Building Bridges - The Importance of Being Connected Where You Live -

Home
>
Networking
>
Building Bridges - The Importance of Being Connected Where You Live

Building Bridges - The Importance of Being Connected Where You Live

As a Young Professional (YP) in the up-and-coming city of Milwaukee, WI, I can tell you that it's very important to find a way to get connected in your city. It's important because in order to make a difference, you need to know who those difference makers are. To influence, you must know who holds the influence. Remember, there is influence in numbers, so you'll need to get connected with others that are like you. YP groups are sprouting up all over the country, none better than Milwaukee's own Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM).

I am an active member of YPM, and I can tell you that the biggest reason for our success is we offer something for everyone, and we are inclusive rather than exclusive. This is especially vital if you're looking to build a diverse group of like-minded individuals. We offer social events, cultural events at the art museum, independent film screenings, cafe style discussions about important issues facing YPs, opportunities to get involved with non-profits and behind-the-scenes looks at things nobody else has access to. So no matter what your interest, if you want to make a difference, YPM is a group that can help you get connected to the right people, not only people your own age but politicians and other high-ranking city officials who want to attract and retain top talent.

So now you know why a YP would want to connect with a group of like-minded individuals, but what happens if you don't have an organization like this in your town? Well for starters, talk to others at your place of business your age and mentality and see if they're interested in getting together after work. Touch bases with a few others you know at church, at the library, or elsewhere in your inner circle, and you'll quickly be able to grow to 30-50 individuals. Spend some time with the senior members of your company and show them the value in these groups, as evidenced by the Hot Jobs - Cool Communities reports Next Generation Consulting puts out every year, or buy an influential leader a copy of Richard Florida's great book The Rise of the Creative Class, after reading it yourself, of course. Partner with your local chamber of commerce if at all possible, or see if a few companies are willing to offer some funding for at least a few years until you can become self-sustaining. If you can demonstrate an ROI, chances are you can sell the idea to upper management.

Associates are less likely to leave where they feel connected and engaged, and connecting and engaging your associates with other like-minded individuals is the easiest way to keep them around. Additionally, these associates are more likely to get involved in the community they live and will make your company look good by doing good around town.

In conclusion, connections are good for the associate, good for the company, and good for the community, which is ultimately good for the dollars and cents on the bottom line. With a little luck, you might start something great and turn your city into the next Milwaukee, a great city by a great lake!

