Month: July 2009

Putting The "Strength of Weak Ties" to the Test

/ Susan Scrupski / Leave a comment
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A friend of mine here in Austin is launching a business that delivers small wind solutions to communities. It occurred to me as she was telling me about her business, that I know absolutely nothing about small wind, yet I do know about a little thing we’ve come to know in 2.0 circles as the “strength of weak ties.”As she described her excitement (and frustration) with her new venture, I wondered if I could be any help to my friend. I asked her if there was one person or one piece of information that would help her move further toward her goals. She thought about it and said, “Yes!” She explained that there is a great deal of stimulus money being made available for wind projects and wind research, but she has found it difficult to cull through the various funding opportunities on the DOE website. She is hoping to find a person she can talk to who can help her find the right grant opportunities.As a huge fan of GovLoop, the Sunlight Foundation, even the federal teams at Booz Allen Hamilton and CSC, in addition to all my social connections/friends I have in the D.C. area, I wondered if I could help my friend my posting an APB for this person she is seeking at the Department of Energy. My friend is very industrious and will go far with a name and phone number.So… if you know anyone (or know someone who knows, etc.) the name of a person at the Dept. of Energy who can help my friend find grants to fund research and projects in the area of “small wind” (wind turbines that produce 100kw or less), please either comment here on my blog, send me an email or DM, or contact me in any way that makes sense.Best case, we’ll find the right person for my friend. Further, I’m interested (as a 2.0-ologist) to see what happens when we harvest our social networks for expertise outside of our traditional competencies.

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/ Susan Scrupski / 1 Comment
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A few years ago, I was doing one-on-one tutorials for a series of consultants to introduce them to the blogosphere.  I told them blogging stands on a three-legged stool: posting, linking, and commenting.  In order to be successful, you need to do all three because a blog (personal or professional) is not your opportunity to push “send” on your opinions to the world, it’s a conversation.  The idea is to generate an intellectual, perhaps sometimes spirited, discussion on a topic that a number of folks can benefit from by adding their point-of-view.The A-list bloggers still have a lot of conversation going on at their blogs, but I’ve realized many of us not in the A-list league have simply moved blog conversations to other social settings: facebook, friendfeed, and twitter.  I’m wondering if that is a mistake.  By commenting on a blog, you leave a thoughtful response to the author’s post in a place where it logically belongs.  Fragmenting conversations off onto other platforms dilutes some of the value of the “conversation” effect.  I’m guilty of this as well, and thought I’d make a more concerted effort to comment on blog posts I value.  Unless you throw in with the “blogging is dead” crowd, I urge you to step up the commenting as well.Just sharing.