Michael Gelphman is the founder of Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP) and the voice of KCITP on Twitter, LinkedIn, kcitp.com, and Facebook. In July 2008, Gelphman was looking for a job and noticed there wasn't a Kansas City IT presence on LinkedIn, so he started one. A little more than three years later, there are over 6,200 members.

IT professionals are everywhere and don't just fall into the computer nerd stereotype. Gelphman says that most people aren't aware of how much IT professionals touch their every day lives. Gelphman explains, IT professionals are more than database administrators, developers, and network engineers. They include CIOs, VPs, project managers, web designers, as well as jobs on the peripheral. IT professionals are the people who make Facebook and our cell phones work.

KCITP organizes various philanthropic actities, donating hundreds of hours of time to help individuals and non-profit entities. Additionally, KCITP holds job fairs to help IT professionals connect with area businesses. Gelphman strives to actively bring people together and get them engaged in conversations, whether it's through a blog post on a social media site, across the table at a career fair, or while kicking back at a KCITP happy hour.

Be sure to check out KCITP on kcitp.com, and look for Gelphman's new company, Call Me Meeting, a result of collaboration within the KCITP community.