I’ve been blogging for a couple years now and using Twitter off and on… not much. I wouldn’t call myself a social media maven.

But at TechKnowledge, that brief SoMe resume plus participation in the backchannel was enough to give me a good introduction to Karl Kapp, Aaron Silvers, Cammy Bean, Ellen Wagner, Alicia Ruiz, Stevie Rocco, Kris Rockwell, Koreen Olbrish, Clark Quinn, Michelle Lentz, and Damon Regan… All great people with great minds and passion for learning.

Now, some of you won’t believe this, but I tend toward the shy side sometimes, particularly around people I really respect and haven’t met yet. My point? I never would have met these people if I hadn’t been using social media, or I never would have met as many of them, or I never would have established connections as quickly.

If that were all of the story, it would be good. But that’s not all.

Meeting in person adds a dimension, strengthens bonds, gives you the common ground of shared experience. And that’s a good thing. But there’s more.

I’m more active now on Twitter, blogs (including my own), and even Facebook. A few new friends have linked to my blog, which I always find thrilling. I’ve online-met even more people through the people I met in person, and maybe I’ll meet those other people soon, too. (Yeah, go ahead and re-read that. I’ll wait.) All of this activity is good networking, but it’s even better food for… as Aaron Silvers would say… ideation.

I’m tempted to wrap this up with a moral but honestly, I think you get it.

And if you’re reading this and we’ll be in the same place soon, get in touch. I’d love to meet you.

(Oh, and the inspiration for the title of this post: Lots of Fun at ASTD TechKnowledge 2011. Karl Kapp is a scholar and a gentleman who will one day succeed in teaching me the etiquette of spell-checker-to-client confidentiality.)