Just call on me brother.

The world is a pretty big place - but the amazing level of human interconnectedness can make it a whole lot smaller. I recently sent out a mailer to everyone in my address book (after an exhaustive re-categorization of everyone based on how I knew them). I've received a goodly number of responses and wonderfully many offers of assistance in terms of introductions, school/theater recommendations, and temporary housing.

Tip: Build up your list of contacts.

• Every time you meet someone and make a genuine connection, get their contact information. The easiest way to do this is to give them your card (vistaprint.com), most people will return the favor.
• When you get home, punch their contact information into Outlook (or whatever you use to manage your contacts).
• In the "Notes" field make sure you write down some key information about this person. Where did you meet? What show did you do together, what year? Who are your mutual friends? Do they have kids, what are their names? And for goodness sakes, if you made out with them at the party - can you say "awkward"?
• Next, assign this person to a few different categories: Actor|Director|Writer|Teacher|Classmate|Agent, Film|Theater|Commercial|Business, SF|LA|NYC.

By making an extensive contact list you'll have a larger pool of people to call on if you need help. Or, if someone you know needs an SF theater director for their one-man-show you can connect them to someone you know. As much as possible help everyone you meet - life's just better when you do.