Orange County gets some online respect

Like comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, Orange County normally gets “no respect.”

When Sven Johnston signed up for an account on Linkedin, the world’s largest business networking site, he discovered there was no unique location code to differentiate the OC from LA.

Johnston found himself labeled as living in the “Greater Los Angeles Area,” even though his home and his consulting business, are located in south Orange County.

“I decided I really didn’t like it (the LA locator), but knew that nothing would happen on my own, so I started an online petition against Linkedin,” he said.

Johnston created “We Are Orange County” in May to persuade Linkedin to give the OC its own location code; in less than six months, more than 3,000 people had joined.

And Linkedin started to listen.

As Johnston will tell you, Orange County is not a suburb of Los Angeles, but a distinct geographic area, with 3 million residents, who enjoy a unique lifestyle and business climate.

“If you go to a networking event in Los Angeles,” Johnston explains, “it’s such a fast-paced, impersonal atmosphere … it’s really just a business card exchange,” he said. “Here in Orange County, people actually take the time to meet afterward and build relationships.”

By October 2009, “We Are Orange County” was victorious and Linkedin began putting Orange County zip codes where they belong — in Orange County.

Johnston says “We Are Orange County” has helped him connect with some amazing people who share his core philosophy of “paying it forward,” by supporting local non-profits.

He and his wife, Susannah, are both active volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Orange County, where the Johnstons each mentor a child twice a month.

“When I do stuff,” Johnston said, “I do it with passion and I do it because I like helping people, not because I’m thinking, ‘What are they gonna do for me?’” He explains.

“We Are Orange County” continues as an active Linkedin networking group with three sub-groups: One for business networking, a second entitled, the “OC Job Club,” and a third that serves as a social media 3.0 think tank.

Not a bad accomplishment for a German-Australian immigrant who recently moved to Orange County.

“Someone had to do it,” Johnston said with a laugh. “The one guy who only lived in this county for four-and-a-years really went after it.”

Tags: linkedin, Los Angeles, OCLNN, Orange County, sven johnson

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 10:45 am and is filed under Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.