Bloggers as "super connectors"

   Many of us in the blogging community have had come to our own terms with the death of Dennis Lane the past few days.  His death has reminded me of how Dennis was one of our community's "super connectors."  I guess I shouldn't be surprised in the past few days hearing how people of many different walks of life in Howard County either knew of or had heard of Dennis.  There weren't many community events that Dennis missed.  Super connectors are the glue that hold communities together.  Typically you think of elected officials or leaders of our local institutions when you think of who these super connectors are but with the growth of the blogging community in Howard County bloggers are often the vehicle to connect diverse individuals and groups within Howard County.  Super connectors are the ones who bring together people of different backgrounds that lead to the creation of many of the new developments within our community.  I can't help but think of Jim Rouse when I of think of super connectors and how he was able to bring people with a business background together with people in the social sciences to create what is unique about Columbia.  Bringing together people of different backgrounds and skills is the key to many successful new endeavors. Think Apple and Google. 

P.S.
     Of course some bloggers like Dennis are highly visible in the traditional manner of attending community meetings and social events but others are just known through their blogs.  HowChow is probably an example of being influential as a blogger but not visible in other ways in our community.  I always go to HowChow for information on local restaurants but don't even know much about the person who writes the blog.  Restaurant reviewers will probably always want to have a certain level of anonymity that the internet can provide.

P.S.1
  Link to an article on how to become a super connector. 

P.S.2
From the Howard County Historical Society:

    "On Friday, May 24, Takoma Park, Maryland’s OCEAN Quartet continues their month-long May Day celebration at the Howard County Historical Society Museum, which is housed in an 1894, gothic-style church with a pitched roof, hundred-foot bell tower and stained glass windows. The Ocean Quartet’s members are bandleader/multi-instrumentalist Jennifer Cutting (Washington Area Music Association’s “Musician of the Year”); vocalist Lisa Moscatiello (whose voice Billboard Magazine called "one of the most gorgeous vocal instruments in all of folk-tinged pop"); Scottish-style fiddler Andrew Dodds; and traditional singer/folklorist Stephen Winick. The Howard County Historical Society Museum is located at 8328 Court Avenue off Main Street in Ellicott City. Admission is $18 for members and $20 for nonmembers. Parking is available on the street in front of the museum and in the Circuit Court House lot. For tickets, information: http://hchsmd.org/ or (410) 461-1050.

            May Day celebrations in Britain evolved as a combination of the traditional Celtic holiday of Beltane and Roman feasts worshiping Flora, the goddess of flowers and Maia, the goddess of spring (for whom the month of “May” is named). The band will raise voices, fiddles, squeezeboxes and tin whistles to “bring in the May” and usher in the summer months. The program will feature centuries-old folk songs, originals by bandleader Jennifer Cutting, poetry by Chaucer, Sir Thomas Mallory and Edgar Allen Poe, and a special appearance by the Green Man, also known as Jack-in-the-Green. Read more about Ocean at www.oceanorchestra.com   "