I find this fascinating on a number of levels.

First of all—and most cynical—Apple has now found a huge after market for its slightly used, ready to be upgraded iPads. Zoos and research labs all over the country are collecting older version iPads for the orangutans to use. And of course, anyone who donates an old iPad to their local zoo—and gets a nice tax write-off in the process—invariably goes out and buys the newest, latest and greatest iPad.

The bottom line here is that Apple continues to sell more and more iPads and continues its dominance as the world’s most valuable company. How can you not claim that honor when your marketing department has figured out how to get your technology products into the human-like hands of orangutans?

This is indeed a marketing revolution. Next will come iPads that measure 2’ X /3’ specifically designed for gorillas. And then mini iPads for little Rhesus monkeys come next. What a marketing bonanza for the world’s most successful company. That’s what creative marketing is all about, no?

The feel good part of this story is that it is now abundantly clear that our non-human primate cousins are probably a lot smarter than we previously believed. After all, they are using iPads to communicate with each other. The fact that orangutans, chimps, monkeys, gorillas, et. al, can communicate is not news. They’ve been learning—and using—sign language for years. But iPads? Tablet computers? Yes, that’s news.

So here’s the thing. We know that these primates are smart enough to communicate with each other. They’re already doing it. The sad part of this is that their biological configuration makes it impossible for them to communicate by talking. (Their vocal chords aren’t tuned correctly. They can make noises, but lack the ability to form those noises into recognizable words.) But as evidenced by their love of iPads, they want—in fact need—to communicate with each other and their keepers, and now they’re in the process of learning how to use technology to do it.

I for one feel sorry for these creatures. They have messages they want to get out, but they lack the physical capabilities to do it. Almost by accident, mankind bequeaths them with a technological tool—almost on a whim, kind of a joke—and these creatures not only embrace and learn the technology, but enjoy using it as well.

This is in direct contract to us, the human species. We can communicate with just about any other human because we can talk. We can speak. We’re highly mobile. Unlike our primate protégé’s who we have—at our convenience and for our own pleasure—committed to a life of incarceration in “zoos,” and who are now learning to communicate using technology, we can go anywhere we want, anytime we want, and meet up with anyone we want.

But we don’t do it. We huddle in front of our monitor and, like the orangutans in the zoo, use technology to communicate remotely. We don’t meet up—we log on, sign up, post and comment, and that’s it. What a shame. Even though we can do all of the things our primate cousins can’t do, we don’t do them. Our lives are becoming just like theirs. Spending all day incarcerated in a room, staring at a monitor, navigating social media sites is exactly the same as being a monkey in a zoo. It’s a futile existence, and frankly, not a very happy one.

Here’s my point. You’re not a monkey in a cage. You have freedom. You can talk, and speak, and convey emotion. You’re a social animal and have the luxury of personal choice to in fact be social.

Perhaps it’s time to use these gifts. Turn your computer off—you don’t need it. In fact, you’ll not only be fine without it, but you’ll also be better off. Pick up the phone and call some friends. Then go and meet them.

Ultimately, you’ll be a lot happier—and a lot healthier as well. That’s what having fun is all about. What are you waiting for?

There are lots of reasons for this. First of all, people change with time. In fact, everything changes with time. That’s a fundamental rule of the universe. But as people grow and mature—and then continue to mature—everything about them changes.

We are all aware, in some cases painfully aware, of how our appearances change. Getting older can be no fun for people who don’t really want to get older, or who at least don’t want to look like they’re getting older, even though they are. We do all kinds of crazy things to try and stop the process or at least to fool other people that we stopped it.

(Very rarely are we successful at this endeavor, despite what we think, or even what other people say.) Maybe it would be better to just give up trying and just accept the fact that age is taking its toll, like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and now American Idol fame. Steven dresses like he’s sixteen but looks like he’s ninety-six, and doesn’t seem to care about either aspect of his appearance. Then again, why would he?

But back to my point. As human beings, we change emotionally as well as physically. And from a relationship standpoint, our emotional changes are far more dramatic—and difficult to deal with—as are our physical changes. Which is one of the main reasons why relationships require so much work.

