These days it seems some of us only social network off line if it has something to do with Twitter, LinkedIn or some ***camp event. It doesn’t have to be that way. Yes, you too can get together with friends that don’t share your online proclivities. And it still counts as social networking.

Sunday I joined men from church for breakfast. They get together once each month for breakfast. Each time a different restaurant is chosen. The meal is BYOM, bring your own money, the but camaraderie is free.

Do we talk about just stuff to do with the Gospel or church? Heck no! This time our conversation ended up talking about the Internet and our local options and experiences. Bonus for me, being an addicted to geek talk sort of guy.

The real upside to a breakfast like this though, versus a tweetup, is that everyone has something in common, something besides sharing the same online network. In this specific case, we share a common faith. That gives a huge base of things to talk about, and lots of common ground, allowing deeper discussions on a variety of topics.

A problem I see at tweetups is folks aren’t sure where to jump into the conversation. That’s especially true if meeting other tweeters that aren’t local to their area. Say, that don’t even know about your home town.

My pitch to you is to not ignore other off line networking opportunities in the face of so many ’social networking events’. You might find that breakfast with someone that’s not so much a stranger quite refreshing.

Cheers,
Todd

Akoha – it’s about missions and being social, but it’s also about cards, a game, and an online component. It’s not like other games though, and it’s not one you play by dealing the cards setting around the table. Unlike Pokemon, it’s not a video game either.

Akoha, www.akoha.com, is guided by a few simple rules.

1. Do the action on the card and claim your karma points.

2. Share photos, recordings, and videos about the action.

3. Pass on or forward the card to someone else.

Cards I recevied included a good mix of actions such as buying someone coffee and making someone smile.  None of the actions is extravagant, requires lots of money, nor an excessive amount of effort.  Likewise none of the actions needs to be done online.

The focus is on practical and in person time with another human being.

I’m quite pleased with the action cards I received. Many of these things are ones I do routinely, have done recently, or would love to do.  Just reading them made me smile.

Heck, as recent as last week I gave flowers, gave a book and made someone smile. Woot! I’m on my way.

Another aspect to this game is the part I’m not sure I care about, leveling up.   As you complete actions and register them on the site you receive karma points.  Accumulating certain amounts of karma points causes your level to go up.

From the site:

Levels

There are 15 levels in all and you’ll need to earn a increasing level of karma to reach the next higher level. As you reach higher levels you’ll also need confirmations from others before you’ll be able to level-up.

You get a card, take the action, register it on the site. Now what? Now you give the card to someone unsuspecting victim, um, friend, and get them involved.  Heck, give one to a perfect stranger.

Each card has it’s own unique identifier and is tracked on the site. Once I pass a card on, I’ll be able to see when it gets completed again.  Now this is a bigger reward for me than seeing myself level up like a wizard in a role playing game.

What are your thoughts on this sort of game? Would you play?  Would you feel comfortable telling someone you were playing? Would you pass on a card or horde them for yourself?

Be warned; you might be receiving one of these goodies in the mail.

Are you still reading magazines and newspapers? What are reasons for still enjoying print over pixels on occasion?
Reading print is faster than reading online.
This reason alone might be enough for some. I find that I read faster with print once I’ve established a pace. It’s also faster when all of the print is on one page.

Printed media allows you to write in the margins.
Though not something I do often, it is especially common for technical journal reading. This feature is offered in part online by browser adds-ins, though hardly standardized.

Printed resolution for pictures is often better than online.
This could be a debatable fact, but is often true. When not true, you’re often expected to jump out of the article to another site or page to view the image in it’s best resolution.

Reliability for reading is another strong point.
A page in hand is worth a thousand pages waiting to load.

Portability of media is a big plus as well.
Printed media can be taken just about anywhere with little inconvenience. Printed media doesn’t require batteries or outlets, nor a place to work from. Devices like the Kindle though are making inroads.

Printed media is standardized and requires no instructions to use.
Printed media not only requires no special tools, no specific browser, nor optimized display, it is just plain simple to use. You open and read. If you can read, you can use a paper, book or magazine. My mother can use a magazine. My granddaughters can read books.

Several other reasons might be offered as to why someone might enjoy a good magazine read over reading online. In the end though, each individual finds they have their own likes and dislikes, and in my experience, will choose a mix of both media types.

How about you? What are you reasons for still picking up a magazine or paper? What are your reasons for going totally electronic? Do share.

Yes, it happens, Twitter goes down, or wonky or kaput. Whatever you call it, your favorite social networking tool is not there for you, so now what? Here’s a few suggestions.

1. Rediscover that book you bought at Amazon and never read. Yes, the one on 100 things to do online.
2. Visit with your kid.  Yes, the one you just realized graduated high school.
3. Mow your lawn.  Oh, you forgot that your house has a front yard?  It’s out there, calling your name.
4. Give your fingers and the rest of you a rest; kick back and have a tequila or your beverage of choice.  What? You have those all the time?  Well this time, try enjoying it offline, perhaps on a sun drenched porch.
5. Take some pictures.  Don’t have a full blown camera? Use your cell phone.  Rediscover the fun of annoying your spouse, kids, cousins, neighbors or dog. Snap away.
6. ……

Hmm, that’s only 5. Well how about helping me fill in the rest?  Give me your list of things to do when Twitter is down for the count.