Sunday, March 01, 2015

One'th by Land,Two'th by Sea and Other LInes

Today, son, Greg and I were having a fun conversation at the end of lunch before he had to head home to Ann Arbor.  Since we both help others to network better, our communication many times revolves around our in-common work.

I don't know how we got to this topic but he
shared with me that there were actually two riders who spread the word about "The British are coming, The British of coming," and when we Googled it, we found out that there were actually three men who carried the message.  I'm sure you remember that Paul Revere is the one that sounded the alarm.  What we found out was that William Dawes and Samuel Prescott helped to warn the colonists, too.  But I'll bet you didn't know that. I didn't.

It is thought that Paul Revere is remembered because of the poem that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, about "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."  Supposedly Longfellow did not include the other two  because their names were not as good for rhyming!  You can read the whole story here.

But let's not take anything away from Revere's efforts.  He was active in Patriot circles, making connections that were valuable in getting messages out to the various colonists.  He was so good, that in fact, the British had someone tailing his efforts.  That's right they had him under surveillance!  He was a participant in the Boston Tea Party, so he was well known within the "right" circles.  Through his networking and leadership skills, he basically built a massive communications machine that made the night of April 18, 1775 a success.

So there you have it. Networking was important way back when!

How will your networking efforts be remembered over two hundred years from now?

6 comments:

Deb Olejownik said...

That is a question that leaves me in a quandary. I will have to ponder the question of how my networking efforts will be remembered in two hundred years.

Unknown said...

Debby, I'm not sure that it matters if our networking efforts are remembered 200 years down the road, but it does matter how they are remembered 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 years, or 20 years down the road. What impression did we leave on that individual(s)? Was it good or was it bad? Are we always sending the message the we want to convey?

Simony said...

Two hundred years is an immense amount of time for someone to be remembered for their networking skills. I guess someone might have a better luck being remembered by their type of work and how unique or avant guard it was. Usually what happens behind the scenes is not what people see but where we get is what shows.

Debby said...

Simony, I think the long time span is the challenge, too. Really it is asking what we want our legacy to be, I think!

Debby said...

Hey,Deb, don't let this get you down. I'm sure Paul R was just going about his day and his work, thinking he was doing nothing special. You are changing lives, just like he was.

Debby said...

Good point Rick, It's important to stay in the now when thinking about how we are affecting others. Thanks for the reminder!