On October 4, 1957, a small sphere roughly the size of a beach ball hurtled around the Earth. It had been catapulted into orbit from an unnamed town in central Kazakhstan by a team whose identity would be cloaked in secrecy for decades. Quietly broadcasting a simple series of beeps, the message was received loud and clear by the entire world: Sputnik (and the future) had arrived.


I know I'm dating myself here, but I would not be born for another 18 years. Even so, I find inspiration in the story of Sputnik. Just like anyone with a Web browser today can find and read content from anywhere around the world, anyone with a ham radio could tune in at 20 MHz and hear those beeps. One nation may have proudly carried its banner into space, but this object was truly carrying the hopes and dreams of the entire human race. No longer were we tied down by gravity. We could lob objects .... and soon, human beings .... into space!
WOW!
In many ways, this thrilling feeling could describe my very first exposure to the Internet. In 1993, I was a freshman at the University of Kansas. I met a friend who was a fellow Cubs fan and Mac geek. I remember meeting him and some other friends in his dorm room and being amazed at what I saw on his screen. Inside the telnet screen, he was using a VAX program called PHONE. On the top of the screen, you saw his words. On the bottom, you saw his friend's words – typed out in real-time, over in another state. And then he explained e-mail to me .... you could send a message to anyone around the world for free.
WOW!
Recently, I had a similar WOW! moment. Earlier this week, I resigned my position with my employer (PR firm Arment Dietrich). When I posted a note about this to my Facebook profile, two friends wrote notes on my Wall offering their congratulations. I've never met either of them in person, and yet they feel as close and important to me as if they were in the next room. Just like that transcendent feeling so many years in Kansas, distance became meaningless and friendship is redefined in an instant. I know there are many people who debate the validity of friends vs. Friends (with a capital F), but I find myself increasingly blurring any sort of preconceived boundaries I may have ever had.
The world is filled with "WOW!" moments. Sputnik was one that inspired millions of people to dream of worlds beyond our own. The Internet has similarly inspired many to reach beyond their own boundaries and find connections worth treasuring elsewhere. It has been my mission to find the "WOW!" moments in my professional life, and I'm eager to find out where the next one will occur.
What is your "WOW!" moment?