Another Reason To Do Real Estate Yourself

If you have not checked out Zillow (http://www.zillow.com/), I encourage you to take a test drive. This site puts significant power into the hands of the consumer to do real estate transactions themselves. For years, Multiple Listing Services has kept realtors in the driver's seat when it comes to collecting information about properties. Now, consumers can bypass the realtor completely and perform their own research and due diligence online. From price histories of homes to birds-eye snapshots of properties, Zillow is quite amazing. Try it out today to see what your own home is worth, and what your neighbor's homes are worth. The ultimate nosy neighbor tool :-)

Sing-A-Longa Sound of Music Experience

Talk about an innovative coproduction experience. During a recent trip to London we came across an interesting diversion. At the Prince Charles Theatre in Leicester Square, they schedule Sing-A-Longa's, musical movies that demand audience participation. We stepped in to see the Sound of Music, paying 13.50 pounds to see a has-been re-run movie that you could rent for a buck. Obviously, there is value in the experience (and the show was sold out as well).

But the show had all the elements of a coproduction experience - vision, access, incentive, and expertise. In each seat there was a bag of props to use during the show (access:tools), that included picture cards, an invitation to the Captain's ball, a piece of drapery, and a a new-years-eve popper. To start the show, a extremely funny female impersonator lead the audience through a number of activites. First, she (he) told us what we should be doing as audience members in terms of our involvement (vision). Next, she taught us how to use the props in the bag (expertise). Then there was the parade of "fancy dressers" (people who come in costume) and a drawing for a bottle of champagne (both of which would classify as incentives). The picture below is the female impersonator introducing all the fancy dressers.


The show was a riot. We sang along, heckled the Baroness, hissed the Nazi's, and set off our poppers when the Captain kissed Maria for the first time. The customers, of course, performed perfectly.