A couple weeks ago I posted my thoughts on cracking cliques and taking some of the stigma away from the idea of cliques.  Be sure to check to comments for some more insights from my thoughtful readers.

Cliques get their bad reputation for a good reason.  As with almost everything on earth, cliques have a tendency to calcify over time, become inflexible, self-serving and uninteresting.  This is especially true of powerful cliques – we all know how in high school powerful cliques filled with immature people abuse their power and sadly, sometimes other people.  The unfortunate fact is that its all to easy for adults to repeat adolescent mistakes… over and over.  This is why it is absolutely critical to constantly be cracking, stretching, and otherwise destroying every clique you are lucky enough to be a part of.

How to de-clique your cliques?  Here’s some thoughts.

• Be socially promiscuous. Gain access to as many cliques as you possibly can.  Never depend on one just one social network for fun or for business – as in all things, diversity creates a strong and flexible system capable of withstanding tough economic times, or natural disasters.  AVOID cliques that demand exclusivity! Exclusivity, while enticing, is a terribly precarious thing.  See: couture.
• Send out open invitations. If you are on twitter, for instance, don’t be a tease about the terribly exciting things you have going on – provoking envy is annoying.  Whenever possible, invite the entire world to come along – this is something I am constantly trying to do on Final Fashion.  The fact is very few people will take you up on your invitations, so don’t worry about overwhelming events and destinations unless you’re a lot more popular than I am.  The new people that do come out are almost always fellow clique-crackers worth meeting.
• Introduce yourself. Never wait for people you already know to do the introductions for you – or you will be limited to meeting people only one degree of social separation.  Just get over your nerves and introduce yourself – someone has to do it first so it may as well be you.
• Bring along someone new. Mix your cliques up, and bring new additions on a regular basis.  Met someone who just moved to town?  Invite them to events with your friends.  Having a meeting or a show?  Invite someone you admire.  Need a hand with a project?  Post an ad for a student in your industry to help you rather than asking someone you already know.
• Do not  be too cool. After spending the day talking to high school classes about being a fashion illustrator, I had the revelation that the cool kids were actually anything but.  While the “cool” kids were ignoring me, the “uncool” kids were asking questions, exchanging email addresses, and generally making the most out of a chance to meet someone new with (if I do say so myself) a pretty interesting career.  It is never cool to assume you already have all the friends you need.  It is cool to be interested, it is cool to ask questions and for the record, inside jokes are lame.

Do you have any tips for keeping your cliques from getting too cliquey?