Wow. Somehow we’re one and half months into 2012 and very much looking forward to what the months ahead have in store.

When the New Media Cincinnati Steering Committee met recently, we talked about what we’d like the theme for 2012 to be. Two words came up: Connect and Community.

It has been inspiring for me to see how much this community has grown from just over a dozen that met together in October 2007 to what we have today. We used to just congregate around Twitter and Facebook. Now we have a Foursquare venue, a thriving LinkedIn group, and, more recently, a Google Plus page.

It’s not surprising. Over four years ago this group came about through a passion to help those of us in the Greater Cincinnati area connecting online to meet together in person. At first it was just me taking care of everything. I wised up a couple years ago and asked for those in this community who felt a burning desire to make this group the best version of itself to step forward and be a part of the Steering Committee. I have been inspired by the passion each member brings. Entirely a volunteer effort, New Media Cincinnati would not be as great of a community if it weren’t for them.

We’ve gone through some changes over the past year, with some members needing to step out. We recently asked Christiaan Todd and Daniel Lewis if they would be willing to join the Steering Committee, and they graciously accepted. Both Chris and Daniel have been around New Media Cincinnati for a long time. I’ve added links to their Twitter profiles along with the rest of the Steering Committee on the sidebar here at the website. If you have any questions or suggestions and don’t feel like talking to me, reach out to anyone on the Steering Committee.

So many stories have been told about people who’ve connected through New Media Cincinnati that have gone on to do business together or get employed. What stories will be told this year?

The theme to guide us is Connect and Community. Thank you for joining us. Let’s make it a great year!

Other ways to get your New Media Cincinnati news

Cover via Amazon

In 2006, both a contact I knew online and a friend from college both recommended Keith Ferrazzi‘s book “Never Eat Alone.” I didn’t need any further prodding; I bought it and read it. Then I read it again, much more slowly and deliberately. It transformed the way I look at building relationships.

Building Relationships for Fun and Profit – 12 Tips

Each week we find ourselves in different situations where we’re meeting people, opportunities to develop relationships. These situations require different approaches, depending on whether you’re in a large or small setting. Tomorrow the New Media Cincinnati community is meeting together to do just that. So, as your power tip for August, here are 12 principles from Never Eat Alone.

Mindset – Preparation

Don’t go into an opportunity to meet others cold. To help you get the right mindset:

1. First, stop networking and resolve to make friends instead. The chance encounter can turn into a blossoming friendship.
2. Don’t keep score. Give BEFORE you receive. Approach building relationships with a generosity mindset and determine to be helpful.
3. Have a mission and purpose in mind, both for yourself and your strategy. Why are you attending this event? What do you hope to get out of it?
4. Build it before you need it – whom do you already know that can help you reach your goals? Start building now for the future.
5. Do your homework! Since 2008 I’ve been using Eventbrite to organize New Media Cincinnati events. Those who’ve registered get a place to put their information, what they’re looking for help with, etc. Use this list to learn more about who you’ll be meeting, and it will help you in your conversations with them. Maybe someone is having a problem that you can help them with. Here’s the link to the August 2011 event.

During the encounter

You’ve made it to the event. You see a number of people walking around. It’s time to engage in conversations. What do you do?

1. Find shared interests. This is key to being able to “click” with one another. If it’s not obvious, you and the person you’re talking to have an interest in the event you’re attending. That is always a great starting point. Doing your homework will also provide conversations starters.
2. Be sincere. Pay attention. Remember names. Capture details about what you learn from those you talk to. Ferrazzi mentions that Bill Clinton would often step away after talking to people and make notes in a small notebook. I like to use the back of a business card to write down date, place, and any other information that will help provide context when I refer to it later.
3. Never eat alone. This is the title of the book for a good reason. Look for ways to connect in-person, not just online. Meeting together at a New Media Cincinnati event is just one of these ways. Everyone has to eat; share that time with someone you’re getting to know.
4. Master what Keith calls the “Deep Bump”. In a large group with many people, you might not have an opportunity have a long conversation with someone. So quickly make contact, establish the connection for a future meeting, and move on. New Media Cincinnati may or may not be such an occasion to use the “Deep Bump”.

Afterward and Beyond

After meeting someone, you’re not done. To be successful going forward:

1. Follow-up or die. Seriously – within 12-24 hours. Use the phone, email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc. to continue to establish the connection and provide a means for continuing the conversation.
2. Keep it personal but not too efficient. While technology enables us to efficiently connect and communicate, be careful not to overdo it. Automated, mass-messaging may be efficient but might not be effective. Go for the personal message.
3. Never stop. Keep this mindset. Keith says we need to “ping constantly.” That means staying in touch often. Holidays are great occasions, but greetings are usually sent to everyone at this time. The birthday, on the other hand, is the most important day to someone. Make time to say something special for a friend’s birthday. You might be one of the few to do so.

So there you have it. Twelve tips for building better relationships for fun and profit. I’ve purposely left out the many more tips included in Never Eat Alone. If you haven’t read it, I can’t recommend it enough.

Now it’s your turn. What has worked for you in building and fostering your relationships with others?

via SocialPint

Over the years, many other networking groups have sprung up around the Greater Cincinnati area, but it’s been a challenge to find a single place that shows all of their events.

(By the way, if you have any announcements for the February Second Saturday event, please email them to news AT newmediacincinnati.com by Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 5 PM Cincinnati time.)

It looks like Steve, Joe, and the rest of our friends at the Social Pint Network are looking to meet this need. If you want to keep your personal and professional networking card full, check out the Networking Events Calendar at their website that’s being updated all the time. In fact, if you know of an event they do not have on their calendar, you can submit it yourself via their website!

