FIABCI contacted me before their annual conference held at the Ritz Carlton  in Denver, Colorado to see if I would be a presenter on the topic of Blogging As A Lead Generation Machine.  I was surprised and honored with their invitation and accepted immediately.  The FIABCI – Denver conference was made up of real estate professionals from around the world sharing their best ideas for serving the needs of their international Buyers and Sellers. FIABCI – The International Real Estate Federation, has been serving the real estate needs of the world for almost 60 years.  It is the special consultant to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Organisation (ECOSOC).  With five official languages and real estate practitioners representing all of the professions ( e.g. appraisal, brokerage, counseling, financing, property management, and development),  it is a business association with members in 65 countries giving access to more than 2 million real estate related contacts around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Jim Walberg  was visiting friends last week in Vail, Colorado  before he heads back to the islands after a break from hurricane season.  His friend, Jay Rosenbaum, help start the only premier coffee roaster committed to roasting 100% Fair Trade, 100% organic coffees that are naturally rich in antioxidants, handcrafted to perfection using 100% certified renewable energy.   BuyWell Coffee  was founded with a BIG dream – combating poverty and protecting the environment through coffee.  If I told you that the second highest commodity traded in the world after oil was coffee would you believe me?  Well, believe it!  And, the coffee growing families of the world are living on less than $2US per day!

After several days and hours of discussions with Jay, my eyes were opened to the impact that growing coffee is having on this world we live in.  The carbon footprint of this industry is gigantic!  BuyWell Coffee  is constantly looking for ways to become more sustainable and making their daily carbon footprint much smaller.  And, they are doing this while still producing the best coffee I have ever tasted, plus their premium coffee is very affordable! Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was the 14^th Annual Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado.  The headquarters of the conference was at the Ritz Carlton.  Membership in this organization is by invitation-only.  Jim Walberg and Caribbean Islands Realty were invited to join this prestigious international real estate group in 2007.  The Fall conference is the annual event which allows for the member-Brokers to gather at luxury locations in the United States to exchange ideas that are creating the best results in their various marketplaces.  Jim Walberg was a guest presenter at the conference for the fifth straight conference. Read the rest of this entry »

Coastweeks is the what the locals in the USVI call International Coastal Cleanup (YouTube) week.  It starts September 19^th and the USVI’s are getting ready for a week’s of hard and dirty work – but much needed.  During that week you will find students, various organizations, business groups, and an army of people who will be heading to the beaches of the USVI to pick up and categorize the garbage they find.  Organized beach clean-ups will run through September and October.

At last year’s Coastweeks there were 1,400 volunteers on St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix who picked up 18,600 pounds of trash from 43 miles of beaches!  St. Thomas won the prize for the most garbage, if anyone would really want that prize – 12,275 pounds of trash.  St. John was second with 3,000 pounds of trash, and St. Croix was third with 2,035 of trash.  The environment has no winners when our citizens are creating such a mess of Mother Nature’s playground.  This is in the same category of contributing to the well being of the earth as the USVI Waste Management Authority contract to create alternative energy in the USVI from trash. Read the rest of this entry »