In order to keep a relationship on track, we need to understand the changing emotional needs of the people we are trying to relate to. If we can communicate effectively with the other person, we can often adapt our approach and our communications style to match the evolution of the other person. But if we don’t communicate and can’t adapt, the relationship is doomed.

This is true by the way for all of our relationships. The most obvious example is how old schoolmates change from the way they were back in the day to the here and now. If you haven’t seen someone for twenty or thirty years, of course there are going to be major changes. And of course the relationship you had with those people back in the day is no longer the same relationship you have with them now—if you even have a relationship at all.

But the erosion of a relationship based on emotional change can happen much closer to home—and your heart—as well. Even the most intimate, close, personal relationships require constant work and effective communication to survive. There are far too many estranged parents and divorced spouses who can attest to this. The sad and true reality is without ongoing focus and significant effort on behalf of each person, these relationships can easily grow brittle and break apart over time.

Ok, so we know we need to communicate, and we know that making a relationship work requires a lot of work. Why then is this such a problem? If we understand the causes of failed relationships, of relationships that mean a lot to us, why do we go ahead and let them fail?

The answer is simple—laziness. We start to take things for granted. We get caught up in our own lives, and forget how important the lives of other people are to our own happiness. When this happens, all of our relationships suffer.

Don’t let this happen to you. If you’re having relationship problems with close family members, understand the cause—everybody is changing. Hopefully it’s not too late to recognize what’s happening and to correct it. The longer the relationship has been in place, the more emotional capital you have invested in it. I think it’s always best to try and not throw that away. But if you have to, do it gracefully and respectfully. One way or another, you need to take action.

And if you want to reconnect with those old schoolmates from back in the day, you’ll also have to take action, but of a different sort. Reach out to them and reconnect. Get up off your butt, get out of the house, and go meet up. Have a mini reunion or something. And most importantly, enjoy the process. It really is a lot of fun.

Besides the habits and routines that we use to make it through each day though we are now also creatures of our own little e-habitats. We live in a world of electronic connections. We have our computers, all connected 24/7 to the Internet. (Do you remember when you had to use a modem to call up your Internet connection with that hissing, high-pitched, unintelligible warble? Those were also the days when you could go eat dinner while you were downloading content, which took forever.) Now, the Internet is always on, constantly connected, ready when you are. And you can download a thousand times more content in mere seconds. Yes, we’ve come a long way baby! Or have we?

We all have multiple e-mail addresses that form the basis of our cozy little online rabbit holes. These e-mail addresses form the basis of our e-habitats. Besides the e-addresses where we reside online, we are connected in other ways as well. We have our smartphones that we occasionally use to talk to each other, but are more often used to check our email, our bank accounts, our destinations, and other distractions like the weather, stock prices, sports scores, movie times, dining options, and just about any other thing a human being needs—or think they need—to know.

Those incredibly smart phones are also used for some incredibly dumb things like Tweeting. I am pleased to say that I’m not all that familiar with the process of Tweeting and I’m glad that I’m not. You can also play some really dumb games on your smartphone. These games are dumb, not because they’re no fun to play—some of them are really a blast—but dumb because we waste so much time playing them. There’s a lot more to life than burying your nose in a 3” screen, and being totally absorbed by it.

Sometimes checking our cell phone is more like a reflexive response because we check it without really knowing what we’re checking for. It’s a habit that we’ve developed from all this time we spend in our cozy little e-habitats. How many times a day do you find yourself picking up your phone and scanning that little screen for who knows what? Twenty times is probably the minimum, but for some people it’s a lot more. Fifty times a day? A hundred? More? Perhaps.

