I hadn’t ever thought of myself as being an especially loyal guy until a friend raised it as one of my personal qualities a couple of years ago. I reflexively disagreed, but upon further reflection and discussion realized that it was probably an accurate statement. Hey, sometimes it takes you a few decades to learn about yourself.

I posted the picture above, which was taken in mid-September 1989, to illustrate this point. I was looking at a few of my old pictures for today’s Facebook meme and ran across this one. Besides the smile, I loved some of the insights the photo provides into who I am (more on that below).

But first: loyalty.

Despite the prominence of the tape player, the first thing I noticed about this photo was the ASU poster in the background. The second thing I noticed was my head-to-foot 49ers outfit. Recent events reminded me of my loyalty to both of these teams.

Earlier today on a work conference call, we scheduled our big annual event for a November weekend on which there’s a home ASU football game. It’s the second time in as many years. It will be only the third time I’ve missed a regularly-scheduled home game since becoming a fan in 1987. I’m already feeling bad about missing the game, even though I don’t have high hopes for next season. There have been far too many of those seasons, but alas, I continue to buy season tickets and root on the team. I’ve never willingly left the stadium before the bitter end, no matter the score or weather. If you know me, you know me as a loyal ASU fan.

The same concept, albeit to a lesser extent given the circumstances, applies to the 49ers. To be sure, the Niners had a grand glorious run – one for both the record and history books. But those times vanished when Eddie D gave up the team, and the team has had precious little success since then. Still, I’ve never wavered, even as it became fashionable for root for the Cardinals. In fact, everyone expects me to root for the Cards—I’m a native after all—and are usually shocked and a bit miffed that I’d rather the Cardinals lose every game they played. (For what it’s worth, they should have lost the last one.) Part of that is residual anger over their lawsuit against ASU, disrespect for the Bidwell family, and the fact they got a new stadium deal they didn’t in any possible way deserve. But much of it also boils down to the fact that the Cards and Niners are both in the NFC West. What can I say – I’m a loyal 49ers fan.

Of course, loyalty to a particular football team is hardly a personal characteristic you’d want engraved on your tombstone. There are far more important ways to be loyal, people to be loyal with, and values to be loyal to. But nonetheless, I think it’s a clear indicator of a larger and more meaningful pattern.

Speaking of indicators, let’s get back to the photo. Some other quick observations about what this picture might say about me, even at the ripe age of 10:

• Tape cassettes weren’t cutting-edge, but I clearly enjoyed technology.
• I was anal enough even back then to keep a running score tally on the ASU poster. Luckily, I wouldn’t get any database software for another couple of years.
• Office supplies were in my future – notice the legal pad and pad holder. I’m such a geek.
• I’m still refusing to acknowledge the GI Joe sheets.
• I was nostalgic and sentimental even back then – notice the ticket pinned up next to the poster and the pom pom on the left side of the window sill. Those were less signs of fandom and had much more to do with saving memories.
• Friendship bracelet FTW!

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A little bit of background

I’ve been hovering around the edges of a few social media communities for awhile now. Over the last few months, I’ve been following and occasionally interacting with the Phoenix twitter crowd. The absence of a sense of community has always been one of my disappointments with the Phoenix metro area, so I was amazed and impressed with the community-building events they’ve been hosting.

I decided that I should get more involved.

So when Twitter launched its lists feature, I thought it was a great way to chart out progress in turning those “I follow online” relationships into “we’ve actually met” ones. The result were two incomplete lists of Phoenix-area folks that I hadn’t met yet and ones I had.

To that end, I’ve stopped by an occasional tweetup or #pfn or #smunch. I’ve been truly amazed with some of the cool people I’ve briefly met already – and I know I’m only scratching the surface. So I’m not only interested in expanding that list, but deepening it as well.

This is an attempt to do just that. At its core, this challenge is about creating even more value from the investment I make every time I tweet, post a photo online, or add a reply to a forum post.

My #10N3 Challenge

So, here it is: I am challenging myself to convert 10 of my online-only relationships into offline “in-real-life” relationships in the next 3 months.

Because of the holidays and my own travel schedule, I’m not starting the clock until the New Year arrives. This is about adding value to my social media experience, so I’m planning on reporting back my progress on the days I get paid.

The rules

• Must be one-on-one conversations to count. It doesn’t count if we just talk in a crowd of people (unless the conversation is direct, personal, extended, etc). It’s best if these are organized with the specific purpose of meeting to chat, like inviting someone out for coffee or a hike.
• Half of them must be people I’ve never met in person, however briefly. The rest can be people with whom I’ve shaken hands or exchanged pleasantries, but didn’t get into a real conversation with.
• They can be from any social media platform (twitter, facebook, flickr, sports forums, etc), but they have to be people with whom I’ve already establish some sort of online relationship (friends on facebook, I follow them on twitter, foursquare fan, subscribe to their blog, etc). On platforms where reciprocation is not required (eg twitter), it’s enough that I follow them. It doesn’t count if I meet them at an event and then follow them on twitter or subscribe to their blog.
• We don’t have to become best buds in real life as a result of meeting in person. That’s not what this is about.
• While I have my own short list of people I’d like to meet during this challenge, I’m not publishing it or holding myself accountable to it.

Of course, this is my challenge and therefore my rules, so I may end up amending them as circumstances warrant. However, I see this as a real personal challenge and am treating it as such.

I’m going to be using the hashtag #10N3 on twitter if you’d like to follow my progress or adopt your own challenge. If you decide to join along with me in this goal, please let me know and I’ll post a link.

March 3 update

Earlier this year, I gave myself the challenge of converting 10 online relationships into offline, in-real-life relationships by the end of March. I called it my #10N3 Challenge. I’m nearly two-thirds through the challenge period and thought it was time to provide an update.

I’m right on track

So, how am I doing at it? Surprisingly, I’m right on track. Through March 3, I’ve made 9 connections—which means that I’m actually ahead of schedule. I also have #10 scheduled for later this week, so barring unforeseen circumstances, I should meet my goal. But I’m not planning on stopping there. I’d like to exceed my goal and hit at least 12 by the end of the challenge. We’ll see how it goes.

The surprise so far

I’m feeling pretty good about how I’ve done in meeting the challenge so far. It’s been great to connect in person with people I’ve grown to know over the last several months or, in some cases, years. It’s amazing how easy it is to connect with people after only simple and occasional online interactions.

But, to be honest, I’ve been just as pleased with the other relationships I’ve fostered during this time. While for one reason or another, they didn’t count towards the #10N3 Challenge, I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with them.

Final results

It’s April now, and the final results are in. I exceeded my goal by 1, converting 11 online relationships into IRL ones within my three month goal. I nearly added two additional ones, but both of those were postponed for later this month.

All in all, it’s been a worthy endeavor, and I anticipate that several of these IRL relationships will continue to deepen over time.

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