Bringing the Virtual Community to Life

One of the negatives in this giant online community we’re building is our sense of absolute isolation among thousands of voices. You get to read people’s ideas, opinions and everyday thoughts but much of the time these people are literal strangers to you: you wouldn’t know them if you ran into them on the street. It’s a sad fact that you may build strong, lasting relationships with the help of blogs, podcasts, IM and  Twitter and yet never get to know those people IRL. That’s “in real life” for you newbies.

But what if you could meet these people?! Every now and then you might find a local tweet-up in a good location, or maybe stumble across some online buddies at a conference on similar interests. This is a great opportunity to meet some of these faceless online cohorts or better yet, find new online cohorts! By default you have similar interests and clearly you have something to talk about – WIN! And who knows, you may even walk away with some real live friends!

Often we may be nervous about crossing this boundary, and one should certainly be wise and careful. But all prudence aside, don’t let this chance pass you by! The environment that brings together these kinds of groups is electric. Conversations that might be had in hours or days over IM and email can suddenly occur super-fast; I’ve seen great ideas come out of just such an environment. Besides, every now and then we have to abandon our captivating machines and talk to some live people.

As it happens, just such a fascinating event will be taking place in my local community this coming Wednesday, March 3rd! Ignite Raleigh is part of a series of events (read about Global Ignite Week); local folks submit and vote on topics of interest to the community (usually these are technology topics, but not always). Those selected have 5 minutes and 20 slides to share their thoughts on their topic. There are also local celebs and supporters who may show up to speak on their own issues and ideas, many of which directly relate to your community. Best of all, the people coming to this event are many of the people I see online daily but rarely get the chance to meet. It’s a great opportunity for building a community, sharing ideas and meeting new people who are working on cool projects.

So stay tuned. I’ll be heading to Ignite Raleigh this week and plan to blog about it shortly thereafter. If you’re in the area it’s not too late to plan to attend, yourself! Otherwise check around for your local Ignite event and get out there!

Learn more about these “geek gatherings”; see Mashable.com’s 10 Reasons You Should Attend or Watch a Global Ignite Week Event!