What LinkedIn Is Not.

Having worked in advertising and marketing for many years it has been obvious to me for quite some time that my job is temporary. Even those that are "permanent/full time". Especially those that are "permanent/full time"! Companies get acquired, markets change, business is simply in a state of accelerated change and that tends to make all jobs temporary.

I recently heard this business environment described by the CEO of a major consumer electronics retailer as "perpetual whitewater" and that's a phrase that describes it for me as well as anything. Perpetual whitewater.

It seems to me in this environment that we are all consultants in a "Brand Called You" Tom Peters kind of way. So it makes sense that having a strong and vibrant network is more important now than it ever was. It would make sense to me that this perpetual whitewater could be leveraged by the increased buoyancy that an better network would afford you.

I recently joined Blue Chip Expert network, which is in beta but aspires to do everything that LinkedIn fails to deliver. It will be interesting to see if this initiative lives up to their mission because I am hoping that they do. It is a strong and powerful concept if it they can execute successfully. (They also have a blog here.)

Million Ready Minds explains their mission thusly :
* Bringing people together in a common cause of good for the individual and the globe.
* Providing coaching and mentoring on the secrets of adding value as a consultant – a skill that is not intuitive for people who come from typical careers.
* Providing a place where people of similar backgrounds and interests can share ideas, stories and learning, becoming a rich repository of information.