I was honoured to be part of a networking extravaganza last week. I was amazed to see networking work, to incredible effect, in a fabulous and life-changing way. Being involved in a naked charity calendar shoot wasn't exactly how I planned to spend my afternoon...
...but I am so glad I quietened the voices of doubt and fear and drove to the shoot location, with butterflies of nervous excitement fluttering. In entering the room full of dressing-gowned beautiies, only 4 of whom I knew and only two very well, the mood was subdued. It had been a long morning but it was clear that from earlier excitement and enthusiasm, friendships had been firmly formed under these unusual circumstances.
But how? The shared experience obviously is a bonding element. But most of these women were strangers to each other. This room had essentially come together through networking and mostly through networking via social media. Here in this room, the on-line world met face-to-face.
I don't believe they realised the enormity of what they had done: found each other through a random string of tweets, emails, and only rarely, at brief meetings; with some sort of random common thread tying them all together, they met in that room to get naked! You can't get much more personal than that.
It doesn't seem hard to be personal online these days but it is very difficult to make honest connections online, when it is so easy to be dishonest or veiled. The distance of cyberspace allows for less clear messages sent- those ones we often take for granted through face to face meetings of body language and speech inflections, disappear.
It appears that in this instance though, the success of the gathering and ultimately the calendar comes down to the premise all these women made, through their chat: was that they were honest. Completely. And believed the other women were also. Completely.
If they had been anything else, their intentions or authenticity would've immediately been seen through at that crucial face to face meeting. The group and therefore the event wouldn't have worked. You can't hide behind a computer screen or the written word, when you are stood in front of someone. The 'you' shines through and even more if you are literally, stripped bare.
There is a lot of debate about whether face to face interactions have their place anymore in the current and future world. What I witnessed and was lucky to be a part of that day was a perfect example of how it can all work together. Each has its place- online and face to face. The wonderful calendar would not have happened without the world of social media but nor would it have been created without those women coming together, in the flesh!
And in their dressing gowns, sipping champagne and eating chocolates, they swapped business cards, twitter and email addresses. They continued networking but it was more than that. They spoke of their businesses, their lives. They laughed. They shared. They created a story of that day, in-jokes and moments to be treasured. Lives were changed. It sounds more huge than it possibly could've been. But it was and the buzz from that day continues.
See here for a related article or go to the forum for a discussion on online vs face to face networking.
Trackback(0)
TrackBack URI for this entryComments (6)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Lynda Colley
said:
 |
... Kirsten it was lovely meeting you at the photo shoot, and your blog about the day is beautiful, it really brings back all the feelings that came about that day...Really quite strong emotions are evoked reading this. Thank you for joining us all and thankyou for reminding us of the essence of the day itself. I look forward to seeing you and the other girls at the launch in October. Lynda x |
Kirsty
said:
 |
... Kirsten, what a fantastic blog, and great reminder of how and more importantly why we all met! Kirsty and George x (the Reabur girls!!) |
Anna Case
said:
 |
... I second what Lynda says about the emotions. It was a fantastic day and the memories of it will always stay with me. I trusted the honesty of everybody involved totally - I went along not knowing anyone, just knowing via Twitter, Facebook and email that people were as excited as me about it all. By the end of the day I had made some very good friends, been totally amazed by the energy of Jean (who worked non-stop to make us all look so amazing) and felt confident enough to de-robe in front of a group of women I had known less than 12 hours. For me, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when the Tweet came up asking for naked models. I am very glad that I was and I would definitely do it all again. I look forward to seeing everybody at the launch in October. Anna x |
Georgina
said:
 |
... Hi Kirsten, Lovely to read your blog, which sums the day up perfectly. I've never experienced such effective networking before - and most of all we had fun! Great to have met you! Thanks Georgina |
Nikki Leader
said:
 |
... Hi Kirsten, beautifully written and what a privaledge it has been to meet everyone from that first Networking meeting when only 15 were expected and 35 turned up, thats movement for you!! Such a lovely day last week and really looking forward now to the big launch in october, tho further away in distance from you all, social media connects us all instantly!! See you on the 7th and so glad you made it at short notice....good on you xx |
Cathy
said:
 |
... It was fabulous to meet you at the shoot and kudos to you for turning up at literally no notice and plunging straight in! As you say, it was a truly authentic experience for all of us and I think the relationships forged on that day will last for a long time to come. |
