I addressed Danville’s CPC Job Connections group today. There were about 80 people in attendance.

Once again, as at Experience Unlimited in Lafayette CA, I was struck by the wealth of knowledge and skill in the room. I’ve never been in a position to need the services offered by these groups. They are both fine examples of community and business outreach.

The room was full of interesting people including Dean Guadagni, uber-blogger from Marin County, CA. Dean mentioned in his blog that I would be addressing this group and his post was picked up by FoxBusiness.com. A big thanks to Dean (under the arrow).

If you are having a hard time recognizing Dean, it’s because he’s slimmed down to his Philadelphia fighting weight – the Stallion is Back!

The gent in the wild shirt in the center of the picture above is Alex who is a pretty wild and funny guy. Behind him in black is Marisa who was ecstatic at having been to several successful interviews recently. It appears that PG&E may make her an offer she won’t be able to refuse. This on top of another offer. Multiple offers! We love those in real estate also. (We’ve written about PG&E’s upcoming expansion at Bishop Ranch.)

My presentation consisted of about 30 slides, that took me 35 to work through. There were a lot of good questions and comments. The topic was “A New Way of Strategic Thinking About Your Career.” Basically, what I have noticed is that few people are leveraging the power of the Internet to effectively influence the evolution of their careers in a positive way.

There were several people who had recently returned to the San Ramon Valley area and I was quick to mention that I am a real estate agent. Everyone got a chuckle of of my change in careers two years ago from the bankrupt airline to crashing real estate – kind of like out of the pot and into the fire.

A big thanks each to Don Smith for introducing me to Doug Neeper who invited me to speak. CPC Jobs Connection online at Yahoo Groups.

Hilary Toyryla has invited me back to Experience Unlimited in August. She says she is finally getting the significance and potential of blogging and would like me to focus more on it as a way to further one’s career.

To end, I mentioned my good friend Linda Strasburg author of Competency Based Resumes and talk show host veteran (14 years now). Linda loves to interview interesting people and she can help anyone create a fantastic resume.

Here is a link for those that don’t know what a blog meme is. 

And here is a link if you don’t know about Pay it Forward.

I was thinking that the concept of Paying it Forward would be a great action to initiate during the holidays, so I am going at it from two different angles. On this post, from the perspective of recognizing people that I have met this past year that inspire me. Over on AgentGenius, I am coming at Pay it Forward more traditionally.

As I was reflecting on 2007, my thoughts turned to a few individuals that I had met this year that really inspired me. I wanted to take the time to acknowledge them, let the world know about them and why they inspire me, and encourage everyone to do the same.

Pay it Fourward 2007 – Tell the world about four people you met in 2007 that inspire you.

Jeff Turner – Jeff is a real gift of a person that just keeps on giving. He turns up in my thoughts in the most astounding ways and at the most surprising times. I’ve been wondering why. It seems to revolve around two words – inspiration and integrity.

I don’t have a clue what it is about Jeff that infuses me with inspiration, but I feel like Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets when I talk to or think about Jeff – “I want to be a better person.”

I met Jeff at Inman’s Blogger Connect in San Francisco in July. Since then, I have had the opportunity to brainstorm a few things with him and in all of the interactions there is an aura of integrity and authenticity that pervades the interaction.

Jeff Turner is a great guy to know. I recommend you do.

Joseph Natividad – Joe is one the year’s best surprises. Here is the story of how I met Joe and here is his interview over on Inman News (subscription required).

Joe is an inspiration to me because he is curious, kind, has an interesting mind, is a typical atypical young adult, and is rather shy and modest. Joe is the kind of guy that gives me hope for tomorrow.

In this age of subpar intelligence and mediocre aspirations, Joe is a breath of fresh air. Follow his writings for a few months just for grins.

Dean Guadagni – I may have actually had the handshake and formal introduction to Dean in late 2006, but I can safely say I didn’t really know Dean until he started writing on his blog – DeansGuide.

Dean boggles my mind. He inspires me to attempt the impossible – to write with as much flair and sensitivity as he does. I’m thinking that maybe a week in a sweatlodge with Dean might result in some form of mystical osmosis vis-a-vis my writing skills.

Dennis Viers – Early in 2007, Dennis and Kris Viers approached me with the idea of forming a strategic partnership with The Harper Team. It’s been one inspiring revelation after another ever since.

