{"id":526,"date":"2006-10-11T06:24:48","date_gmt":"2006-10-11T13:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=526"},"modified":"2007-04-20T17:23:19","modified_gmt":"2007-04-21T00:23:19","slug":"candles-incense-bells-and-ashes-redeeming-the-carnival-of-real-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/526\/candles-incense-bells-and-ashes-redeeming-the-carnival-of-real-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"Candles, incense, bells and ashes: Redeeming The Carnival of Real Estate . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been very gratified by all the comments we’ve had, both public and private, about raising the standards for The Carnival of Real Estate. We did what we did because we were behind the wheel. We had control of the Carnival for this one week, and it would have been difficult and unseemly to take it away from us. But we didn’t know, going in, if we were going to incite admiration or riots — or simply indifference. Cathleen and I have the advantage of being stridently devoted to doing what we think is right, damn the consequences, but we really do hope to make an enduring change in the way this competition is judged.<\/p>\n

No, this is not rocket science, brain surgery, world peace or any other presumptively momentous endeavor deployed fallaciously to diminish every smaller endeavor. But anything worth doing is worth doing well, wisely, completely, coming as close as we can attain to the sublimely perfect. Excellence is ennobling, and to make a habit of excellence is to lead a noble life. And as far from the earth-shakingly momentous as a Carnival of Real Estate entry might be, is is nevertheless a piece of your life — whether you are the writer or the reader — an irreplaceable portion of all the forever you will ever have. Whyever would you waste it?<\/p>\n

Even so, the test of all this, going forward, will be what ZillowBlog — owner of The Carnival of Real Estate — elects to do, and then how each hosting weblog interprets any rules ZillowBlog might lay down. Practically speaking, nothing may change, and I am ordinarily a proud advocate of changing nothing. But if nothing changes in the rules and standards of the Carnival, what will<\/i> change is the quality of the entries. Bad work drives out the good. If people who are thoughtful, talented and assiduous know that they will be held as the nominal equals of competitors who actually bring nothing to the competition, they will stop entering. The Carnival will come to be seen not as the harbinger of excellence but of its opposite.<\/p>\n

That Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been very gratified by all the comments we’ve had, both public and private, about raising the standards for The Carnival of Real Estate. We did what we did because we were behind the wheel. We had control of the Carnival for this one week, and it would have been difficult and unseemly to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15,7,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-carnival-of-real-estate","8":"category-enduring-interest","9":"category-marketing","10":"category-real-estate","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1756,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1756\/vale-carne-vale-recasting-the-odysseus-medal-as-a-carnival-of-real-estate-weblogging-excellence\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":0},"title":"Vale, carne vale: Recasting The Odysseus Medal as a carnival of real estate weblogging excellence","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm pretty fed up with the Carnival of Real Estate. It is what it is, and there have been times over the past year when it has blown tender kisses toward the sublime. But much too often it has chosen to rut around in the mud, and, in any case,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1056,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1056\/real-estate-carnivals-nigel-swaby-wins-carnival-of-real-estate-investing-our-own-allen-butler-wins-carnival-of-real-estate\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":1},"title":"Real Estate Carnivals: Nigel Swaby wins Carnival of Real Estate Investing, our own Allen Butler wins Carnival of Real Estate . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"BloodhoundBlog was this week's host of the Carnival of Real Estate Investing. Nigel Swaby from the Salt Lake Real Estate Blog was this week's winner, with Creative Financing - Conversion to Traditional Mortgages. We had a total of seven entries and four judges: Michael Cook, Cathleen Collins, Jeff Brown and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":777,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/777\/the-carnival-of-real-estate-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":2},"title":"The Carnival of Real Estate . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"...is up at Seattle Real Estate Professionals. Moderator Marlow Harris presents awards in three categories. BloodhoundBlog is a Carnival unto its own. Here are eleven entries from the last week that I thought were exemplary: Russell Shaw: Thank You, Mr. Barton, May I Have Another? Kris Berg: When It Clicks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":965,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/965\/derek-burress-hits-a-grand-slam-with-the-carnival-of-real-estate-investing\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":3},"title":"Derek Burress hits a grand slam with the Carnival of Real Estate Investing","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Would you like to see a grand slam blog carnival presentation? Take yourself to Real Estate Perspectives for The Carnival of Real Estate Investing. Our own Michael Cook came in first place with The Right Time to Buy: An Investor Perspective, but I would rave about this carnival even if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":870,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/870\/carnival-of-carnivals\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":4},"title":"Carnival of carnivals . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"BloodhoundBlog is broadly represented in this week's weblog carnivals: Kris Berg's post Kibble and Bits can be found at the Carnival of Real Estate at @ House Values. Jeff Brown's entry The S & P Is Up Over 16% In 2006! is among the winners at the Carnival of Real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":261,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/261\/the-carnival-of-real-estate-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":526,"position":5},"title":"The Carnival of Real Estate . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"is up at TheLandlordBlog.com. Also: The Carnival of Business at SMB Direct Marketing. Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}