How do you keep tabs on your social network?

[tiger02]

After moving to a new city, I almost feel like I'm a college freshman again, with a lot more riding on making good connections with the people I meet. As a fine example of the male of the species, I am crap at staying in touch with people who I don't see often. So now I'm looking for good ways to track who I meet, where and how I meet them, who else they know, when I last talked to them, things like that.

What do you do? Some kind of high tech software, maybe online? Good old fashioned little black book? Cross referenced index cards? I'm open to anything at this point.

This all comes on because I flipped through the numbers in my phone today, had to think about who a couple of the people were, and absolutely cannot remember who "Tricia" is or why I have her number

Thanks all
Tom

 

[GQgeek]

Maybe you could put them into a pda instead of a phone and sync with your pc and sort by company or whatever. Or get a phone with good pda-like functionality. If your memory for people isn't good, then you can attach little notes to their contact cards that would refresh your memory. That way, if you go to an event that will have a lot of people from company X, you can scroll through the list of people you've met and read your notes to jog your memory. That way you won't look like an ass when they remember your name can you don't remember theirs.

Some phones can also group numbers and enable functionality based on the groups. So you could make groups for personal, business, random hook-ups, friends, etc. Often you can also block or forward calls by list or whatever. So if you're with your gf and don't want the mom in acid-wash jeans that you hooked-up with a couple weeks ago getting through, she goes straight to voicemail.

Oh, I forgot, you don't cheat so this isn't a problem for you!

There's no miracle system and they all involve some work so you have to find something that works for you.

 

[Alter]

Originally Posted by tiger02

and absolutely cannot remember who "Tricia" is or why I have her number

Thanks all
Tom

Dear Tom,

You said you would never forget me! You bastard!

You men and your meaty thighs are all the same.

Signed,
Tricia

P.S. I keep business cards with notes about who they are. I also have a good memory.

 

[tiger02]

Dear Tricia, if that is your real name,

Next time, try harder. Your business cards with notes and your freaky memory don't scare me.

Kisses, but not for you,
Tom



GQG, thanks. I usually have a good memory for these kinds of things, but lately it's been failing me. I think my internal phone book is full. I hate PDAs but might have to break down and use one.

 

[globetrotter]

Tom,

when you reach a point that you are sleeping with too many girls to remember, you are doing well. keep it up

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by tiger02

Dear Tricia, if that is your real name,

Next time, try harder. Your business cards with notes and your freaky memory don't scare me.

Kisses, but not for you,
Tom



GQG, thanks. I usually have a good memory for these kinds of things, but lately it's been failing me. I think my internal phone book is full. I hate PDAs but might have to break down and use one.

Same. The best bet might be to get a phone that's good at both. There was a motorola phone with a business card reader and a touch screen with stylus that was still relatively small. You'd take a picture of the card and it would run OCR and create a new contact for you.

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Same. The best bet might be to get a phone that's good at both. There was a motorola phone with a business card reader and a touch screen with stylus that was still relatively small. You'd take a picture of the card and it would run OCR and create a new contact for you.
That sounds like one of the most useful phone gimmicks ever. Any idea if it will include notes you jot down on the card?

 

[Joffrey]

I'm generally good at remembering people after I get their phone number. You should make a crude excel spreadsheet of new people you meet - with names, numbers, where/how you met, and why you should remember them, as you can then organize things by social, professional/creepy categories.

I actually quite like this idea.

 

[MCsommerreid]

Rolodex, Address Book (OS X program), and my Blackberry. That works for professional contacts, as well as personal ones. Has a bit of built in redundancy with the multiple storage locations in case my hard drive and/or phone dies, plus with the rolodex I can keep business cards with the names so I don't end up making calls or writing letters blind.

For personal contacts I rarely talk to, but might like to keep tabs on, especially people I knew in high school, I use myspace and facebook. Sort of like an interactive/real-time address book, since I'm not into the whole "zomg wtf internet communtah!" aspect of it all. LinkedIn is what I use like a professional myspace, same general idea of keeping tabs on contacts and expanding connections into other areas.

 

[aarghh]

I use Linked In for professional contacts, and orkut for family and friends - I have an extended family of more than 150 people, so even they need some organization.


I've found orkut really useful to keep in touch with people I do not meet on a regular basis.

 

[arenaissanceman]

I'd vote for either a Blackberry or Treo. The customizable software alone makes it a clearcut winner. Just remember to backup your address book.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by tiger02

That sounds like one of the most useful phone gimmicks ever. Any idea if it will include notes you jot down on the card?

I'm not sure. I know you could write notes with the stylus. Whether or not you could attach them directly to the contact card it created is another question... Still, writing with it is so much easier than the normal way you have to write with a phone, you just tap the letter on the screen.

 

[CTGuy]

As far as keeping in touch with old friends, I actually like using AIM and gmail chat to just drop people a line once and a while and let them know what is going on with me. Old and good friends generally just expect a phone call once and a while to say what's up. Some don't even expect that- they just expect to hang out if I am in town where ever they happen to live.

As far as new people, I second what people have said about a blackberry, I think it is an excellent device to have. However, I am also a fan of the traditional rolodex. I have a certain distrust of only keeping tabs of people's info on my cell since I destroyed a record 5 new motorola phones in one way or another last year (broke one in half, put one in the washing machine, had one stolen, broke the antennae off of one, dropped one in the bay while fishing). Also, having a rolodex allows you to just staple people's business cards in, which is something I tend to do: I frequently swap business cards with people I meet at events and then email with them a day or two later just to get their emails in my contacts list and invite them to happy hour with my friends, which is a low maintainence way to draw them into my social circle.

Best of luck to you my man.

 

[Augusto86]

facebook

 

[Ivan Kipling]

I keep a social calendar that runs for three years. Birthdays, anniversaries, upcoming retirements, recent deaths in the family, illnesses, new houses, new babies, etc. I do this in part because our clients appreciate the attention. The information on this calendar must be kept current and precise. I know someone who sent Christmas cards to a couple with whom she hadn't corresponded for a number of years. The couple had divorced, married other people, then re-married each other, before this woman knew the difference.