LibraryTechtonics

I want to see this happen at more conferences.

Step 1:  Make everyone stand up and find a spot along the wall.

Step 2:  Now having everyone stand in front of another person.

Step 3:  Have everyone talk to the person in front of them for about 1 minute.

Step 4:  Announce a “shift!” and have everyone take a step to their right.

Step 5: Rinse and repeat as long as time will allow.

I came in a little late in the game, since I was at the registration desk when this networking two-step began.  But I was encouraged to jump into the fray, and quickly found myself chatting with Colleen Kaman, who ended up being one of the speakers in the first session I attended today.  In the few minutes of hopping to my right, I picked up 5 business cards, made 5 connections, and ended up talking to Lilly J., author of Consuming Lilly for an extra 10 minutes.

Utter chaos?  Kinda, yeah.  A minute is not nearly long enough, especially given that every “shift!” had to be announced repeatedly for another *minute* before it actually happened in the line.  Totally worth the chaos? Absolutely.  It’s one of those things about social networking:  whether you do it online or in meatspace, a little chaos goes a long way to community growth.  Added bonus: there’s no time to be scared or nervous, you just gotta do it.  Talk about personal growth.

Idea for you: try a little “speed dating” in your online social networking.

Step 1: “Walk up to” a Twitter feed that looks kinda interesting, or happens to be using the hashtag #blogherboston.

Step 2: Send the equivalent of a 1 minute chat in the form of 140 characters.  Tell them why you follow them, or something interesting that might be interesting to them.

Step 3:  See what happens.

You know, just for kicks. Not on Twitter?  No worries.  Try leaving a brief comment on a blog, something really simple.

I’d love to know hwat happens, so drop me a comment and lemme know how it goes.

Tags: blogher, blogherboston, networking, socialnetworking, speeddating