From the In Box: Clothes Whore
If you don't mind, please enlighten Media Diet readers a bit "about the state of the economy -- and the potential of a new form of personal and professional networking." What did you have to say at BC? -- Clint Schaff

Well, here's the rough draft of the remarks I prepared beforehand. I didn't totally stick to them in their entirety -- and I went on plenty of tangents, but this'll give you a rough sense of what I talked about.

Who am I? I'm Heath. Social Capitalist for Fast Company magazine. I’m not a journalist. I’m a community organizer. Title? It’s not about human capital or intellectual capital, it’s about social capital, the value of relationships. Also, there’s room for a more mindful capitalism and business, one that recognizes its impact on people, places, and progress.

Context of the not-so-new economy:

FC was as much a booster of the boom as it was a product of the boom: We presaged the wave, rode it for a spell, and are now edging out of the shallows for the next wave

We leaned a little too far in the direction of the Net Economy, which many mistook for the new economy, and took a hit with the rest of the tech publishing sector

The economic downturn -- hardly a recession given last year’s increase in GDP -- helped us refocus on some of our core themes: leadership and innovation. Those will never go out of style.

According to the NYT today (last Wednesday), the business world -- particularly the advertising and marketing world, where media gets its money -- is tired of thinking outside the box. People are safer inside the box. We should make fun of the people outside of our box. The box is better. Is this true? Even though it’s harder to be an innovative leader these days given tight budgets and hesitant mindsets, it’s still pretty uncomfortable inside the box. Maybe it’s not a matter of being in or out. Maybe it’s the size of the box. Or whether there’s a box at all.

When times are tough, people are being laid off, and the job market is tight, this is the time when it’s especially true that you are who you know. Personal connections are more important now than before in the boom -- for support, for leads, for learning, for collaboration.

But networking gets a bum rap, and for good reason. Books on the topic:

Power Networking: 59 Secrets for Personal and Professional Success

How to Work a Room: The Ultimate Guide to Savvy Socializing in Person and Online

Networking for Everyone

Networking Smart

Here’s My Card

I’ve read these books so you don’t have to, and believe you me, they’re chock full of silly and questionable advice:

Always wear a name tag on the side of your chest opposite from the arm you shake hands with. That way you won’t eclipse who you are when you meet someone.

Take a stack of business cards to a networking event and leave them on table tops. Nobody can refuse free stuff, even if it is just your card!

Too many people mistake networking for schmoozing, looking for work, personally and profesionally targeting people you think can help you. In my experience coordinating the Company of Friends, Fast Company magazine’s 43,000-member global readers’ network, I’ve learned a lot about a new way to network -- a way to build better relationships within and without our organizations and companies. I’d like to share some of those ideas and lessons with you tonight.

The network isn’t about you. If you enter "networking" situations with a mememe attitude, you might get want you want in the short term, but you certainly won’t build long-term relationships. The network serves itself, and we are all just nodes. So while you consider what you need and what you need to do it, be open and receptive to the needs of others. If you meet someone -- and then meet someone else you think they need to know -- make that introduction. People should pass through us, and if you foster those connections, you can become the go-to guy or gal. That will only serve to further your own personal network. Be a person who knows people.

Reciprocity doesn’t have to be immediate or even direct. Back to the network being its own beast. If you help someone and they don’t quid pro quo you right away, no worries. Help someone else. Chances are that as your network grows -- and you continue to fuel its fire -- connections and collaborations will come to you via avenues that, while not direct, were paved by your previous connections. You’ll get what you give.

Be visible, accessible, and responsible. Networking will only work if you’re out there. At work, in class, at events, online. Don’t be shy. Don’t hide in the corner or lurk. Push yourself. The more you push yourself, the more you’ll be seen and heard. The more open and accessible you are, the more people will come to you or think of you. And if you think about the responsibilities we have -- to respond, to assist if we can, to connect -- you won’t be seen as a flake or a fake. If someone contacts you -- and you have no idea who they are -- talk to them. You might be that person tomorrow.

Networks increase in value as they overlap. Too often, we seek our own kind. MBAs, technologists, personal trainers. This is a mistake. Seek outside experiences to broaden your network horizon. If you’re able to step across the overlap between distinct networks and worlds, you’ll increase the size of your contact pool -- and you’ll open yourself up to some new ideas, perspectives, and connections.

There are people behind pages. Newspapers, magazines, the Web. It’s not about the pages that make up the media object, it’s about the people behind those pages. If you read something and you have a question, contact the person. If you think you can add to a bigger picture, contact the person. If you know someone they should know, contact the person. Make the media your own by getting behind and inside the stories that interest you. Journalists are some of the most connected people in the world, and while many professional journalists may think it’s not their job -- or objective -- to connect people, grassroots journalists do. Think about what media and medium can mean. A psychic -- someone that spirits pass through. A substance in which organisms -- or a culture -- can live and thrive. The materials used in art.

Those are some of the things I’ve learned. But what do we do next?

Having spent some time looking at BC’s online tools for alumni, I have some ideas:

Make sure your contact information and professional situation is up to date. Sure, it’s about the school being able to hit you up for donations. But it’s also about being visible and accessible. People can’t track you down if you’re out of date. And if you want to touch base with others, you owe it to them to be similarly accessible.

Keep in touch with some of the folks in your class. Sounds dumb, but when folks leave school, they move. And you can now have friends all around the world, working in different industries, working on different things. Use those divergent paths and professions to foster overlapping networks like I mentioned.

Go to a local or regional alumni event. I’m guilty of skipping these just like anyone else, but as powerful as our pre-existing relationships are, as powerful as online connections are, the power and potential of the face to face and the local is still the richest.

There are more than 132,000 BC alumni. That’s a lot of smart people. Tap into that group mind.