One of the rabbit holes that I jumped down today led me to this blog post entitled, “The Meeting Never Happens in the Meeting” that talks about the value of the conversations that happen outside the traditional ‘formal’ structure of meetings and how we should really consider how beneficial these sorts of social conversations really are.

The blog posts talks a bit about virtual environments and team collaboration in those spaces but when I first saw the title of the post I immediately thought about twitter and our local Penn State community.

I’m sure that you’re all sick to death of me talking about twitter but I really do feel that this one simple little tool has changed everything for me in a professional development and social sense. At a recent work event, a friend sitting right beside me was someone I’d been chatting with informally on twitter for a few months but had never met in person. There was already a familiarity and conversational ease that existed because of those informal chats via twitter. I’m not saying this is different than the same sorts of meetings that occur online first before meeting in real-life, just that in this instance the tool was twitter.

Now, that being said.. those of you from the Penn State twitter crew know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that I honestly believe that if I weren’t on twitter and connected to the people that I’m connected to in my local community I would not be as effective at my job. I would not have the same knowledge, I would not be involved in the same collaborative projects and I would not have the same personal connections to people that work at other campuses and in other departments. Twitter has changed *everything*.

I also strongly feel that people not involved in these local twitter discussions are missing out on great conversations, personal relationships, and problem-solving discussions that are taking place *only* in this venue. In essence, the meeting is happening outside the meeting. We’re meeting on twitter day in and day out, and we’re having casual informal snippets of conversation that are changing our day-to-day lives. The important stuff is happening on twitter, the formal stuff is happening in the structured face-to-face meetings.

The important stuff is the informal stuff. The off-handed comments about a particular musician that someone hates, the requests for recipes, the mention of a project that someone is working on that then leads to a discussion and collaboration on that same idea, the requests for help or advice from someone trying to decide what purchase would be best, or the sharing of the birth of a child – these are the powerful things. The things that change us as people and as a community. These are the things that feed our spirits and help us work creatively and collaboratively. This is our community. Join the meeting.

I love my job. I am so thankful that I’m able to say that and mean it. I have a job that allows encourages me to connect with others, learn new things and explore new technologies. At this point in my life, I couldn’t ask for much more. I am also lucky enough to work for an organization that values innovation. We have initiatives aimed at promoting innovation, meetings and exercises to encourage us to think differently, and are frequently told how important innovation is to our organization.

At times I do feel like they’re preaching to the choir, because I know all those things are incredibly valuable and I certainly agree with the importance of being innovative. I do wonder, however, how much of this is getting through to the people that don’t already know how important and exciting new technologies are.

I’ve been having to take a step back recently and remind myself that when I’m feeling like something is old and something everyone does.. some people have still never heard of it or have no idea that it exists. That puts me in a tricky situation of feeling like innovation is passing us by while I’m still trying to teach people what a blog is.

I’ve been discussing with my colleagues about new ideas, using technology, and the power of community lately. We’re examining new ways of using blogs and e-portfolios, we’re talking about “open” resources, social responsibility and how to promote change. These are all things that I am incredibly passionate about and to me they all seem like such logical things to do that I can’t understand why anyone would *not* want to do these things. And then I remember. I take that step back.

In my mind, it’s not that people don’t *want* to do these things, it’s that they don’t know how, or don’t understand the power in the tool. If we all teach someone – one person – how these tools can make a difference in their life then we’ve taken a step. If we all share our own personal stories, then we’re building a bridge. If we all invite this person into our community then we’ve opened their eyes.

Innovation is about opening our eyes. Looking at things around us and being aware of how things are changing. Thinking differently about how we do things, and listening to others share their experiences. Innovation is collaboration and collaboration is community.

Innovation = Community. Be a part.