Give to your network without seeking anything in return and then when you ask for something in return, watch what happens…

Helen Walters of Businessweek.com shares a couple of very cool examples of the power of building a network community:

Happening # 1

David Armano (@armano), VP of Experience Design at the Chicago marketing consultancy Critical Mass, posted an enigmatic tweet on his Twitter feed. “Hey everyone. I am going to need a very BIG favor from you. It’s going to be asking a lot. I’ll let you know more very soon.” A few minutes later he posted a request for help for Daniela, an acquaintance in a bad situation.

Sadly, we’ve all heard similar stories before. But what happened next was nothing short of phenomenal. Armano’s network of 8,150 followers swung into action, spreading the word about Daniela. Within a few hours, donations had reached $5,000. This morning, donations have topped $11,700, and there’s probably more to come.

Happening # 2

Tireless tech world figure, blogger, Tweeter (etc), Robert Scoble (@scobleizer) found himself in a jam.

The bus transporting him and eight blogger cronies to the CES show broke down about 100 miles outside of Las Vegas. “Getting taxis to come pick us up this time of night is proving troubling,” Scoble tweeted. “Any ideas?” Apparently so. Scoble’s network (of nearly 48,000) swung into action and a few hours later the day was saved. “Tons of people have been helping us get unstranded – all via Twitter,” Scoble noted.