While traveling through Paris and Italy for 3 1/2 weeks was incredibly fun, it created an enormous backlog of work and I am long overdue in congratulating my good friend Walter Akana for his victory in the final week of the virtual interview contest!
I'll be sending along an autographed copy of Smart Networking, and in lieu of an Amazon gift certificate, at Walter's request, I've made a $25 donation to one of his wife's favorite charities, Best Friends Animal Society. Congrats to Walter and much appreciation to all the week 3 interviewers and voters!
Read Walter's winning interview here.
Although Walter and I have yet to meet, we've developed a supportive relationship solely through our interactions on Facebook and Twitter. He first got my attention in May when he started leaving smart, thoughtful comments on Facebook about my Passport to Networking videos. Every week when I posted a new episode, he would be there with an insight that would take my networking tip to another level. And I was flattered when he shared my tips from inside the Forbidden City (episode 9) and on top of the Great Wall of China (episode 10) with some of his clients.
When I notified Walter of his win, he wrote: "The real win has so much less to do with me than it does with getting your message out to people who need it. I think all the bloggers did great jobs and I salute them as well!"
Isn't he a great guy? We should all be so lucky to have someone like him in our networks! Whenever I am asked in an interview for an example of great relationship building skills, 9 times out of 10, I find myself talking about Walter. I even included him in my book just before it went to press, adding a long paragraph in Chapter 7 which was about seizing opportunities to create value and help others succeed.
When he's not offering his tremendous support of everything I do, Walter is a Life Strategist who works exclusively with mid-career individuals who want to achieve more direction in their careers and lives. The tag line for his firm, Atlanta-based Threshold Consulting, is "It's your life, own it!"
If this economy is causing you to rethink where you're headed, I encourage you to learn more about Walter and his services. You can also follow him on Twitter (@walterakana).
I had a tremendous amount of fun hosting this virtual interview contest, and I thank everyone again for participating. I met so many great people whom I hope to interact with much more in 2009!
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