It seems like at least some part of our e-habitats typically originate in Cupertino, CA, where Apple is headquartered. The iPod actually predated the smart phone when we realized that we could carry “1,000 songs in our pocket.” So everybody needed an iPod so they could listen to music on the go. The iPod was probably the first step in extending our e-habitats beyond the computer. Now we have the iPad, which does much the same stuff as your computer and smartphone. It is smaller than one and bigger than the other, and like I said, doesn’t really add anything new to the mix. So do we really need one? Isn’t our e-habitat already extensive enough? I’ll tell you that for a passionate iPad aficionado, challenging the need for the iPad identifies you as a simple-minded, old-fashioned refugee from technology who just doesn’t “get it.”

For some people, this whole e-habitat thing is way out of control. We all know how social media has become such a big part of our e-habitat. Many of us would rather stay ensconced in our cozy little e-cocoons than actually get up, get out and go meet up with people. But like I said, for some folks, the e-habitat is out of control. These are the people who engage in the social media site called Second Life. Now it’s none of my business, but I really don’t understand their fascination with this.

In the second life, you assume a fake identity in the online world. You set up a fake business. You earn and spend fake money. You go to fake restaurants and pretend to eat fake food. You make fake investments and reap fake rewards—or suffer fake losses. Worst of all—maybe its’ best of all, but I can’t be sure because it’s all fake—you make fake friends and have fake relationships with them. I am not making this up. It is in fact a second life, a fake one, that is lived entirely in your online e-habitat. Which, when you think about it, is also kind of fake.

The truly bizarre twist to this whole Second (fake) Life thing—and again, I’m not making this up—is that some of these people have actually formed an organization so that they can go meet face to face, in the real world. (I know this to be a fact, because I know a woman who has organized such a group, in Florida. And yes, from my point of view she always seemed a bit strange and now my suspicions have been confirmed.) The only rule that these Second Life folks have for their real world meet ups is that they must remain in their fake identities. I find that nothing short of amazing—and very, very weird. Whatever.

The weird part, for me at least, is the whole Second Life, fake identity concept. I’ll be the first to admit that I just don’t get it, and don’t really care to. But I will say this—the concept of getting out of the e-habitat to meet up with real live people is really a good one. If you feel the need to stay in character and to pretend you’re someone or something else, so be it, go for it. Because meeting people in person is clearly a step in the right direction—a step away from your e-habitat.

At any rate, one of my business partners was in the office for a bit and I happened to remark about all of the birthday wishes I was getting via email. Now don’t get me wrong here—to everyone who sent me a birthday email: Thank You. I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and the fact that you remembered my birthday. Sending a birthday wish via email is perfectly acceptable in today’s online, e-wired culture. It’s the way the world works now. But truth be told, I hate email.

How can you really express how you feel about something—or someone—by tapping out words on a keyboard and then seeing them appear on the screen? And if you’re the one getting those words via the apparent magic of the Internet, how do you feel when you’re reading them. Well of course it’s nice to know someone’s thinking about you, but I always prefer talking to them instead—in person. It’s just the way I am. I think there’s a lot more to be gained—and a lot more warm memories to make—when you’re face to face with someone.

Ok, enough ranting for now, back to my birthday story. As I said, I’m sitting there with one of my business partners—who I also consider to be a friend as well—and I mentioned that I was getting a ton of birthday emails. Surprised that it was my birthday, he shook my hand, offered me best wishes, and inquired how old I was. It’s funny how, generally speaking, inquiring as to someone’s age is generally regarded as being in bad taste, unless it’s your birthday. Truth is it doesn’t bother me one way or the other.

I smiled at him and told him my age—55. He smiled back, wished me another Happy Birthday, but looked a bit puzzled. You see, we’re working on a website that helps old schoolmates to get together (look it up: www.myoldclass.com) which will be fully operational in a couple of weeks. In the course of working on the site, we’ve shared some high school experiences, including our graduation years.

Now my friend is 57 and graduated in 1972. He knows that I graduated in 1971, so when he heard that I had just turned 55, he did the math, and was confused. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a pretty smart guy but not quite smart enough to skip 2 or 3 grades, at least not in the eyes of the people who ran the schools I went to. I think my friend knows that too, so he asked how I could possibly be 55. That’s when I revealed my Fountain of Youth Formula.

