Geography… Learning

Geography, Identity, Place, Learning

I was listening to a podcast of the MooseCamp as a preface to Northern Voice (Canadian blog conference) in Vancouver this year.

Specifically, I was listening to the “Social Media Disaspora” session. Bloggers attended mentioned their birthplaces as New Zealand, Philippines, Dominican Republic, USA, China, Siberia, Taiwan, Quebec, Canada, and Japan. Ages ranged from 21-40 plus.

Some spoke about using blogging to reconnect with their homeland, connecting wth people from their past, exploring their culture, and how they use blogging to interact with the global neighbourhood and to integrate into the local neighborhood.

Learning Happens While Blogging

During the podcast, a 23 year old high-school teacher from Edmonton and told a story of working with a 16 year-old student whom she gave a book to and the 16 year-old asked, “How do I use this? There’s no search button?” The 23 year-old teacher walked away because she didn’t know what to do.

This teacher said she is exploring how she can use and integrate blogs into the classroom, so she can get them “into a book without knowing it’s a book. My kids do not know or like books.” Great teacher.

Am I An Expatriate?

Typically, the term expatriate is reserved for those citizens living outside their country. What does it mean now to be ‘in country’? I spend most of my day online either on Skype, email, IM, or the telephone - with my clients and friends all around the world.

What does it mean to be a Citizen in these times?

As I was listening to the “Social Media Disaspora” session, I started thinking about how diverse and multicultural world we have become. So I am raising this important question about identity and what it means to be a ‘citizen’.

Perhaps this is what I was trying to sort out when I coined Relationship 2.0 April 30, 2006.

Think about it, I am a Canadian with Scottish roots that resides in Western Canada. I do almost all of my business around the world, a lot in the USA, and little in Canada. Most of my friends are all a result of my business activities, writing, and blogging - and international.

Sure, I live in Edmonton, pay local property taxes, and federal income tax as a result of my international business activity. As web applications continue to develop we will continue to see a blurring of social, cultural, and business boundaries.

Cross Cultural Communication Skills Essential

Increasingly, we will need to develop our cross cultural communication skills. The good news is that the secret to success in the decades ahead will be “who you know” and the relationships you form. I used to hear that it wasn’t who you know but “what you know” but the Internet has changed all that because information is now a commodity.

Knowing what to do is not enough. You have to do it. Take action. With an international business that does most of it’s ‘business’ online you need relationships to be able to ‘take action’.

It is not realistic to think that you can just start doing business in another country without understanding the culture. Therefore, “who you know” and “who knows you” will become increasingly important.

Connected people like my friends Phil, Rosa, and many other relationship masters will be well positioned to make a deep impact.

So, lets do more Relationship 2.0 activities!