Never Underestimate the Power of Professional Networks

June 12th, 2005

From an article in the NYT titled, “Enough Keyword Searches. Just Answer My Question“:

“Recently, for example, I was trying to track the changes in California’s spending on its schools. In the 1960’s, when I was in public school there, the legend was that only Connecticut spent more per student than California did. Now, the legend is that only the likes of Louisiana and Mississippi spend less. Was either belief true? When I finally called an education expert on a Monday morning, she gave me the answer off the top of her head. (Answer: right in spirit, exaggerated in detail.) But that was only after I’d wasted what seemed like hours over the weekend with normal search tools.”

I mentioned at a recent presentation that everyone is an expert at something. One of the tricks of social networks is to know the person who may be able to help more than an online search. Sometimes, it all about who you know.

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