One of my favorite sporting events each year is the ATP Tennis Masters in Mason, Ohio. The vast majority of the world’s best players are there because, while it’s in some unknown city in Ohio, it is one of the “majors” and is one of each year’s required events. The rankings are always a who’s who of the top 50 or so tennis players in the world. But that’s not why it is a great event.
It is such a special event because it is so relaxed and because it is so different than any of the other professional sporting events that I have been to (professional football, baseball, etc.). It is rather hard to explain, so I will provide an example instead: The first year I went to the tournament, I bought tickets for my consulting firm to entertain our clients. During one of the first daytime matches, I was walking around the center court stadium (no doubt, on my way to get another gin and lemonade — a great summer drink); when a guy with two big bags of tennis racquets bumped into me. I was a little aggravated; but he said “excuse me” and then walked down a ramp into the stadium. I was going the same way, walked along beside him, commented on his racquets or something, and found my way to my seat. The people around me were astounded that I had been talking to the gentleman. I, being way too cool to admit that I didn’t know who he was; smiled, nodded, and promptly changed the subject.
It turns out that I had walked in with Pete Sampras, perhaps the greatest tennis player who has ever picked up a racquet. But unlike other professional athletes, he wasn’t accompanied by 17 State Troopers, 11 personal assistants, 7 Caddies, etc. He even carried his own equipment. And, most unusual of all, he was polite — kind even — to some guy from up in the stands.
So now you are thinking why the trip, fascinating though it may be, down memory lane? Because I was thinking about Twitter this morning. Twitter reminds me a great deal of the ATP Tennis Masters. Where else can some guy from up in the stands out in Cincinnati (i.e. me) carry on conversations with people like Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble, Stowe Boyd, Christine Lu, Tara Hunt, Erin Kotecki, and a host of other ‘top 50′ people?
A couple of the folks that Twitter allows me to chat with were already known to me and were, in a business sense, heroes of mine — Kawasaki and Scoble for example. But I’ve also ‘met’, learned to respect, and quite frankly learned a great deal from people like Christine, Tara, and Erin. It seems to me that the power of social networks — the part that is rarely spoken about but is the most important and and powerful — is the ease with with you can connect and converse with anyone. Sure, you can do business deals — Stowe Boyd only accepts consulting gigs through Twitter — or advertise your new website — alltop.com by Guy Kawasaki was built by ideas and help from the Twitterverse according to Guy. But, much more importantly, you can actually connect with real people, discuss real issues or ideas, and become much better for having done so.
So to all those who have conversed with me via Twitter, a heart-felt thank you. I look forward to learning even more from each of you. And for those of you who are not using Twitter, FriendFeed, Brightkite, or one of the other social media sites, you are truly missing out. Not just on deals or information, but on connections you would have never, ever been able to form.
So, what are you waiting for? Why are you still up in the stands in some place like Cincinnati? Visit one of the sites and start connecting right now!










