If your class is like mine, at least a portion now regularly connects on Facebook. To engage our Facebook class group page, we organized a few happy hours. Happy hour attendees spanned cliques and social circles. Each gathering was filled fresh conversation and new points of commonality. We weren’t hashing over old stories as much as we were talked about our lives today.

We’re taking a shot at planning the 30th reunion and these are some web-based tools we use to reach out, listen and plan. Like any sound effort in 2012, we drafted a brief mission, and sets of values and success metrics.

Google searching classmates is a huge task. With a list of names with scant or very old information and a 30 year old yearbook photo, we’ve attempted it as individuals and a group. Sure there will be people who never surface, but we intend to give it our best shot.

Our Facebook community consists of about 150 out of a graduating class of 560+. This is our most direct and free way to share reunion information and ideas. It will be interesting to see how the new degree of familiarity, built through Facebook friendships, accelerates ice-breaking at our reunion events this summer.

Our Facebook community, through individual networks, encourages classmates to join Facebook and the group, and posts updates on the passing of classmates.

E-mails are important and these databases lay dormant for years at a time. We issued a “Here’s the Date and Tell Us Your Preferences” questionnaire via SurveyMonkey and are pleased with our list’s accuracy and number of responses. A majority of respondents told us that they prefer e-mail for their reunion information. We are a class that, for many reasons, has not totally bought in to the social network.

So our webpage will get built and our PayPal account created. We will proudly list a planning committee that represents names previously associated with cliques. We’ve grown up, we are parents and grandparents. We have pets and careers. Our school experience binds us. Jam-packed elementary and junior high schools fed our high school. Neighborhood families stayed put and they relied on one another.

Our planning committee believes those bonds are real and form the basis of a great experience and network. We are at a time in our lives when things to dread are real and unavoidable. A class reunion should not appear on that list.

I am a professional recruiter and many of my colleagues went out and connected with anyone and everyone.  The philosophy was the larger the network, the greater the opportunity to find the recruit/candidate you were looking for.  However, other recruiters took a different philosophy – only connecting with people they truly knew.  Two different definitions of what a “connection” is.

Facebook followed with “friends”.  Similar to LinkedIn and “connections”, people using Facebook define who a “friend” is differently.  Some people have numerous “friends” while others are more restrictive on whom they consider a “friend”.  Now, of course, there is Twitter and “followers”.

A person’s online-brand is partially defined by what one’s online network looks like.  But what is a network?  Is your online connections/friends/followers considered to be your network?  And what size should your network be?  I have given this quite a bit of thought and I don’t think there is are easy and simple answers to these questions.  I think a network means different things to different people.

~ How well do you need to know someone to consider them part of your network?
~ Is a network made of people that would do you a favor?
~ Is a network made up of people that you would do a favor for?
~ What is a favor?  Making an introduction?  Willing to do business with you?  Being a reference?  Loaning you money?  Inviting someone to your home?

I think it is okay for the definition of “network” to be unique for each person.  The challenge is when people in your network have a different definition than you have – their expectations of you are different than your expectations of them.  Without having the same expectations, I question whether it is a strong network.

I believe everyone needs a strong network, especially during these economic times.  We need to help and support one another.  The question is how do you create, manage, and sustain a strong network?  Is it important to grow your network and how is this done effectively?  I have found it very challenging to sustain and grow my network during these social media times.  What suggestions do you have for me?  Curious minds want to know.

Today, all of the news and opinions we usually consume are filtered through our own bias and preference. I can choose which newspaper’s websites I will use as my home page and I click on only the stories that are about politicians, business and activities I like. On TV, not only can I choose a station with my political bias, but I can now fast-forward through any segment that doesn’t interest me. In our free time we are likely to gravitate towards like-minded friends and organizations.

Facebook provides a unique opportunity. You connect with people from various times in your life. Immediately you notice how friends from your “past” evolved into interesting people with a wide variety of opinions. What do you do when you read an article or a post that is the polar opposite of your beliefs? Do you ignore it? Do you rush to find the article that proves them wrong? Or, do you try a discussion with an open mind?

Recently I posted my disappointment in the venomous argument over our President addressing American children. After some initial comments posts started flying furiously and soon reached a heated level. Just when I thought the conversation was interesting, my “friend” promptly ended the debate and “un-friended” me. This exchange reinforced my sadness at the tone of the national debate.

What does this mean to a leader? Can you find solutions if you don’t consider other opinions? How can we respectfully listen to various views if we surround ourselves with people, places and things that only reinforce our own beliefs?

It may take more time and it may make you uncomfortable, but give it a try. If you read a “liberal” blog, click over to a “conservative” one. A great place to start is http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/reference/minnesota-blogs , http://www.blognetnews.com/minnesota/ or http://blogs.citypages.com/.

So what about the shoes? Think about your meetings. Does everyone have on wing-tips and high-heels? Does everyone have Birkenstocks? What an interesting conversation you could have if there were flip-flops, tennis shoes, work boots, clogs, go-go boots, Mary-Janes and yes, wing-tips and high heels. Wouldn’t those shoes look great under your backyard picnic table or your office conference room.