Missed Connections

Missed connections, missed family and missed friends.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to leave a "note" for someone to find you? That's exactly what Last I Saw You is for. As the words gets out and Last I Saw You increases its size, more and more people will leave a "note" to be found, and will go to Last I Saw You as the first place to look for friends, loved ones, business contacts and others.


And remember, names are not needed!

Finding Contacts in Business Networks

Business networks, such as LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, etc., can be a very helpful way to find professionals that may fit into your software development or management teams. LinkedIn has data that is entered by the individual, whereas ZoomInfo assembles data by scouring the 'net.

However, getting information that exists in these networks into a usable format, even something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet, is not very easy. Some business networks (intentionally?) make the copy/paste process almost unusable.

Fortunately, I found a very effective tool, "Network Grabber", at www.NetworkGrabber.com. This handy tool is actually a browser, and with one click of a button allows one to copy what they have browsed into Tab or CrLf delimited format. What was taking me an hour, now takes less than 5 minutes.

My friends and colleagues can now be put into a file where I don't have to log into the network and search.

If you spend even a moderate amount of time trying to screen scrape your contacts, I suggest you give it a try. A real time saver!

Is Someone Looking For Me?

How do you tell if someone may be looking for you? With Last I Saw You it is quite easy.

After logging in, go to the Search screen by clicking on the "Search!" button. Now, fill in any of the search fields you want except for "I am looking for" section.

In the "My Name Is" section you can start by putting in just your last name, or just your first name. Or, you could put something in the "Keywords", such as the name of the place common to who might be looking for you, or the name of an event.

For example, to see any messages relating to "superbowl", or "woodstock", try putting these in the Keywords section. Or your hometown, or school, or a previous employer.

The important thing to remember is to not put anything in the "I am looking for" section. That is what you use when you are looking for someone, rather than "who is looking for me?".

Of course, the more messages you leave (which are anonymous if you leave out your name) the better chance others have of finding you.

Happy searching!

Why Leave A Message?

Many times it is more fun to search for messages, whether they be missed connections, family, people you met at a party, or whatever!

However, unless you leave a message (which can be anonymous) someone who might be searching for you will be out of luck. True, they might not search today or tomorrow, or even next month. But if you leave a message they have something to find when they do search.

And remember, when Last I Saw You sends you an email from someone looking for you, you only answer it if you want to. Your email address is always secret until you make it known.

The Future Is Now

Leaving a "never expiring" message for someone to find you has its benefits.

Just because are you thinking (today), "Gee, I'd like to get in touch with my buddies from Frathouse XYZ from the 1980's", doesn't mean that your buddies are thinking the same thing -- today. But perhaps they will be in a month, 6 months, or a year from now.

Leaving a message in Last I Saw You today will ensure that when your buddies do think of Frathouse XYZ a year from now, you will get found!

Names not necessary!

Finding people you knew (or leaving a message so they can find you) when you don't know their name (or full name) is not a problem with Last I Saw You. Simply use time, place, and make use the of the Keywords.

For example, say I wanted to leave a message for someone and knew him only as 'Dave'. We had done some mountain biking in Moab, Utah back in the '90s.

I would add a new message and select the date range, Country of 'USA', State of 'Utah', and would type 'Moab' in the City field. In Keywords I could put 'mountain biking'. Since I know Dave's first name I could put it in the First Name field for 'Person I am Looking For', but this is not necessary.

Now, when Dave does a search for anyone he mountain biked with in Moab, Utah in the '90s, my message will pop up!

Last I Saw You is released

Finding someone you have lost track of, even using the internet, is not always easy. And it may cost you money you don't have or want to spend.

On the flip side, the person looking for you may have the same issues.

Add to this the fact names change (or you may not know their name), you didn't go to school with them (so sites like Classmates.com may not help), you don't know their age and don't want to pay (such as with ReUnion.com and others) -- a new site seemed necessary.

Last I Saw You allows you to leave information about yourself and the person you are looking for, indefinitely. The person you wish to reconnect with can search for you, and if they leave a message on the site you can search for them. You can search by any combination of names, place, time, relationship, or something particular to the last time you saw them.

Think of it as an electronic-message-in-a-bottle, just waiting to be picked up and read.