Last weekend’s SOBCon in Chicago was a truly memorable event. One of the fun — and remarkable — things the organizers did occurred in the final moments. We had all dropped our business cards into a big bowl for the door prize drawing. As we left the conference, we each picked a business card at random out of the bowl; that person is supposed to be our blogging buddy for the next 20 years.
I’ll probably be blogging from a retirement home by then, but I’m sure I will still enjoy reading Carpe Factum, the work of my new buddy, Timothy L. Johnson. In addition to teaching MBA classes, Timothy is a popular speaker, management consultant, and business blogging coach.
Timothy provided conference attendees with a copy of his latest book, Gust: The “Tale” Wind of Office Politics. I did not have a chance to meet Timothy until the conference had ended and I had already drawn his card out of the bowl. When I realized that the man autographing books at the registration table was my new blogging buddy, I sat down and introduced myself.
You’ll be hearing more from me about Timothy because my responsibility as a blogging buddy is to help promote his blog, and to support and encourage him by staying in touch. I have a feeling I’ll get much more out of this relationship than I give.
Question: how could you use this same idea to foster a mentor-buddy relationship within a civic group or business association? Let me know your ideas in the comment section.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:12 am
Hi Connie… am I the luckiest guy on earth or what??? It was a tremendous pleasure meeting you, and I am looking forward to forging the relationship over the next 20 years. I predict that there won’t be a retirement village that will be able to contain your enthusiasm and energy. Have an awesome day! Carpe Factum!!!
May 15th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
But of course, you’re the luckiest guy on earth!!! And for that, you got sentenced to 20 years to life.
I’m looking forward to reading your book. One of the extracurricular activities I’m involved in is church leadership, and we also have our share of “office politics” in that environment. I would imagine that’s simply because people are people.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:53 am
This is awesome - somehow I feel I know Timothy, but cant figure out from where - am sure we met previously from somewhere…
Really great post here, and great idea from the SOB organizers. Reminds me that simple things hold great power in them - it does not always need to be overly complicated (though I tend to always thing about things that way). I have been waiting for some free time to do something with bloggerbuddy.org, adoptablogger.com and bloggermentor.com for way too long…
May 16th, 2007 at 1:15 am
Chris, we need to MAKE time to do something with those domain names. They rock! You’ve obviously been thinking along these lines for a long time. I’ll be your buddy to help you start something remarkable, okay?
I am so excited about being Timothy’s blogging buddy. There’s another SOBCon buddy I haven’t introduced yet — and that’s Derrick Sorles, the blogger who drew MY card out of the bowl. Just knowing that I have connections with these two dedicated bloggers is a big inspiration to me.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Connie, I loved the few moments we had together at SOBCon. You’re a blast. And your strong, Texas accent makes me long to see friends of mine in Austin. If I head down that way, I’ll look you up.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Strong Texas accent??? Me??? What are you talking about, Dawud? (rofl)
I hope you do get to Austin soon. Coffee’s on me!