Making Connections

I made a contact today. Actually, I made it last week but am just getting to writing about it now.

I am Linked In. I have a profile on Linked In and I go in periodically. I click through the buttons to check contact updates, see what new apps are available, scan the ever growing list of groups, and then if I have time, I search for people locally or long, lost friends (where the heck are you Kathy?!).

Sometimes I find some to invite and connect with, and sometimes I don't. Last week I did. I found (like they were ever lost) a friend and a few HR colleagues.

The friend is someone I had attended my Ordnance Officer Advanced Course with eons ago. He stayed in the Army, I got out. He's a Colonel now and from what I remember about Colonels from when I was a Captain, he is pretty old right now. Glad I got out and didn't age like he did :)

My HR colleagues are from the local area. Turns out one was looking for work and I was able to forward her information about an opportunity I had just received via Linked In a few days ago.  She responded back later that evening: she had a face-to-face interview on Wednesday! I know what you are thinking because I thought the very same thing, "Did I do that for her?" Talk about a rush. What a great feeling to be able to help another. Turns out, she was already aware of the opportunity. She had a phone interview last week and the face-to-face was already scheduled. So, it was not me but the rush was still the same.

Bottom line: I would not have had the opportunity (or the rush) had it not been for a social networking tool.

This time it was Linked In. What will it be next time? MySpace? I don't think so, I have a profile only so I can have access to my sister's page. Facebook? I had a profile but deactivated it because I never went into it. Twitter? Possibly. I feel the energy behind Twitter. I went to the site a few times but did not sign up. I even subscribed a few months ago to the Twitter Handbook (but lost my password so can't get to it now). What was stopping me? I am not sure how Twitter would fit into my life and my technology situation, i.e. cell phone (no text messaging).

Maybe it was the rush of seeking and making a connection; the possibility of being able to know (quickly) what is happening with friends and family; wanting to know as much as I possibly can about the medium that may very well consume my little girl in the next  few years; or just plain curiosity. Whatever it was, I took the leap. In the spirit of possibility and of making connections, I signed up for Twitter and have started to tweet at http://twitter.com/lisarosendahl.

It is all about making connections, isn't it?