Online social networks get down to business

Online social networks get down to business
Local users find easier connections
Sunday, December 23, 2007
BY TINA REED
The Ann Arbor News

It'd be nice to be able to meet every possible business contact face to face.

But for Ann Arbor attorney and consultant Don Blumenthal, time and money constraints make that impossible, so he turns to LinkedIn and Plaxo, online social networks that've been established as meeting places for business.

"There is only so much you can do unless you have an unlimited travel budget,'' said Blumenthal, who specializes in technology, law and policy. "I can't fly out there to meet (contacts) and it's better than a cold call.''

Social networking online is not just for the young.

Web users of all ages in Ann Arbor have embraced online social networks, jumping on sites like LinkedIn - a strictly business network that creates a form on online resume; Plaxo - a network that catalogs and updates contacts' information; and even the popular social network Facebook to spread information, reach out to customers, contact and collect connections they've met in person and collaborate on business projects.

Using LinkedIn simplifies parts of Lindsay McCarthy's job as the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce's director of programs and events by allowing her to visualize mutual connections with contacts she's collected.

"If I'm looking for a speaker, I can look at my connections and see if I know someone who could perhaps put me in contact with that person I'm looking for,'' McCarthy said. "I've done it without the network's help, but it isn't as easy to see and make those connections.''

Almost every Thursday afternoon, a group of local technology junkies meet over Bi Bim Bop, a Korean dish, at Eastern Accents restaurant on Fourth Street.

Calling the event A2B3, it's a regular chance to network about technological projects in an informal environment - organized by Ed Vielmetti from Internet marketing firm Pure Visibility. Vielmetti has built up hundreds on contacts on Twitter (a socially networked microblogging service), Flickr (a socially networked photo sharing site), LinkedIn and his Ann Arbor blogs.

Flexing his Web marketing muscle with his presence online, Vielmetti puts notes and maps, directions, blog posts and streams news up on the sites; regular updates are sent to subscribers' computers and cell phones using Twitter. Online networking is nothing new, Vielmetti said. The Internet itself was designed as a network between academic institutions; but it's simply evolved into different uses, he said.

"If you're trying to mobilize people to go to an event and you're gathering groups of related people, such as on Twitter, you can get them off their seat to do something,'' he said.

When Eli Neiburger, an occasional A2B3 attendee and Ann Arbor District Library manager of information access and systems, tried to reach a new audience, he did what many businesses have tried by opening a "branch'' on MySpace.com, a popular social networking site used to share music and interests.

It was largely embraced by young gamers, but he found older patrons weren't interested.

"The older generation is entering and networking different ways,'' Neiburger said. "You see a lot of it on Flickr where the social component is almost a secret until you find someone with pictures you enjoy. On eBay, you are professional, you're developing your reputation and you're developing rivalries against other names.''

In more traditional networking in Ann Arbor, job seekers, employers and entrepreneurs gather at downtown venues to exchange business cards over hors d'oeuvres. Events like those have been successful for attendees, said Amy Cell, Ann Arbor Spark's director of talent acquisition who organizes the events.

Rather than wrapping up the schmoozing when the gatherings end, it heads online.

"It makes sense to do both - when you're doing online networking, you can be very targeted in who you approach which can be very helpful in making connections,'' Cell said. "But if you go to a general networking event, you never know who you are going to meet which can be good as well.''

Although "with new job seekers and with the Pfizer closing, there was a big group moving to LinkedIn, certain communities - especially the most technological groups - are on Facebook,'' Cell said.

It's true for Ann Arbor resident Doug Dormer, who said he uses private Facebook groups regularly to collaborate on business projects rather than holding face-to-face meetings.

Before Dormer found Facebook this spring, his business plan for White Pine Systems, LLC was almost grounded. His goal is to design a secure way for individuals to access their own medical records and share them easily.

Facebook provided a well-designed, ubiquitous platform, he said.

"This is where things are going in the future,'' Dormer said. "We think it is the first step toward integrating social communities with traditional business models.''

Tina Reed can be reached at 734-994-6843 or treed@annarbornews.com.