From Delaware to Nepal - here's how the Serendipity Engine works!

Last November Chris Brogan spoke at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York about how he sees social media as "The Serendipity Engine" - if you haven't seen this yet, here it is (you might recognize some concepts that have been mentioned on this blog before, like the 12:1 ratio):

Now, here's an example of the Serendipity Engine connecting a whole bunch of us in some incredible ways (and I think this is only the beginning of this story!)

I just had the privilege of shaking hands with Erin Guttenplan yesterday - Erin grew up in Delaware and has been travelling the world for some time now and has put together a group called Edge of Seven:

Edge of Seven’s mission is to support volunteer projects in developing countries that are sustainable and that respond to local needs. Edge of Seven believes that change is possible with collective action over time.

Erin and I connected on twitter - a friend asked her how that happened, and that's when I got to find out how this Serendipity Engine made this possible.

Erin said she recently read Chris Brogan's book and was so impressed that she subscribed to his blog,  and on March 25, saw the post about Chris Brogan meeting with Delaware Governor Jack Markell - based on Chris' link to my twitter page in that post, she decided to start following me.

One of the first posts she saw from me was a message about the Delaware Happy Hour event - she responded saying she was in Florida at the time, but really liked the concept - I asked her to send me information about Edge of Seven, that's when I found out about her efforts to build a school in Nepal (how cool is THAT?!) and how she's raising funds for that project now.

So, yesterday she held a fundraiser at Iron Hill Brewery on the Wilmington Riverfront - same location as DelTweet 1.0 last year - and we finally got a chance to meet. By the way, the plans for the school in Nepal are awesome - I encourage you to learn more and find out how you can help by clicking here.

Friends, this is what this Social Media Initiative is all about - we're connecting ideas, businesses, individuals, governments, and concepts throughout the state and around the world - open yourself up to the Serendipity Engine - and live this adventure!