Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview
Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Rajeev Edmonds. Rajeev is the person behind the Twitter handle @mintblogger. Rajeev is one of my favorite social media networking friends. Although this is probably due to his particular social media expertise, it is also because he obviously has very strong cross-cultural networking skills. He just would not be as good as what he does if he didn’t have these international skills.
Rajeev is an active social media networker and runs a popular blog MintBlogger.
This is a 2 part interview:
- Part 1 – The Blog Interview
- Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions
Rajeev Edmonds – Part 1
Here is the first part of the interview with Rajeev.
Hi Rajeev, for those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?
Rajeev Edmonds: Hi Cindy, It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk about cross-cultural skills. I live in New Delhi, the capital city of India. I was born in the same city and have spent most part of my life in this metro.
I started my career as a programmer building Interactive Voice Response systems (IVRS). In 2008, I started blogging along with my day job. Presently, I’m working in a MNC as a senior developer and maintain several blogs in my spare time.
Apart from national language Hindi, I speak English and some local languages like Punjabi and Urdu.
How has social media networking helped you to pick up your cross-cultural skills?
Rajeev Edmonds: Since I started blogging, I became much more active in networking with people from different cultures. From far east to the west coast of America, I’ve networked with several wonderful people who’ve directly or indirectly helped me in sharpening my cross-cultural skills. I’ve found twitter and facebook the most useful social media services in developing cross-cultural skills with a large multi-ethnic user-base that is really active and willing to share and exchange.
My company (employer) has several Chinese clients where we regularly interact with our Chinese counterparts on an almost daily basis. This gave me the opportunity to get a deeper insight about Chinese culture and the way they are passionate about their customs and norms. I must admit, my interaction with people from different cultures via social media has tremendously helped me interacting effectively with our Chinese clients. I realized it when my boss assigned me the responsibility to interact with their lead engineer in all technical information-gathering sessions.
Do you realize you use cross-cultural skills when networking on social media?
Rajeev Edmonds: Without any question, that’s the most essential attribute you must possess to successfully network with as many people as you can internationally. The simplest example can be greeting a person in his/her native language. This removes the barriers instantly and you may find it easier to connect with him/her in less time than you would have expected.
Learning several languages (at least a little bit), interacting at their convenient time and using the local buzzwords are some examples that help in better networking with people from different cultures. I’ve experienced it and found people get closer and more comfortable when you make them aware that you know about their culture. It’s all about making them feel at home.
Can you tell us about your blog?
Rajeev Edmonds: I started blogging as a casual personal dairy in 2006, until one day I read an article about problogging. In the first quarter of 2008, I launched a blog about Blogging Tips and Social Media Marketing Techniques and got a good response from the visitors. Since then, I never looked back and launched 3 more. The name MintBlogger came up for two reasons. I wanted a short domain name and couldn’t get a shorter one at the time of registration. Mint represents the freshness of content.
In one of my posts, I gave 8 Tips To Use Twitter More Effectively and it received massive traffic and still continues to get lots of traffic with Twitter and StumbleUpon being the top 2 referrer sites.
How can I forget about blog comments through which I’ve networked with so many friends, peers and subscribers from different parts of the world? You can clearly see the difference in approach when people from different culture come and comment on your blog. Some are very informal and like to go into detail, while others prefer a more formal approach and stick to giving suggestions and ask questions in a very monotonous tone. I’ve found people from Asia-Pacific region commenting as if they are talking with a family member. That’s so touching and instantly makes you establish a connection with them.
Besides blogging, I also do technical editing of books with subjects ranging from WordPress, Web Design and Social Media.
I have a couple of lists I’m building here on this blog, and wonder if you have anything you would like to share.
Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?
Rajeev Edmonds: Bend It Like Beckham is an excellent movie showing two different cultures where a rebellious Sikh girl joins a soccer team against the wishes of her orthodox family. The film shows east-Indian and British culture with various twists and drama throughout the movie. It is certainly one of my favorites movies.
Do you have a book you could recommend to help others improve their cultural insights?
