[Updated] LNKD: Changing the way professionals do business

Today marks an important milestone in LinkedIn’s history – we started trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – following our recent IPO filing. Our stock symbol is LNKD (as you may have guessed from this post) and we’ve announced our initial public offering of 7,840,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $45.00 per share.

Check out pictures at the NYSE bell ringing ceremony from earlier today

We were thankful to have four of our members – Adam, Cecilia, Andrew, and Evan – with us on the floor of the NYSE earlier today to celebrate the bell ringing (Thanks to Evan Gotlib for the picture!). We’d like to take this moment to shine a spotlight on members like these who have helped us get to this point in our journey.

LinkedIn officially goes public! #inipoyfrog.com/hsxwuuzj

— Evan D. Gotlib (@EvanDGotlib) May 19, 2011

And, we thought it’d be apropos to share three stories that epitomize just a few of the myriad ways professionals find value from LinkedIn on a daily basis.

Adam Lewis, CEO and founder of IntroBridge, has used LinkedIn for every aspect of his job, from growing his business to researching new markets and recruiting talent. As an executive for risk management & brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan, Adam leveraged a LinkedIn connection to reach out to a CEO of a life sciences company, MedImmune, which over time resulted in a multi-million dollar deal. He’s also used LinkedIn to identify key contacts and evaluate prospects for clients interested in doing business in new geographic regions, such as Latin America.

Or take, Cecilia Pagkalinawan, who after being laid off from her job in the retail industry bounced back to start her own business thanks to the overwhelming support she received from her peers on LinkedIn. Cecilia reconnected with Jim Robinson IV, a managing partner at RRE Ventures, who had kept track of her career on LinkedIn and who encouraged her to return to entrepreneurship. With RRE’s backing, Cecilia started StyleTrek Inc., a website that helps independent designers reach new and existing customers online. Cecilia raised $1 million in seed round funding to launch the business and now, as an entrepreneur, also uses LinkedIn  to recruit others

And, finally take Andrew Der and Billy Burgess who started a LinkedIn Group called NYC Marketing Mixer to help their friends who were laid off in 2009. The LinkedIn group, which started with less than 10 members, has grown virally, with more than 1,300 members who exchange job tips and networking leads not only online, but also during monthly happy hours that they coordinate through this LinkedIn group. Creating the group was a “no brainer,” Andrew says: “The beauty of LinkedIn is that it gives you opportunities to connect with other professionals who you wouldn’t realize you needed to connect with.”

These are just a few of the folks who have contributed to LinkedIn’s growth over the past years and who continue to derive professional value from it on a daily basis. We thank you for your continued support and participation and look forward to many more years of your continued professional success!

We'd love to hear how you've been using LinkedIn. Share your LinkedIn win here.