What I've learned from my Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Next week, you'll find me in San Jose at DevLearn 09. I'm doing a pre-conference session with David Anderson on virtual worlds, on Thursday one of my esteemed colleagues will be talking about games for learning and on Friday, we'll be debriefing the Zombie Apocalypse. Oh, and we'll have a little booth in the hallway to talk about what Tandem can do for you :).

As excited as I am about all of that, the thing I'm most excited about are seeing live and in person all of the folks who will be in attendance that have taught me, made me laugh, challenged me, and helped me grow as a learning professional over the last year. I tend to call them my Twitter friends, but they aren't confined to Twitter...now on Facebook, a fellow member of the Black Swan Society in grou.ps, riding Google Wave with me, a connection on LinkedIn, a fellow Skype-er, just someone who I'm IMing with in Gchat. I'm proud to say that over the course of the last year, I've had the privilege of meeting in person many of the people I've connected with through social media. But DevLearn 09 is where worlds will collide on an epic and awesome scale.

In preparation, I've been thinking about what I've learned this year through my personal learning network (PLN) and have compiled a few things here:

• Evidently I'm funnier in person
• Occasionally people do read my blog, so it matters what I write here
• I have a sixth sense for knowing when people are talking about virtual worlds so I can pipe in to the conversation
• Connections you make personally and professionally through social media technologies can be as and even more meaningful than ones you make face-to-face
• Some of my best friends I met online
• We is (usually) always smarter than me
• I enjoy the support of people who think like me and value the challenge of people who don't
• I love finding other women who are interested in technology, games, and learning...it feels like an elite sisterhood and I feel an instant connection and bond with those women
• Its amazing how willing to share my PLN is. I am constantly in awe
• Changing my hair color and updating my avatar picture cause a dramatic reaction in people who haven't even met me in person
  
• I like hearing about people's day to day trials and tribulations to help me get to know them as much as I like the value and knowledge they bring to intelligent discussions
• As much as I love hanging out with my friends virtually, I still love to get a drink with them in real life

So, if you'll be in San Jose at DevLearn next week, come find me.  I drink whiskey sours, lots of cherries.