It was wonderful meeting everyone who showed up this evening.? I think the fact that nearly everyone was a first timer indicates just how excited people are, in general, about the prospect of starting their own businesses.

I want to share my notes from the meeting.? Unfortunately, there are a couple of names I don't remember, and at least 1 I'm not sure about.? I'd like to suggest, if you've got 'em, bring cards.? If you don't have 'em order a free set from printsmadeeasy.com.? You'll have to pay for shipping, but you'll have 100 cars to give away, making it easier for dopes like me to remember your name.? Luckily there's the members list and I was able to fill in the gaps, I think.

Attendees:
Marcus, Ernesto, Vyvyan, Victor, Vincent, Victor's Acquaintance from the storesonline seminar, and Kristopher (me).


Brief (Mostly) Introductions:

• Marcus provides Full Service Financial Planning.
• Ern esto is the owns and operates a Virtual Assistant Service Provider.
• Vyvyan provides mortgage finding/matching services.
• Victor is in the concept development phase of a "Dynamic Ride Sharing" project.
• Vincent is currently building the Washington sales force for a health plan provider.
• Victor's Acquaintance (Sorry, I can't remember your name) has invested in an online sales system and is currently evaluating her business options.
• Kristopher plans Sunday Drives for groups of Sports Car Driving Enthusiasts.

What brought us to the meeting:
Marcus stopped by the coffee shop as we were gathering and decided to stick around and do a bit of networking.
Ernesto is currently looking to expand his employee base to include specialists in HR, Marketing, and Financial Analysis.
Vyvyan is looking to network and gain advice from other Entrepreneurs.
Victor is looking for help fleshing out and structuring his project.
Vincent is in search of people to fill key roles in his sales organization.
Victor's Acquaintance is looking keep active mull over ideas and opportunities in a cooperative environment.
Kristopher is looking to network, gain advice from more experienced business owners, and reality checks and inspiration from those in earlier stages of business development.

Networking Targets:

• Marcus is looking to meet with Small Business Owners who want to add a no-cost-to-the-company benefit to their employment portfolio.
• Ernesto is looking to work with anyone in need of part-time or on-demand Assistant services that can be provided remotely.
• Vyvyan is looking to work with anyone interested in starting or adding to their real-estate portfolio and who is in the funding and pre-funding phases.
• Victor is looking for mentors at the moment.
• Vincent is looking to work with those in need of reduced cost high quality health insurance.
• Victor' s Acquaintance does not have a business yet and is not ready to network at this time.
• Kristopher is looking for Driving Enthusiast, Automotive business decision makers, and car sales people to develop business relationships with.

We did a bit of brainstorming at the end of our meetup session.? The results being some suggestions I'd like to make for future agendas.

1. Introductions and a Pass-the-Cards session.? Preferably, describe your business and value proposition in under 30 seconds.? If you can do it, you can have lot of elevator conversations that may open doors down the road.
2. A Pick-on-Me session:? 1 person presents their business and its current frustrations and challenges and the group helps with advice and mental excercises.
3. Startup topic:? A monthly topic we all do some study on and discuss as a group, offering insights from experience and fresh perspectives alike.
4. Networking:? share co ntacts and/or arrange meetings to setup client sharing programs.
5. Open discussion:? bring up any challenges or triumphs you want to share, preferably briefly so everyone has a chance to participate.

I hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes here.? I found this evenings session to be informative and beneficial, and wanted to share it with everyone who couldn't make it.? The agenda proposals are my distillation of items we discussed in brief while leaving the coffee shop.? Next time I'll have my portfolio open and actually take some notes during the meeting, rather than trying to remember it all after the fact.





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