Networking

class tonite consisted of nearly 30 minutes of playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. no joke. actually, we played Six Degrees of Don Cheadle cuz my prof loves The Cheadle (who doesn't?). today I learned (or was forced to remember) that Cheadle did indeed guest star on 'ER' back in the day.

[sidebar: click on here-- its an algorithm of sorts created by crazy computer science nerds at UVA cross-referencing all the movie data crunched into IMDB to spit out anybody with a movie credit's connection to Bacon. Or Cheadle. whoever. ]

okay, i do go to a high quality grad program. really, i do. we don't play games in EVERY class but today's topic du jour was 'networks,' or more specifically, social networks and the significance they hold for entrepreneurs in particular (i'm taking a social entrepreneurship class). so along with playing Six Degrees we also worked on diagramming our social networks and listing out who are the Top Five folks we'd (1) go for career advice (2) ask for $, as in, ask for investment $ (3) start a business with. were our lists distinctly different or was there a lot of overlap? was there diversity in the peeps we named?

honestly, i detest networking. it's a hatefully insincere regimen that doesn't cease to exhaust me: smile. handshake. smile. recite schpiel. swap business cards. handshake. smile. ugh. i'm tired just thinking about it. but no matter how much we despise quote unquote networking...its a necessary evil in this dogfight of a world. if we want people to notice-- to get a table, get a job, or get people to believe in you-- a network is key. and if you want to get those things faster, you need the right network. in fact, its not about close personal relationships, so much as we are able capitalize on the more 'casual,' weaker ties we have, as they may turn out to be the critical nodes in our life. as class progressed, i felt that long pang of regret from all the acquaintances i failed to keep better in touch with. or these days, the close friends i fail to return phone calls/emails with. dude, i suck. my social network will probably get me nowhere. sigh. shake. frown.