I regularly read the blog orgtheroy.net for a couple of reasons. Recently one of the blog's contributors Brayden reviewed a book by Sean Stafford which compared the resurgence, or lack of it, in two former steel towns, Youngstown Ohio and Allentown PA. The book explores what enabled Allentown to resurge and survive while Youngstown still flounders.
Anyhow, being the enthusiastic curmudgeon I am, I posted a comment on Brayden's book review espousing how I thought it interesting but probably wouldn't read the book. After posting, I convinced myself I would read it because both I am a history buff and the book is analyzing the networks/networking of the two towns. Double whammy.
When I checked back on the blog, both Brayden and Sean had wrote in to tell me exactly why I should read the book. What really piqued my interest was Sean's sentence: " i think the key thing i try to do is use the networks, less as the driver of the story, than as evidence supporting the mechanisms i discuss." For some reason that rang bells for me.
Even though I'm an advocate of networking, I'm not an advocate of networking for networking's sake, I'm an advocate of networking to get things done. By using networks, networking, cultural organizations and institutions as a backdrop, this might be a great way to see networks in action, not just networks.
As an afterthought, I emailed June Holley who I am pretty sure created the concept and/or phrase "network weaver", who has been netweaving for 20 years in the Greater Appalacia area as the executive director of acenet, which includes Southern Ohio. I'm excited that she said she has already ordered the book. Hopefully good things will come of that. Her concept of weaving networks is a way more precise phrase of what I encourage people to do than anything I came up with. Thanks June!
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