Aug
Community has always been important in my personal and professional life. This blog is an expression of community but it is, to a large extent, a “read-only” forum (with the exception of comments, reader reviews and occasional guest posts.) I’d like to grow participation in the community, and to that end, I’ve launched three “initiatives.”
1. I’ve created a LinkedIn group: Federated Search. Here’s the description of the group:
This is a networking group where vendors, customers, potential customers and all interested parties can get together to ask questions and share thoughts about federated search technology, trends, implementations, and vendors.
For those of you who are not familiar with LinkedIn, here’s a snippet from LinkedIn’s about page:
LinkedIn is an online network of more than 25 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.
Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.
Basic membership, which is what I have, is free. You’ll need to join LinkedIn to join the federated search group. My vision of the group is to allow those of us who are interested in federated search to identify one another. People who have joined the group can network with others in the group if they are linked to them, or if they are introduced by someone who is linked to the person they want to contact.
While I manage the group, I will approve requests to join from anyone interested. Once you are a member of the group I have no control or knowledge of who you contact or what conversations you have. So, my role is a very small one and I hope that the value you derive from networking with others in the community is great. Note that LinkedIn, by design, doesn’t allow broadcast messages to groups so you shouldn’t be getting any spam from group members.
If I’m not in your network and you’d like me to be I ask that we get to know one another before being linked as I don’t have people I don’t know in my network. Getting to know one another would involve several emails - introduce yourself and tell me what your interest is in federated search for starters.
2. I’m in the process of creating a federated search forum. The forum will be a place for people interested in federated search to share thoughts, questions, and experiences with one another. I will keep an eye on the forum but not censor any posts except for offensive ones.
3. I’ve started a federated search luminary series, to honor the people who have made significant contributions to the industry. The series is an attempt to grow the blog beyond my own limited ideas and experience and to include interviews with those who have vast experience and insight to share with blog readers. I have already conducted one interview and I will publish it in the next few days. Steve Arnold’s Search Wizards Speak series is the inspiration for this blog’s luminary series. Arnold’s series featured Abe a couple of months ago.
I look forward to meeting a number of you on LinkedIn and in the forum.
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Tags: federated search
