Sunday, July 20 at 11:59 p.m. is your last opportunity to register for VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008 at the early bird rate, saving you up to $80. Not attending VAR this year? Your competition is pleased with your decision:

Hi, remember me? Your friendly competition? Look, as friendly as we are, let me be brutally frank.

I’m glad you haven’t registered for VAR’s Convention & Expo.

It’s a tough market, in case you hadn’t heard, and I want every edge I can get over you my competitors. Here’s what I’ll be getting at the Convention while you stay home and hold down the fort:

1. I’m going to network, face to face, with REALTORS®, brokers, and business leaders from all over the state. So I’ll be picking up new ideas, while you’re doing the same old, same old.
2. Sure, you can read Robyn Waters’s book, but I get to hear her talk, in person, about trends specific to real estate. I might even stop her or Andy Sernovitz or Douglas Rushkoff in the halls and ask them some questions, one on one! So I’ll be just a bit better prepared for the next year. And you?
3. Every few months you may get to hear Lem Marshall speak on a topic or two. I’m going to be able to catch him four times in a couple of days. (Not only will I get to ask questions, I’ll also hear what other people are asking.)
4. You know how when you come back from a conference and you’re full of good ideas? That’ll be me, and you’ll be… cold calling the same old prospects.
5. When you’re scrambling to meet your CE requirements, I’ll have already taken care of them. Have you seen how many sessions qualify?
6. In less than two hours, I’ll be able to learn about 50 free (or cheap) tech tools I can use in my business. You’ll still be flipping through PC Magazine.
7. I can go on a swanky harbor cruise and it’s a tax deductible business expense. Seriously.
8. VAR is expecting more than 70 exhibitors at the expo. It’ll be one-stop shopping for marketing material, value-adds for clients, technology, and a lot of other stuff. Stuff that you won’t learn about for months.

So yeah, I’ll take a few days and spend a few hundred bucks. But I’m virtually guaranteed to close at least one more sale based on what I’ll learn and who I’ll meet at VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008. That’s a hefty return on my investment. And that’s why I’m glad you’re not going… and I am.