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What exactly is
Ryze?
Ryze is an international
networking group that is arguably the largest on the Internet. It is much
broader than Techchoire - which has a strictly local technical/venture focus,
although by its nature as an online resource, Ryze is primarily made up of
technical entrepreneurs and people looking to hook up with them. It isn't
perfect - no networking is anything more than you make of it, but it is pretty
good for getting the word out there about what you do and what you are looking
for. In fact, that is its focus.
Are there a lot of
lookie-loos in Ryze that don't contribute and the system makes it easy to pick
them out. The question always is it more fishermen than fish?
That is certainly the case. You can work it but it isn't going to work by itself
- you have to use the tools it gives you (the ability to search for likely
contacts and get their attention) and leverage whatever contacts you can
make.
The biggest Ryze
membership pools are the Bay Area and New York, with little groups growing
out of networks of friends. It is actually based on the idea of six
degrees. The group is big enough at this point that in theory, you can
contact anyone you want to on a range of only a few links in the chain. There
are a lot of very well-known technical people in the group, including Linux,
open source, coders all in networking groups of their own. Frankly though,
that isn't as interesting to me as the ability to contact people who might need
my services and expose them to my skills.
Is it working for
me? Yes and no. In the two weeks I have been with it I have gotten
about 30 contacts and about 5 or 6 of those are real quality that might yield
work. Compared to a Techchoire meeting, that's about 10 times better turn
from my experience. Doesn't mean I won't go to Techchoire, just means I
have other outlets with a broader focus and more
possibilities.
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