About 2-3 Months ago, I decided to make Linkedin a priority of my professional development program. I would say before that, I was in the environment but not really actively engaged in the process. To put it in simple terms, I got busy. I started with about 30 connections and today, I moved past 260. The key was to remember all of my old connections and business acquaintances. Luckily, I save every business card in a pile which was about 10 inches high. I also had several old phone directories from past jobs that did allow me to reach back. In fact, one person that I contacted, I had not seen for 15 years. I also reached out to co-authors, co-presenters, and people that I shared a common interest. Specifically, Metadata and Enterprise 2.0 were my two areas of focus. I suppose the lesson is that you should never toss any one's contact information and reach out to s many people as possible. My assumption is that I will continue to grow the network naturally and not stoop to digging in my desk trying to remember where the business card came from.