Edkjones3's Blog

Web 2.0 application

edkjones3 — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:54:27 +0000

From Wikipedia entry about Web 2.0 characteristics:

Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. They can build on the interactive facilities of “Web 1.0” to provide “Network as platform” computing, allowing users to run software-applications entirely through a browser.^[3] Users can own the data on a Web 2.0 site and exercise control over that data.^[3]^[14]^[2]^[3] These sites may have an “Architecture of participation” that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it.

The concept of Web-as-participation-platform captures many of these characteristics. Bart Decrem, a founder and former CEO of Flock, calls Web 2.0 the “participatory Web”^[15] and regards the Web-as-information-source as Web 1.0.

The impossibility of excluding group-members who don’t contribute to the provision of goods from sharing profits gives rise to the possibility that rational members will prefer to withhold their contribution of effort and free-ride on the contribution of others.^[16] This requires what is sometimes called Radical Trust by the management of the website. According to Best,^[17] the characteristics of Web 2.0 are: rich user experience, user participation, dynamic content, metadata, web standards and scalability. Further characteristics, such as openness, freedom^[18] and collective intelligence^[19] by way of user participation, can also be viewed as essential attributes of Web 2.0.

When I think about it.. just about every web application I am currently using is Web 2.0 based. When I sign onto Linkedin, I can ask for a recommendation/endorsement from previous clients or friends or announce my recent SFR– Short Sale Foreclosure designation.

Facebook allows me to post new listings in their Marketplace section, keeps me posted on birthdays, invitations to community events/social functions, and even allows me a great way through their messaging program to send clients an informal email which I have found can be a softer and often more approachable way to communicate than through my company account.

I have had really good success buying through Ebay and Amazon/Amazon Marketplace. Choosing sellers that have high feedback ratings and high volume or high dollar transactions if you’re buying something in an upper price range (I have purchased a wide range of items from batteries to books, artwork to an elliptical cross trainer!)

Having a 100 percent buyer feedback rating is almost just as important. The seller on the other end of the transaction needs to know they are doing business with a credible buyer. How much of that parallels what we encounter as a Realtor these days?

Recently I used Tripadvisor to gather information about hotels to book on a recent vacation with some friends. Some properties were incredible, one hotel could have been overlooked– air conditioning didn’t work on a hot night.. and we were given a noisy room in a mostly empty hotel. Thankfully we were only there one night. I really did not want to give negative feedback, but felt like the front desk’s attitude could have been much better to two parties that had the same complaint and their response could have been something other than “So sorry.. there is nothing we can do”.

As a Realtor I think it is highly important to provide honest service in this unbelievably competitive and challenging market. One questionable experience with a client can diminish your reputation and potential for repeat business. Of course I’m taking GRI to help educate me to provide the best, most current most knowledgeable service available so this hopefully won’t be something I encounter.

Thanks,

Photo and video sharing

edkjones3 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:34:57 +0000

Working with web based media in Real Estate is increasingly important. Adding a virtual tour to a listing is great.. but then what? In addition to selling property, You have to continually selling yourself as a successful as well as active agent. Keeping up to date with the ever changing media available can be crucial to success.

Facebook, Linkedin, Plaxo, Youtube.. all are just a few of the web based tools that I use to market properties as well as myself.

Here is a link to a photo of a recent listing on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48299125@N06/?saved=1

Also.. a video assigned to this project available on Youtube. Link:

Here is a link to a personal commercial recently completed for Dickens Mitchener Link:

Thanks!

Ed Jones

Richard Ritter– 40 Years in Glass

edkjones3 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:58:58 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to be at the opening of Richard Ritter: 40 Years in Glass at Western Carolina University. The show is a retrospective featuring more than 75 amazing works in glass from 1969-2009. This show will also be exhibited April 9-May 15 at the Green Hill Center for NC Art.
Richard Ritter, born in Detroit Michigan in 1940, studied to be an artist and became an illustrator for an advertising firm. After 5 years as an illustrator, he decided to take a class in metalworking. It was his desire to incorporate glass elements into his pewter castings that ultimately led him to glassblowing.
In 1971, Richard enrolled in a summer session at the Penland School of Crafts in Mitchell County taught by Mark Peiser. It was a later session that same summer with fellow glass artist Richard Marquis that proved to be pivotal. Marquis had recently spent a year in Murano. His course gave instruction on working with glass using a highly complex version of the murrini process. A process that was first developed by the Phoenicians and early Romans, a murrini is a cross cut slice made of glass threads or canes that convey a design or color pattern.
Richard Ritter taught classes back in Michigan as well as became one of Penland School’s first artists in residence. In 1980, he and his wife, Jan Williams, permanently settled in Bakersville, near the school.
What separates Richard from many glass artists working in the field today is that he makes all his glass— the clear or opalescent components to the color rods that compose the murrini slices. Developing the chemical compositions to achieve a certain color as well as knowing which colors can and will combine without an adverse reaction is slowly becoming a lost art.
His compositions are known by glass collectors and institutions throughout the world. Flowers, faces, even insects such as dragonflies and ladybugs are made from countless hours of painstaking work. Drawing a design, arranging the color rods, melting, stretching, slicing, and then working with hot glass to incorporate all the elements into larger highly complex works are just the basic steps in his process. Many fellow artists as well as other respected authorities consider him to be one of the most highly skilled artists working in the medium.
Richard is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council. His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in public and private collections including the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Arts and Design, the White House permanent craft collection, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Additional information and images available: www.ritterglass.com, www.habatatglass.com

Ed Jones—Realtor/Broker Dickens Mitchener and Associates

Intro to Blogging

edkjones3 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:52:45 +0000

Service—“The high road to service is traveled with integrity, compassion, and understanding. People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care.
My name is Ed Jones and I’m a residential Realtor/Broker in Charlotte NC. I work for Dickens Mitchener and Associates—one of the leading independent firms representing top properties in the Charlotte region.
I’m a resident of historic Fourth Ward uptown since 2000 and have represented clients and properties in many of the great “in-town” neighborhoods including: Myers Park, Dilworth, Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth, Chantilly, South Park, etc. I have experience with waterfront property as well—Denver, Mooresville, and Cornelius areas of Lake Norman.
I worked about 5 years in the home furnishings industry in High Point. I feel very comfortable with helping clients make the best decisions on renovations/additions, staging, and maximizing overall return on investment.
How can Realtors increase their business?
I’m active in my community and try to stay in touch with my “sphere of influence”. I call my clients whenever there is a birthday, forward helpful articles or interest items, possibly even forward listings I think they might be interested in. Clients are not necessarily in the market to buy, but sending them information from time to time keeps them in the loop and reminds them I am their personal Real Estate professional.

Hello world!

edkjones3 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:43:12 +0000

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