Have You Re-Named Yourself a LION?

It seems that many attorneys privately cringe a bit and publicly worry about the appearance some of the group membership linking techniques and LinkedIn shorthand used by open networker members in the "name" field in their profile (i.e. Chancellor Dewey, Esq. LION, TOPLINKED).

Close observers see other growing networkers turning their name into a type of code email address. This approach attempts to open information to others willing to send invites while mitigating any email collecting spambots (i.e. Chancellor LION Dewey DOT Esq. Lion COM) with a certain je ne sais crois.

Many successful LinkedIn Lawyers attempt to balance the advantages and disadvantages memberships and philosophies open networking groups offer.

TopLinked sells a "private" account for an enhanced fee to allow members and supporters to participate without putting the word "TopLinked" in their name or headline field.

LION groups often ask that such appear on the profile, and indeed many networkers intentionally put such as their "name" in an effort to actively grow their own directly connected network. But you might be able to get away with not filing a motion for name change for Chancellor LION by simply being a member in many of the LION groups and leaving the tag off the profile. TopLinked on the other hand seems to police this rather aggressively.

You can just act like a LION - basically communicate that you're open to meeting new LinkedIn connections and give the means to connect (put email address on your profile) without even joining the LIONS or INVITE ME or worse.

Just as an aside, I have seen LION denote both "LinkedIn Open Networkers" and "Leading International Open Networkers" and there are many other variants (LIONS 500, FOR ALL THOSE WHO NEED A LOT OF CONNECTIONS NOW, Open Networkers, Libertines, etc.) on these groups to create multiple similar opportunities.

I had my email address in my name field for some time, and found the new spam during that time to be pretty minimal. If you want to worry about avoiding spam - set up a new dedicated email address for your LinkedIn profile and watch your group membership.