The Return of Neighborly Networking?

Attending the Brownstone Institute's Supper Club Reminded Me How Much I Enjoy In-Person Activity

Despite my background in web development and my (gradually growing) output of digital content, I’m somewhat of a caveman when it comes to technology.

Technology is a tool for me, not a way of life. I don’t carry mobile devices — you heard me! — and don’t own any other “smart” appliances. You might find me with a paper mass-transit schedule folded up in my pocket, or sometimes paying cash at a store (especially at local, family-owned restaurants). My only clock and watch are each digital, but not internet-connected; I have to set the time manually and adjust for Standard/Daylight twice a year.

So when I attended the first-ever Philadelphia Supper Club organized by the Brownstone Institute (website, Substack) on Thursday, April 4, I brought freshly printed business cards, and a docket with a yellow, ruled paper pad, plus an old-fashioned ballpoint pen.

Perfectly normal (for me)!

Several, unique, brownstone rowhouses line a city block (image from Brownstone Institute website).

The good neighborliness of gathering in-person

I admit: I miss events like this Supper Club.

Before the #COVIDHoax, I wasn’t an extrovert by any stretch, but I did attend annual life-&-justice retreat days through the local religious diocese. And I always found some new people with whom to converse there; a few, I’d see many times over the years.

I also worked for a period in indie music, which included hosting showcases for other performers, and I dabbled in indie pro wrestling (that’s me, Doc Lester, in this video!). Both of those entertainment ventures relied on in-person events to drive whatever else was happening in the electronic world.

And for several years while employed in broadcast engineering and operations, I performed some tasks that had to be accomplished (or were more efficiently accomplished) on-site rather than remotely.

Too many things went away in 2020 and never fully recovered their presence, if they survived at all.

And that’s bad news for good neighborliness.

All these opportunities to be present with people, provide chances to make new connections or validate existing ones.

So, when I read that Brownstone — an organization that was at the forefront of countering propaganda the past few years — wanted to try an in-person event convenient for me to travel to, me and my semi-caveman self gladly signed up!

I enjoyed a good meal, but more importantly, good conversations with people I’d never met (though I’d read some reporting from a few of them). I handed out business cards, wrote down on my yellow pad some people’s names and a relevant fact about them that they shared, spoke eagerly and genuinely with those seated near me, and contributed loudly during the questions-and-comments portion of the evening after the keynote presentation.

Again, perfectly normal (for me)!

Encounter is important for positive anarchism & Christianity

Last summer, I decided to become more active with professional networking. I decided that, instead of only looking for people in “my industry,” I would seek out interesting people doing interesting things and be more active in joining online meetups and seminars.

It succeeded! I connected with plenty of people across a few platforms, attended some professional presentations over videocalls, got the motivation to write about being a Good Neighbor and a Bad Citizen in both book and blog form, and found some very kind people who wanted to talk to me on their podcasts.

Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen (available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Lulu) is one of the results of me using technology to network with more people over the past year.

But while remote technology is a great tool for people who are scattered over long distances geographically, it shouldn’t replace real, proximate presence.

As a Christian and anarchist, being grounded and present for people “offline” is a vital way to live the principles I cherish so much in my heart and mind. It speaks to both the physical and spiritual aspects of humanity.

Indeed, to value in-person encounter is necessarily to value the person encountered.

Attending the Brownstone Supper Club and putting faces and handshakes to names reinforced, in a tangible way, the humanity of the people I met. This, in turn, reinforces the principles that I apply to my next encounter. It’s a virtuous cycle, and one I’d happily get “stuck” in.

I hope it becomes perfectly normal (for me and plenty of others, too)!

I’m glad you’re here … and I hope you’re there, too!

Do you use business cards? Do you like receiving business cards from people?

Do you make hand-written notes for yourself or for others?

Still have some paper maps and schedules? “Offline” appliances? Things that are “perfectly normal” for you that buck the trends of digital, internet-connected everything?

As glad as I am to have so many people remotely reading my Substack, I pray for all of you that you also have meaningful, in-person encounters where you live and work.

May you flourish out there! (and may you also leave a Comment in here below) …