I very seriously hope I'm not proven wrong, but it appears this Swine Flu thing has been blown way out of proportion. In fact I'm trying to distill the marketing lesson from this whole episode since as near as I can tell "Swine Flu" just has way better branding than any other previous flu. I was amazed to learn that 30,000 - 36,000 Americans die from season flu each year.

This is a good reminder though. A few years ago a wrote a similar post: Networking in the Cold and Flu Season (Sick of Networking?)
There was a really useful and rather amusing video I referenced in that post from the Centers for Disease Control: Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves?
I hadn't heard about this at the time, but more recently have heard that this is what they're teaching our kids in school. Good stuff. Hopefully you do it in your sleeves, otherwise you should watch the video.

Personally I think the real lesson this time around is this: If you're not feeling well and think you have some type of cold or flu... Stay Home!!!
It's a hard thing to do as we're all crazy busy and have too much to get done, but it's the right thing to do. Not only will you keep others from sharing in your disease, but you'll probably recover faster given the opportunity to rest.

Oh, and a very special thanks to Oscar Davila (@KeepAustinWierd) for throwing together this image for me. It's not what I was thinking when I put the request out to my Twitter friends, but his revised headshot is even funnier than what I had in mind. Thanks Oscar!

Happy Networking!

-Scott Ingram
NetworkInAustin.com