Who's #1 on your must-meet for business list?

Sometimes it feels like Seth Godin is in my back pocket because he writes about things a lot that are top of mind for me. His recent post on "Who would you meet if you could?" drives home my point about the effectiveness of groups and social networking. He writes: "

Think about this for a moment. If a trusted friend could arrange a meeting between
you and anyone of your choosing, who would you choose? Not for entertainment or curiosity or bragging rights, but to help your business.
Who could help? Someone who could actually aid your marketing or development...

Years ago, I went to the AOL partner's conference. I'm no runner (unless someone is
chasing me) yet I signed up for the early morning run because I knew Steve Case, CEO
of AOL, would be running. I ran with him for twenty minutes, almost killed myself.
Didn't help. (But I'm glad I met him).

If you're an author, can Jeff Bezos at Amazon help you more than a motivated
promotions manager far down the ladder? It's unlikely.

[People in charge can rarely help you, because they 
are rarely (truly) in charge.]

Billionaires can't help you, either, because they have their defense force fields on
full strength during meetings like this. In fact, the person who can help you the
most is almost always someone who doesn't appear that powerful on the surface.

[Remember, it's not just that they can help you. 
It's that they want to help you. Famous people qualify
in neither category.]
So, who is it? Hint, it's not the Wizard of Oz or the Pope or Barack Obama. It's
someone not famous, someone who actually makes things happen and someone who
actually cares. Think hard... Got it?

Great. Go meet them."

Comments

[olivier blanchard]

It seems that all of the people I want to collaborate with or work for (projects, etc.) are on Twitter right now. Twitter hasn't just connected me to some of the best talent in my area code, it has also helped me connect with them in the real world. In this, Twitter is very unique. No other social media platform I have used until now did this so quickly and on such a scale.

More and more of my clients and collaborators have connected with me because of Twitter. I expect that this trend will continue.