BrainJams, a project of my friends/colleagues Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells is trying out a good karma evening today (Wednesday July 19), called "Rent an Expert" at the offices of Cnet Networks downtown in San Francisco.

The idea is neat, it is to turn up in a room and offer 15 minutes or 30 minutes of your expertise, for free. And if you offer something of value, and also find something of value, then that is immediate karma.

But even if you give your time, and don't get what you want . . . you'll always get what you need.

Hope to see you there. Here is Kristie's pitch:

We believe in karma. Help others and good things will come back to you three fold. Sharing your knowledge helps make the community as a whole stronger. We are not asking that you give away trade secrets - just share a few nuggets of your geniusness to make the lives of others a little bit easier. It might even generate a fan base.

Or maybe open up additional projects for you. Who knows? That is the beauty of this little experiment. We are testing that thing called karma. If this moves you, sign up as an expert at http://rentanexpert.pbwiki.com/Offer%20your%20expertise.

Is there something you are dying to learn? Let us know. We believe it doesn't matter how many people are in the room - the odds are good someone has the information you need (or at least knows how to get it). Add your request to the list at http://rentanexpert.pbwiki.com/request%20expertise and we will do our best to find an expert for you.

The event starts (Wednesday July 19) at 5:30pm and will be at CNET's headquarters: 235 Second Street - between Howard and Folsom. There will be drinks and snacks.

Want to know more? General info can be found at http://rentanexpert.pbwiki.com/.

Also, if you ARE coming, we would like you to register at http://rentanexpert.pbwiki.com/RegisterOnWiki.