Bacon number? No, I'm not taking about seriousness of the impending bacon shortage. Bacon numbers started as a twist on the old internet game "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon." The game was designed to prove that anyone in Hollywood was less than 6 degrees of separation from actor Kevin Bacon. There were websites devoted to the game, like The Oracle of Bacon and there's even a board game. Recently, Google even got into the act and now, if you enter any celebrity's name into the search bar, along with the term "Bacon number" you'll get that person's Bacon score. If you haven't tried it yet, it's a lot of fun. And, when I looked for Snooki from Jersey Shore's Bacon number, this was the result:
Nicole Polizzi's Bacon number is 3
Nicole Polizzi and Larry David appeared in The Three Stooges.
Larry David and Dianne Wiest appeared in Radio Days.
Dianne Wiest and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
As you can see, a Bacon number is determined by who a celebrity has worked with and from there, they work their way back to a connection with Kevin Bacon. It's entertaining, but it clearly demonstrates how powerful networking can be. If you have a prospective client you want to get in contact with, it's as simple as finding out your degree of separation from them and leaning on your network to give you an introduction.
For example, if there is a company that you'd really like to turn into a client, getting your foot in the door can be difficult. However, if you have a client who used to work with someone who is now working for the company, you can either ask Client A for an introduction, or you can make an appointment and mention that you have worked with Client A in the past. Having some sort of common bond can help you make a lasting impact.
The problem is that keeping track of people and how they are connected can be extremely difficult. Even if you are the best note-taker in the world, you may not have ever thought to ask a client for the names of previous co-workers or who they have collaborated with in the past. It's simply too much information to process. To be fair though, social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn can be a huge help when you're trying to find a connection to another person. By looking at the friends you have in common, you are likely to find someone who can make your "Bacon number" lower.
However, technology is trying to change all that. The Bacon Number is a whole lot of fun, but it's an attempt by Google to demonstrate the power of their new product, Knowledge Graph. The Knowledge Graph is still in the early stages, but it's part of a new way to think about web searches and how information is connected. Since the beginning of web searching, the process was built upon matching keywords in a search query with keywords on a website. Now, Knowledge Graph is able to understand things and how they are related. For example, if you were to search for Taj Mahal, you may want to find out about famous places in India, or you might be looking for the recording artist, the casino or looking for an India restaurant near you. With the technology that Knowledge Graph is using, it will be easier for Google to know what you are looking for and bring you the most relevant information.
If you get tired of playing the Bacon number game, Google also have another game, called “A Google-a-day”. Every day, Google provides a new trivia question. Unlike most trivia games, in this one, players are encouraged to use the search engine to find the answers. The trick is that the questions aren't ones that you could search for directly using a traditional keyword search query. Instead, you are forced to ask different questions in order to work your way toward the answer. Of course, this data about how people think about things and their relation to other things is just another way that Knowledge Graph is able to get better.
With this new technology, you can find more relevant information about people and places making it easier for you to find your bacon number with potential contact. All it takes is some research and before you know it, you'll have enough information to get your foot in the door.
Have you ever played 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon or A Google-a-day? What do you do to network with prospective clients? Do you think that having a connection with them helps? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Image by Ohmega1982 / freedigitalphotos.net
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