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of people as manager of an IT Help Desk in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component for success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow." Feel free to contact Phil at http://makeitgreat.org or call 414.640.7445 anytime.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://living.oneindia.in/cosmopolitan/futuristics/2008/smart-lights-wireless-technology-071008.htmlcid=1254875600ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFXB2CMGsSfpqgwdKhewLOY_8Xgjwimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=76PncKvpclkJimgurl=living.oneindia.in/img/2008/10/smart-light-071008_07102008.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Oneindia/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081006130548.htmcid=1254875600ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFANyRxwttJEwIfj-S4m0YWSQzu2ACreating Wireless bNetwork/b Using Visible Light/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fScience Daily (press release)nbsp;-/font nobr20 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;This could be done with an LED-based communications bnetwork/b that also provides light – all over existing power lines with low power consumption, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/soho-networking/%3Fp%3D284cid=1254875600ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNGUaEDlcJLX0rOv9hbZ2MQN1_O9XwPosted by Sean Portnoy @ 6:17 am/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrZDNet/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://gizmodo.com/5059907/sneaky-led-bulbs-will-double-as-wireless-access-pointscid=1254875600ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFwPXUoplw_gj5Tm_sTvtXhaLJlFwSneaky LED Bulbs Will Double As Wireless Access Points/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGizmodo/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp%3Fcntn_id%3D112313%26org%3DNSF%26from%3Dnewscid=1254875600ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFPsbPUIWvmFC_VZw8TEUm2dST0NwNSF Launches Third Generation of Engineering Research Centers with b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNational Science Foundation (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254875600hl=ennobrall 24 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_top_mobile_social_networks_myspace_and_facebook.phpcid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNHlLHR_uAt5NRei1MNaFoAmw82jIgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Z2o6Yy8qP5UJimgurl=www.readwriteweb.com/images/mobile_facebook_myspace.jpg width=80 height=56 alt= border=1brfont size=-2ReadWriteWeb/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D9135503%26nav%3D1kglcid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNE25ICUkvSi4eD4sK6Ecj-dpTHR_gUI studies social bnetworking/b sites to send alerts/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fKCAU,nbsp;IAnbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1AP - October 7, 2008 5:44 AM ET IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - University of Iowa officials are exploring whether to use social bnetworking/b sites such as Facebook b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/myspace-facebook-fast-becoming-leading/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B47545025-9A3D-47CF-8924-60427B0AB236%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEETARjUlVec8Sb-jcMjRxMGAKuZgMySpace and Facebook Fast Becoming the Leading Mobile Social b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMarketWatch/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_top_mobile_social_networks_myspace_and_facebook.phpcid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNHlLHR_uAt5NRei1MNaFoAmw82jIgAnd The Top Mobile Social Networks Are.../a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReadWriteWeb/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10058697-2.htmlcid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNE_AAP8oH7F2a3s2vv08O1qLLSaeQFacebook, MySpace reign supreme in mobile market/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNET News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/myspace-facebook-widen-mobile-social-networking-lead/2008-10-06cid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFmtAVZWbsBchHYl8SvT7rSbxuwhwnobrFiercemobilecontent/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://digital-lifestyles.info/2008/10/07/myspace-and-facebook-dominate-mobile-social-networks/cid=1254806940ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEGnqiZU5lHCDnyJmw6VXJAMBb6qgnobrDigital-Lifestyles.Info/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254806940hl=ennobrall 42 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html%3Fid%3Da7dd34bd-b6dc-4fa6-871d-5ed4b40a4edacid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNH6u1oigrq64BJDeVhA7foghzxxmQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Y5qNdiu96ZsJimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/f2c776c7-d458-449d-bcf0-aad47cf9b1ec/fbfounder34545f.jpg%3Fsize%3Dl width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Canada.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/social_network/showArticle.jhtml%3FarticleID%3D210700235%26subSection%3DManagementcid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEcKodhko7Xte9pzX4iWFQi0dtsQQFacebook Co-Founder To Leave For Own Software Startup/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fInformationWeek,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobrOct 6, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Dustin Moskowitz speaks highly of the social bnetworking/b site and indicated that one person#39;s contributions could make a difference. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/hdw/%3Fp%3D3228cid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFzSrkwaXQ-euAyDDzF2EC-8XtW3AFacebook Co-Founder Leaving to Start New Social bNetworking/b Venture/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrIT Business Edge/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/11556/digital-life/facebook-co-founder-quitscid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNH7YwIuC1SY7kVPglfVkXHxlKQIDQFacebook co-founder quits/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSiliconrepublic.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telecomtiger.com/fullstory.aspx%3Fstoryid%3D4205cid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFpmOTqPPOP57i26KbtYU-SYhwHGgFacebook Co-founder departs, mulls extending Facebook concept to b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelecomTiger/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2008/oct/06/facebookcid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNHc5fy9IrhdoBKUXl4udLpkQRWnmQnobrMedia Guardian/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Facebook_Executive_Leaves_The_Company_25892.htmlcid=1253742212ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEWLR4V1bKZiYFtj2_ZDsw2wKL4sAnobreFluxMedia/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1253742212hl=ennobrall 125 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/news/article.php/3776236cid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEmDm618XV-B1lXawcjSnt9hsCK6gimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=GiHJMEWIzNYJimgurl=www.enterpriseitplanet.com/img/2008/10/ibm_bluehouse.jpg width=80 height=71 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Enterprise IT Planet/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/saas/showArticle.jhtml%3FarticleID%3D210700289%26subSection%3DEnterprise%2BApplicationscid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEEOYko8bLbtlzxlXlIWOWY9SjanQIBM Opens #39;Bluehouse#39; For Cloud-Based Social bNetworking/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fInformationWeek,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobr22 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In addition, IBM unveiled an online social bnetworking/b and collaboration service for business called Bluehouse, which is available in beta at no charge. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/%3Fp%3D2964cid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNHUqSk917p5DqOByhSkBRa5fjqOkgIBM and social bnetworking/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrZDNet/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ovum.com/news/euronews.asp%3Fid%3D7397cid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNHslFK4P8QyQZi5l1H3TYE3FoXePgIBM Bluehouse joins the business social bnetworking/b race/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrOvum/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://news.ebrandz.com/content/view/2183/568/cid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEsLpAM_5euyyOmPPADYbWIKm0mgQIBM Launches “Bluehouse” For Cloud-Based Social bNetworking/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobreBrandz/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/100608-ibm-bluehouse-social-networking.htmlcid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEgKbi3WpgzG8cdZY9L49-s7nsbLQnobrNetworkWorld.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telecomtiger.com/fullstory.aspx%3Fstoryid%3D4220cid=1254670740ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNGRIc8NlUTeqa18haTs19kT-2FDnAnobrTelecomTiger/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254670740hl=ennobrall 121 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2008/10/heres_an_interesting_post_over.htmlcid=1255136643ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNFvBQ86xkALUObInPY85byoTYLuiwSocial-bNetworking/b Behavior and Student Punishments/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fEducation Week News,nbsp;MDnbsp;-/font nobr4 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Punishing kids for what happens online, especially on social bnetworking/b sites like MySpace.com, is a murky subject that educators are still feeling out at b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.retrieverweekly.com/%3Fmodule%3Ddisplaystory%26story_id%3D3742%26format%3Dhtmlcid=1255136643ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNGTsfrDNI4p-H-VkAyYCqBnpUJ62QUniversities looking at Facebook.com/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrRetriever/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255136643hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/key-industry-figures-address-storage/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BB01DB425-C416-45FC-A759-BFB3C911A55D%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1254882699ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNGd6-zlPDGKr7Bu_pl8VD_YN_AMaQKey Industry Figures to Address Storage bNetworking/b World Fall 2008 b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrOct 6, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Storage bNetworking/b World is the world#39;s largest and foremost storage bnetworking/b event and the only conference where IT managers and professionals get an b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://newsticker.welt.de/index.php%3Fchannel%3Dfin%26module%3Dsmarthouse%26id%3D789552cid=1254882699ei=U7DrSKqSMYmE6QON3bSACQusg=AFQjCNEmell9OjKazSZkIP1TcIoX6lFwEQNetApp Technical Experts and Customers to Drive Discussions at SNW b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWELT ONLINE/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254882699hl=ennobrall 15 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

networking - Google News