By the way, as many of us in the New Media Cincinnati community can attest, the Social Pint Network events, which are held during the week in Northern Kentucky each month, are definitely worth attending! Check out their Picasa Web Album to see the activity from previous events.

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Get your e-mail invitation? Good. Then you know about what we’re doing this Saturday.

If not, get on over and register for Saturday’s event. You want to be there. Yes, definitely.

Want to get an email invitation next month? Add yourself to the list here.

… right over here.

And be sure to tell your friends to come, too!

At the last New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday earlier this month, we mentioned that Anne Castleberry, Julie Sweeney Bogart, and Michelle Beckham-Corbin were organizing an event for December. Below are the details with links to RSVP.

SOCIAL MEDIA HOLIDAY

HAPPY HOUR

Festive Fun with

Peeps – Tweeps – Digital Folks

Great Networking Opportunity

And Good Ol’ Holiday Cheer

Wednesday, December 16th

6:00pm – 9:00pm or Later !

JAG’S Steak & Seafood

5980 West Chester Road, West Chester, OH 45069

(513) 860-5353 www.jags.com

—– MAIN BAR AREA —–

Wonderful Appetizers

No Admission Charge

Happy Hour Prices 6-8pm

Live Music Starts at 8:00pm

—-  FREE WIFI —-

RSVP for Head Count Please

ANY QUESTIONS

Anne Castleberry: acastleberry AT fuse DOT net 513.675.8875

Julie Sweeney Bogart: juliecinci AT gmail DOT com 513.307.1405

Michelle Beckham: mbeckhamcorbin AT fuse DOT net 513.543.1935

I hope you’re looking forward to this month’s New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday event on… Saturday (Register here). I’m encouraged that so many of you in the Cincinnati social media community have signed up to come, and I’m very grateful for those of you who have made donations. (It really helps!)

When the group was much smaller, during meetups we would do iRiver Introductions. (Remember those?) It was not much to pass around my audio recorder and introduce ourselves to one another; everyone was able to pay attention and it didn’t take much extra time.

Now that the group is larger, it doesn’t make sense to devote 30-40 minutes just to hear everyone’s Tell Me About Yourself speech. No offense – you all are awesome, really.  I just think the group has grown to where we need to handle this differently.

Now when you register for New Media Cincinnati events via Eventbrite, I make sure you include a Twitter presence (if you have one) and your areas of expertise.  As the day of our event approaches, I’ve begun checking out the Attendee list to learn more about who’s coming.  This actually will guide my approach to networking during the event, since I’ll know you’re coming and what you are about.  I’m also going to make sure I personally am following you on Twitter.

So I encourage you to follow my example for better social networking at New Media Cincinnati Second Saturdays.

P.S. Did you know there’s an RSS feed for the Attendee list? Another nice feature if you don’t want to have to check out the website every day.

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On March 14th, 2009, approximately 50 people attended the New Media Cincinnati Meet-Up at the Pub in Rookwood Mews.  This is the largest gathering we’ve ever had!

Social Media is all about being social and making interpersonal connections.  To further foster the spirit of collaboration and networking, please find a list of those in attendance and their corresponding web sites.

Each name links to a Twitter account if one has been previously established.  If we have forgotten your link, feel free to leave it in the comments.

-Michelle Beckham

To share this post on Twitter, please use the following text:

RT @newmediacincy: March 2009 Meetup – Largest Attendance Ever! http://bit.ly/3mzTKC

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re meeting up tomorrow.  Here’s some food for thought.

I just happened upon this blog post from Justin Knowacki entitled “I Don’t Want To Meet You“.  Justin talks about how we tend to gravitate in public situations to people we already know.

This post reminded me that some people are Extraordinary Extroverts and have no problem engaging in conversations with people they don’t already know.  They get energized from being in a crowd and mingling with others.  I would consider myself to be one of them.

Other folks are quite the opposite: coming to a public event takes so much out of them.  They feel worn out from being around so many people.

Over the years, I have had to learn to “tone down” my extroversion a bit and work on really relating with all kinds of people.  A big key for me is to try to let other people do most of the talking.  The best way to be interesting, Dale Carnegie said, is to be genuinely interested in other people.  So talk to them about what they like.

Justin offers 5 tips for breaking up the monotony of a live event:

• Pre-set one goal.
• Talk to the loner.
• Bring people together.
• Make a scene.
• Refuse to leave until you’re out of business cards.

Go read what he means by this, and let’s have a great meetup!

Sue LaChappelle from The Women’s Circuit Blog asked that I promote this event.  I sent a message out to the New Media Cincinnati Facebook group already, but, now that we have a blog, this also is the perfect place to mention things like this.  Here we go:

Spring is around the corner and it’s time to turn a new leaf. Time to renew past relationships and begin to cultivate new ones. Find new life in those networking events that you may have sworn off during the cold winter months. Do you have a game plan , are you making productive connections, do you know the treasure you are hunting for ?

Join us as Beth Bullock, Community Director of Legacy Connections, shares some ideas for making connections that last and lead us to the treasure we all are in search of… new business and lasting relationships that grow and prosper.

Thursday, March 5th
6-8pm
Hosted @ Neal’s Remodeling Showroom
7770 East Kemper Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45249 (map)
refreshment provided

Feel free to bring a friend and don’t forget your business cards.
Please RSVP to RSVP@TheWomensCircuit.com

Sounds like a great time! I’ll be there.

NOTE: This is event is completely different from the regular New Media Cincinnati meetup we’ll be having on the 14th.  Details for that coming soon.

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