Seriously, Blogs Are Great

First leg of the trip is done without incident; no delays, no lost luggage, no ground holds, nothing. My hozho is going to get all out of whack, unbalanced by this unprecedented good fortune. The cabby got a bit lost trying to find my hotel, but nothing a little Google SMS couldn’t bail me out of (they do driving directions now, if you didn’t know). But anyway, I thought I’d relay a few things that happened after I posted my itinerary this yesterday afternoon:

1. Around 4 PM, got a ping from the client I’m meeting with tomorrow who wanted to clarify where we were meeting, b/c she’d read my blog and wanted to confirm with me that our meeting location is actually outside of San Jose. Surprisingly enough, I already knew this, but it was just as likely that I didn’t and that I would have ended up in the wrong place. Net time from post to the very helpful ping? Maybe an hour.
2. A half hour later, I got a ping from a reader – and occasional commenter – concerning a meetup at the Rational conference. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it.
3. A half hour after that, I got another similar ping from a reader wanting to connect at the Rational conference (looks like I’ll be busy ;).
4. After arriving at the hotel, I checked my email, and found an email from someone up in Redmond, checking to see if I had time for a beer (unfortunately, I don’t think I will)
5. The very next email was from someone from here in CA, wanted to grab a coffee if schedule permits (it might)
6. Next email? A pointer from Bill Higgins over at IBM to a comment he’d made here, introducing me to another IBMer.

Now I’m as tired as anyone of all the hype and hoopla around blogging, and I’d be the first to tell you that they’re not the panacea they’re often made out to be. But I’d challenge anybody to show me a better networking resource; the power of these things continues to amaze me. This is first hand evidence that you do not need to be an A-lister to see the benefits, as I’m not exactly on the Technorati Top 100 list that some folks seem so concerned about. Hell, I don’t think I’d even make the Top 1000 list. But frankly, I could care less. I can’t see why people even pay attention to those things, let alone get worked up over them. It’s the quality of the community that matters, not the quantity, and if you’re blogging to try and win a popularity contest odds are good that you’ll be disappointed.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who checked in (and as always, feel free to identify yourselves if you wish – I only named Bill b/c his comment is public), and I hope that I can steal some time with you guys and gals. If not, I’ll be sure to catch you next time I’m through your respective geographies.