VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Harrison]

LinkedIn recommends we don't invite to connect those we don't know well (despite the three suggested people displayed on our home page). I receive requests all the time from people I don't know.

What's the general consensus on this?

Thanks.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[todd ellis]

my door on LinkedIn is wide open, and it has been good to me. i also try to connect with people in groups i find interesting. not VO groups - but other kinds of groups. i don't really go out of my way to connect with other vo folks - unless i happen to see someone i already know - but i pretty accept all comers.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Jeffrey Kafer]

I'll connect with anyone. Don't really care.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Frank F]

I am with Todd on this. Connecting to others who are not in your world of influence is a great way to meet new people who may turn out to be a link to work.

Connecting only with those in the VO world is like preaching to the choir. You may have given a great oratory but only those who know you personally were able to your voice.

I turn down a few requests to link up - mainly from folks which look like spammers or write in some foreign language I do not understand. I am not too selective however.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Mike Harrison]

Thanks, Guys.

So, if I decide I'd like to invite to connect someone I'm not in a group with, I shouldn't be concerned about fibbing when the list of options (colleague, classmate, done business together, etc.) comes up?
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

That's a morality/ethical choice that only you can answer.
_________________
Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Lee Gordon]

I thought the original question was more about accepting connections from people you don't know, rather than reaching out to connect with them.

Keeping in mind LinkedIn's original admonition about connecting only with people you actually know personally, I initially tried to stick with that approach. Eventually I expanded it to include people I've never met in person but "know" from our interactions here on the VO-BB or in some other realm. I avoid reaching out to people who might not immediately recognize my name unless I can include an explanation of who I am and how they might know me. In this regard, LinkedIn has recently made a nice improvement in that all of their suggested connections include a space to add your personal message without first having to visit the person's profile or answer the "how do you know them" questions.

Until now I have avoided accepting connection requests from strangers who have not sent a message explaining who they are and why they want to connect, but based upon some of the other comments in this thread, I may re-think that.

One thing I've noticed is, LinkedIn seems to have an algorithm that causes it to suggest connections to people who have the same name as other people you are connected with, even if there is no other commonality. So I may get suggestions for people named Mike Harrison with whom I have no other association.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

[Mike Harrison]

Thanks for the feedback, Lee. It wasn't too clear, but my initial question was indeed whether reaching out to others was acceptable. It appears to be pretty commonplace with others, as I get many requests from people I don't know.

Maybe I'll try it a couple of times and see what kind of reaction I get.

But, you may well receive an invitation from another Mike Harrison... from England... and a VO guy.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[roger]

While we're talking about linkedin stuff, what's the deal with folks who one doesn't know or know well,
endorsing one for categories one only has a passing familiarity with? (sorry about overuse of the word "one").
Is a quid pro quo expected or indeed demanded? What am I missing?
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Roger Tremaine
www.MyFavoriteVoice.com
http://rogertremaine.voices.com/
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. AESOP (The Lion and the Mouse)

[Bruce]

We talked about this a while back. I think it's a ploy of theirs to get more people to spend more time on the site. They hardly have to lift a finger. They let us do their advertising for them by generating all these email notices. More eyeball time, more revenue.

No one's keeping score. There are no prizes.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Mike Harrison]

Roger, thanks for asking what I would eventually have asked. Before LinkedIn launched the endorsements, some people had given me recommendations out of the blue, and I wondered if I was expected to return the favor*. And now, as you said, the same thing is happening with endorsements.

I've publicly posted on LinkedIn – twice so far, I think – a plea asking others not to endorse me if they don't know me or my work. Because the whole idea (I believe) is to draw attention to those who are 'good' in order to separate them from those who are perhaps not as 'good.' If everyone is recommended and/or endorsed without the endorser having first-hand knowledge, it makes endorsing and recommending pointless. Would we want our kids' teachers to give passing grades if they weren't deserved?

Before the endorsements were launched, a former coworker asked me to recommend him for a position with a company owned by another LinkedIn connection. I knew full well that this person was not qualified for the position, so I politely declined his request. It made my head spin that I had to then explain that I would be sabotaging my own reputation with the company owner by recommending someone who wasn't qualified.

Either some people truly don't get it, or they have a lot of gall.

*Addendum: of course, if I know first-hand the person's work is deserving, I absolutely would return the favor.
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[heyguido]