When Ninjas Convene

Before sharing with you about a pretty incredible meeting I had with a group affectionately referred to as the “West Coast Ninja’s,” let me just say that while I would love for this post to be the 24/7 Life phoenix rising from the ashes, it’s not. Perhaps this will lead to a couple more posts in the weeks to come, but I have a few more months of school to finish before diving fully back into the blogosphere. So I apologize to the 4 of you who wait with baited breathe for a new post.

Nevertheless, because my meeting over the weekend involves several incredible bloggers I felt it only appropriate to jump back to 24/7 Life for a quick post about these wonderful people. So without further ado, my Saturday meet-up with the West Coast Ninja’s…

Several months ago when blogging was still high on my list of many priorities, I had the privilege of getting to know some great bloggers, many of whom I live near in the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the week we would read each other’s blogs, comment on a post that would hit close to home and tweet blog links to our respective blog followings.

A few months ago the term “west coast ninja” was used to differentiate those bloggers in the group who were located on the west coast from those on the east. This distinction lead to some good natured teasing, but also the organization of a blogger meet up.

Now you can imagine how difficult it would be to organize a meeting of busy people who live in various cities and states. Nevertheless that is EXACTLY what happened. Although not all of the “Ninjas” were able to make it, a group of six bloggers from Washington and Oregon convened at the home of Cindy Holman, one of the bloggers (by the end of the meeting on Saturday  we had dubbed Cindy’s home “The Pink Palace” due to Cindy’s love for pink and it’s incorporation into her decor).

I have to say this was an incredible meeting. There was great food, wonderful conversation and more laughs than you can imagine. What stood out to me about this event was that prior to this meet up there were only a few personal connections. However we all had come together via social media and the blogosphere.

I find that it is not uncommon for people to bad mouth social media because “it could never create the same type of relationships that face to face interaction can.” However, from my several years of both personal and professional social media experience, the community and relationships formed through these various mediums have the potential to be legitimate. While I had only met a couple of the bloggers in person before, I felt as though I had been friends with the others for years, because I had gotten to know their personality, situation in life, and beliefs via their blogs, Twitter, etc.

There is no doubt in my mind that face to face interactions are vital, but social media has the power to help develop and sustain relationships that would never have been formed if in person handshakes and greetings were required.

I encourage you to check out the blogs of this awesome group of people. They are caring, genuine people who have a lot of great things to say.

Simply click on the name of each blogger to transported to their West Coast Ninja site.

Chris Goforth

Cindy Holman

Deanna Morauski

KC Proctor

Keri Welch