Whether it be a group people living in the same area, the scientific community, the business community, the software community, or the global village, community is what keeps us all grounded.

Community's facilitate cross pollination (the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and alternatives), and keep egos in check. Communities reduce ignorance, can prevent the Not Invented Here (NIH) mentality, can prevent Social Isolation, and can prevent other personal or business stifling consequences.  By expanding our communities we become more grounded. To expand our community in the scientific / software realm we can attending local events, network with colleagues, participate in online forums, participate in peer reviews, contribute as technical editors, subscribe to industry related magazines and publishing's, maintain professional memberships, donate time, or contribute to other community related events.

Community is important, expand your community!

In an effort to expand my community I'm:

• Editing technical books
• Contributing to online forums
• Blogging

In the future I'd like to:

• Present at user groups
• Contribute to an open source project
• Attend more conferences
  

How are you expanding your community?

Related thoughts:

"No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, ..."
- John Donne, Meditation XVII, English clergyman & poet (1572 - 1631)

"Not Invented Here, in the context of corporate culture, sometimes occurs as a result of simple ignorance, as many companies simply never do the research to know whether a solution already exists."
- Wikipedia: Not Invented Here

"If it's a core business function -- do it yourself, no matter what."
- Joel Spolsky, In Defense of Not-Invented-Here Syndrome