Here’s how it works. A few years ago I got tired of trying to remember my true age, mainly because, quite frankly, the numbers can get a bit depressing. When you’re little birthdays are cool because you’re getting older which means that you’ll be allowed to do more things, and you also get presents. When you’re a teenager and young adult, you’re advancing your career and age often represents more money—always a good thing—and you get to have some rocking parties. But when you plow into middle age, the numbers add up, but not much else happens. In short, having birthdays in middle age kind of sucks.

So a year or two ago I unilaterally decided that at each birthday, I would deduct a year from my stated age. With that quite workable formula in mind, this year I turned 55. It’s also exciting to note that in 5 years I’ll once again be 50, and I intend to have a huge party to celebrate the occasion. (If you’re reading this, you’re invited—make a note of it.)

The really good news about my Fountain of Youth Formula is that when my friend said, “No really—how old are you?” I really didn’t know anymore. I’ve actually forgotten my true age. As far as I’m concerned, I’m 55, and I’m ok with that. Getting younger every year gives me something to look forward to.

Ok, Steve, nice story, but is there a lesson here or something? As it turns out, there is. In fact, there are two.

The first lesson is that you are only as old as you feel. If you’re concerned—or worse, depressed—about turning 60, or of getting older in general, don’t be. Simply stop the process by using my Fountain of Youth Formula. Physical age is one thing, but the real villain is your mental age. If your mind actually believes you are younger, your body will too. I encourage you to try it—it really works.

The second lesson is not to forget the value of visits. E-mail and e-media in general are all well and good and a socially acceptable way to communicate. But if you really want to connect with someone, do it in person. There is no better way to express what you are really feeling, and by the way, to feel younger in the process.

The gist of the hangout is that after signing up for your Google Plus account, you download a plugin and then share live video feeds with up to 9 other people. The objective is to share information and interact with the other folks in realtime, and of course, online.

Before I weigh in on the whole notion of the hangout though, let me first get this off my chest—Google already knows a lot about you. For example, I use the Google Mail email client. At the top of my inbox are ads placed by various companies who pay Google a nice sum for the privilege of penetrating your inbox. What I find disturbing is that these ads are generally relevant to a recent email that I sent.

Indeed, that is Google’s whole approach to this particular advertising venue. The ads are sold to companies with the promise that they are specifically targeted to the individual interests of the audience at a given point in time.

In other words Google analyzes your email stream and places ads in your inbox based on your most recent email correspondence. I think this is flat out wrong. Is someone at Google—a human, not a bot—actually reading your email? Probably not. But Google—whose informal slogan is “Don’t Be Evil”—definitely is.

Getting back to my point concerning Google knowing a lot about you—they do. Is this a bad thing? Maybe not, but again, maybe so. That’s for you to decide. At any rate, so now you can go to the Google hangout and hang out with your buddies, at least in a virtual sense. Now because you and your friends are sharing video feeds across Google, it is likely to assume that Google is listening in, and probably even recording your friendly episodes. I don’t want to sound paranoid about this, but if I’m having dinner with friends, I don’t want someone—whether it’s a person, a company or a government—listening in. It’s none of their business.

But Google is obviously excited about their new hangout concept. “Chill with friends that are scrolling through the web, just like you!” the About Hangout page gushes. “Use live video chat that puts you in the same room together!” “Maybe you’re bored. Start a hangout, invite your circles, see who’s around!” Google even suggests that you use Hangouts to “coordinate plans, whether it’s working on a project or meeting up for coffee.”

Here’s my take on this. If you want to hangout in the same room with someone, just go ahead and do that. In the real world, not a video chat room. And if you’re bored, call up some friends on the phone and go meet them somewhere—in person.

In other words, go have a mini reunion, even if it’s just getting together for a cup of coffee or a cocktail. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record about the need to get out and about, but you really do need to do that. We spend way too much time as it is, sitting in front of our computers, staring at our screens, pounding out words on our keyboards. Ok, so now Google has given you a video option—similar to Skype and basically just an online videoconference. At the end of the day, regardless of the form it takes, communicating online is still electronic interaction and nothing more.

