Are You Connecting or Bonding?

I had a breakfast meeting this morning with a man I met over the internet. Sounds creepy doesn't it? My wife raised her eyebrows when I told her. My son and brother made funny innuendos about it...my brother suggesting I not tell our mother. But what I have taken from our breakfast this morning, is the very best of what the internet has to offer, and what an invaluable experience it is to have a friendly discussion over coffee between two new friends.

Mike and I first met through Twitter. I liked his Tweets, and his Re-Tweets, and some of the folks he was following. On his website, and blog, I discovered a mutual interest in Faith-based Leadership principles and styles. You can find him on his blog. From there you can check out his website, Lead Change Now. I remember finding his blog entry: "Why I'm Not Following You on Twitter" a great read. If you are losing followers on Twitter, I suggest you check this out.

A while back, Mike had mentioned to me via email, that he had once lived in the Memphis area, and still had family here. And then last week, he sent me an email telling me he would be here this week visiting family, and he wanted to know if I'd like to get together for breakfast or coffee some morning. So, that's how our breakfast this morning came together.

It was a great hour or so of swapping stories, sharing faith, and finding out our many, uncanny similarities. We discovered we both are the eldest of three sons, have worked with family in business, love playing golf with dad and brothers, and moved around the country quite a bit as we were growing up, among other things. These stories and experiences have created a new bond with us, that I hope will continue even though he lives several hundred miles away. In that one hour conversation we learned more about each other than the months of connecting on Twitter, Linkedin, and blogs. Even though those technologies created the connection, the bond was made by face to face conversation over coffee and pancakes. Hopefully we can continue to connect through the internet...but I look forward to adding to our bond, the next time we can meet.

As always, I'd like to hear from you; what does the internet do for your relationship building? Do you have bonds or connections? Leave a comment, or send me an email at nfinity22@gmail.com.