In earlier columns, I highlighted the value of online communities and their ability to connect people with similar expertise. The successful communities typically grow into the thousands and have many people actively participating by asking questions, providing answers and linking to interesting information available on the Web.

LinkedIn is a vibrant place for many of the professional groups, including those that deal with automation, which is one of the discussion areas that is a good source for Emerson Process Experts blog posts.

A quick check to see how many Valves-related LinkedIn groups were active revealed a long list. At the time this article was written, the top five were Valve World Group with 3,052 members, Valve Network with 2,615 members, Valve Sales with 1,262 members, Valve Solutions with 995 members, and Valve Actuation Group with 759 members (see listings for these at the end of this column).

Together, that