From the School of Business

I read a blurb on BusinessWeek.com titled “It’s not what you know” and thought about the incredible networking tools available to us in this day of digital communications. The article focused on LinkedIn.com with its 9 million subscribers (yes, 9 million) and more than 130,000 recruiters who were enrolled in the LinkedIn networking system. Those numbers made my head swim. Compare that with my alma mater, the University of Colorado/Boulder. I recently enrolled in its online alumni network and out of curiosity I put a call into the alumni office, where I was informed that less than 500 individuals of its total alumni group have signed up for access to the electronic alumni network. Still, given the ease with which I was able to sign up for the CU network, I felt that it was worth it. For comparison, I then enrolled with LinkedIn and another web option XING (www.xing.com). All of a sudden, I have a plethora of networking opportunities.

Without going into all the vagaries associated with really utilizing the full potential of either web network option (advanced membership costs, search capabilities etc.) so this doesn’t become an advertisement for these companies, I thought about backing up for a moment and think about what this embarrassment of riches really means. And what it boils down to, and here’s the punch line, is that it means absolutely nothing unless you use it and use it wisely. Being a member of a professional association doesn’t help unless you go to meetings and “press the flesh.” Having graduated from school with someone who is now famous doesn’t help you if you haven’t maintained the contact all these years. I once called a former colleague whom I had not spoken with in 15 years and was greeted with a gruff, “what do you want?” Without trying, I had burned that bridge.

Developing and maintaining my contacts over the years is what has worked for me. Through the development and maintenance of regular contacts with faculty and administrators of other universities, I am able to identify and recruit new faculty members for the School of Business when we have those needs. These contacts and involvement in professional associations is what keeps a fresh flow of ideas pouring into JIU to maintain the quality of our various degree programs. Will I take advantage of some of these newer technologies? On a personal level, I have received several contracts for consulting and teaching over the years because I was already known and had maintained a good relationship with the decision makers. And, to expand upon what I already do, I will definitely start to look at these web-based systems to stay in touch with current contacts and perhaps join some of the groups and establish some new contacts, but definitely not all 9 million LinkedIn subscribers.

Richard C. Thompson, PhD
Academic Dean