The Hawg has returned!

Fortunately, I'm back from Arkansas Realtors Association (ARA) convention that was held Monday through Wednesday in Little Rock.

Of course, I'm the director of media relations for the ARA and consider any convention where someone doesn't get arrested as a successful one (that photo I took and posted here was staged, thanks to a Realtor and a Little Rock police officer with a good sense of humor). The media would have a field day with the ARA should one of our members drink too much, do something stupid and wind up in jail.

As an added bonus, I got to meet the famed Hillbilly Willy, a fellow Arkansas Blogger who works for one of the exhibitors that arrived at our convention. I'm not going to go around identifying which company Willy works for, but I will mention that he's as funny as one might expect from his blog. Look me up when we're not so busy sometime, Willy. I'll buy you a beer.

One thing I was reminded of at this convention and all of them I've attended is a question that I get quite a bit -- which Realtor should I hire? At the ARA, we can't go around making referrals, of course, as we're not supposed to show preference for one Realtor over another. However, there is a great way to find a good Realtor regardless of where you live -- ask your friends and families who have bought houses and get some recommendations.

Here's the thing -- most Realtors are good, honest people who work hard for a living and represent their clients well. Some of them are terrifyingly self-centered and are best avoided.

Of course, I've got that insider knowledge and I know how to spot those few bad apples. You can spot them, too, just by asking your friends and neighbors who did a good job for them. Reputation is everything in the real estate business. It's been that way for years and will never change.

So, it's good to be home and blogging again. I've been slacking on my marketing through Entrecard for obvious reasons, but I'll be back in the swing of things within the next few days.

Meanwhile...

While I was way, I was somehow presented with a slew of dandy awards. I will get around to passing those along to some great bloggers before long but I feel obliged to mentioned what those awards are and thank all of those people who sent them to me. So, here's what I won and who sent them.

1. Lyndon at Lyndonology sent me the BFF Gold Card Award. He also sent the "I 'heart' Your blog" award that I sent to him straight back to me. Not sure that one counts, though.

2. Lot 2 Learn at Did I Miss Something? sent me the Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008.

3. Steve at the Axis of Stevil sent me two awards -- the Kick Ass Blogger Award and the Brainy Blog Award.

So, thanks to all of those cats for sending those awards my way. I'll get around to thanking all of those great bloggers properly through a post in the next day or two and I'll pass those awards along, too.