For the last couple of months, every time I talk to someone on the phone who is just getting started with ActiveRain, I usually end my conversation by offering to send them a post that is a good compilation of what the heck ActiveRain is all about. There are a number of people who have written excellent posts like this, but the one I have bookmarked on my browser is this post by Brad Andersohn.
Over the last week, the opportunity presented itself to bring another team member into the fold. Actually, Brad and I created the opportunity. Since the day he joined ActiveRain as a member, February 25th, 2007 Brad has continually gone out of his way to reach out to other members and assist them in understanding the power of our network. On his sixth day on the network, Brad was already getting referrals. Within a month, Brad hosted a blogging 'how to/what is it' class for the local Realtor association in his area. His first ActiveRain instructional post aimed at helping newbies came only a few short weeks later. Since then, he has crafted many great posts aimed at teaching you about new technologies, exploring how to utilize existing ones to help your business and been an all around awesome contributor to our network. His recent post that worked a powerpoint presentations into his blog continued to push the envelope. (Don't worry, now that he's on the payroll, we'll make sure he gets the follow up 'How to insert a powerpoint in your blog' post up too)
It should go without saying that we are really excited to have him joining ActiveRain officially!! (But I'll say it anyways......."We are EXCITED!!")
In mid February, Jonathan and I made a trip to San Francisco where we had dinner with a few members of the community. It was at this dinner that Brad pulled me aside and first expressed interest in joining the team. Brad wrote a great post about the magic of that particular evening, but he left out the part, that for me would end up being the most fruitful thing to come from that dinner. The seed had been planted. I think I can thank Jeff Turner for helping to water and nourish that seed. It was in a phone conversation a few weeks later between Jeff and Brad that Jeff asked Brad why he wasn't doing his passion. That conversation pushed Brad to follow up with me and see if we were looking to add to the team.
Although at that particular time, we didn't necessarily have a specific role to fill (although we are looking for good programmers :-)) one of Jon's hiring philosophies is to find remarkable people and fit them into your organization. We certainly have room for growth and over the next couple of weeks Jon and I, with the help of Brad, carved out a great role for him here at ActiveRain. (OK, OK......it was Brad and I plotting behind the scenes, and me biding my time as I knew we have some stuff upcoming that Brad will be great with........and when the stars aligned, we presented it to Jon). You'll start to get a flavor of Brad's role here in the coming weeks and months as we work to perfect it as well. But just like Rich and Nicole and I, he is here to assist you with anything you need!
So without further ado...............Please welcome the next great addition to the ActiveRain team and family, Mr. Brad Andersohn
(and of course, stop by and get Brad's version)
Friends, followers, and connections are the way of the future.
Make sure you check out some of our Facebook Fan Pages Too!
Congratulations to Active Rain and Brad.....this is one of the best matches I can imagine for both parties.....
Bob,
Congratulations to you, Activerain and Brad! You will not be disappointed!
Bob,
It appears that Active Rain is growing once again.
From the old days with Matt and Caleb till now the Rain continues to establish a market presence.
I`m positive many more great MOVES are forth coming and look forward to seeing more.
Brad is definitely an asset for ActiveRain...he is always filled with aloha and well wishes for everyone and goes out of his way to help others. His passion for educating others on the how to's are outstanding and again...he will definitely be an asset for being on your team for this community! Great choice Bob!
WHOOOO EEEEEE I'm so happy! What a great addition to the team !
Looking forward....
Brad looks like a really busy guy, Bob, on his great home page. When does he have time to sell real estate?
Just kidding :-)...nice job Brad ! Very nice ! I'm new to the forum, examine the psychology of the profession, already have a few posts, both tongue in cheek and a little more serious, and I wanted to say hi. I think that, in a short time, the benefit from participation in Active Rain will far outweigh the cost because of the honorable and knowledgable professionals that are here to support each other and their efforts to shape the future, such as Brad Andersohn. Active Rain is a privilege because of our ethical and respectable members.
Hi there,
Brad was/is a stand-out from day one! I had the pleasure of meeting Brad at Blogger Connect in S.F. last fall, what a great guy! You're lucky to have him. No doubt his contributions will be plentiful.
Who's Brad Andersohn?
HAHAHAHA - There isn't a more deserving person out there! Awesome addition and I am so excited for Brad! I can't wait to see what's coming....great minds!
This is really exciting to me for a couple of reasons. First, well just because it is. Brad's willingness to share has been a blessing to many in the AR community.
Secondly, I have been watching things happen for Brad since his "new year's" post. Part of my comment to him was... "You may have had a rough few days but there are 365 days in this year. Make that 366 days...see you get a makeup day. :-) I am excited to see how your family comes out on top and in a better position than you were before. Please keep us posted."
Sending congratulations and continued well wishes to the Andersohn family. I think I will send Brad a personal note.
RealtyReality!! :-)Congrats Mr Brad!
And congrats to AR - a very good addition!
Congrat's!! Every time I hear someone following their passion it makes me smile.
Way to go and good luck!!!!
Julie ( anxiuosly awaiting spring in Northern Wisconsin)
Congratulations Brad! You are well deserving of being a part of the Active Rain godhead.
Bob- You made an excellent choice for a new team member for Active Rain. Brad is a giver and always goes the extra mile and they who live this way shall always be rewarded with their dreams coming true.
This is fabulous, Bob! IMO the AR TEAM has just gained a tremendous asset.
