I've been messing around with Linked In, sort of a "Facebook" or "Myspace" for those in the business world, with an emphasis on networking. In theory, I link up with my business contacts - old colleagues, classmates, friends, clients, vendors, peers, etc. They do the same. And so, along the lines of "Six Degrees of Separation", I can find potential business contacts and clients in organizations I may be targeting via my professional network.
So, if I think the XYZ Company would be a good fit for my services, I search for them on Linked In. And whaddya know, the director of service, Martha Vandella, knows my former boss Carlton Doorman. So I can either approach Ms. Vandella on Linked In (via messaging) or perhaps try to get an introduction in the material world via Mr. Doorman. Neat concept, although it really has not borne fruit to date. Mostly, it's been a good tool to get back in touch with people I've lost track of.
But of course, being curious and geeky, I search for odd things, not business related. Hot Air Balloonists. Folk Musicians. Yogis. This morning, searching for "yoga", I came up with over 500 names that I was connected to. Cool. But as I drilled down into the names, it seems that almost all of them are connected to me via my college pal Don, a decidedly un-yoga sort of guy. I know Don, and Don knows someone who knows them. Weird.
Maybe it's just that Don is based in San Diego, a nexus for the new age / yoga world. Maybe it's the fact that Don, with 160+ contacts is just an uber-networked kind of guy. Still, it's kind of goofy.
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