And everytime I feel included, I feel so grateful. When I was a boy, I frequently felt left out because I couldn’t keep up with the ongoing conversation. Since we’ve already met, you know what I’m referring to. I’ve been deaf since birth and while I consider myself an expert lip-reader, I don’t always keep up with conversations.

You are a master of including people. When I met you at SOBCon08, you were very approachable, friendly and articulate. I felt like you were including me in your world and I thank you for that. You definitely walk the talk!

I apologize ahead of time for such a long comment, but sometimes being included is life-changing…

I manage the Advanced Prosthetics/Amputee Studies Research Program for the Army. This program manages the research that benefits our amputee soldiers at places such as the new Military Advanced Training Center @ Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC, and the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX.

While engaging with some of the worlds leading medical researchers, I have Project Officers that run much of the day-to-day “administrivia” of the program. It would be easy for them to disconnect from the meat of the project & sink into the paperwork. Because these amputee soldiers have literally given so much, I feel a strong obligation to give them back as much as possible. So instead of leaving these Project Officer’s to do only paperwork, I give them direct responsibility for key phases of our research efforts. With this responsibility, they become personally invested in the projects success.

Yes, including them like this helps my workload, but most importantly, it results in a positive outcome & benefit for our soldiers, and it gives these Project Officers a rewarding personal stake in a very rewarding program that is bringing great things our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines.

Everyone that has worked as a part of this program has been touched and changed by the experience of working with these stronger-than-real-life young people. Without being included, we would have missed the opportunity to have our lives changed for the better.

Thank you for letting me share that.

An email from one of my friends to his friend was about 15 words long, kind of like your template…

“Hey, M, meet Dr.M. He’s ____. M’s ____. Hope you guys enjoy working together.”

That email, 3 weeks back, has led up to a book proposal sitting on the desk of a major New York publishing house!

It gave me a HUGE new perspective about participatory involvement, and more important, the role of playing ‘connector’. I’m now in the advantageous position of knowing many groups of people, and will work on bringing them together more actively, now that I’m convinced about how beneficial a quick word in the right place can be.

As for getting people to participate as part of ‘ownership’ of a concept, it is that exact approach that’s taken my non-profit Foundation from start up to being able to fund 22 heart operations in under 4 years.

I’m often blown away by how incredibly supportive, energetic and inspiring my helpers are – and that’s because they feel INVOLVED in helping a child through supporting my project.

See 2 examples of participatory projects here:

http://www.CHDinfo.com/squidoo.htm

http://www.tagathon.org/

Dr.Mani

And on a sidenote I agree, Joel has an amazing presence. I love his podcast and we probably would have never met him if not for you guys.

Chris – thank you for the introductions and including me in several of the circles during the Social Media Breakfast!

I travel a lot for business and pleasure – and I love to call my niece and nephew and talk about where I am so they see the world is bigger than their town. So I bought them a globe and they track where I am and where I’ve been. I also bring them back a token (or whatever) from the subway/transport system from the places I’m at. It keeps a line of communication open between us and expands their imagination.