Altruistic Networking… To Build Business All Around

At our regular EBBE meeting on May 24, CPA Christine Thibodeau presented the altruism theme.  She started out with a skit with fellow EBBE member, Alan Druckenmiller, a financial planner of Life Path Financial Services.  The scene took place over lunch, where Christine thanked Alan for some recent business and wanted to help him grow his newly-launched office.  She began with a firm lead, a customer of hers moving up to an S Corporation structure, with the desire to consolidate his retirement investments and plan for future growth, hopefully with employees in the near future.  They then talked about the type of business Alan is interested in attracting, and the subject of employers came up.  Christine asked Alan if he would like to meet again for lunch, the next time with a close contact of hers who operates an independent payroll processing service.  The next day, Christine set up the lunch, and Alan was on his way to growing his business.

Now, wait a minute… what does Christine get out of it?  That’s not the point, but she actually does benefit greatly… she is now perceived by Alan as a trusted, well-connected advisor who cares about the success of his business.  Since as you know, we want healthy LOCAL businesses ALL AROUND.

 

EBBE Hosts a SPA NIGHT with Beauti Control

On Thursday, May 17, members of EBBE were pampered by Linda Alfanso and her wonderful spa products.  From aromatherapy to rejuvinating facials to foot wraps, we had a blast.  We got our skin analyzed and had snacks, conversation, and a guided relaxation to boot.  I placed an order for a nourishing skin exfoliator to use in the shower, a face toner to close the pores, and an all natural face moisturizer with sun protection… I can wait until my order comes in!  I was surprised to hear how slowly the skin cells replace themselves at my age!

-Christine Thibodeau, CPA

Minutes of Meeting, May 17, 2012

Meeting began, 7:15am, at Glenmeadow.

Attendance: Ginnie Levine, Kathy Bowen, Mike Finn, Linda Cross, Dick Forrest, Linda Alfonso, Alan Druckenmiller, Christine Thibodeau, Lynn Kostek, Norm Corigliano, and Jeff Rahn (guest).

Linda opened the 60-second business intro portion by asking “what technique works best for you?”. Responses: Dick -exceptional websites; Linda A. – top seller in her company is role model; Mike – reaching-out through social media; Linda C. – success stories of clients; Norm – all efforts work equally well; Alan – balanced lifestyle, and pitch to grandparent possibilities; Jeff – putting people together to work issues; Kathy – being aware of geriatric issues; Lynn – word of mouth referrals; Christine – attends functions and visits with clients at their businesses; Ginnie – being available for clients. 

Ginnie gave the 2-minute education piece. She spoke about doing what comes naturally and following-through with the next step will enrich the world and your bank account. Input from: Kathy, Linda C., Linda A., and Mike.

Committee reports: 

Speaker tracking: Linda A. is emailing update to members. Volunteer tracking: Christine and Alan discussed the sign-up sheet (members fill-out their interests). Lynn discussed the craft fair.

Christine was featured speaker. She discussed “Netweaving” and did a roleplay with Alan where he was a business acquaintance. She invited him to lunch, he had a small business (S corp – payroll services). Netweaving.com is the website to track more information on how-to. Dick and Alan discussed the proposed netweaving event and how it might be configured/played-out. Mike mentioned that some people (by nature of their business) do ongoing netweaving.

Referrals: Jeff for Kathy; Christine for group

Testimonials: Alan for Lynn and Ginnie; Kathy for Lynn; Christine for Jennifer.

Linda C. talked about possibility of having a contest among members in August to see who could have the most 1 on 1 meetings, leading up to a September netweaving event.  A possible health fair at some point was discussed.

Linda A. recommended the book “Mr Schmooze” by Richard Abraham.

Alan will record minutes of next two meetings in Mike’s absence.

Jeff submitted membership application to Linda C.

Linda C. closed the meeting at 8:30am.

Respectfully submitted by Mike Finn, May 22, 2012.

