Don’t worry – it’s not quite how it sounds. I’m not joining those newspaper headlines about Facebook fuelling divorce. However, I am meeting some very interesting people on-line – and then meeting up in the “real world”.
I had breakfast with one of them this morning. Rob Geraghty is an entrepreneur – involved in many projects – including his presentation training company the Wow Factor. Rob got in touch with me (via LinkedIn) after stumbling across my blog – and in particular liking the idea of “funemployment”.
We met for breakfast this morning – and one of our similarities was how baffled our wives are by this concept of people connecting via the web and meeting up. There is always a raised eyebrow when the response to “what are you doing today” is “I’m having a coffee with a man I met on the internet.” It does seem strange…
However, I’ve been thinking about it – and actually, it’s one of the brilliant opportunities thrown up by social media. In the past you would try and find like-minded people by traveling to conferences, speaking to lots of people with vaguely similar interests – and occasionally finding someone worth connecting with.
In our new world, you can easily find like minded people. You can do the research and understand what makes the person tick – and get to a stage of comfort way before you decide to write that first introductory message to initiate a connection.
I read today about Google’s new tool for “on-line reputation management”. It’s called “Me on the Web” – and can be found in your Google Dashboard. Google and many others recognise that our on-line presentation will be increasingly important as we build our Personal Networks of the future. I don’t believe this to be just a marketing exercise – it’s a way of reflecting on-line your values, interests and character.
Rob has added to my list of men met on the internet. Others include:-
Chris Redmond is an inspirational leader – and thought provoking blogger. (Attended one of his charity fund raising events in Reading.)
Jordi Robert-Ribes is a internationally respected speaker on networks. (Met for lunch in London when he was over from his home in Andorra)
Benjamin Wirtz is a young entrepreneur creating applications to help people manage their networks. (met for coffee in London)
Anyway, Rob was good fun to be around – a very similar connector. Within a week of his email – and before we met in person – we’d made a connection that should be of benefit to the Cricket charity that I’m involved in. Today, we worked through a few ideas that might be mutually beneficial – and our on-line “research” of each other before this meeting has already accelerated the level of connection and trust.
Connecting via the web is undoubtedly the most efficient way to meet like-minded people. I will be continuing to meet men on the internet – and I do recommend you give it a try!
I hope to someday meet in person all the men I’ve met on the Internet ;D. If you thought your wife has trouble with that idea, ask Tony what he thinks about it!
You connected me on LinkedIn to Chris Redmond – and it was through you I also connected with Joel Canfield-of-Dreams. It’s the in-person part that’s important, because I’m still trying to find the online/offline balance and tend to be inconsistent online.
Thanks for this blog post – it has reminded me to get back into the loop on Linked In and other fora!
Take Care, Phil.
Howdy, Beth! The Royal Welcome Ambassador for British Columbia (I just made that up) Caitlyn “Imagining Better” James sent me some links to the Sunshine Coast (Roberts Creek!) this morning, and we’re seriously considering making it our North American HQ. We should be passing through in late August, and we’ll definitely be meeting. (Maybe there’s a fun event we could create.)
Phil, as you know, I’m a huge fan of meeting on the internet, and extending that to real life. It’s been an enormous boost to the overall volume of trust in my life, meeting nearly 2 dozen online friends in real life during the past 10 months, and discovering that with very very few exceptions, there just aren’t any surprises (except the occasional pleasant one.)
Makes me look forward to our lunch together even more. (Not just the one in 2018, but a sooner lunch.)
Lunch soon. As well as my connecting via the internet – I’m also doing some old fashioned real-world connecting on the ground in Bath (my new hometown). That’s been enjoyable – and then I do the reverse and follow them on-line! Cheers. P
Hi Beth. I’m glad you are a signed up member of the “meeting men on the internet” club! Yes, I can see Tony’s point – I think changing my post to “I met a woman on the internet..” might have been even more awkward. All these connections are fun – and I hope to add you to my real-life contacts sometimes soon. P
Phil, the way you write is great. I have to admit, my wife thinks the same thing as yours and Rob did!
Hi Chris – thanks for such a nice compliment. Yes – you can imagine the size of the eye-roll/eyebrow raise when I told Carrie I was attending your dinner in Reading … when we’d met on-line! It’s an international/both gender phenomena – which Beth vouches for…