Until recently, I never realized just how valuable networking could be. In the past, shyness has prevented me from making the most of face-to-face encounters with people who could become valuable friends, colleagues, clients or mentors.

Now that I'm the new kid in town (again!), I wanted to approach things differently.  Guess what? It's true that making an effort to meet people at networking events, gatherings and conferences really makes a difference.  The most successful people already know this...

Why not just pursue social networking? Because social networking has its limits.

• To someone else, you are an unknown quantity. You could be anyone. He could be an axe murderer.
• You can interact with someone on your Twitter follow list endlessly without any interaction back. Boring and slightly depressing, isn't it?
• Group discussions on Facebook and LinkedIn are often enormous and your comments get lost in the shuffle.  Still, there is value in reading other people's opinions.
• Commenting on blogs is a good way to get your name known, but in the end, you are just one  name amongst many.
• Your posts on mailing lists and forums are similarly lost in the shuffle. Unless you can find a way to stand out, you're just another name.

It's the face-to-face encounters that really count.

I have been a lot happier since the move to the USA earlier this year, and I think it shows: I've become active with the North Shore Web Geeks, and will keep going to BuildGuild meetups in Salem, I've attended a few small web-folk gatherings and a major genealogy conference. There are some really cool people in these groups. As a result of these face-to-face encounters, web projects are coming my way and I'm feeling more connected to the genealogy community like I never did before. Score. There is no way this would have happened with social networking alone.

Yet, and this is the important bit, social networking has solidified relationships with all these really cool people that I've met in person.

• Facebook and LinkedIn to connect to people
• Organize and announce events on Facebook
• Spread the word about said events on Twitter
• Interact with folks on Twitter (everything from arranging happy hour drinks to volunteering your time to retweeting links)
• There are probably other good examples out there...

Once you start to build a relationship with a new contact, keep it up. If you are a freelancer in a professional networking situation, it's great to get to know someone, and then ask if they know anybody who has projects that would match your skills. Once you build up trust (This person has an honest face. They are fun to talk to. And doesn't look like an axe murderer...), people are likely to recommend you for a project if they know you personally. I've spoken to several people who get all of their work following face-to-face encounters (and sometimes word of mouth). How fantastic is that?

I've got business cards ordered and I'll hopefully see you all at the UPA-Boston's Eighth Annual Mini UPA Conference!