From Here to Affinity

BeBee is a network of affinity. Connecting through shared interests of whatever kind, personal and professional, makes this platform a pleasure. A few suggestions on how to increase affinity and connection with other Bees.

Write away

Write a Producer post. Write about something you know, have experience in, something you have learned – anything really. If you are new to beBee perhaps write something about yourself. Share your expertise. Bees are a friendly bunch who like to get to know the person behind the Bee. Here you can be yourself. Some Bees share deep personal experiences, others share stories and some like opinion pieces. Write about what you think is important. Write for the innate pleasure of doing so. Your writing is who you are.

Hexagon lexicon

Start hives and join hives. There are 30 000 special interest groups each focused on a specific theme. Start a hive and invite other Bees into it. Affinity is all about shared interests. You can create a personal hive, a knowledge hive, a special interest hive or a social hive. Maybe start a hive for your business and place relevant content, buzzes, articles on it. Make the hive a place where you get to know your clients. In hives your interests thrive.

Coming to you live!

Do a live Buzz. BeBee’s feature is a winner. The beBee platform has the functionality to post a recording of yourself, your colleagues, places you have been or events you attended. Why, you can do that all-important speech of yours and "buzz" it around. Do your elevator speech on beBee. Make an important announcement on “air”. Some like the planned precision of writing, some prefer a  more spontaneous live recording. Bees like both. Go live, go buzz!

It takes two to tango

Co-write a Producer post. Work with someone of your choosing and produce a honey. Phil Friedman and Jim Murray often publish a joint work titled He Said – He Said. Dean Owen’s enthusiasm is infectious we have written two joint posts. Javier beBee, the CEO and I have done a joint post. What other CEO will take the time? Get to know someone better by a joint endeavor. Two people, double the fun.

Bee-hind the Bee

Connect privately. To cement, or even initiate contact with other Bees, beBee has an excellent private message system. Note that you have to follow the person and he or she needs to follow you back to enable private mails. At times I find myself busier on the private message system than on the public space. Exchange ideas, articles, pleasantries, personal information or give support where someone is going through a tough time. Some posts lead to as many (if not more) private messages as public ones. Private affinity can be the affinity of a true friendship.

Interviews and entrevistas

Interview a Bee. Don Kerr, Mamen Delgado and Dean Owen are excellent interviewers who have introduced us to many on beBee. I have had a coffee and published an interview with super-wise Ian Weinberg. Bees take an intimate interest in the personal and social side of the professional. From personal interest flows professional interest, seldom the other way around. Why not approach someone for an interview? Someone that piques your interest or that you want to get to know better. Interview and tell us about someone.

Freeze frame

Tony Brandstetter regularly shares his emotive and engaging professional photography on beBee. Many Bees place photographs of places they have been, grand sunsets, nature scenes and their hobbies. Kevin Paschuk beautifully portrays his guitar collection which would make any rock star envious. Your pictures tell who you are, where you are, and what you are. The saying is true: A picture paints a thousand words.

Joie de vivre!

There are often posts on beBee which I read more than once. Many I have printed to save for further future reading. There are comments which I enjoy just as much as the author’s piece. There is an incredibly vibrant network of people here. Read and learn from their posts, say so if you do, debate if you will and share on other hives and social platforms. BeBee is an amazing source of ideas and personal enrichment.

Go from here....to affinity!