A Friend In Every City

Networking is the key skill for the 21st century worker. As birth rates go down, life expectancy goes up and the business world continues to downsize to a core of permanent workers, more of us will find the 21st century a tough place to make a living. More of us will find ourselves working as freelancers or as part of 'fractional teams' that come together for a project and then disband. Fewer of us will retire on a pension - choosing instead to work on a portfolio of projects.A Friend in Every City looks first at the forces shaping the new ways of working, then at how online networks, such as LinkedIn, Open BC, Ryze and Ecademy, are evolving to provide support for them. The authors look at how an individual worker can leverage these changes to their best effect.Networks can provide us with support in all aspects of our lives. A good network will sustain us through bad times as well as good, providing emotional support as well as referrals. Contacts become connections, connections become advocates and advocates become friends.Can the new networks provide the basis for something more than personal friendship and business? If we can look forward to having a true friend in every city around the world, what changes might that bring? Can conversations change the world?