reverse fish tank, where the water and the fish are on the outside and you and air are on the inside and you'll get an idea of what it's like.  I took some video and I'll try to post it over the next couple of days. It takes some time to convert the files and I'm really tired, so it's not going to happen tonight. Here are a few still shots I took.

My first course was at 3pm on Video for Real Estate. Mostly basic stuff, but I did get one really AWESOME idea...now I only have to talk Dianna into it. No hints yet, but it'll set the local competition on it's ear if I can implement it - of that I have NO doubt :)

After the course, I met up with Dianna and we made our way to the opening general session in the auditorium; which was opened by surprise performers, Iluminate, from America's Got Talent.

RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly discusses the difference between the American & Canadian Real Estate markets.

Marie Osmond talks about the Children's Miracle Network, which she helped found 30 years ago and to which RE/Max has donated over $115,000,000 since joining in 20 years ago. 

 - Paula

p.s. Learning comes first...well...first after sleep...and I didn't get through all of the videos. Maybe tonight...