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This is an amazing time in which we are living.
I’m sure others thought that decades ago when Henry Ford invented the automobile.
I’m sure they thought that when they heard about the first TV. Prior to that point, their connection to the world of news and information was primarily through a box plugged in to the wall, which they sat around while listening to music, conversation, news and world events.
What about when my boss from L.M. Berry came back on the road with us, his salespeople, from a meeting at the corporate office in the 80s, telling us they were shown a telephone that actually worked in the elevator they were riding. I remember saying, “You’re kidding!?”
Imagine what businesspeople thought when they were suddenly able to listen to the voices of callers when they left a message on their phone when voicemail was invented by our very own Scott Jones, an inventor hailing from my home of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Imagine what all my friends thought when digital cameras came on the scene, invented by Steven Sasson, allowing them to bypass the trips to the drugstore to get their film developed, always ordering doubles to share with family members, but having to throw away all the out-of-focus duds they took.
Imagine the first time a child sits in It’s Tough To Be A Bug in the 3D theater in The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom in Disney World, seeing creatures flying out of the screen right at their faces.
Those were all amazing times in which they were living.
Today, I am amazed, or rather excited, about the possibilities that exist around us because of the way we are able to communicate with others around the world at a moment’s notice. The tools we use, the media, are called Social.
People are very, very close, much closer than they’ve ever been before.
Via Social Media, I Tweeted Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, and asked him if he would like to co-author The World Is Close with me. I didn’t expect he would answer me, but the important point here is that I could reach out with little or no effort to talk to someone who might, just might become a publishing partner of mine if he had decided I was worth his time. Actually, I am worth his time. He just doesn’t know it yet.
I sit here on New Year’s Eve, 2010, with my laptop in my lap, talking to people around the world with no more than a few keystrokes, a great deal of observation, sincere interest in what others are doing, and a whole lot of passion.
Imagine what we can all do with these tools. The sky is the limit. The conversations are there for starting. Partnerships are within our grasp if we are bold enough to develop them.
…and yes, The World Is Very Close. Even if my 1st choice of co-author decides he isn’t interested, that’s okay. We have so many choices today.
By the way Mr. Friedman, all of my contact information is right here should you want to get a hold of me. You see, because of Social Media, I am very, very close.
Happy New Year everyone!