I look forward to my continued learning through Brad's incredible knowledge and patience.
This is Fantastic! Brad is one of the first people I met when I joind AR. He was such a big help to me. I continue to read all his posts. The things we can learn from him just never ends. AR made a great decision in bringing him on board.
To everyone that has taken the time to comment,
Thank you so much for your well wishes and for confirming that we have in fact made a great choice. I really do appreciate it as does the rest of the team here at ActiveRain. Brad has really helped expose our members to some great ways to use technology in your business. We believe that he is going to help define the way you can get the most out of those technologies (AR included). I can't express how excited we are to have him on board!!
Great news and a great addition. Aren't you lucky!
I am happy for you.
Good luck
Bob,
Great move...don't give yourselves all the credit though...you have a great member support system
forcingencouraging you to make good decisions!!! Thanks, FranCongrats guys! The team is growing nicely......I wish you all the best.
Rudy
Congrats to Brad!!!! He got me started on RE411 and has helped me so much!
Tina in Virginia
Excellent decision - How lucky for AR to have Brad on the team. He is amazing and always so enthusiastic about everything he shares. Congratulations to AR and Brad.
What a smart decision! Brad is very knowledgeable, helpful and kind. I wonder how many people remember him as being one of the first AR members to reach out to them. I know he did that for me.
What a GREAT choice! Brad is someone who has been adding so much value to this community continuously. He'll be a wonderful asset to your team.
Way to go Brad!!!
With people like Bob and Brad (I don't really know much about the others on the "team") I think others in the business world (not just the Internet) could learn a great deal about what kind of dedication and service these two will extend to us.
Both Bob & Brad have gone out of their way in my past experience to offer help and personal service if I needed it.
Good for you Brad, and good for you AR team.
Great choice.
PS: "PEACH" was my graphic. Both of these guys are "peaches".
Congrats to Brad- I'll make sure to find his blog and congratulate him personally.
Bob - Talk about getting the right person on the bus....You must have read Jim Collin's Good to Great.
I knew something was up last night because Brad was not in his usual spot in the list of CA members. This is another very good move on your part. Brad's post about his former company and him parting ways was particularly impressive, as was his follow up to all of our support for him.
Congrats to all of you.
Brad.... I just wanted to say Congrats and welcome... I'll hopefully get to check out your version tomorrow... just busy and behind a few things... again, CONGRATS....
@ActiveBob - well just how awesome is this!! Cool news and a terrific addition to AR staff - Brad is the real thing and his posts rock! Congrats Brad and congrats AR!!
Ann
Just would like to say Congrats and Welcome
debshort.com
Deb Short
Just want to say congratulations. I am new to AR and have been trying to read, read, read as much as I can and benefit from all of this useful information that is out there. I cannot wait to read Brads blogs on referrals and learn about power-point presentations!
Terrie
Yea! Congratulations Brad and Activerain. This makes perfect sense- Brad you have always gone out of your way to be helpful. I'm so glad you have a new home, here!
AWESOME! The passion Brad dedicates to Active Rain has shown through in every post he has ever made here. How wonderful that he will now be paid to spend time doing what he obviously love - teaching all of us, as a community the benefits to us are incredible.
A huge thank you for hiring from within for two of your most recent positions. It's nice to already "know" the "new" guys!
When you think about how much he's done for FREE in his spare time, I can't imagine how much more he'll contribute now that he'll be on staff. Great move!
Great Choice...Brad has had lots to offer us all over the last year and he has been on my subscribed list for some time, plus many of his posts I book marked. Good Luck Brad, we're all happy for you.
Have a Great Year in the Rain in 2008!
Wowwwww! This is what I call "A Warm Welcome". GREAT!!! I've been in the rain for a couple of weeks and I fear I'm turning into a "Rain-Addict"
Brad....WELCOME into the employed professional ranks at ActiveRain©........
May God continue to bless your efforts......
BTW I made a post that included some of your
very helpful submittals at the Help Page of ActiveRain©....
I thought that was very timely....
It came out just before you were hired...
=-)
Thank you for being so helpful to AR. I am new to AR and am loving it but need all the help I can get. Thanks so much!
I just read about this Bob. This should work out great for both ActiveRain and Brad. He is a great guy. My only question is... are you going to convert him into a Seahawks Fan?
Hi Bob, Nice move.
1. Always Hire Talent
2. Come from Contribution
Well, Brad has both qualities and has helped many of us here.
List and Sell (and always hire talent first) Gary @ RentonHomeFinder
Bob, youre lucky to have Brad in youre team/ family of AR. All of this people had said has all truth to it. I'm not a realtor, when I asked his help and favor to get my message across, he let my comment on his blog and I am thankful for it. When we do get it back that message from that person I mentioned about I will let you know if you will let again. Thank you very much and welcome. Lyn Nemes-- Arlington, WA
okay i am slow with the times, but better late than never. CONGRATS BRAD!!! ;) who knew there were all these lovely plotting behind the dinner? not only we saw a couple getting engaged, now AR got a new team member! woohoo!
cheers,
cindy
Bob - I just found this post doing a google name search (it was buried on page 9) and I got those warm fuzzies all over again. Thanks again for making the best decision in "My" life, and bringing me on board. There hasn't been a single day I've regreted your decision... or mine! I luve ya bro! :-))
ActiveBrad,
No, you can't have a raise Brad
(even though you deserve one)