I’ve never managed to get into golf as a sport, but I’ve often been made aware of it as a useful social gathering for business people to get together. Was I missing out due to my lack of interest, ability and plaid sportswear?
‘My Lucky Golf Outfit‘ by Jeff the Trojan on Flickr (CC Licence)
Well, if golf was the social context for business networking in the past, I’m rapidly realising that Xbox Live appears to have replaced it. Obviously my network is self-selecting to an extent, but a quick scan of my friends includes:
- a couple of founders of significant start-ups (i.e. companies you’ll definitely know).
- a fair number of journalists, including a couple of editors.
- 5-10 fairly prominent digital marketers.
- a handful of tech experts in specialist areas.
Theoretically it’s possible I could keep up with all of these friends in the pub, although it’d take a mighty amount of diary juggling and even then, some of them are rarely in the same city with enough free time.
But it’s easy for me to meet up with them online and spend some time gaming (and occasionally chatting about general tech stuff in between). And without wishing to provoke the wrath of Sony/Nintendo fans, the fact that Xbox Live has long been the most seemless and best integrated online networked console experience, means it’s a pretty good time all round…
It interesting how this facet of being social has become integrated into the digital world automatically and subsconsciously alongside keeping in touch with family, friends, colleagues and the looser circle of connections around them both on a personal level, and sharing links, information etc…
And even if the game of choice is pretty much always Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
