What has SmallerIndiana done for you?

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Permalink Reply by Don Schindler on June 30, 2008 at 7:52am

Look at the communities you joined. Your MySpace and Facebook are for friends and possibly family. Your iChat and AIM accounts are for daily communication between work/social. Your email accounts are record-keeping and you give out different ones depending on how you classify your relationship with the person you are giving the email to.

SI is for talking about your job and networking kinda like Linkedin which you should have as well.

And I'm sure you didn't join all of these at once.

What I get out of SI is that I get to talk to other marketers and advertisers. People that "get it" in the community or they are running into the same kind of issues I'm having. Maybe they figured out a different way to do something and are willing to share it. That's why I read it. And it's directly from them - not watered down by reporter or "official" statement.

Niche communities are growing rapidly because they are getting easier to use and cheaper to start. Hence, the drop off in MySpace and Facebook.

This is a niche community for my job and I stick around because I enjoy it. But that doesn't mean I'll stay forever. Pat knows he must continue to keep people engaged and talking to keep this going.

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Permalink Reply by Rhett N. Cochran on June 30, 2008 at 9:46am

Well, for one it's introduced me to people that I probably wouldn't have otherwise met. Unlike Facebook and MySpace where people on my "Friends" page include people I do and don't know alike, I can honestly say that I personally know nearly all of the people on my Smaller Indiana Page. Additionally, being locally focused, it's helped me network with local people of similar interests - especially my fellow, long-suffering Cub fans!

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Ball on June 30, 2008 at 10:48am

SI has facilitated my meeting other artists, the creation of an art show - Elegant Funk on August 1 - as well as meeting up with lots of people for lunch and after work events. People who I may never have met. And the opportunity to have a large variety of conversations I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Oh, and it has afforded me the opportunity to razz Rhett about his undying loyalty to the Flubs Cubs.

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Permalink Reply by Erik Deckers on June 30, 2008 at 2:30pm

I joined for the community. I've probably gotten more out of this than any other network, because I can actually interact with people. It's not a hopped-up Rolodex (LinkedIn), it's not a global network (Facebook), and I can meet new people with it, rather than a captive list (AIM/Windows Live Messenger).

Just like Don said, this is a network for people in my state. I share interests with some, backgrounds with others, occupations with others. For me, this is the hub for meeting people. Then I interact with them via AIM, Live Messenger, email, Gmail, my cell phone, and other communication tools.

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Permalink Reply by Nicki Laycoax on June 30, 2008 at 5:35pm

For me, SI has enabled me to connect with SO many awesome, creative, and genuine business professionals-owners and employees- that are interested in the well-being of our State's status, both economic and philanthropic.

It gives you a support network online that you know will give you honest, helpful, and constructive advice. Not only is it a great site to network on for business and creative needs, but I've seen so many people get help finding jobs! How awesome is that!

Anyone in Indiana that is in business, creative, philanthropic, or with any other great intentions for the State should, without a doubt, be active in this online community.

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