Twitter - Making My World Smaller

I sometimes have trouble sleeping. I can fall asleep anywhere, any time but staying asleep is sometimes difficult. Lately I've been waking up around 2:00 and staying awake for an hour or so. I typically venture downstairs to let my dog out, grab some water then head back to bed. I check UberTwitter on my Blackberry for any knuckleheadedness or interesting tweets I may have missed. Last night around 2:30 I was reading all the tweets from my favorite tweeps. I've been noticing kind of a trend lately but one particular Retweet (RT) last night truly, honestly warmed my heart.

There are a few people in my work life with whom I have developed a very good, long-term relationship. I have some folks I've met more recently who I value tremendously as allies, friends, go-to people. So last night what I saw was a RT from one of my old-timer friends of a Tweet by someone I've only known for about 2 years but who has become a very big part of my on-line life.

The old-timer (and I say this kind of to annoy him but mostly because he's been with me since the infancy of my career and is still someone I turn to frequently for advice) is Mike DelGaudio, Director Research and Development at MRIS. Mike and I worked together for several years, he was a wonderful mentor. Mike always made time to help me, to offer suggestions, to lend an ear and to always, always make me laugh. Mike and I have kept in touch since I left MRIS and moved to Florida. He always comes to Midyear to see me. When I was taking my Oracle classes a million years ago Mike was very helpful in getting me to understanding procedures and functions. Mike laughed at me during our first Java class when I was completely lost (What the hell is this "duration" crap???) I truly love Mike, he's a keeper!

Last night Mike responded to a tweet by Jeff Isreal, MLS Administrator at the Arkansas Regional MLS. Jeff and I met at the MLXchange User Group meeting in Bar Harbor, Maine two years ago. We hit it off right away. Jeff is someone I speak with about MLS policies, market trends, etc. When Bridge was working on RETS IQ Cheque Jeff was a very valuable resource in the design phases. I am very thankful to know Jeff, to know about his wife and his son. I like to know what they're doing with their VOWs, IDX, RETS.

So Jeff tweeted: Are certain types of VOW's illegal in Arkansas? Stay tuned. Finishing up a little more research. Mike RT'd it then Jeff responded. Without Twitter these guys would probably never meet! They don't go to the same conferences but can be amazing resources to each other. They're wonderful guys, smart, helpful, fun and funny.

All this made me think about my friends who I'm watching get to know each other over Twitter and who are asking, and answering, questions. I've developed a very close relationship with Melissa DelGaudio who is Mike's wife (I remember the first time I met her they were smooching by the elevator after lunch - now they have 2 children together). Melissa now knows Amy Geddes, COO of Clareity Security. Melissa and Amy both have started Tweeting one of the owners of Bridge (and our Lead Developer) Marc Smith. Amy and Melissa are chicks I respect, adore and who make me smile. We have off-line conversations as well but mostly I know what they're doing because of Twitter. Amy and I seem to be all involved with Steve Byrd, VP and CIO of Carolina Multiple Listing Services. Steve is as much of a knucklehead as the rest of us and he also has brilliant ideas, a great sense of humor. I've added to my information network folks from the industry who I've known for years but didn't know well like Matt Lavallee from MLSPIN, Victor Lund from WAV Group.

Then there are the folks I watch closely as they have been a big part of my information network but now I have a whole new means for seeing what they're thinking - folks like Mike Wurzer with FBS, Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson with Dwellicious, Matt Cohen with Clareity Consulting, Keith Garner and Chris McKeever with NAR, David Harris with eNeighborhoods. I've found Kevin Reichard, a dude I've known since elementary school, is in the industry and living just an hour from me. I've met (and absolutely digg) Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy. And I can't forget Seth Agranov, departed the biz but still offers valid opinions!

I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of Tweeps from the Real Estate business who I follow very closely and I'm sorry. Mikey D and Bo (don't ask...Jeff won't want you to know): I'm glad you guys found each other, I'd like to think it's a little bit cause of me. You both rock in many ways and I believe you can get something from each other.

I love Twitter. I love seeing the latest blog posts, reading headline news, finding out who is working with whom, market trends. I like knowing what my friends are doing. I really like learning things I didn't know about people which tends to make them a bit less scary, more approachable (yes, I do get shy sometimes).

Big <3 to my Tweeps!!!!!