I live in Waco, Texas, but it’s not where I hang out. I hang out and work on business ideas with a great friend in Royal Oak, Michigan, Eric Brown. I get in to football debates (and bets) with Steve Olenski in Philadelphia, swap anxieties with Sunny Cervantes in Manila, and discuss business issues with Judy Dunn and Bob Dunn in South Puget Sound, Washington. I trade strategy with Günes Yilmaztuerk in Lafayette, Indiana, discuss writing a book with Stephen Denny in Santa Cruz, California, and use Mike Whaling as a resource in Columbus.
I’ve prayed with Becky Carroll in San Diego and Steve Woodruff in New Jersey, teamed up with Cam Beck of Dallas for a Webinar (prayed with him too), and pleaded (in vain) to get Christina Kerley of New York to be a podcast guest. I’ve stolen ideas from Lisa Trosien in Chicago ;), received advice from Glenn Gabe in Princeton, New Jersey, and talked about wine and websites with Paula Pollack in San Francisco.
I’ve been inspired by Bert Decker and Ann Evanston in the Bay area, swapped opinions with Jay Miletsky in New Jersey, and traded comments with Randy Vaughn in Fort Worth. I’ve been motivated by Mike Hallaron in Houston, amused by Duncan Alney and Mark Juleen in Indianapolis, and learned from Rich Becker in Las Vegas. That doesn’t even begin to touch all the friendships I’ve developed, like with Bryan Person, first in Boston, then in Austin, Jonathan Saar in Atlanta, and Harry Hoover in North Carolina. This is just a partial list.
The amazing thing is I didn’t know any of these people three years ago. This is what social media has done for my professional, and personal, life. To me, it’s not a marketing channel, it’s a community of my favorite people who don’t happen to live in the same city I do. I wish we all did live in the same place because we would have some killer happy hours! But we don’t, so we just hang out together online, in Social Town.
Wanna come hang with us?
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