Connecting with professionals in my community

For this week's assignment we were asked to join an Internet community (the only exception is the OSU internet community and popular social networking sites). It wasn't difficult for me to find a internet community to join. I thought about who and what I would like to communicate about during the week. My brother had told me about a popular internet community of young, established business people in our area. He had joined it for his work as he found the need to be more accessible to be people who may not have email address. Also by connecting with other professionals in his area he was able to keep track of the changes in his career field. A third benefit that came from joining the website is that people who were not customers, clients, could ask you questions about your product or service, with the hope that someday they may become a customer. I find value in this service because my mother is a local accountant and I work directly for her. I am in charge of the office management. One of my duties is to market our services. However in accounting marketing is not as easy as just putting an advertisement in the yellow pages or newspaper. The best referrals are the ones that have had some sort of first hand knowledge about our services. For instance currently our marketing techniques include word of moth from customers and other professionals in our area, and secondarily we have a website. I know that does not sound like much but as there is only one accountant in the office we are almost to full capacity of clients. Therefore we take clients on a somewhat limited basis according to what time allows us to finish and complete services on time.

So why did I join the professional internet community if my work did not need more clients. For me my benefits from using the site differed from my brother. As many professionals had already joined the chat room, because it was easy to find people I already knew outside in my personal life. Later I found this to be a great benefit because some of those contacts emailed me that it now was a much easier way to connect with others. In joining the site you have a web page of your own were others can view a short bio. Then you can link your website to others. The first I linked to of course was my brother. Then you can instant message anyone in the site or even send them a full email. The part of the site that I enjoy the most is the talk rooms. Throughout the week I would spend some time in the chat rooms trying to meet new people, because at first nothing was happening, I did not receive any emails or instant messaging. I thought back to something I was told in joining a new school is that in order to make friends you often just need to initiate conversation.

I was a little intimidated to speak to other business people because I had no idea who may be in the chat room or if I would have anything in common with anyone. I began a short conversation with a young woman who lived locally and was a real estate professional. In Bend, our community is facing a very tough time due to the economy and homes are being foreclosed on at one of the highest rates in Oregon. In our office we counsel many people in regards to this real estate issue as some foreclosures have tax consequences. Therefore both she and I were able to talk about this looming problem in our area. After a week I had many conversations both with her and many others both lived nearby and far away. The economy seemed to be the subject of a lot of conversations. It seems as though people everywhere are feeling some sort of hardship. I guess the bright side of the story could include the fact that by connecting with others I was able to find new resources and help that is available to our current client load. I found this website to be more helpful in connecting with others than it was a good marketing tool.

In the end I began to think about the readings for this week. It is so strange to be in a chat room and connect with others. I for the most part know little about them. After all the information on their biography was personally filtered. The picture may not be them at all. After chatting for a week I felt as if I knew the real estate professional and that we were friends. However I have never communicated with her outside the internet. In Chapter 7 of Technopoly Postman talks about how developers have work to create a computer in the likeness of the human mind. By this I think Postman is saying that most of the websites and software that is out there is created by human and therefore may seem very human like. However there is a huge different between online communication and direct communication. One gains the advantage of using all the senses in meeting someone. Although the networking site was entertaining to me and was a good exercise I found the experience to be forced. I fit into the crowd in the networking site alright but I had a hard time believing that I was truly fulfilled in speaking to complete strangers. I prefer communicating with others over coffee, or lunch.

Emily

Here is the networking site that I joined: Talk Directories

http://www.talkdirectories.com/other/2228-free-business-chat-room.html