What is WozPin?

You may have heard of a theory commonly called the Six Degrees Separation and if not, here is a link to catch up on the idea   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation

Here is what I’ve done with my version…

I try to get around and meet and greet as many people as I can.  I try to be outgoing, active and to participate in many activities.  I work as a bartender currently and well, I’ve heard that being a bartender is a “people job”.  Since my retirement, I think that I’ve been doing a good job continuing to meet people..  I’ve traveled to many cities across our great United States of America attending events, participating in several if not many organizations and getting to meet  new and interesting people.  I got to wondering just how many folks out there do I know and with a failing memory, and the fun of sharing with people I came up with the WozPin idea.

What if there was a link from some of the best people on the planet to other charming and accomplished people and that link was me?

For example, I belong to several organizations (some say many), motorcycle groups and clubs, law enforcement support groups, collector groups a historical organization, fraternal groups and others.  Many of the people that I am connected to in one group may be strangers to those in another group, and I’m sure that you know some people who do not know others that you may know.

If there was a visual clue, that could indicate to strangers that they had something in common (me for example) it would bring good people in the world closer together.   The WOZPIN was born.

If gave a WozPin to different people within any single group well of course they would all know me since I too am a member of that group.  Those people wouldn’t count as strangers, but say, you were for example at the ticket counter at the Salt Lake City airport or some other place that you’ve never been and the ticket agent was wearing a WozPin, then you are now set and ready to enter the matrix, but more importantly, meet new people and possibly make new friends.

Since you didn’t know that ticket agent, or anyone else who is a stranger you now have the opportunity to introduce yourself.  If anyone without a WozPin asks what it is, this opens the door for you to mention not only that you know “Woz” but that I do similar things that you do, and you can launch into your own shameless self-promotion.

Since I’ve personally handed out WozPins only to people that I know, and have some sort of relationship with (you can’t buy them at stores, you can’t ask for one, and they are not given out without a serious vetting process) the WozPin is a relatively scarce item only given in the spirit of friendship to those who know me.  The only way to get a WozPin is for “Woz” (that’s me) to personally pin him or her.  If you see one on someone else, and you’re wearing yours, you have the opportunity to introduce yourself to a perfect stranger, but you’re not.  You both would know me, and have that in common.  Feel free to share stories, and experiences but the objective is to get strangers to meet one another having me as a common link.

The game has a reward.  If you meet a stranger, and become non-strangers with him or her because of the WozPin, and you tell me of the experience (e-mail is the best way to get in touch with me, there is a link at the bottom of this page) I will correspond with you and assist in any way that I can to foster a new friendship.  A reward will be chosen especially for you.

If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll answer them.       Woz…

There are several links online for you to learn about and play the Six Degrees game, and here are some of them.

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,49343,00.html

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci932596,00.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2717038&page=1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/03/internet.email