In other words, it’s hollow. When you’re done hanging out, the interaction is gone in a flash of electrons. No take away, no memories. Conversely, if you go hang out in person, face to face, in the flesh, you’ll be creating fresh memories at every step along the way. Now that’s the way to hang out.

At any rate, my blog is not normally about business, but today I thought it might be appropriate. As many of you know who have been following my writing, my focus these days is in reconnecting with old schoolmates. And I think one of the best ways to conduct this reconnecting process is to enjoy a mini reunion. (By the way, for more information about Mini Reunions, check out my new website, www.minireunion.net.) We’ll get to the business part in a bit.

I see reconnecting with old schoolmates and people from the past as an essential part of life. By reminiscing (in person) about old times with people with whom we share a common bond, we actually create new memories. And I believe that these memories are what sustain us as we grow older, and help to make us happy.

But there is an interesting side benefit that I have recently discovered about these Mini Reunions, to my pleasant surprise. Many of these old schoolmates that I am reconnecting with have potential interest in the work that I do. Conversely, I also frequently have a potential business interest in what they do as well. My point is that reconnecting with subordinates is not only a pleasurable, personal experience, but it can also be a benefit to your business.

They say that the size of your net worth is proportional to the size of your network. Many business professionals are constantly spending time doing various networking activities off for the specific purpose of growing their business. These networking activities take on many forms such as business card exchanges, Chamber of Commerce events, educational seminars, and a wide array of other things all designed to bring professional business people together.

The problem with these meetings is the fact that for the most part, you’re going in unknown. The purpose of these meetings is to encounter new people and add them to your network. This professional networking challenge however can be a big challenge, because everybody there is out to achieve the same thing. Ultimately, conversations can come across as being a little forced—and uncomfortable.

For that reason, I have found that many reunions are a much better way to network for business, even though it is a totally social function. In a Mini Reunion when you are reconnecting with old schoolmates, you already have common ground with the people that you are meeting. Even if you haven’t seen them for many years, it is easy to break the ice by talking about the “good old days.” These discussions serve to break down the barriers that normally separate people who are meeting for the first time.

While I am not suggesting that a Mini Reunion should be turned into a business activity, I do believe that you should be aware of its value as such. Anytime you’re with people who have some kind of common ground with you, there is always potential business value. My suggestion is that a Mini Reunion is an excellent way to augment your business related networking activities.

No matter what you do for a living, as long as you provide value to others, somebody somewhere will always need your services. By attending Mini Reunions with old schoolmates from the past, you will be surprised at the number of potential business connections that you can make.

I’ve always wondered about this day. It’s certainly a day that everybody recognizes—we all know that today is Valentines Day—but it’s not really a holiday. All those people who know that it’s Valentine’s Day know it from work.

Now don’t get me wrong here—I basically like Valentine’s Day. How could you not like a day that is centered around love and relationships. But I’ve also always thought that it was a little bit weird. I mean c’mon—a cherubic little angel that flies around and shoots arrows at you?

You have to admit that someone beaming down from another planet might infer something other than Love from that kind of activity. Particularly since those arrows are aimed at the heart. Of course I understand the symbolism, but I’m just saying that if you take Valentine’s Day out of context, it’s a little bit strange.

So what is it really? Well, the cynical side of me recognizes that Valentine’s Day—as are most “holidays” nowadays—is to a large extent about money. The chocolate makers and greeting card printers and flower shops and restaurants all make a killing today. Good for them—the economy needs a boost every now and then and this is a happy, fun way to do it.

In this regard, the little guy with the wings and the arrows is far more of an economic stimulus than our expansive, expensive and expanding government could ever be. I guess we need more cupids and fewer congressmen.

But I wanted to know a little bit more about this day, so I turned to Wikipedia to see what the day was all about. (I honestly believe that some day you won’t even need to go to school as long as you have Wikipedia. That’s not true of course, but you have to admit that you can find out just about anything there.)

