Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in the audience and hear Chip Heath, author of the New York Times bestselling book, Made to Stick and regular columnist for Fast Company magazine speak. Along with his brother and co-author, Dan Heath, the boys have come up with an amazing simple but easy process for making your ideas “sticky.”

An organization recently contacted me seeking a networking expert for their conference. In this competitive environment companies are eager to have their employees develop successful relationships with customers, co-workers, and colleagues.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the social network site, LinkedIn.com. This site is based on the six degrees of separation theory. You really are less than six people away from any person, resource, or information that you’re looking for.

Annual holiday parties are one of my favorite childhood memories. Each December, my family always attended the same annual gatherings. These parties offered a wonderful way to reconnect with childhood friends – who were now in college and suddenly very cute – and to demonstrate to my parents’ acquaintances just how much I had grown in the past year.

Last week I took my 10-year-old daughter to the “Hannah Montana” concert in Denver. If you have not heard of this teen-pop sensation, then you obviously don’t have a child between the ages of 5 to 13 in your life.

I just returned from 10 days in Italy and I’m here to tell you, we can learn a lot from the Italians on how to live a life full of rich connections. There are so many things I love about Italy, but one of my favorites is the way they approach an evening meal; dinner!

Did you know that membership in a professional association is a huge opportunity to expand your connections and grow your resources? With more than 5,000 professional associations nationwide (many with local chapters in your city), there is really no excuse for not joining an association that represents the voice of your profession.

Her reputation long preceded our introduction. Back in 1993, I was living in San Antonio, Texas, and working in human resources for the largest medical center in the city. That’s when I first heard about Barbara Greene, affectionately known as the “networker from heaven.”

I love summer. The sound of singing birds, the early morning sun, and soft, gentle breezes fill me with energy and happiness. As a child I always welcomed summer as that wonderful transition time between graduating from one grade and entering the next; aa time to refuel, re-energize, and try new things like camp, a new hobby, a new job, or even enrolling in a class to learn a new skill.

I recently had the opportunity to hear author Meg Wheatley speak about her book, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future (Berrett-Koehler, 2002). She reminded me of a very important lesson about the power of community.
Senegal, Africa, with a population of 8.5 million, ranks as one of the worst countries [...]