Maven?

My friend Esmerelda told me she'd been reading social networking theory (yeah, she works in HR) and that I was officially a maven and a connector and since we have kidded that I am the maven.

Here is the reference from Wikipedia--Malcolm Gladwell used it in his book The Tipping Point (Little Brown, 2000) to describe those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. The popularity of the work of Safire and Gladwell has made the word particularly widely used in their particular contexts. Gladwell also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors - i.e.: those charismatic people who have wide network of casual acquaintances by whom they are trusted, often a network that crosses many social boundaries and groups. Connectors can thus easily and widely distribute the advice or insight of a maven.

I am a gatherer of information, there is no doubt, Ilisten to everything and file it away, it comes back to me at the oddest times--so many times it is minutia but occasionally it is something important! At work people are amazed that I put all those hallway conversations, meetings and things I read together. I don't know that it puts me on the cutting edge of a trend but it does keep my employed. I also don't see myself as charismatic but I do spend a lot of time maintaining relationships so I can do my job, its how I can be effective. Its like a constant game trying to figure out what will get whom to do what needs to be done-the joy of responsibility without any specific authority.

So, that is where the name comes from and I kind of like it--scanning the environment and taking in al kinds of information and sharing it with others.