Social Media savvy, like any relationship-based goal, can take time to obtain. For the past several months here at my corner of UPworld, we’ve been exploring the concept of NetGiving. A lot of interesting connections have been made. By way of example, I’d like to share one UPworld member’s adventures in social media and how one connection can lead to another.
 
One interaction was through the individual’s association with Architizer.com - an architectural project based web site.
 
Architizer was sponsoring a blogging contest among its members. The winner would be sent to Orlando, FL to attend - and blog about - Coverings 2010. Coverings is an annual, international tile and stone trade show. As is the nature of such contests, the field of entrants was small. The chances of winning weren’t bad. Here’s some advice. Don’t hold your breath for the Publisher’s Clearinghouse prize or your state’s lottery jackpot, but you should go ahead and enter for prizes offered within your online community.  
 
Architizer’s guest blogger contest was won with a light-hearted, if not cheesy, take on the Disney’s What’s Next ad campaign “I’m going to Disney World!”
 
While attending the Coverings show, there were plenty of people to meet and products to see. Our UPworld friend enjoyed several days of touring, Tweeting and late-night blogging. One scheduled event was a presentation by Architizer. Afterward, our friend introduced himself to the speaker as their contest winner. The expression was priceless. It’s a surreal exchange when one meets, in person, an associate from his or her online network. More than once our winner was approached by “strangers” greeting him by his Twitter name. A convention is an opportunity-rich environment for these networking crossovers. Anyway, within a few days of the show, Architizer published the member-provided post, highlighting the products of the Coverings 2010 show.
 
About this time a secondary interaction was taking place, this one specifically within the UPworld realm. Duane Craig, a fellow UPworld member-blogger had been seeking a LEED AP architect to interview for a pod cast on his own blog, The Construction Informer. Duane contacted the mutual UPworld member, based on the member’s profile and a few earlier shared comments. Although credentialed, our friend didn’t feel qualified to discuss the LEED process. But he was interested in expanding his network through Duane’s pod cast. He suggested two things to Duane. He presented his Architizer guest post as content for his interview, and he offered a more qualified LEED practitioner for a future podcast. (Promotion of this “out-of-network” LEED specialist is a fine example of NetGiving!) Duane’s interview of our unidentifed UPworld associate can be ssen here.
 
The long and short of it is that social network connections can and should positively impact others. The same content can be shared and exchanged and formatted to enrich many. Relationships our friend has begun within and without the UPworld network will continue to grow, one connection at a time.

Please feel free to comment on your beneficial network connections below.