Don’t Pretend to be Friends if You Can’t Make the Effort

I had lunch today with Jesse Friedman and we got into a conversation about the differences between friends and acquaintances. The discussion highlighted a few particular people in our lives who may have been under the misconception that they’re friends with us.  The reality is that they’re just acquaintances.

And sometimes even that’s a stretch bordering on being a bit too nice for their sake.

Working in technology may warp my perspective here, but I won’t use that to excuse for those I’d consider to be among my former friends.  I firmly believe with all the tools out there like email, instant messages, Twitter, FriendFeed and – god forbid – phone calls… You could at least show an effort.  Like, once a calendar year.

Hat tip to Chris Winfield who just started asking about friends on Twitter and how often you communicate. It created a strange mental transition for me back to this conversation, and thus inspired this post.

Here’s a pretty solid rule of thumb: If I haven’t heard from you in months (or years) don’t pretend we’re friends.  Don’t pretend I owe you anything. Don’t pretend I should actually give a shit about what you say… Because you’ve pretty much branded yourself as an equus asinus.  See above.

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Internet Marketer’s Charity Party at SES San Jose

While I’m not out in San Jose I did want to send my best wishes along to Todd Malicoat and the organizers of tonight’s Internet Marketer’s Charity Party at SES San Jose.  The event is an absolute must attend for anyone at SES, as it combines a great networking opportunity with a great crowd of people — all interested in benefiting a wonderful cause.

A $40 donation is required for attendance into the party tonight – but if you’re not in San Jose, you can still make a difference.  Todd has set up a secure donation page online for the event where you can make donations in any denomination.

Please consider helping the IM Charity Party organizers in their efforts to raise money for The Children’s Hospital of Aurora Colorado and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I’ve made a donation and I’m challenging all three readers of my blog to do the same!  If you have donated and I failed to grab your name of URL below, please post a comment and I will add you to the list.

If you are attending tonight, I love you for participating and hope you have a wonderful time!

Special thanks also to the IM Charity Party Sponsors:

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