Since March, I've been commuting between Boston and San Francisco. One of the best things about the commute is Virgin America airlines in flight experience. The food is decent, the is leg room in economy, it's clean, and there is wifi. But the wifi isn't the best part, everytime I fly I end up meeting folks who work in social media.
Last night, there was a couple setting next to me who once airborne, opened their laptops and started talking. I kept on hearing phrases like "facebook," "social return on investment," "gift economy," and "social change." I could not resist striking up a conversation with them, especially since we had so much rough turbulence that it helped distract me.
It turned out that I was sitting next to Eve Penny Cowan who is the founder of Future Leaders Institute that guides and mentors youth to employ social entrepreneurship to solve the world’s most pressing needs and Dan Jacobs who is the founder of EveryWun is a platform where individuals can leverage business donations to causes. It's an interesting idea - built on the ladder of engagement and the concept of a gift economy.
Behind me was Nicholas Reville, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Miro, a HD open source video player. It sports a gorgeous interface, built-in content, and the site also has an incredible how-to resource for creating Internet.TV.
I'll certainly be exploring these tools and programs in more depth.
What other airline (and route) offers a great flying experience and offline networking opportunities!
I hope Southwest! My first airplane trip will be this coming Thursday and I will need some great network opportunities to overcome this fear.
Posted by: Therese | June 15, 2009 at 11:55 AM
I'm flying to Vegas tonight but I doubt many people will feel like networking on a night flight to Sin City....
Posted by: Patrick Walsh | June 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
It may be a connector, but it's also a filter, ensuring a certain level of prosperity in your contacts.
Posted by: Stephen Downes | June 15, 2009 at 02:35 PM
Great story, Beth. My favorite "San Francisco-related commute story": running into Steve Newcomb of Virgance while catching the BART from Berkeley into SF. A great 45-minute conversation. Came away thoroughly impressed by Steve's heartfelt commitment to building something really spectacular w/ Virgance.com.
Christine
Posted by: Christine Egger | June 15, 2009 at 08:33 PM
I love your post, I too always have great plane synchronicity. As the Founder of Soaringwords, I travel a lot to speak at conferences and run programs with client sponsors throughout the country. One of my favorite plane karma stories is meeting Rick Foster the author of Choosing Brilliant Health; How We Choose to Be Happy... we talked for five hours as we read the manuscripts of each other's books on a cross-country flight, then three weeks later we filmed a SoaringStrength video together which was shared with hospitalized children and families. On a flight to Indianapolis to run an event for Eli Lilly and Company, I met the head of IU Medical School and he made introductions to some relevant Foundation in his community. Thursday I am flying to CA to attend Craig's List Bootcamp and hear your speak in person. Wonder who I'll meet on the flight!
Posted by: Lisa Buksbaum, CEO & Founder, Soaringwords | June 16, 2009 at 08:32 AM
and what is bringing you here to S.F. on a regular basis? 9I am across the GG bridge in Sausalito)
Posted by: Kare anderson | June 16, 2009 at 09:13 AM