People can enjoy chance encounters anywhere in the physical world. Nowadays, we can also do that online. One person has an IM (Instant Message) program open, and an old friend chances to be online and says, "Hi!" Another person is in his or her favorite game, and a game buddy stops to catch up. Or possibly - and this is becoming more commonplace by the day - a person is in a work or educational virtual environment such as Wonderland, and people stop in to chat about their projects, the environment, and what it could mean to their business or school.

This is exciting to me. I have two reasons I enjoy this chance meeting. First, it's always a good and vital thing for one's ideas to be able to discuss them spontaneously with others, and as an introvert, I don't tend to seek the social situations where it's easy to do that. And second, I love to see people reaching out to learn about and embrace new ideas and technologies.

I had an en passant meeting today with someone who had just linked his way to our site by chance, investigating online environments. I was able to answer some of his questions about the virtual world and how it worked, and explain about our other projects. He was curious and interested, and asked thoughtful, insightful questions.

The chance meeting left me feeling more mentally organized about the project and its aims, and happier. Definitely happier. I love being a part of this project! The social net that we have today - the true Internet as an extension of our circle of influence - that can change the chance meeting into so much more, for so many more people. What an amazing thing!