When people gather. . .

 . . .something magical happens.

Now I'm not sure exactly what the young lady above is doing (the robot, maybe. . .not sure though) but from the looks of the crowd, they are enjoying themselves and having a good time. Imagine you have your iPhone or Blackberry and you twitter: watching a dancing girl get down in a crowd. . .now receiving that twitter message and then actually being there is like night and day. The two will never compare.

The actual live engagement with other people. . .technology will never replace.

Just the other night I attended my good friend Michelle James' monthly Capitol Creativity Network event in which she featured leadership guru Seth Kahan.  It was an incredible night where discussions about the future of leadership, communication and technology went into new and uncharted waters. VERY exciting stuff.  The ideas that the group shared and the stories communicated could only happen in a gathering where people were actually connecting face to face.

MySpace, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and all the rest are great. They are still just tools, and tools change over time. The telegraph and the typewriter came and went - just as all tools do. So at the end of the day you should be asking yourself - what is it that I'm doing?  What is my brand about? Is it about tools or is it about an idea that people can get behind, demand more of or rave about to their friends?

Now if you can get your idea and the tools to work in concert so the end results is a scene like the one above, then I think you're definitely onto something.  And even if your idea or business isn't about gathering people, but your audience has the same look on their faces or the same kind of enthusiasm (for your product or service) then pat yourself on the back, you're doing things right!