www.ryankuder.com

It’s no big secret that I got laid off from Yahoo not too long ago. Last week, CNN sent a crew over to do a piece on how social networking can play a role in job transitions. They chronicled my last day at Yahoo and we talked about what the event has done for me.

In short, it’s been fantastic. I’ve met a ton of new people, and have had some really great opportunities presented to me because of it. The one thing that’s stood out above all others however is how communities come together to help each other out.

Last week, Gary Vaynerchuck posted a great video on what makes a community. He answers the question, “How many people do you need to have to have a community?” His answer may surprise you…ONE! You plus someone else is a community. And it’s amazing to see how these communities form and support each other, both online and off. Thanks in part to all of you, I am more opportunistic about what happens next than I ever was when I was “employed.”

So what happens next? I thought I was going to do some consulting, but along the way, I met a fellow Twitterer, Jonathan, who had a similar vision of community online as I did. Not surprisingly, I met him through Twitter when he started following me after I got laid off. We’re working on an idea that will make it easier for neighbors to find and share information about their neighborhoods. There’s not a lot that we can say now, but we’re all in and working hard to bring a great new product to market that will hopefully bring a lot of value to a lot of people. You’ll hear more soon. I promise.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who started following me on Twitter today as a result of the CNN video.  It’s nice to meet you!  I’m looking forward to being part of your community.