This morning I’ll be heading to Toronto for a weekend of connecting, sharing, learning and of course, fun at Podcamp. It’s been a long time since I’ve been really excited about attending an event. Perhaps it’s because I don’t get to go to many events. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting the chance to meet up with some people I haven’t seen in a while, and actually meet some people I’ve only known online until now.

The whole thing has me thinking about this online social community that I’m privileged to be part of.

I’ve been fortunate throughout my life to live in many different cities, be exposed to many different cultures, and work in many different industries. As a result, I have friends from just about every walk of life you can imagine. It’s terrific. Some I am very close with. With others I’m more of a good acquaintance. Each of them are special to me in their own way.

But there’s something about this relatively new group of friends I’ve discovered in the past couple of years. For some reason, even though I haven’t known these people for that long, and even though I don’t see them every day, or have even met some of them face to face, I feel very close to them. And today, it occurred to me why the Web allows for these close relationships to happen, in spite of the lack of geographical or physical connection.

You see, when you meet someone the traditional way – at work, through a mutual friend, or even by chance – the connection is very one on one. The relationship is built through a series of individual conversations. Often you only get a certain perspective on a person at first. You get to know them only in the context of your own interaction with them. But in the world of social media, we’re many. Talking to many.

So, not only are you getting the one on one stuff, and connecting on that level – you are also seeing many other dimensions of the person at the same time. You see their creative expression on their blog. You see their business side through their business-type profiles (think LinkedIn). And perhaps, most importantly, you are privvy to their conversations with others. You see how they interact, many different facets of their personality appear at once, depending upon who they are talking to.

The result? You get to know the person a lot better, a lot faster than you normally would.

And this, I think, is the primary reason why my online friends mean so much to me. Because I see all of them. And they see all of me. And that, is why I love this place, and why I love these friends.

Looking forward to seeing you again, meeting you finally, and getting to know you if you’re new.

Love,
Suze.

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I love being inspired by other people’s blog posts. Speaking of inspirational, have you met Jon Swanson? I’ve been a fan of Jon’s for well over a year. His blog, Levite Chronicles, is one of the first blogs I go to every morning. Jon blogs about life, faith, family, work, new media…really, a bit of everything. What I love about Jon is how he so thoughtfully and carefully crafts each post, in a way that leaves you with a sense of clarity and plenty to ponder.

This morning, he wrote a wonderful post called “Accumulate or Collect”. It’s required reading for my post so go read it now. I’ll wait.

Great, you’re back.

Jon describes his enjoyment of coffee (we are kindred spirits that way) and the many coffee mugs he has as a result. Despite having vast quantities of mugs adorning the shelves of his office, he considers himself an “accumulator” of mugs as opposed to a “collector”. He goes on to cleverly point out that a collector “has discernment”, whereas an accumulator has none. Collectors are meticulous about what they collect, how they categorize and label things, and how they track the value of their collections.

My brother collects coins. It’s obvious that it’s a collection because it’s all perfectly labelled, organized and tracked. He knows what he has and how much it’s worth to him. In other words, he isn’t just accumulating a random pile of coins on a shelf in his office.

Accumulators, on the other hand, may like the things they have accumulated very much, but they don’t necessarily have a rhyme or reason for it. Jon accumulates coffee mugs. I accumulate fridge magnets. I don’t really care where they come from, as long as I get them while I’m visiting a place, or they are given to me by someone who has been there. They aren’t labelled, they are just stuck on my fridge, willy nilly. They are an accumulation.

Jon’s article teaches a great lesson about how we deal with the information that comes at us. We can just accumulate all this stuff in our heads, and not really put much thought into it, or, we can start to really collect that information – meaning sort it, discern it, get rid of what doesn’t work, make use of what does.

And that brings me, naturally, to social media.

Followers, followees, friends and fans. Anyone who is in to social media has some combination of all of these. It’s the foundation of this vast online community we’re in, for without that two-way connection none of this would be effective.

Have you ever really sat down to think if your base of connections is a collection or an accumulation? If you put it in context of Jon’s definitions, then an “accumulation” of connections is just that. It’s not thought out, not categorized. It’s just a whole lot of numbers. If your goal on any of the social media tools is to just have the most friends or followers on your list, then you’re missing the point. If you are simply accumulating numbers, then you aren’t making real connections. If you are sitting around, tracking (and caring) if your numbers are growing steadily or if you are in steep decline, then you are missing the point. If you are complaining to every person that unfollows you, you are missing the point.

