Trust me? Decide for yourself
by Mike K-H
Do you have to see and hear someone before you really trust them?
Several of my most trusted friends are people I’ve never seen, and there’s little chance that I’ll ever see them. I met them on the Web.
I spent most of my working life in an international IT company, often collaborating with labs and manufacturing plants in other countries. One of the unquestioned ground rules for this was that we could justify travelling at least once to see the people with whom we were collaborating, if we didn’t already know one another. The accepted wisdom was that people who had met face-to-face and seen one another in the other person’s working environment would understand one another better and co-operate more effectively.
Meetings with real goals were much the same. I tried some of the early audio and video conferencing systems - they helped, but I have to admit that they were not a patch on having everyone in the same room. However, the disruption of so many people’s working lives for several days meant that on-site meetings were only justified for really important steps in a project.
Technology has moved ahead. I can do better at a moment’s notice with Skype than I used to manage with a teleconference room that had its own support staff and needed to be booked at least a week in advance. And I can get a live video link, not a series of stills.
One consequence of this is that I can, if I like, reinforce my web acquaintanceships with face-to-face chats (if the other party is willing - I have one good friend that I’ve only seen as a shadow flittting across the room behind her husband, although she did say ‘hi!’).
I don’t mind being seen or heard
There will be times when I write or say things that you might want to take notice of. If you’d feel more comfortable doing so after establishing that I’m not only real, but the kind of person you’d be likely to spend time with if you lived nearby, why not give me a call? my Skype ID is ‘chabrenas’, which is the name of the hamlet I live in.
I’m baring my soul a little for your benefit
I’ve created a page that you can consult if you want an idea of who I am, what interests me, and how I got to be like I am. Take a look and judge for yourself.