As with many of our holidays, Valentine’s Day has religious origins. It dates back to about 500 AD, and initially came about to honor several Christian martyrs named—as you might expect—Valentinus. But it wasn’t for about another 1,000 years until it became associated with romantic love and the accoutrements that today accompany the celebration—confections, flowers and even hand written verses.

After another 300 years or so passed the heart shaped symbol we today associate with Valentines Day was introduced. This happened around the time when humankind decided that writing out all of those romantic verses by hand was way too time consuming, and mass produced Valentines printed on presses became the order of the day. (It’s not quite as romantic, but you can send out a lot more of ‘em.)

By the time the industrial revolution happened in the mid 19th century, the titans of industry realized that the financial windfall that happened every Valentine’s Day could be extended to other holidays as well, so that’s what they did. Valentine’s Day therefore has the distinction of being the first commercialized holiday that bred all of the other commercialized holidays.

Ok, enough cynicism. My point is that today is a day about relationships. Hopefully you have a Valentine that you can call your own. I sincerely hope that is the case. You should hug and love and cherish that person every day, because that’s what a relationship is. But since today is extra special, make sure you do it today, and make sure it’s extra special.

If you don’t have a Valentine, don’t worry. That little guy with the arrows has a way of showing up when you least expect him to. He’ll find you, sooner or later.

But remember this—the whole point of Valentine’s Day is to celebrate in person with another person. I really and sincerely believe that your entire life should be like that. The only time you should rely on electronic communications—phone, text, email, Facebook, Twitter, whatever—is when you absolutely, positively can’t get together in person.

Otherwise, there is no excuse. People need to be with other people in order to be happy and to stay healthy. That’s how memories are made. End of story.

Make sure you hug your Valentine Today. Go make some happy memories—in person.

The Internet is a powerful tool that has changed our lives, no doubt about that. It has completely altered global commerce and is used by many to make money and a lot of it. It has also revolutionized the way we do research and has made it pretty easy to find out anything about anything, whenever we want to find it out.

Going online has also become somewhat of a hobby for many people, and I think that’s where the problems creep in. As with any enjoyable pastime too much of a good thing can quickly become a bad thing. I think that this is true for whatever it is that human beings choose to do to get away from what they perceive as the monotony or drudgery of life. It can be TV, listening to music, or reading romance novels.

Now don’t get me wrong here—there is nothing at all wrong with any of this, in reasonable doses. But if you spend all day plopped in front of the TV, or zoned out with your headphones on, or buried in a pile of novels, there are other things that you’re probably not taking care of that need some attention. Like I said too much good is almost invariably bad.

When you start adding vices to the mix like drinking, smoking or gambling, it gets way worse. We generally refer to the excessive indulgence in a vice as an addiction, but I think it applies to anything that we choose to do to excess.

So here’s one of the facts that I uncovered. The 800 plus million people who are members of Facebook click the like button about 2.7 billion times a day. Yes, I said 2.7 billion times. After I saw that number, I was astounded. That’s a lot of clicks.

But I took it a step further and estimated that it probably takes at least 1 second to see something on Facebook, quickly think about it, and then click on it. From the time you first notice whatever it is you’re seeing to when you actually click it, it’s probably more than a second. But let’s just be conservative here.

If you run the numbers on that, Facebook’s members spend 2.7 billion seconds every day, “liking” things. That is 45 million collective minutes, which is 750,000 collective hours—every day—clicking a button on Facebook. That is indeed a heck of a long time.

So what do those collective members of Facebook get for that massive investment in time? Not much. It’s pretty much wasted—gone forever. My point is that Facebook should be a hobby, not an obsession.

I will soon be releasing the report I wrote on all of this, and I think that you might find it interesting. (It’s also totally free, so no worries there.) I’ll post a notice on the blog when it’s ready for download.

As strange as it seems, this happens every day with the thousands of friends that completely dismiss thousands of other friends on the social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.

We see it all the time with people who have lists of hundreds or even thousands of friends on their social media site. But when you think about it, these really aren’t friends at all—at least not in the traditional sense. In most cases, these online friends have never even met their supposed friend in person.

