My 'trick' is to talk to someone – on the phone, face to face, skype. It means that you immediately get past the 'what should be do next' phase

Very nice stuff Julie!

From my long time of running Wausau Whitewater, I have many friends who are paddlers. I still keep up with them on Facebook where I get to see the photos of running rivers and adventures. A few like Joe Jacobi, current head of USACK, is also a real life friend and we “talk” more on Twitter. A friendly banter often about food.

On all of my platforms, I am connected with other career professionals. Most of us are sole proprietors and the interaction with others in the same field creates camaraderie and sharing. I meet people I have never met before on blogs and through Twitter and sometimes Facebook. I have a cluster of friends mostly in Alabama draw from one connection on a blog long ago.

I have skyped with Twitter friends in the UK more than anywhere else.

My WordPress expert, Kim Woodbridge and I met on her blog a couple years ago and I have hired her multiple times. Never even talk on the phone, all Twitter and e-mail.

I think what I am saying is that you build common ground by being willing to share, talk, care, connect, and then for me… I find ways to help others and have them help me.

In all the connections that you've made, what have you found to be the repeatable lessons and key things to create a stronger connection?

I love connecting with real people in any way I can… through social media, through conversations on Skype, phone or in person. I love building those connections to be useful by using the talents of those around me to get things done and accomplish my own goals. Social media has connected me to many people who I have worked with, collaborated with, or hired… I think that is what it is meant to be.

Yeah there is a restlessness isn't there?

I'm setting up phone calls and meetings with people where it'll basically be – “what can we do together”

Then we don't talk again until we've moved something forward!

We should sure talk soon.

To just add my perspectives – I agree that we have reached a point where those of us that have been “swimming in this stream” for some time now realise (and probably did a while back) that there is regurgitated content, and we all instinctively feel it is now time to move beyond this.

I think this is possibly a natural process of evolution with the whole being that is social media! Those of us that are immersed in the process and not newbies, feel a restlessness I guess – but I think it is critical to get to this “restless” state in order to convert to real collaborations and actions.

It's a good sign and means we are going in the right direction. We learnt and shared together, now (if we choose) we can take it to the next steps. Chris Hall and I are at that point (hope he won't mind me saying that on here!) and we have real, physical, tangible plans in place to make this happen.

I said at the beginning of this year to some Twitter friends that I think 2010 will see a shift in SM – the wheat from the chaff if you like – and this is the process we are going through now.

This time next year we will be looking at the results of these fruitful connections with the core – I have no doubt

A course on GTD might be appropriate

I love what you guys are doing with the 'hub' (is there an official name?) – I should write about it next perhaps? What could I tell people about it?