This morning in my news reader I found an SFGate.com article titled—There's more to Napa's auction than charity, For one high roller, fraternity is as important as philanthropy—phew, long title.

Each day I perform some interesting combination searches to find stories for my weblogs. And so, at first I thought that this article by Carol Emert would turn out to be just another interesting browse as it was not about online social networking. However, it did prove to be a most fascinating society piece about the annual Napa Valley Wine Auction where "the social whirl" is "more intoxicating than the Cabernet".

Carol Emert features one Ron Kuhn from the Chicago area as the main focus for her coverage of this philanthropic auction event. Most comments and observations are either around or about Mr. Kuhn. At the auction, bidders have numbered paddles—and, for the most part, the number on each paddle reflects the bidders placement in last years' auction. As Carol says, "The lower the number, the higher the status."

The Annual Napa Valley Wine Auction appears to be face-to-face philanthropic social networking at its finest. Here people often know each other quite well, greeting each other as friends each year. (I was also happy to find mention of one of my favorite wineries—Rombauer.)

If you are still reading this post you might be wondering why I have included this item here today. Well, as I read down to the last paragraph of Carol Emert's piece I thought, hmm that name sounds familiar:

The top dog was Gary Rieschel of Palo Alto, who spent $299,575 on 18 lots. Next year Rieschel's paddle will be No. 1. This year, as it happens, it was No. 4.

And of course it was, as I just posted a quote from Mr. Rieschel, of Mobius Venture Capital, last Saturday—Social Networking Glut = Greater Than Four.

The Napa Valley Wine Auction is first and foremost an incredibly successful philanthropic event. According to the Wine Auction description on napavintners.com: "The Napa Valley Wine Auction is the world's largest and most successful charity wine auction. In 2004, the Auction raised $6.5 million for local charities."

Online Philanthropic Networking can also potentially achieve significant results. There are a number of online resources for interactive networking of foundation centers, funders, volunteers, and their respective communities, that are beginning to emerge. Potentially Online Philanthropic Social Networking at its finest?

Just ask Jerry Michalski about his unique visions in this area, he'll be happy to share…