They click on the friend link, maybe post a comment—maybe not—and then go on their merry way. It’s what social media is all about and it has become common practice. I guess for some people it’s a matter of online status to flaunt the number of people who have “friended” you. Kind of like an online popularity contest—that at the end of the day is basically meaningless.

But this is not what human interaction is all about. Human interaction is about getting together with old schoolmates and people from the past, face-to-face, and reminiscing about old times. It’s about enjoying laughter in person and communicating not just verbally, but with your facial expressions and body language as well. In other words, it’s about sharing life and times with other people—in person.

I think the other important thing here though is that time spent online produces nothing. It might be fun for awhile, but it’s an indulgence. Once you log off, that’s it—that time is gone and you have nothing to show for it. But spending time with others in person is different. That time is an investment in memories. Because whenever you get together with other people, no matter what you do or where you do it, you create memories. And memories—the good ones—are what keep us happy and fulfilled. It’s what life is all about.

This is why I have become so passionate about what I call mini reunions and what appears to be a mini reunion revolution that is sweeping the world. Whereas the formal and structured class reunion of old has become somewhat of a boring and tedious undertaking, mini reunions are fun, fast and flexible. They can be set up on the fly and enjoyed it a matter of days and in some cases even a matter of hours.

Mini reunions help people to do what they should have been doing all along—getting together. Sure the social media are fun and it’s a great way to find old schoolmates from the past and to reconnect with them online. But to really share experiences, create memories, and enjoy the sheer pleasure that human beings get from interacting with other people, you need to do it in person.

That’s why many reunions are so much fun to enjoy.

Granted, there are times when people have to share ideas and information remotely. There really is no other way for companies that have many people scattered all over the country, or even all over the world. The ubiquitous e-mail, instant messaging, videoconferencing, and even videoconferencing on Skype have all evolved as essential tools of modern business. And let’s not forget the old standby—the telephone. It’s always easier to pick up the phone and call someone, or get everyone together on a conference call than it is to actually have to go and see someone.

Which is really the problem. It seems like meeting people face-to-face is becoming obsolete. Why waste all that time getting together when we have a plethora of electronic wizardry at our fingertips, waiting to enable a quick and easy e-connection?

The reality is, that communicating this way leaves much to be desired. Sure, you can hear—or read—what people have to say. In the case of a video conference you not only hear them, but you can even see them, and get a little bit of extra information from their body language. But regardless of how slick the technology is, it’s just not the same.

Nothing—nothing at all—even comes close to the richness of experience when you’re meeting up with people face-to-face. Although I can’t really explain exactly why, I can tell you from experience that you will get far more out of an important discussion when you’re talking to the person in person.

That is why in my business dealings, I insist on having face-to-face meetings whenever possible, but particularly when critical and pressing issues are at hand. Granted, sometimes there is some grumbling and sometimes there is a little bit of resistance, but at the end of the day we all know that it is a better way to relate with one another.

More gets done, things get resolved, and I honestly believe that ultimately, less time is wasted, mainly because there is less confusion. People leave a face-to-face meeting with a clear understanding of what just happened, which isn’t always the case when you’re meeting remotely.

This also carries through to my personal life as well. I have found that using social networks to connect with old schoolmates leaves a lot to be desired. I will concede that it’s a viable method of reconnecting and finding out where people are, and revealing a little bit about what you’re doing with your life. But just as in a business meeting where more gets done by meeting face-to-face, this also applies to meeting in a social situation as well. Reconnecting with old schoolmates in person is a lot of fun and much more rewarding. It enriches the process of reconnecting.

Many people believe that they should simply wait for the formal class reunion to roll around in order to do this. I disagree—I’m tired of waiting for the class reunions that happen every 5 years or so. I think that there is a better way.

I prefer to use a mini reunion that can be set up on the fly with very little money. Having a mini reunion with schoolmates from the past is a great way to reconnect. And reconnecting with live human beings, in person, face-to-face, is all what it’s all about.