I confess that I like to start up conversations with strangers. This is especially true if you happen to be stuck next to me on airplanes, trains, or what have you.  On my flight out to the CES show, I sat next to two very different kinds of people, and we were stuck on the runway for a long time.

I sat next to a professional photographer that has a really nice business doing pet and family photos.  More interesting to me, he is a Canon representative and really knows his stuff when it comes to technology for photography.  Photography is one of my passions, and he is an expert.  He was going to be part of the Canon exhibit at CES.

I also sat next to Angie Simmons, a senior management executive from Liberty Media Interactive. As it turned out, in the new Fortune magazine, which I was reading on the plane, one of the analysts in their investor’s guide recommended buying them because are breaking out their interactive media into its own business unit.  I think that makes sense both financially and operationally.  

I often get envious reading about Silicon Valley and its ecosystem.  There are all of these vibrant interconnected new media companies springing up out there with what seems to be unlimited energy and potential.  I often forget that the Mid-Atlantic region as a flourishing interactive media community established as well.