Published August 26, 2010I thought I was going to write about something else, but hey, I am in a taxi from Changi Airport in Singapore to my hotel for a few days talking about Enterprise 2.0 for a client here. 12 hours ago I was in Amsterdam, using the clever Privium system which uses advanced biometrics (iris recognition) to skip the late summer holiday queue….
There starts surprise 1: Apparently I had a long outstanding speeding ticket in the Netherlands and their biometric system is linked to the police computer and it pulled me right out of the queue. I had to pay my fine or not be allowed to pass through. Not much of a choice. I paid, waited for my “get out of jail free card” for the return journey because the computers would need 2 weeks for updating – or so I was told. I did not think to question that the system could pull up my flag in a second but not be able to update my status to “clear” for 2 week, but hey, the mysteries of computers.
Surprise 2. Nothing to do with computers. As I walk into the lounge of my preferred airline… who sits there but a friend of a friend, someone I shared a daily train ride with for about 18 months, way back in 19…..89 or 90 if memory serves me. Haven’t seen him since and before you know it I had a blocked seat next to me on the flight, a map of Singapore and half a dozen addresses for my next mission… getting myself an iPad to take home.
It was strange, how many different worlds connect…and I still got stuck with the lowest common denominator. Me doing one art of a process quickly and speedily did not guarantee that everything gets done quickly.
And I learned something else that day as well. There is no substitute for personal relationship and actually having face to face meetings with people. No Facebook or other relationship could have done, what this blast from the past could have done for me.
So lets not go overboard when it comes to finding more virtual ways to do things. After all, we all remain human and need human contact ! So get away from behind that Facebook or twitter client and go to the meet-ups, shake some flesh and get to know the people for real. You will be surprised – pleasantly in most cases – and it thoroughly enriches your online social activities !
