Need an invitation to a cool new site? Here's some help ...

I have not been paying attention. Usually, when I find out about a hot new site, one which requires an invitation, I rely on my journalist's credentials to get me an invitation to the site. While this generally works (it did for GrandCentral, for example), it usually takes a couple of days.

I found a quicker way, one I'm embarrassed to say some of you probably already knew about. There are sites that connect up users who have invitations with those needing them. At least for Yahoo's new social networking site, Mash, I received an invitation about 2 minutes after requesting it.

The sites I know about are InviteShare and Mashable Invites. It was Mashable Invites which got me the invitation in 2 minutes, didn't try InviteShare for this one - I actually had some trouble figuring out how to find the place to get a Yahoo Mash invite at InviteShare, whereas Yahoo Mash was right on the front page of Mashable Inviites.

If you readers know any other sites that share invites, let me know by leaving a comment.