Networking - Lessons from the Recession

I heard an economist interviewed on NPR this week and I think he said , "The recession is officially over!" Did you hear that too? Was I dreaming?
Regardless of the different definitions and perspectives of recession and recovery I think many of us have learned an awful lot about networking.
Now we know that continuous networking is essential to our professional development. I've learned networking is enriching for my professional and personal life.

In an age when so many of us have crafted somewhat isolated lives; just think how many hours you spend each week at your computer or behind the steering wheel, networking has created a sense of community and belonging. It's true that the initial reason to belong seemed rather negative i.e. I lost my job. Over time I have widened my circle of community in meaningful ways. Now my community is more diverse and relevant. I really am grateful for this!

While I am a late adaptor to social networking I've learned I can create relationships that are based on important common ground; professional and personal. In the past geography has often been an arbitrary factor in meeting people, this is no longer so. Thanks to the recession I now have friends and colleagues in Indiana, Massachusetts, Wyoming and Australia.

Ron Katz, President of Penguin Human Resource Consulting sent a letter to the NY Times to
remind us of an important distinction as we network. We must have at least two networks
and use them with purpose:
1. Your inner network of people who actually know you, are familiar with your work and can
confidently recommend you. Cultivate and protect these.
2. Your supersized networks, with casts of thousands that can exist on social media are best
used as sources of information or as a research tools to learn about about industries,
companies or opportunities.
Finally an answer the question I hear so often,"How many people should I have in my
LinkedIn network?" Now this question sounds like asking how many pages should be in my
dictionary? I think you can't have too many!

What have you learned about networking? What networking success stories do you have? Please share them in comments below.