Six Degrees of Separation

It's been said that we are 6 degrees away from Kevin Bacon through our network of family and friends. This has actually been studied by social psychologists for many years and has been proven over and over. It's probably even more true in the internet age.

Ever since I moved up here, one of the things that I have done is to look back at my 17 years in Columbus and think about what I could have done differently. When I first arrived in Columbus in June of 1990, I did not know anybody and it wasn’t until a few years later that I had a decent social and professional network. In looking back, I’ve come to realize that, outside of professional life and martial arts, my social network wasn’t what it should have been and, in retrospect, I realize that I did not network enough, either socially or professionally. I passed up a number of opportunities to get to know some fantastic people and in doing so, probably missed out on other opportunities as well. Now, it’s a bit easier since the internet is around us. In looking back, I have decided not to make the same mistakes that I did in the first few years in Columbus. I’m networking much more than I did in Columbus. I have applied for a position on the Board of Directors of the local Golden Retriever Rescue group. I’m also looking for a Toastmasters’ meeting in downtown Toronto close to where I work. They typically meet once a week during lunch. One of my Canadian friends has invited me to the “15th Annual He-Man Weekend Getaway” and I have accepted that invitation. Just a bunch of guys getting together in cottage country and hanging out for the weekend. Don’t know if they are going to egg me into a Polar Bear Dip or not ! :-) Also, I will be an instructor at a Filipino Martial Arts Workshop on April 13th in downtown Toronto and that should be a fun opportunity to meet some people. In addition, I’ve been training with a few people in the martial arts and hope to substantially expand that group. And in addition, there are the opportunities of meeting people through my wife's family and friends.

I've also joined LinkedIn, a business networking site, and Facebook in the last few months.

So, yes, it might be fair to say that I've done a major reassessment in how I meet and network with people. Besides, it's just fun meeting and getting to know others. I'm learning to become more of a people person like my sister, Nancy and my Dad.

I would highly recommend a book called “Never Eat Lunch Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi, which touches on the issue of networking. While it may be somewhat mercenary in some respects, it’s a great book and stresses the value of expanding your network and building relationships in this day and age of the “open source” society.

See you later !