Rajeev Edmonds:I’ve no book in mind, but I would like to mention a series I used to watch on Discovery channel – it’s Lonely Planet. It’s an excellent TV series taking you to different destinations across the world and experiencing the tradition, culture and food through the series host. Absolutely loved it.
And finally…
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Rajeev Edmonds: I’ve never traveled abroad and have spent most part of my life in Delhi and neighboring cities. I would certainly like to learn French and German as large number of my social network friends speak these languages. Cindy, for vacation, I can only think of Paris 
Hopefully, someday I will visit the place.
Rajeev, thank you for sharing so much with us in this portion of the interview. I think your story is a great example of how you can develop core cross-cultural skills without physically traveling today, thanks to social media and the right mindset. I’m sure there will be opportunities in your future to travel as you network more with international clients.
I’m looking forward to hearing your answers to the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.
Rajeev Edmonds- Part 2 – The Twitter Interview
@CindyKing: Hi Rajeev! Very happy to do this interview with you. I wonder if you could share some cross-cultural tips…
@CindyKing: First… What is your definition of culture in 120 characters? So… “Culture is…”
@mintblogger: Culture is a belief, a practice within a community without which nation will cease to exist.
@CindyKing: A good one 
Now let’s make it harder, in one word only this time “Culture is…”
@mintblogger: Culture is strength.
@CindyKing: Culture is strength – I like this one! Along the same lines, how would you finish “International networking is…”
@mintblogger: International networking is bringing the world together closer into one community.
@CindyKing: What is the one tip you would give people to improve their cross-cultural skills?
@mintblogger: Adapt to the occasion, learn different languages, respect other cultures AND don’t hesitate to ask.
@CindyKing: I love the tip about not hesitating to ask – this & curiosity is part of the process in developing int’l skills. What one bit of advice would you give people interested in international networking?
@mintblogger: Know about their culture before you pitch in. A friendly gesture in local lingo can remove all the barriers…I’ve witnessed business deals getting finalized simply because both parties gave due respect to each others’ culture.
@CindyKing: This is so true. Creating the real personal connection can make a big difference in int’l business
@CindyKing: What is your favorite website for international or cross-cultural inspiration? This can be anything at all.
@mintblogger: I find Wikipedia project acting as a central hub, where people from different cultures meet and interact…It’s like a big home where people live under one roof contributing and sharing their culture and knowledge.
@CindyKing: Interesting int’l insights on Wikipedia. Can you suggest one other cross-cultural person to follow on Twitter?
@mintblogger: One of my favorites is @suzannewhitby She possess exceptional cross-cultural skills.
@CindyKing: Thanks for introducing me to @suzannewitby – Can you suggest one other international person to follow on Twitter?
@mintblogger: Couldn’t resist myself to give these 3 names – @guykawasaki @wchingya and @shellykramer (Possess great networking skills).
@CindyKing: Great! Thank you for sharing And finally, who else are you interested in meeting on Twitter?
@mintblogger: Anyone who can teach me French
@CindyKing: LOL – I’ll work on that one for you Rajeev, that wraps it up for today…
@CindyKing: Thanks so much for your time Rajeev and thanks to all who followed us today!
@CindyKing: I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did and invite everyone to read the full interview
@mintblogger: merci beaucoup Cindy, it was a pleasure talking to you. Thanks to everyone who followed.
More Twitter Interviews
- Rajeev Edmonds – @mintblogger
- Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – @culturalrealms
- Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
- Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
- Doreen Iannuzzi – @DoreenatDMS
- Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
- Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
- Jack Yan – @jackyan
- Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
- Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
- Thierry De Baillon - @t_de_baillon
- Seshu - @PicSeshu
- Neil Urquhart - @culturematters
- Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle - @transdomo
- Donagh Kiernan - @dkiernan
- Christian Hoeferle - @hoeferleconsult
- Caroline - @ohh_la_la
- Deborah Swallow - @DeborahSwallow
- Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
- Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett
She is who I turn to when I have questions and you should too"
-- Chris Garrett, co-author of the "Problogger" book
