One of the things about moving across country is the feeling that one has lost one’s social support system. These days that no longer has to be the case. When my wife got accepted to grad school recently we began to prepare for the long trek from New Orleans to Cincinnati, OH. Part of that preparation for me was to reach out through social media and connect with the locals.
The last time I moved across the US was in ‘99 when I relocated to New York City for awhile. The difference is staggering! A bit of Googling around brought me some likely avenues so I started kicking out a few emails. I looked for interesting local blogs and, being a social media guy, any WordCamps or PodCamps in the area.
In rapid succession I got a number of replies. It seemed that many of those I contacted were surprised that they would get a random email from a potential new resident, but after that surprise died down they all stepped up to answer questions, give advice on restaurants, and generally bury me in useful data. Even more important than the information is the human connection that has been made.
I’d like to take a moment and say thanks to that core group of people, none of whom I have ever met face to face, who have been so welcoming and kind as we prepare to invade their city.
Daniel Johnson, Jr. was one of the first people I reached out to. His involvement with New Media Cincy was one of the first things that my search unearthed. In short order we connected across multiple social media platforms and have conversed frequently since then. Daniel has been so cheerfully generous with his time and knowledge, really reaching out even for little things like a note of congrats when we closed on the house. Terrific guy!
Since all native New Orleanians are foodies of a sort I looked around for restaurants and food blogs about my new town. This led me in very short order to Julie Niesen who runs WineMeDineMeCincinnati. We immediately bonded on the culinary level, even to the point of my posting a semi-coherent piece about King Cakes as her guest. Semi-coherent because I was closing on a house in the middle of Mardi Gras.
Shortly after that I stuck up a dialogue with the blogger from Get In Mah Belly, the wonderful Liz. Again common interest in the art of food created an instant connection. Liz was kind enough to point me at a lot of the local bloggers, an invaluable starting point for understanding a new city.
Then I discovered a New York connection! I contacted a local blogger, Maya Drozdz, because I liked what I saw when VisualLingual, her design studio, came up on my screen. It looked like something that would fit in here at home so I took a shot, only to find out that we have a commonality in our past: Brooklyn! She immediately barraged me with cultural resources and cyclist pertinent information. She was also kind enough to provide a virtual introduction to Dan Korman at Park + Vine, a green general store, who is also a rabid bicyclist. I look forward to comparing bike trails with him once we get settled.
The move is still weeks away and yet thanks to social media and the generosity of these good people I now have a much better picture of what I’m heading towards. These fractured conversations which skate from Facebook to email to twitter and back have given me a sense that I am already becoming part of the community.
Thank you, everyone up there in Cincy! I look forward to cooking for all of you!
Image: Jeff Cubina | Rights: CC
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welcome to cincinnati and good luck with your move!
Hey Drew, thanks! Just checked out your site, will have to do so more in depth at a later point but I enjoyed what I saw. I’ll probably look to it for info on architectural photo subjects once we get up there.
Nice pics!