Networking articles, stories and discussion

Twinning is a great way of reaching out, building new people networks and networking communities together

Rob — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:02:12 +0000

Community dancing at Wessex Folk Festival 2008, Weymouth, Dorset

Networking through twinning cropped up recently for me when I was chatting by email to the English owner of a small French bar in France and Jen (the landlady) mentioned she was very keen to make some twinning arrangements between her local village and other villages or towns, perhaps in England.

The name of her bar is l’Homme Vert after the Green Man of mythology, which is often seen as a symbol of rebirth and embodying the cycle of growth and renaissance of each new spring.

It occurred to me that folk mythology has long been a way of bringing people together to achieve human networking and that a good bar or pub can also be a powerful force to network a community together.

In an age when around a third of British people live alone and spend much of their time watching television, I suspect we need to spend a lot more time finding ways to get out and meet our neighbours.

In a world where mass communication enables us to interact with people on the other side of the world as if they were next door, it is perhaps advisable that we make sure our neighbours are also our good friends.

So, if there are any English villages, Welsh villages, Scottish villages or Irish villages who have aspirations for twinning and think they would like to twin with a small village in the North West of France called St Pierre Sur Orthe, why not contact Jen at l’Homme Vert, Rue Msgr Grandin, St Pierre Sur Orthe, Mayenne, Pays De La Loire, France.

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online author

Networking by walking and talking in a lovely location beats meetings dining out

Rob — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:46:45 +0000

When the editor of an online local magazine contacted me and suggested we meet for regular networking sessions, I readily agreed. Working at home and online working can be a lonely business and it is rare that I get the chance to gossip about the internet and my greatest love which is online writing.

Of course, recently, I have been experimenting with working from my campervan which has the advantage of getting me out, but, since the locations I choose to work from are very rural, the only living beings around me tend to have four legs and a language that I don’t understand – and, I promise you, I have tried

Clara, the friendly networking editor, emailed me asking where we should meet. Now, I’m not the most decisive of online workers. There are always lots of options and I like to consider them all. Usually, by the time I have considered enough of them, I get tired and decide to do something else. So I emailed back to her saying that, if she suggested a venue, I would definitely be there.

Clara, being a lady of great decision-making power suggested a very nice bar and eating establishment in Minehead called the Queen’s Hall. Now, I have another character trait, of which I have often been accused, which some may call procrastination. The more I thought about breaking away from my normal routine and sitting in a (possibly smoky) bar at lunchtime, the less I liked it. Lunchtimes are my opportunity for a quick bite and a walk in the countryside. The walks leave me invigorated, warmed up so I don’t need to put the heating on in the afternoon, and reduce the stress that the morning’s struggle with syntax and grammar have brought on.

Eureka! Mr Indecisive had become Mr Innovative. Why not keep to my usual habits and network as we walked.

I emailed Clara full of enthusiasm.

Cautiously, she replied that she was in agreement with the idea as long as it didn’t involve yomping off on a 10 mile walk that wouldn’t disgrace the marines.

So last Thursday, we met met up and spent the lunchtime walking, talking and trekking around the small rural town of Porlock in West Somerset. It was not too wet or muddy underfoot, the weather was lovely and so was the conversation with loads on the subject of key words, search engines, web site linking, regeneration and a whole host of other webmaster issues. Heaven!

The thing I really learned from this experience was that networking doesn’t have to take place in special designated places. Just about anywhere will do. Talking is always useful and to talk and walk, for me, is great fun.

The next time you have a one to one meeting or maybe even a small group meeting, why not try holding the meeting as you walk? It worked for me and I heartily recommend it

Bye for now

Rob
(Rob Hopcott)

Networking articles, stories and discussion about alternative human networks

Rob — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:07:01 +0000

Welcome to my new networking blog. Here I will post networking articles, networking stories and networking discussion.

There are many kinds of networking but the sort I am interested in is the human network. All sorts of communities or individuals can benefit from being part of a network to share knowledge and exchange views yet, when something goes wrong, a very common comment is to blame ‘lack of communication’.

This site is RSS enabled so be sure to point your aggregator to it and you will be updated with new posts as they happen.

Bye for now

Rob

(Rob Hopcott – online author)