Social Network

Even the movie, "the Social Network" has been sweeping lately, I personally don't trust people who contact me through a social networking site.
If I haven't met the people "in person," they seem like virtual for me.
Without meeting in a real world, I don't think we could build a real friendship.
However, there is an exception.
If we have a common thing, especially, if we have a similar passion, we might contact together.

These days, I've been trying to expand my "MC network."
That became one of my resolutions this year.
Last Wednesday, I had dinner with three MCs. Two of them are originally my friends from my former MC office, Nozomi and Hanako. The other is from my current MC office, Ms. M.
Actually, Ms. M was the reason why I belong to my current MC office.
When I was looking for a new MC office, Nozomi recommended Ms.M's official blog to me.
Nozomi has sympathized with Ms. M's professionalism as a MC, and I felt the same when I read her blog. Therefore, I joined the MC office she belonged to.
And Hanako heard about Ms. M's blog from Nozomi, then she has shared the same passion with Ms. M, like Nozomi.
I could say, Ms.M has been our "MC guru" in a virtual world.
...So, what was I doing!??
I said I couldn't trust people whom I haven't met in person, but I entered a company because I believed a person on a computer!

However, I finally met Ms.M last month, so she became my MC guru in a REAL world.
VEry fortunately,I found out she is a really nice person & very professional MC in a REAL world as well. Therefore, I asked her to be a "real guru" for Nozomi and Hanako .
I mean, I set up the meeting of four of us.

We had dinner together in Shinjuku.
We shared each other's stories of professional ones, and personal ones.
That was the day when my virtual network turned out a real, solid network.

On the same day, I had lunch with Yuko, also a wedding MC, whom I met at the conference of Bridal MC Alliance. Bridal MC Alliance is an organization I found virtually, I meant on the Internet.

Whenever I talk with other MCs, I learn a lot from their experiences, passions, the actual ways of their jobs, or how to communicate with clients.
My mentor, Ryoko, built bilingual MC's network and it's a part of her job...but I thought, I could develop my "private" network with my professional peers.
They could be MCs, could be English teachers, or translators...
To do so, I might use my "virtual" relationships on a social network site, and so on.

But, just a correction...the movie, "Social Network" based on a true story of Face Book.
As you know, Face Book is based on not a virtual network. On the site, you can see your "real friends" information, that's why it became really popular.
It's a complicated world!!