Contributing and Connecting

Everyone I talk to these days seems overwhelming buried in work. It seems busier than ever. Yet despite that, in the recent call for volunteers for the revamped program committee, IAC received 199 responses. That’s huge. And, I think, speaks volumes about individual’s desire to contribute and connect to our larger community.

Along those lines, I am seeing more ways in which people are trying to connect through various communities formed with Web 2.0 – through Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. – I even received a request to connect via Plaxo Pulse today. I am left wondering if we can keep up multiple avenues of connection with meaningful contact or if it becomes another thing to check off the list of things to do… write in blog, update x, check y, etc. Can we do it all? And what if you say no? What is the perception? One person told me she doesn’t like the one to many nature of Facebook – where’s the private connection? Does everything need to be public?

Well, clearly it doesn’t. There is a balance. I think it is that balance in personal vs open communication that we all have to find for ourselves, just like anything else in life. In the meantime, I am enjoying exploring these new avenues and learning my own personal comfort boundaries in using these technologies.

Leslie