I attended a blogger lunch at The Heritage Foundation this afternoon.  While the event was about a topic not relevant to The Bivings Report, I did get something out of it for the blog.  At the meeting I overheard two people who have known each other for years on the Internet but met today for the first time in person.

Certainly not everyone who forms relationships (friendships, professional associations, etc.) on the Internet has a chance to interact in the real world, but meeting and interacting off-line cements on-line relationships.  In fact, while I may communicate and track people I knew years ago on the Internet, the strength of the relationship is derived from our interpersonal interaction with each other.  Regardless if a relationship started on-line or off-line, both realms can help cement and strength the relationship.

Thus, while this is pretty obvious, I think it is important to remember every once in a while how helpful meeting on-line friends in the real world and vice versa is.