Last night I went to bed around 2:30 AM – a bit of a late night, especially for a Wednesday! And then, this morning, promptly at 4:01 AM, my alarm went off and a new day began. Today I had to go up to Sacramento, to attend my next-to-last GRI class. It was Course 107 – Technology Applications in Real Estate. I have a deep and abiding interest in this topic, so I thought it would be well worth the 3.5 hour drive.
The class started out pretty slow, with discussions about what is a CD-ROM, what is RAM, etc. – pretty basic stuff, and certainly nothing new to me. I could see, though, that a lot of people in the class were learning a lot, and the instructor clearly loved the topic and he was pretty entertaining. Lunch was served, and afterwards, I started getting pretty drowsy as the class continued learning about what a web browser is. Fortunately, I had my Palm Treo 700p with me, which helps me keep me entertained at times when the GRI instructor is traveling over what is for me well-trodden material.
A lot of it has been pretty well-trodden, too. I took my Real Estate Broker’s exam in the spring of 2006, and there was quite a bit of reading and testing involved in that. A good chunk of what gets covered in the GRI classes is also covered in the course of studying for the Broker’s exam. So why all the effort to get up at 4 AM to learn what a video card does?
The reason is simple: it’s not what you know, it’s what you don’t know. In this particular GRI class, I was very familiar with about 98% of the material that was taught. However, there were just a couple of few interesting web sites and other digital products that may just prove to be useful, in some way, to the clients I serve. I can’t say that I learned much today, but I did spot a couple of things that will help me provide a better service to my clients. And for me, that’s a lot of what the GRI training is all about.
Of course, it’s also about being able to have three more characters to dangle after my name. It may not read MBA, but in the world of real estate, it’s just as valuable. 🙂
Find your Place
