Twitter Continues to Bring Online World Offline

I can honestly say that most of the connections that I have made with my friends in the DC area here have come right from the pages of Twitter in some fashion. I am continually amazed how Twitter, for the most part, has brought so many of my online connections offline and allowed me to make some really good friendships with a lot of great people.

I wrote the other day about how Twitter helped a couple of stranded Twitter’rs at the Ft Lauderdale airport. Without Twitter, this offline experience never happens and what I am sure will become a friendship would have been missed.

Then today while reading the interwebs, I came across this post title “Twitter for Business?“. The author, Mark Dixon, who openly admits he has questioned the Twitter phenomena, tells of a great experience he had because of Twitter.

However, I had a delightful business encounter yesterday triggered by a Twitter message. On Tuesday afternoon at 2:33pm, I tweeted, “Wrapped up the last of several con calls. Getting ready to head to the airport in route to San Francisco.”

At 2:58 pm, I received an email from Dazza Greenwood, “Just noticed on Twitter you are headed to SF… I’m in the city this week and weekend and wonder if you’d happen to have a few moments to get together and say “hi” in person? …”

Mark made it to SF and that night had a great evening at the home of Dazza. In the end, Mark summed it up better than I can here:

Thanks, Twitter, for spawning a productive face-to-face meeting that gave personal substance to a previously distant, virtual business relationship.

Now if they can only stay up long enough for us to make that next great connection ….