                                                                                                                                                 

Minutes of Weekly Meeting, May 3, 2012

Weekly meeting, 7:00am-8:30am, May 3, 2012. Held at Glenmeadow.

Attendance: Linda Cross, Ginnie Levine, Kathy Bowen, Jennifer Van Beckum, Norm Corigliano, Aaron Tillberry, Christine Thibodeau, Alan Druckenmiller, Dave Rosen, Linda Alfonso, Lynn Kostek, Dick Forrest, Sydney Hirsch, Mike Finn, Jeffrey Rahn (guest of Dave Rosen).

**Need to have an extra table set up w/extra chairs available next meeting – to accomodate 100% attendance plus guests.

For the purpose of our 60 second introduction, Linda Cross wanted members to cite the one thing that makes us unique.

Mike turned over 3 guest packets to Jennifer. Jennifer gave one to our guest (Jeffrey).

Jeffrey Rahn introduced himself as an attorney (a generalist) who specializes in Real Estate.

Linda Cross introduced the week’s education piece. At her conference in AZ, the keynote speaker, Robin Sharma (author of “The Leader Who Had No Title”) explained that a great leader: 1. 1 hr/daily (1st thing) takes care of self (writes in journal, exercises, pays attention to physical well-being, showers, etc); 2. devotes next 90 minutes to an income-producing activity; and 3. takes a 10 minute break.

Board and Committee Reports:

Treasurer: 501C6 is filed. $2000+ in treasury.

Secretary: Members need to fill up the card box with their business cards. Guest packets will be provided to Jennifer as-needed (she has 3). Mike will be absent 5/10, 5/24, and 5/31. Aaron will take, and post, minutes of meetings when Mike not in-attendance. Kathy will maintain the card box in Mike’s absence.

Web: Webpages up to date. Kathy’s is waiting for final re-write before posting.

Speaker tracking: 5/10: Lynn Kostek; 5/17: Christine Thibodeau; 5/24: Jennifer Van Beckum; 5/31: Ginnie Levine; 6/7: Open Forum.

Referral Tracking: Kathy is maintaining records.

Membership: Good sign: members inviting guests.

Featured Presentation: Norm Corigliano – Sitescape and Inside Out (store). Norm visualizes landscaping in 3D. He meets with client to begin design, but goes back to property as necessary to design on-site. “Right plant, right place” is his operating credo. He does most stonework projects himself. Occasionally, additional contractor is used, but Norm does the plantings. He maintains an overwatch on ecological factors.

Referrals: Kathy for Dave; Sydney for Dave (2); Norm for Dave

Testimonials: Sydney for Norm; Jennifer for Alan; Linda C. for Linda A.; Christine for Aaron; Linda A. for Jennifer; Linda A. for Christine.

New Business: 

Linda C. wanted a new attendance sheet from Mike.

A netweaving presentation will be given on 5/17 by Christine and Alan.

Mike briefed Chamber of Commerce events. Good deal for members – CofC member prices for EBBE members.

Linda C. briefed a networking seminar in Chicopee, May 15th, 3-4pm. POC: Sandler Training Seminars.

Jennifer has new blog: JenniferHealthyLiving.wordpress.com

Meeting adjourned 8:30am

respectfully submitted by Mike Finn, 5/4/2012

                                                                                                                                

Minutes of Weekly Meeting, 4/26/2012

Reblogged from mikfinn:

Meeting at Glenmeadow, 7am-8:30am, 4/26/2012

Attendance: Mike Finn, Alan Druckenmiller, Ginnie Levine, Jennifer Van Beckum, Dick Forrest, Sydney Hirsch, Lynn Kostek, Norm Corigliano, Christine Thibodeau.

Linda Cross in Arizona; Linda Alfonso preparing for the Chamber Chocolate Meeting.