Dennis lives about 3 blocks from Craig and Tracey (we had no idea). He’s the chariperson for the San Ramon Planning Commission (community activist). He plays a mean bass guitar!

The inspiration I experience around Dennis seems to revolve around aging gracefully, having fun and all of us being good representatives of our generation. Dennis is just plain fun and good company. Dennis’ picture is in the dictionary under – great guy to hang out with. Be yourself, enjoy yourself, others and life is the message Dennis communicates.

These are the four people who come clearly into my mind when I reflect on inspiring people I have met in 2007.

Pay it Fourward – leave a comment with a link to four inspiring people you have met this year. I’ll drop by to read about them and learn more about you along the way.

Dean Guadagni has been following all of the shenanigans, low-lifes and heartbreaks in the 1031 Exchange industry for about 6 months now. His continued vigilance to this topic has earned him a spot on this Friday's Nightly News.

It's 5:35pm here at Harper Team Blogging Central.

And Now for this Friday's Nightly News: If you are thinking of a 1031 Exchange or are already involved in one, we recommend hot-footing it over to Dean's Guide. Dean is doing a great public service in covering the 1031 Exchange industry. It's not pretty, but it is information you need.

Thanks Dean. Keep up the good work.

Dean likes to dance when he's not fighting grime. We caught him on the hidden camera in our studio.

I was over at the Inman Bloggers Connect in San Francisco yesterday at the Palace Hotel. The Palace is a great venue but one of the main meeting rooms suffered from being adjacent to an alley or loading dock or a construction zone as I kept hearing the beeping of trucks in reverse. Then again, maybe it was all the coffee.

As much as I tried to connect with everyone, I left feeling that I had not connected with as many as I had wished to. So, it was more of a misconnect for me as there were just too many bloggers and too little time to connect with them all.

Joseph Natividad, new guest author for The Harper Team, attended as our guest. He was a great hit with all he met. We are working to get his blog up to speed which should happen this week. It was Joseph’s first conference and trade show. We stopped at everybooth so he could fill his bag with all the free stuff. He now has enough pens to get him through his first two years at UC San Diego where he will be majoring in Economics.

The first person I ran into was Teresa Boardman the evening before at the Thirsty Bear – Zillow’s Bloggers’ Beer event. Teresa is more petite than I had imagined and her half-picture doesn’t do her justice. So, I snapped a quick pic which she immediately objected to. I’ve been threatened with the wrath of God or worse if I publish it. So, to minimize my suffering I only publish the “other half” of Teresa here.

Kevin Boer (3 Oceans Real Estate) and Pat Kitano (TransparentRE) seemed to have the fix in with Inman as they were on stage numerous times throughout the day. Kevin did a great job as moderator of a panel. Here you see the two of them – doing what?? Kevin looks like he’s about to fly away and Pat is going for the free water. Sidekick Dean Guadagni (Dean’s Guide) was suffering a bad cold and looked it, so I burned all pics of him.

Meeting Jeff Turner was great. Unfortunately his wife, Rocky, was not able to make it. Jeff showcased his Real Estate Shows product at a panel on video/image technology for the real estate industry.  My opinion – Real Estate Shows seems like an easier more economical means to showcase homes than the other two video formats presented by the panel.

After speaking on at least one panel if not 6, Real Estate Tomato author Jim Cronin could not restrain himself any longer and stepped to the mic to ask advice from the “Top Bloggers” panel. Just goes to show that even when you’re one of the most recognized authorities on real estate blogging, you may still have a question or two.

The impression I had from the conference was that attendance seemed to about half seasoned bloggers and half new authors. I met many more people than I photographed which makes me wonder why – I usually am much more active with my camera. All that listening must have gotten in the way.

The 1031 Exchange industry is an unregulated industry. Property owners interested in doing 1031 Exchanges need to educate themselves about the risks involved with 1031 Exchanges.

The biggest risk – losing all your money. There have been many cases of 1031 Exchange companies closing their doors and the principles disappearing with all of the money.

1031 Exchange companies make most of their profit on the float. While property exchange transactions are processing, the monetary funds are being leveraged by the 1031 Exchange company to produce income and profit.

All that money sitting around coupled with some bad decisions has led to ruin for many property owners when the funds vanish.

Dean Guadagni has a great series of posts over on his blog Dean’s Guide on the burgeoning crisis in the 1031 Exchange industry. Start with this one:

No Wonder the 1031 Advance Fiasco is Littered with “Dead Financial” Bodies!