Who have you signed up with?
What communities do you belong to? And how active are you in them?
I’m reviewing where I’m placing my time and focus for 2010 – you’ll have picked that up then as the theme of the week – and I’m finding it… interesting to see which badges I’m sewing onto my sleeve.
Memberships
TED. I’m off to my first TED conference in February in Palm Springs. Holy cow, am I excited about this. This is a group that inspires, provokes and makes the world change. I’m proud to be in any way associated with this group, even just as an attendee.
The Long Now. I love this group. They promote slower/better thinking over the faster/cheaper mindset that predominates right now. Amongst other things, they’re building a 10,000 year clock.
CAPS. Canada’s Professional Speaker community. Even though I speak regularly for organizations, I’m finding that I’m not getting what I might from this membership. It’s a shame – the meetings I’ve been to have been pretty useful, but it’s telling that I’m just not attending them these days
ICF. The mighty International Coach Federation. I’m very happy to be supporting my local Toronto chapter with my dues, as they do a great job building a local community. But the bigger ICF? I don’t feel that strongly connected to them. It perhaps points to the fact that I do very little actual coaching these days.
Toronto Cyclists Union. It’s minus-something-miserable outside and there’s snow on the ground, so I’m not hoping on my two-wheeler much right now. (Altho’ some brave souls still cycle in the midst of a Toronto winter.) But I’m very happy to help support the shift away from cars and to a more friendly way of transport.
Virtual communities
My brain trust. Every two weeks I get together on the phone with Molly, Michele, Eric, Jen and Mark and we help each other succeed. This group has evolved and grown over four years – and it’s a very important contributor to my sanity and success. Everyone else is based over on the West Coast, so we only get to see one another once a year.
Twitter. I’m delighted and bemused to find myself hanging out on Twitter as much as I do. What’s been a surprise is the new connections I’ve made with people there – and how some of them are beginning to blossom into friendships, people like @PamSlim and @JonathanFields.
LinkedIn. I’m finding myself drawn back to LinkedIn, having given up on it somewhat in 2009. I think this is a place where interesting communities are forming if you look hard enough to find them.
How about you? Who have you signed up with? How active are you? And what does that say about what matters to you?
Pingback: uberVU - social comments
I agree with your comment about LinkedIn. I feel an energy building there that I have not felt before. I’ve joined new communities in the last few days that align well with my interests and I’m excited about the possibilities.
Thanks for this post; I really like the idea of taking some time to review all of my memberships and deliberately plan my time for 2010. I agree completely with your comments about ICF; the Phoenix chapter is great too! Your comments also make me very appreciative of the strong National Speakers Association chapter here in Arizona; I love the positive energy from the meetings and I always lear a lot. Paula