Today is another snowy day. We’ve had a great winter from the point of view of skiing but sometimes driving has been a challenge. I’m glad I have my Saab SUV with new snow treads.



On Monday I drove to the Samoset Resort in Rockport for a meeting with travel writer Melissa Harmon and Pat Eltman from the Maine Office of Tourism regarding an upcoming gathering of the Northeast Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers.  We met with Eric Fredereksen who is the very professional and gracious Regional Director of Sales & Marketing. 

Every time I log on to my email, I’ve been adding connections on my LinkedIn account every day.  I enjoy looking at other people’s contacts and seeing the degrees of separation. One thing that bugs me is that I am listed as being from the Lewiston/Auburn area. I am from either Augusta or the western mountains of Maine depending on whether you’re considering my office of my home location. I emailed LinkedIn about their lack of accuracy in listing regions on their site. I have not yet heard back but I will let you know what they say when I hear.

Walter Briggs, owner of Briggs Advertising in Bath,  contacted me by I.M. this morning to thank me for giving him a recommendation on LinkedIn. This is important for credibility. I need to ask him to give me a recommendation back!

One of the funny things about Walter Briggs is that he has the same name as my own brother who lives in Bethany, Connecticut where we grew up.   Talk about funny coincidences! My brother Walter is a selectman in the town of Bethany.  At that time we were ‘summer people’ in Maine, spending summers at our cottage on Damariscotta Lake. Then in 1977 my parents and I moved to Maine. Walter stayed in Connecticut. My brother Don moved to Maine for a number of years but then he moved back to Connecticut too. Since I’m talking about Bethany and LinkedIn, I always think about the community I grew up in as an example of a tight-knit community.

My family had a huge network of friends around town. We were involved with the school, the town political committee, the 4-H, the church, the Pony Club, the swim team, and the Country Club. Back then, in the 60′s and 70′s, there were no ‘online communities’ but in Bethany, everyone knew everyone so we didn’t need an online community. Everyone also knew who was related to whom, who was friends with whom, what church everyone attended, what pets people had, and what political party people belonged to. 

Now, with online communities like LinkedIn, MySpace and FaceBook, you can actually see who your friends know and what they like to do. I’m not sure if it’s better than the kind of community I grew up in, it’s just different. And for marketing purposes, it’s invaluable to build your network in these online communities.There’s a term called Social Capital that is promoted by one of my clients, the Maine Community Foundation. I have a lot of this kind of capital because I know a lot of people, but I never knew that it had a name.

I also learned recently that having ‘social capital’ actually adds real ‘value’ to your life. I know that I feel enthusiastic and excited about knowing a lot of people all over the state of Maine, around country, and even the world and there is true value to having social capital. Adding links through LinkedIn adds to that social capital. I like doing it. As Martha Stewart would say, “it’s a good thing!”


I was just talking with Jen Boes who is one of my associates at Nancy Marshall Communications. I told her I think this blogging habit could become addictive. I guess it’s a good addiction and it’s cheaper and less fattening than some other substances I could be addicted to!