I remember when I got into the World Wide Web for the first time. I was just a boy in mid-Michigan sitting in front of a computer with my dad. The world seemed very large and incredibly inaccessible. That was all about to change.
With the Web, information and people become infinitely more accessible. You get to meet people on the other side of the state, the other side of the country, or even the other side of the world who have common interests to you. Before my friends would have been restricted by who I lived geographically near. With the Web, this all changed very dramatically.
A few years ago, Shel Israel to me was just a guy who I admired, co-authored a book about blogging, and lived on the other side of the country. Because of the Web and specifically our blogs, we were able to connect and I now consider Shel to be an old friend. He’s become what he likes to call part of my “global neighborhood.”
I could have never imagined that I would have had the opportunity to get to know and become friends with Shel but that’s the power of the Web. It has the ability to allow to people from different backgrounds, ages, and parts of the world who have a similar interests or passion to get to know one another, form a conversation, and start a friendship. It’s sooo cool.
Today, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Shel in person at the Social Media in Government conference that was being held in Washington DC. It was a blast. If Shel didn’t have a plane to catch, i’m confident the conversation could have gone on for most of the day.
At the conference, I also had the pleasure today of meeting Kyle Hansen. He wrote a blog post a while back which made a lot of people’s attention, including Shel’s. He said “to my future boss: please let me blog.” Kyle is an outstanding example of the revolution that is taking place with how people communicate. He’s also very bright.
Someone in Washington DC, please hire Kyle. We want him on this coast (he goes to school in Calif but is at an internship in DC).
I’m proud to say that Kyle is now a part of my global neighborhood.
The Web is and will change your life. It will give you the opportunity to connect and meet truly amazing people.
Who have you met or been able to connect with via the Web?
Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp's blog 
It was a pleasure to meet you as well. I do love California, perfect weather, lots of geeks, friends and family, but I am still open to moving here for the right job.
What I think was cool about our meeting the other day is that it shows that it does not matter where you live anymore, thanks to technology. Shel Israel does not live that far from me in California, but I ended up meeting him out in DC. Like you said, there are people who seem like old friends that I have never met face to face. It is nice to see and talk to someone, but it is decreasing in importance.