From online to real life

I started this blog on December 24, 2010. I’d just finished my first semester of study in the Masters in IT I’m completing at QUT, and thought I may as well ‘bite the bullet’ and join the blogosphere. I just needed some impetus.

It was provided for me through the person of @fionawb – the Health Librarian at Caboolture and Redcliffe Hospitals, who issued a challenge via twitter, for people to join her in blogging over the twelve days of Christmas. And I thought ‘why not?!!’ – so I did. Even though we were on holidays and I was caravan bound with Hubby and three little ‘uns; even though floods caught us and we were stranded for a wile, and then found it difficult getting home; I still managed to blog daily and was very proud of myself for doing so. And I received very positive feedback from my fellow #blog12daysxmas bloggers, and had felt that I had joined a little ‘blogging / tweeting community of IT-savvy Librarians’. It was good.

Fast forward to this week. On Monday, I spoke to @fionawb for the very first time. It was rather an embarrassing conversation from my point of view – I was so over-the-moon to be speaking with her ‘in person’ that I giggled like a schoolgirl through the majority of the phonecall, and apologised incessantly for the rest of it. LOL! But she graciously appeared to overlook the first, and reassure me over the second, so that lessened my mortification a little.

The reason for our phonecall was to arrange to meet. Yes – face to face!!! And this happened yesterday; we met for coffee across from the Caboolture Hospital and talked all things twitter, Library, University, and life. It was SO good! To meet someone IRL who you’ve only interacted with over twitter (and a couple of REALLY dodgy drawings on my part over that ‘DrawSomething’ app) – to realise that such a person *really* exists – is flesh and blood, and not just a disembodied entity on the other end of a social network – is bizarre and mind-blowing and so incredibly cool!

Something I hadn’t really expected, was to connect so well with her. To laugh, to digress from topic to topic (well, that was probably more me than her!) and to share ‘mystery’ chewy dragees. To completely identify with the whole concept of working ‘solo’ and thus relying on our PLNs so heavily. To enjoy the “Okay, short life history… back when I was five years old…” moments – in fact, to almost expect them, from our interactions over twitter.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, one I look forward to repeating. Thanks, Fi, for being the highlight of my day yesterday. And I can’t wait to meet the rest of my PLN! Roll on NLS6!!!