I’m lucky to have a network of peers, supporters, mentors…In other words a well of ideas, introductions, and feedback that I can tap in to when need be. I’m not a prolific networker, but I do see the value in knowing people and I work hard to build and most important maintain strong relationships with people I find interesting. I have no problem meeting someone just to talk about things, share ideas, talk about each other’s endeavors. For nine months a year, I am mostly in “Operation Maintain” as in stay in touch with folks I already know. (This name comes from the term my family uses to maintain our wood stove fire during the winter. Someone needs to “maintain” the fire by adding a piece of wood every couple hours.)
Some people always need to have a very specific purpose or ideal outcome behind meeting someone. That’s too near-sighted, as far as I’m concerned. So…I thought I could use my blog as a way to profile someone who I know and respect, share a little bit about them and why I like them, and always extend the offer to introduce you (reader) to this person if it makes sense. The majority of my contacts do not have blogs, unfortunately. Obviously this concept would work better if the person had a blog so you could get a daily dose of them if you find my profile interesting. Anyway, I’ve created a new TypePad category “Friends of Ben” and will, every few weeks or so, profile someone new. We’ll see how long I can go before I exhaust my address book!
Great idea! I was thinking about doing the same myself. Don’t forget to include Google links!