Living in Madison-What a Summer It's Been!

I've made a commitment to post at least 3 items each week regarding real estate and lifestyles of Madison for the GLBT Community as a way to spread the word about what a great city Madison truly is.

It will be challenging. My summer is really busy. I have a lot of great business opportunity on the calendar and an awesome end of summer vacation planned. The good news, I can create the newsletter in advance, tweak it online from anywher in the world, and make sure what get sent is current.

What business opportunities are there for me? Here's just the next 6 weeks:

RISMedia CEO Exchange, Denver, CO: I've been asked to serve as a panelist for the kick off panel at this great event. I'll be sharing my thoughts on how to maintain profitability in a challenging real estate market. I attended this program last summer and had a chance to spend time with many industry leaders both from the brokerage side as well as the affiliated business side of our industry. I'm looking forward to hearing the latest and greatest from companies like Trulia, Google, Sharper Agent, and Zillow.

Keller Williams Realty Advanced Instructor Skills Camp, Dallas, TX: This invitation only event has me really excited. I'm one of just 12 people invited to this 2 day intensive training. As part of the program, I have to deliver a 1/2 hour presentation on a segment of KWU "Camp 443" to the group of my peers and the instructors for the course.

Wisconsin REALTOR Association Board of Director Meeting, Eklhart Lake, WI: This will be my last Board of Directors meeting for my term on the WRA Executive Committee of the past 3 years. I'll be staying involved after my term ends as I'm in year 1 of a 3 year term on the WRA Political Strategy Committee.

Fargo, ND Market Center Training, Fargo, ND: I lost a bet with Fargo Team Leader, Perry Hurth over the Wisconsin/North Dakota State Hockey Game earlier this year. The loss cost me $20 and a trip to Fargo to train at their office. I'm excited to spend 2 days in Fargo with Perry and his great group of agents.

Keller Williams Realty Mega Agent Camp, Austin, TX: This annual event should be a great one! Gary Keller will be releasing his newest book "The Shift" as part of this 2 day event. If it's anything like "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" it should prove to be an awesome tool to help agents succeed in this market.

VACATION: At the end of August I fly to London for a 10 day Atlantis cruise from Harwich, UK to the great city of Barcelona, Spain. It's been 2 years since we've had a trip like this and I'm really looking forward to it. Devery (my partner) and I will be catching up with great friends from Louiseville, KY and Montgomery, AL on this trip.

There you have it. My next 6 weeks. Along the way I will be certain to get at least blog posts out on a weekly basis. I'll also be sharing what I learn from many of this great upcoming opportunities.

Please give me your feedback as well. I'm always striving to make this the best it can be. Send me your thoughts at darren@kittlesonteam.com

Getting Married In California Could be Criminal

Yet, just another reason why the debate around same sex marriage should be ended, all U.S. residents should be treated equal and we can focus on more pressing issues comes this from The Capital Times:

"Wisconsin is a state that imposes criminal penalties on residents if they enter a marriage outside the state that would be prohibited in the state. The law was created to prohibit underage couples from crossing state lines to marry, but it could be interpreted to apply to same-sex marriages, according to Glenn Carlson of Fair Wisconsin, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians. In Wisconsin, the penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, nine months in prison, or both."

So not only is it not legal to get married to my partner in Wisconsin, it is ILLEGAL to get married to him in a state that recognizes Same Sex Marriage and come back to home to Wisconsin. The state where he and I reside, run a business, employ many people, pay our taxes, contribute by volunteering our time, etc....

I wonder what it's going to take to make this ridiculous debate end.