It's too bad the answer to all our issues can't be solved by playing a little Rock'em Sock'em Robots.  I showed up at the Talent Net Live Social Recruiting Conference last night fully expecting all of life's questions to be answered...
Well, not really, but I did expect to see a lot of familiar faces, to meet a few new folks, and network with all. And this is exactly what occurred. Networking galore.


And here's the thing, as much as most of us LOVE social media, as much as we engage..., there is nothing like a face-to-face greeting or meeting. There is nothing like that chance to sit down and actually have a conversation where real eye contact is made. It is easy to forget, as we sit behind computers and drone on from meeting to meeting, what it's actually like to shake the hand of a new contact or embrace friends. It is easy to forget what it is like to have a conversation longer than 140 characters or less. It is easy to forget that we don't have to speak in status update format and wait for a thumb's up "like" or a bazillion comments to justify our existence. It is easy to forget that sometimes you don't have to ask permission to be a friend, you can just do it.

And guess what? There is no deleting in real life. There is walking away, which is far more satisfying, by the way. And you don't need to look on your home page to see who is checking you out, You can simply turn around. ;-)

It's a good thing. And just like most good things, they usually come back in style, unlike shoulder pads - dear God, I hope they don't come back in style. And just because it's in style doesn't mean some one can wear it well, right? Remember lycra for God's sake... After all, there are many performing artists that fail at live performances. Stick to the studio or movie screen. Not everyone is cut out for the handshake, meet and greet. The bottom line is that it comes down to knowing people, learning about peoiple, engaging with people. Hiding behind an online persona or no persona at all is a big, fat fail. People do business with people they know.


Sometimes, you just have to drop the media from social media and be social. Remember when your mom told you to say thank you and please? Remember when you were told to sit up straight or your dad prompted you to shake someone's hand? How about when icebreaking games were played at parties? Let social media be your ice breaker but not your party. The party is after the IRL handshake, not before.