Going with the Flo

This morning I had the fortunate experience of talking with Heather Whaling (@prtini) on Skype. Two weeks ago Heather invited anyone (Twitter followers, old friends or perfect strangers) to "Say Hello." She wanted to take her connections past social media, break any notion of cliques and move onto tangible relationships. With Skype, distance plays no part so it felt like Heather was in the next room, rather than two states away. I'm following Heather on Twitter and have shared comments through #pr20chat, but was thrilled at the chance to connect further with her.

 

Heather and I spent our time discussing our backgrounds, interests and answering questions. I enjoyed hearing about her experience with the chats – she's filled up two weeks with these conversations! She explained one of the best parts has been "playing matchmaker" with those in her network. We realized we have both worked in government and non-profit – shared experiences our level of connection had not allowed before today. More than anything, my day began with such a refreshing feeling. Knowing that busy professionals like Heather are interested in meeting newcomers like me confirms what I have been learning about public relations – the people are what make this industry. And they're here to help, as long as you take the chance to get to know them.

 

Thanks very much to Heather for facilitating a great connection and for being the catalyst for her colleagues to do the same! (I'll be chatting with Arik Hanson on Skype in two weeks.) I look forward to breaking down the walls that distance and other obstacles put in the way of connecting. Who's next?