Some said it couldn't be done. Yet on April 18 - 22, 2002, history was made when over 20,000 people from 36 countries attended a convention that had no meeting halls, required no travel or hotel expenses, and could be experienced from the comfort of each attendee's home.

My friend, Jack Peckham, founder of the Real Estate Cyber Space Society shared with me how as a young boy, he used entertain his entire neighborhood by putting on carnivals in his backyard. Well, if you know Jack at all you would readily agree that there is a lot of that young boy still in him! That’s because it took that kind of daring to put on the industry’s first totally online convention and expo --while having a ball doing it.

It was a unique combination of playfulness backed up by careful planning that made the first annual Online Conference & Expo a rousing success. To be sure there were some technical problems. Late registrants for Jim Young's keynote crashed the server, limiting the number that could listen in. My keynote about Virtual Assistance for the most part went off without a hitch and most people "attending" could hear me and see the slides. The vendor booths experienced over 93,000 visits with approximately 11% of the 20,000+ attendees purchasing a product or service from an expo vendor.

Overall it was a very positive experience for everyone involved. In addition to having a ton of fun doing it, I personally feel honored to have been chosen as the first residential keynoter for this landmark event. Apparently, quite a few people listened in because as I travel the country speaking to thousands of agents, people seem to always come up to me and say they heard my keynote over the Net.

From day one I've always said the Internet is about "The power of people connecting with people --not technology". While the technology is far from perfect, Jack's pioneering effort proved that over 20,000 real estate professionals can truly and richly connect with each other regardless of where they are located. With the success of this event he also paved the way for other organizations to have some of their major meetings totally online as well. So don't be too surprised if you see more of these totally virtual conferences announced throughout the year.

If you missed this year's event be sure to set aside April 17-23, 2003, so you can be part of something that promises to be even bigger and better. And chances are you'll be seeing Mr. Internet there as well!