Tag Archives: networking

By Miiko Mentz

If you don’t have plans tonight and want to mingle with a few friendly folks who are active in Silicon Valley’s social media scene, then head on over to Cielo Lounge atop Hotel Valencia at Santana Row in San Jose. It starts at 5:30 and if it’s anything like last month’s tweetup it will go well into the night.

At last month’s Silicon Valley Tweetup, which was the second one to take place, we met up with Michael Brito of Intel. Brito started the monthly Silicon Valley Tweetups in July and it’s been quite a success. In our video interview with him, he shares with us why he started it and how it’s a great way to bring people together and at the same time support a good cause — the Anissa Lopez Foundation and George Mark Children’s House.

Tonight’s Silicon Valley Tweetup is sponsored by Lithium Technologies. Also, our very own Brian Solis will be on hand tonight for a book signing of his latest book “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations,” which was co-authored with Deirdre Breakenridge. Copies of the book will be on sale and the profits will be donated to the Anissa Lopez Foundation and George Mark Children’s House.

hashtag: #svtweetup

Follow me on Twitter: @MiikoMentz

by Michelle Lentz

Whether it is because people are losing jobs (or preparing to do so), or because my visibility is increasing, I have started to get a lot more LinkedIn invites. In many cases, these folks feel they have a personal connection with me (through my blogging or speaking) and don’t realize that I have a memory like a sieve, particularly for names.

Would you send out an invitation to a party without thinking through the invitation and considering the wording? Probably not. I wish more people applied that same logic to LinkedIn invites.

Michelle:

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Larry

Now, I probably do want to connect with imaginary Larry. He’s probably a great guy and might even have some great contacts. But because I need a memory jog sometimes, I’m not sure who he is. I also question how seriously he takes connecting because he didn’t bother to personalize his LinkedIn invite and just sent the default text.  Why couldn’t Larry have taken the time to write this?

Michelle:

I really enjoyed your presentation at our local AMA Non-profit group. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

OR

I really enjoy following your Twitter feed. You can find me on Twitter @username. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

– Larry

All our imaginary contact Larry would have to do is add one or two sentences to the default invite.  It makes him more human and shows a little bit of effort.

If you’re reaching out to someone you met via Twitter, briefly at a conference, or someone who you know because of their blog, go ahead and personalize your invite. Not only will it jog your connection’s memory, it will make you stand out a little more as well. And with the economy the way it is, standing out from the rest is important, no matter who you’re reaching out to.

__

Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Sites: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Brian Solis

The spirit of entrepreneurialism is what drives all of us to innovate and excel. Economics aside, there is no better time than now to pursue that next big idea. This is your time to shine and we want to celebrate you, your vision and help you succeed.

Microsoft Startup Zone and The TechSet, present “Ignition” an event for entrepreneurs, investors and those who contribute to a dynamic ecosystem for helping startups flourish.

Join Stephanie Agresta, Brian Solis, Microsoft staff and partners at One Little West NYC from 8-10pm. Free hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and valuable networking will be served. Plus, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the most influential technologists around. All attendees can participate in a “twitter raffle” to win an XBox 360 Elite.

Microsoft Startup Zone will be making an important announcement prior to the event at the New York Tech Meetup, so for now, we need to keep things stealth while we plan and organize during private beta.

Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more news.

Event Details:

Time: 8-10pm
Location: 1 Little W. 12th St., New York, NY 10014

Please make sure to RSVP on Eventbrite.

If you don’t live in NY, hopefully we’ll see you in Austin, LA, or Silicon Valley:

November 20, 2008 – Austin

December 2, 2008 – Los Angeles

December 4, 2008 – Silicon Valley

Connect with me on:
Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pownce, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, Jaiku or Facebook

Subscribe to the bub.blicio.us RSS Feed.

by Michelle Lentz

If a Podcamp pops up in your area, I recommend you attend it. Among other reasons, Podcamps are free and you can’t argue with free networking and knowledge.

Podcamp Ohio was a total success! I’m not sure of the numbers yet, but I believe they may have surpassed 200 attendees. Not bad for an unconference that ran a basically viral marketing campaign, depending on Twitter and word of mouth.

The sessions were great. I enjoyed the first session I attended – Podcasting in Plain English by David Jackson. It covered all the basics you need for podcasting. Sometimes I think these podcasting experts forget that if you’re just experimenting with the idea, you shouldn’t go out and buy expensive equipment. Jackson made sure to mention that. Make sure it’s something you like and enjoy before investing.

I also attended What Not to Do: Social Media Anti-Tips by Paull Young and Luke Armour. It was probably my favorite session of the day, although I didn’t attend too many. In this session they covered all sorts of social media mistakes, particularly pertaining to marketing. They interspersed their presentation with Great Moments in Twitter, which showcased some more embarrassing tweets. Remember folks, Twitter is forever.

My session on Twitter went quite well – or so I’ve heard. I’m trying to get a full presentation together for some upcoming conferences and this was sort of a practice run for me. I got enough feedback that I’ve already started “upgrading” my presentation, although many have told me it’s fine as is. I had a complicated mix in the room of Twitter skeptics and Twitter diehards. It’s hard to gear a presentation to both, but hopefully I carried it off.

For me, the best part of Podcamp was the time I spent networking. Perhaps I’m a bad camper, but I missed about two sessions because I was getting to know people in the cafe and hallway. I particularly enjoyed conversations with Shawn Morton of Profilactic and Doug Petch. In fact, Podcamp drove home a point for me about social networking. In my various speaking engagements, I always try to push the fact that while we’re all making friends online, our real goal is face to face networking. For a lot of people, myself included, it’s easier to network semi-anonymously online and then meet someone in person. Meeting so many of my Twitter friends “in real life” at Podcamp was fantastic.

There were several folks video/audio recording each of the sessions. (I’m camera shy, so I found this unnerving). The sessions should be online sometime soon.

And to the organizers, congratulations on a successful event!

__

Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.