On the 17th and 18th of February, I attended and presented at the Ark Learning Assembly in Melbourne. Over the two days there were many interesting speakers talking about a range of topics including working out load, gamification, MOOCs , knowledge management as well as organisational case studies. For me though the hands down, without a doubt, best part was meeting people who up until the Assembly, I had only known online. One of these people, Vanessa North, who I knew through Twitter, summed it up best when she called it ‘Flipped Networking’. As she said, “you used to go to conferences, meet other people and then keep in touch (usually via e-mail). But now it’s the opposite, when you know people via Twitter and then go to a conference you feel like you already know them.”
I completely agree.
While I haven’t been to a lot of conferences, the ones I did attend in my days before twitter usually consisted of a bit of chit-chat with the people sitting near me. But now, being actively connected with others means that I seek people out who I know will be there or they find me. Handshakes are often replaced by hugs and the conversations become an extension of the usual 140-character messages. With flipped networking, relationships are strengthened and deeper connections are formed.
The same thing happened at the Third Place dinner between the conference days. There I met several more people face-to-face who had only been virtual connections up until that point. The only downside is that there wasn’t enough time to talk with everyone.
At the assembly we talked about the idea of the ‘new normal’, which was about how things are changing in the learning space. For me, that’s what flipped networking has become.
Comments
5 responses to “Flipped Networking”
Love the term Matt. Wonderful to hear about people’s experiences at conferences. I can only imagine what it will be like when I go to a conference I know many people at, I think I’ll have the same problem as you with not enough time. I couldn’t imagine going into sessions and listening, doesn’t the real learning and the real innovation happen in conversations and talking about ideas?
In my recent fashion of my most recent post, I’m making a point to comment 🙂 Wasn’t hard to comment on this one though because it sounds like such a great experience and I’m excited for my first conference where there are Tweeps there. I’ve been to one large conference and I knew nobody, was kind of before I started Tweeting regularly so I didn’t have a huge network. I did get to meet people at a small conference that came to my town though and I met Harold Jarche and Jane Hart, but other than that I didn’t know anybody there. At least I didn’t know I knew anybody there but it turns out I did, but never met them there, didn’t come out until very recently while we were in a cMOOC together recently that we found out we were both there 🙂
Glad to see some more consistent posting from you again Matt, I know you’ve had a lot of good stuff going on recently though between getting married (congratulations) and moving to a new job. Keep up the good posting 🙂
Thanks Nick! Also in light of your recent post, I felt I should reply!!
Flipped networking sums it up nicely doesn’t it? You are absolutely right, much of the real learning comes from the conversations as you toss around ideas and views between sessions. Being able to do that with people you already know from Twitter or online is even better.
Thanks again for commenting and for the kind words, I’m looking forward to posting more often as things are becoming more settled and I’m getting into a better routine. Looking forward to reading more of your posts/reflections too! http://www.technkl.com/blog/
Matt,
Really valid name – and great point made via the blog post itself. To a degree – I still find it a bit weird when I go to a conference/event and already feel like I know people – even though it’s the first time I’ve ever “met” them. However, that said – I’ve never been a fan of small talk with the person next to you at a conference (my biggest hate is when the “host” or speaker “forces” everyone into conversation with the person who their sat next to – I’m a much bigger fan of being able to actively seek out people for the discussion in a potential “shared interest”.
That said – one of the things I really do like it the “in-event” interaction which a hashtag can bring. You’re no longer restricted to a conversation with a person who’s nearby you – you can interact “virtually” (or is that e-interact) with others who may be on the other side of the conference room at the initial point – but then can seek them out over lunch/drinks later to continue the conversation when not character-restricted.
Excellent term for a growing concept though!
Thanks Nick!
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