Social Media Mastermind of Orange County

This group is brilliantly, simple yet intricate, deliberate and spontaneous but not all at the same time.

Two years ago I was trying to find a forward thinking group of Realtors in the Los Angeles area and I stumbled upon Bob Watson (@TopBrokerOC) and this group called “#SMMOC” on twitter. Bob and I clicked instantly, we met face to face about 7 or 8 months later in a Denver blizzard and this past weekend I was finally able to join the group IRL (in real life)!

As I flew home I couldn’t help feeling like I have really known this group of people for years, it was as if I had been there with them all this time.

At 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Stacey Harmon (Pixel Coaching) was there making coffee and getting the lists on the board ready so everyone could add their names and topics to the board for discussion. The night before Bob and Kathy were preparing the space for the meeting.  Loren Nason (yes, THE @lorennason) sat next to me and instantly started cleaning up my computer as if he worked on it yesterday and as if he knew me, apparently it was worse than I thought.  I look across the room and was pleasantly surprised that everyone looked just like their avatars (no 30 year old Real Estate Photos have been used!).  Interestingly enough, their personalities were the same in the room as online. I wasn’t sure if the online presence would be the same in person, and I was not disappointed!

I know most of you have seen the videos or the photos of Bob Watson at the front of the room, moderating.  Yes, Bob is my great friend and I admire his dedication to this group and to the love of our industry.  A few weeks ago I would have said his industry was Real Estate but as I looked around the room with only about 25% of the people being in real estate, I believe his industry is “the art of connecting”, which is the core of EVERY small business.

The leader, Bob Watson, has built an incredible group of people who all have amazing talents in many different businesses and the thing they have in common is Social Media.  They are not followers but leaders, they contribute with passion and the conviction to help someone else be better and take a shorter route maybe to get there than they did.

I could tell you the nuts and bolts of the agenda of the group and the timing, as well as, the basic rules while in the room, but that wouldn’t be the secret that you all want to know. That is just an outline that if you want a master mind group, you will have to decide within your own group.  The secret to this group is the personalities in the room.  Scott Schang and I were talking about how there is every level of knowledge, all personality types and many different businesses with one commonality, social media. The personalities work because they are strong and respectful of each other’s knowledge and successes.  Everyone in the room wanted everyone else in the room to succeed.  Seriously, why else would a stranger lean into my computer and start deleting the junk for me! (BTW Loren, I got most of my files put on the cloud today. My computer is running like a toddler instead of a creaky old lady. Thank you!)

My great friend Carin Zimmer (@carinazimmer) has been part of this group from the beginning. She was quiet during the meeting (as was I…soaking it all in) and afterwards we talked and she said she was going to implement a few of the ideas and bring back thoughts to the group next week, which was one of the original reasons this group was started, to share and learn.

Here are some more people that were there, that I know you will love…so take a minute to connect with everyone in this expose:

Jerry Reed his smile and hug was like seeing a lifelong friend for the first time in two years!

Mel Aclaro is my new friend, he is a marathon runner with a great spirit, who has a fabulous wife and a smile that makes you smile.  His tenacity shines in his company, while running and while having fun with friends.

@TheRECoach, has the same sense of humor as he does on line! I didn’t get enough time with him, maybe next time.  I could have spent some time picking his brain. **Fair Warning Eric**

There were quite a few new people to the group who have connected after the meeting – I’m excited to know more about what you do and how your experience with the group has helped you grow. Click on the side bar to connect with me on other social media sites or leave comments below.

Bob, it was such a pleasure to be your guest!  You and Kathy Klingaman have an amazing extended family in SMMOC and it wouldn’t be what it is without both of you. Watching this group evolve from 10 people meeting in a coffee shop to a regular group of 50+ people meeting every weekend, and hearing this weekend that you now have a social director who plans events other than the tweetups and regular meetings, I commend you and the #SMMOC group for creating such a unique opportunity for people to connect and flourish.

I have so much more to say about his group but I am almost at 1,000 words, so I will share more personalities and stories later, I didn’t even touch on the tweetup the night before! Stay tuned…and until next time, I’m sure the SMMOC group will be weaving some more great information on the web so go check them out!