Sydney charged members to relate on one piece of marketing that moved business forward in the past week: Dick, Netweaving; Ginnie, redesign of business card; Lynn, craft show; Alan, defer to discussion on Netweaving; Mike, LinkedIn and Craigslist marketing; Jen, Netweaving; Christine, active interest in clients’ business; Norm, notifications of businesses by “reminders” to potential clients; Sydney, website referrals through Remax.

Read more… 304 more words

Board Meeting – 4/19/2012

Board convened: 8:50am, 4/19/2012.

Attendance: Linda Cross (co-President), Sydney Hirsch (co-President), Aaron Tillberry (Vice President), Mike Finn (Secretary), Christine Thibodeau (Treasurer). Absent: Jennifer Van Beckum (Membership Chair).

Mike stated that he is taking attendance and recording minutes.

Discussion points:

Bylaws: Do not necessarily require a rewrite. Since other officers (Volunteer Coordinator, Speaker Tracking, Referral Tracking, etc) are technically appointed, we need to classify them as Voluntary Non-elected Support Members.

1st Meeting of each month will be Open Forum. Regular meeting will be followed by a Board Meeting.

Sydney reiterated that referrals should be separated from testimonials in the regular meeting portion. Teaching points can be derived from a short discussion on the “how it came about” of a referral.

Linda wants members to submit agenda items to her for inclusion in the upcoming agenda.

Sydney suggested we have a teachable moment every meeting. General consensus was that we’d have a 10-minute rotating segment, by volunteer, each Open Forum. (action: Linda & Sydney)

Each 1st Thursday, on Open Forum day, each officer will render a status report.

Suggestion was made that one of the important segments of education should be Blog Posting (and Blog Reading). Every scheduled speaker should post a blog segment to follow-up after his/her presentation. That way there’ll be an entry in the weekly minutes referring to the presentation, and a blog referring directly to the highlights of the presentation. (action: Linda & Sydney for scheduling).

Weather issues: Discussion centered around the distance from parking to the building entrance – in case of extremely inclement weather.(action: Linda)

Business Cards: only a small amount of EBBE cards remain.Need to reorder new cards with updated meeting information. (action: Sydney).

P.O. Box: Mike turned over the POB key to Aaron. Christine and Aaron now have keys.

Letters to former members (Nyles, Larry, John, Mary) recognizing them for their service. (action: Sydney).

Meeting adjourned at 10:10am.

respectfully submitted by Mike Finn, 4/22/2012

 

Weekly Meeting – April 19, 2012

Meeting held at Glenmeadow, 7am-8:30am.

Attendance: Mike Finn, Linda Cross, Sydney Hirsch, Kathy Bowen, Ginnie Levine, Norm Corigliano, Dick Forrest, Aaron Tillberry, Lynn Kostek, Dave Rosen, Christine Thibodeau w/Sebastian.

Group welcomed Ginnie Levine (BeHereNowMassage – Massage Therapist) as new member.

Dick Forrest was scheduled presenter. Dick read some passages from “Little Black Book of Connections” by Jeffrey Gittemer. Presentation centered on “netweaving” (help others first). Netweaving.com is website to follow-up on. Much discussion about how to netweave, and how to incorporate that into the weekly meeting. (action: Board)

Upcoming speaker assignments: 4/26: Norm Corigliano; 5/3: Open Forum; 5/10: Mike Finn

Web Pages still to be submitted to Dick for website: Kathy Bowen, Lynn Kostek, Ginnie Levine.

Badges to be ordered by Kathy: Lynn Kostek, Ginnie Levine.

Business card folders are available through the Treasury (see Christine). Linda Cross said that new members should get a filled business card folder at application time. Lynn and Ginnie will receive theirs at next meeting, 4/26. (action: Mike).

Alan Druckenmiller reiterated that he should be contacted if anyone wants to set-up a special seminar. Give to him NLT mid-May.

Referral slip availability: Mike has a whole box. He’ll bring enough on weekly basis to satisfy members’ needs.

respectfully submitted by Mike Finn, 4/22/2012