I'm sitting in a hotel room in Boston, MA as a write this. On the flight out here I was reflecting on how different Austin is from so many other places in this country. There's something really special about Austin that probably brought us all here, since so very few of us are actually from here.

This unique culture also impacts the networking culture in Austin, and in my experience it's quite a bit different than networking in other cities.

I thought I'd explore this a bit further and explain why and how I think Austin is different. I'm also really interested in your thoughts and theories. Since you can't comment on this blog... yet (don't worry, the ability to comment is coming on this blog and the members blog as well) I'm going to post this same question to the NetworkInAustin.com LinkedIn group: "Is networking in Austin different than networking in other cities?" Please feel free to chime in on that thread.

In my mind one of the first things that makes Austin so unique is that fact that so few people were born and raised here. Almost all of us are from somewhere else. And if you're like me you were welcomed with open arms to Austin by some of the friendliest people you'd ever met. There seems to be a pay it forward culture related to this that makes each of us want to provide the same type of incredible welcome we were given when we got here.

It's relatively easy to get plugged in here since 1) you don't have to work for a long time to prove yourself and become established like you often do in more entrenched cities, and 2) our welcoming culture wants to help you get pointed in the right direction quickly.

My totally personal, unscientific opinion is that you can truly get connected in Austin 3-5 times faster than you can in many other cities, and I'm talking about YEARS not months. This is a huge advantage, especially since too many people aren't patient enough with their networking efforts to truly allow them to work. At least you only have to be patient for a year or two in Austin (much faster if you really work hard at it) vs. 3-10 years in other metropolitan areas.

Austin also has a very giving personality. Someone once told me that "Austinites don't give with their wallets, Austinites gives from from their hearts." Giving is such a critical piece to successful networking that it only makes sense that this DNA of giving also creates a much more productive networking environment.

So what do you think? I'd love your thoughts. Check out the discussion on the LinkedIn group and tell us what you think.

Happy Networking (in Austin!)