Collections are what it’s all about. I can pretty well categorize my social media connections. I have business connections, friendship connections, people I just joke around with, people who I am fans of, and people who I learn from. I have categories for subjects, too. There are people I talk to about music, entrepreneurship, books, tech gadgets, video, or pets. Do people fall into more than one category? To be sure! I suppose, if I wanted to get really fancy about it, I could map my connections, see how it’s all linked.

What’s important with a collection is that even though each item in the collection may have a different purpose, they must all do one thing – provide value. If I collect postage stamps, I’m not going to have a big pack of regular stamps that you put on a letter in my collection. They are noise to my collection. I am going to seek out the unique, interesting stamps though. The ones with stories. The ones with something to contribute to my collection.

My networks are the same way. If I follow or friend someone who only contributes noise to my conversations, then I don’t find value there. It’s nothing personal. I may not see the value, simply because the content of that person’s stream is not aligned with my interests. Someone else may find tremendous value in the same person.

The people I welcome into my network are the ones that are providing me with something unique, interesting, entertaining, and valuable. To me. It doesn’t mean it has to be valuable to you. It’s my collection. The beauty of collections, because they are meticulously put together the way you want them to be, is they become uniquely your own.

So, to accumulate or collect? It’s a provocative question. Look around your network. Is your collection something you’d be proud to show off? But more importantly, is your collection providing you with value?

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It’s Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. It’s the height of Autumn, the trees are a fiery glow on the brightest of blue skies. The breeze is crisp, but the last of summer’s warmth can still be felt in the sun.

Fall is my favourite time of year, not just for the beautiful days, but because it signifies change. Sleepy summer afternoons make way for the bountiful harvest of Fall. Thoughts of pumpkin pie, comfort food, and even the still distant Christmas season fill my head.

I’ve been working really hard these past few weeks. Well it’s good to be busy, especially since I’m my own boss, it’s nice to have this peaceful Saturday to sit back and reflect. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve compiled a list of all the things I am grateful for:

I am grateful for:

• My family. For their love, and their unwavering support and faith in me. 
• My little nephews. They are growing up to be healthy, happy, terrific kids. 
• The fact that my friends have healthy, happy, terrific kids too. 
• My husband. He makes our home my soft spot to land in the midst of all the craziness. 
• My pets. Four little heartbeats that fill my house with fur and chaos, but mostly love. 
• My best friend and business partner. It’s so rare to have both in the same person – we know we are very fortunate. 
• The Internet. Yes, the Internet. Because if not for the Internet I would have never met my husband, I would not have my dream career, and I would not have gotten to know all of you. 

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Life is full of lessons. Every day I learn at least one thing that I didn’t know the day before. I would say we probably all do.

The past 5 years or so have been a time of tremendous learning and growth for me. I’ve bought a house, gotten married (yes, in that order – which I highly recommend!), become a full-time entrepreneur, worked hard to weed out the negative people in my life, and reconnected with some wonderful old friends. I’ve discovered a rich and fascinating online world, and made some really great new friends here.

It’s like I’ve been climbing up a slope of learning these past few years. The path was really steep sometimes. Occasionally I stumbled, even fell. Other times it leveled out; it was pretty smooth sailing. I’m grateful to have had plenty of help on my journey, from incredible friends, and of course my family.

Now I feel like I’ve come to the top of the mountain. I can see pretty clearly what lies ahead of me, and more importantly, what I need to do to get there. As I begin to travel down the other side of the mountain, I am able to release some of my new knowledge as I go. This is happening in all aspects of my life right now.

Professionally, I have the amazing opportunity to pass on my more than 18 years of media industry experience to young people who are just starting out in their careers. Now that I am happily married, I find myself passing on advice to my single girlfriends about dating, finding the person that’s right for you, and being happy in a relationship. And, now that I’ve weeded out the bad energy in my life, I’m able to help others to do the same.

I know that once I am through this teaching phase and at the bottom of the mountain again, I will climb the next mountain of learning. There are many more mountains to climb, many more challenges to face. I am happy to know that I’ve made it this far, and that I have something to offer as a result. And I am excited to know there’s much more to come.

Photo by Matt Phillips on Flickr.

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