I've been telling my students that in this era of business, many companies have very stringent Intellectual Property protections--as they should. But the ONE thing they haven't figured out how to capture is your personal network. If you are not spending some time each week (or day) building and nurturing your personal connections you are missing an important opportunity.
With that said, let me recommend LinkedIN...www.linkedin.com. I've been using it for a few years and it is a great tool for keeping track of your network of colleagues and for finding new ones. Additionally, it has some features that are not easily replicated anywhere else.
Recently, in support of my research interest in the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP)--more on that in a future post--I posed a question in the ANSWERS forum seeking contacts or information on people doing interesting work in that area. Within 24 hours I had been contact by a dozen people around the world ALL with useful information I couldn't have collected in months. It's like asking the world a question and having the world answer you.
Basic membership is free.
Why aren't YOU linked in?
Greg
PS feel free to see my LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/sparzo
Thursday, May 10, 2007
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