What we’re about
> Recreational Dialogue! Join us any Friday (we were at Denver's Commons on Champa, for now online) if you want to start in a new direction with part of your life, driven by your desire to enjoy life more and to do more Good Work, as you start a new family, friendship, career, a new project or campaign, or a new business.
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CONFIDENTIALITY We ask everyone who attends any of our meetings to keep who attends and what is said confidential, but there is, of course, no way we can be sure of this so protect your own anonymity and privacy at meetings and here online with us.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY One of the only requirements to be an active member and to be in our published SBCC Membership Directory is to rsvp "yes" and attend at least one meeting per month. We plan to publish a printed active member directory in July 2012.
SBCC Startup Method: The Practices of*: Recover, Imagine, Think, Learn; to Start, Grow, Flourish.*
Welcome to your Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc.!
We intend to cooperate with local communities-- chambers, newspapers, clubs, and associations-- that want to strengthen the grassroots in business and politics.
The non-linear Four Practices and free meetings where we share our experience with each::
1. Imagine. Attend a free IDEA Cafe Startup Workshop.
2. Think. Start or joining a Socrates Cafe group.
3. Learn. Start or join a peer learning group, Google "How to Start a Franklin Circle."
4. Recover. Ask for a speaker about startup for your club or association. The desire to start something new often comes from something bad happening. "Imagination without recovery can be a nightmare." Ask us to send a volunteer speaker to give our "Root & Branch" talk about recovery and to share experience, how the speaker got back up.
For years we talked about this method on the Startup Show, you can still watch, for a recording of our previous shows See our SBCC YouTube Channel.
In Denver each Friday afternoon we host a free Denver IDEA Café Startup Workshop, we invite real people to share how they really started, and we brainstorm. We also give you a free guide to our SBCC Startup Method.
Our Purpose: to do Good Work and to help others to do Good Work, too. Good Work provides an adequate income, a useful product or service that delights the customer, and an opportunity for learning and growth. One of the best opportunities for adult learning is to start a new business.
There are no dues or fees, we are supported through our own contributions. The only requirement for membership is a desire to do Good Work and to help others do more Good Work too.
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• Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc., 1881 Buchtel Blvd. #501, Denver, CO 80210 (303)861-1447 www.SmallBizChamber.org "Visit Group" to become a member while it's still free.
From our founder, John S Wren:
Since 1994, I've organized groups to share startup experience, information, and ideas. 5280 Magazine says we've "infused Denver with an entrepreneurial spirit."
I've facilitated weekly IDEA Cafe Startup Workshops, Socrates Cafes, and Franklin Circles for 20+ years, never charging. Next weekend can be a startup weekend for you when you attend, especially if you bring a friend or two who might want to help you get started.
People ask me, "John, why do you do this?"
Simple. So my grandkids have the opportunity to start a business that Pop had in 1949.
That's why I've formed the Small Business Chamber to strengthen the grassroots in business and politics. For more see <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">www.SmallBizChamber.org </a> or <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow ugc">www.COCaucus.org </a>
John S Wren,MBA+ (303)861-1447
Why IDEA? We take our name from a 4-step business creativity model many have found useful here over the past 20 years: I= Inspiration or Identify the Target; D= Develop Alternatives; E= Evaluate the Alternatives; and A= Act! (Developed by John Wren and a consultant from the University of Denver for the local Bell (AT&T) operating company in the late 70s.)
Avatar: iDea Pioneer "Boone" was designed by Walt Disney for the University of Denver, which used it for decades before they officially abandoned the image in 2013.( On Boone's chest, D=Develop Alternatives in IDEA.) Chancellor Robert Coombe told us it was true that the University had abandoned the logo, that lots of others were using it, so it's not exclusive to us.
Boone is our #1 IDEA Pioneer which is what we call our members. (Thanks Walt Disney and DU.)
For over 20 years IDEA Cafe Startup Workshops have helped people to start down a new path with a new project or campaign, a new career or new business.
5280 Magazine:"(John Wren) has infused Denver with an entrepreneurial spirit." Friday afternoon Denver IDEA Startup Cafe is led personally by our founder John S Wren, and it serves as a model for new groups. If you are in Denver from out of town attend and we'll help you start an IDEA Cafe in cooperation with your local chamber, local community newspaper, and/or local service club or neighborhood association.
If you'd like to start a group, please let us know and we'll send you some startup tips and make a media release for you announcing your first meeting if you want us to do so, never of course until you've approved the release.
For more information about the Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc. or any of our many activities, contact our founder & CEO John Wren at (303)861-1447 PLEASE CALL BEFORE YOU EMAIL.
It's free to become a member. Introduce you/ your business on our SBCC Facebook Page, then "Like" and "Share" our Page with your Facebook friends. We will announce you as a new member in the next edition.
"The Franklin Circle has evolved from Ben Franklin's first group, which I think may have been his best invention. Franklin called it "the best school" and he felt it prepared him well for the vital role he played in the founding of the United States of America.
"Franklin had almost no formal education, but he was a reader. But on the job as a printer's helper he saw that reading was not enough. Without discussion and feedback from other people, it's almost impossible for most people to keep up a sustained educational program.
"There are two parts to each meeting.
"After an informal discussion, usually while the companions eat a meal together, the meeting starts with a more structured discussion around the table. Franklin's original group had 24 standing questions that each member answered in turn, Franklin says in the Autobiography, pausing for a round of drinks between each question.
"Most Franklin Circles today shorten the list of standing questions, and they are used like a menu as each member usually has just one turn around the table to pick any of the questions. \
"In the second half of the meeting, the members present a paper in turn on any topic of their choice that has been approved by the group. After the paper is presented there is a discussion.
"To start the formal part of the meeting there are introductions around the table, and each member shares something about himself that he thinks no one in the group might know about him, or he shares some other piece of personal information, all in an attempt to help the members become better acquainted.
"Each meeting starts and stops on a strict schedule, and the discussion of the formal paper presented is stopped in time for one more sharing around the table to 1) give feedback on what's been shared, especially what was appreciated that was shared that it's expected will be useful and/or the catalyst for pursuing further inquiry; 2) final appeals for help or offers of assistance that will be followed up upon conclusion of the formal meeting; 3) suggestion for what might be amended about the group that should be considered at the next meeting, the process is continually self-correcting.
"Start a meeting by inviting a friend to sit down with you, then once you've found a willing friend you each invite a second friend, and the process repeated a third week usually fills the group. It is best to limit participation to no more than 12.
"This can be a powerful way to stimulate curiosity and the drive to learn. It is no way in competition for formal education that is required in some professions, and it should not discourage anyone from getting a more formal education who feels the need, on the contrary, it stimulates the desire to know more.
"But there is no question it is a simple, powerful approach to adult education that can help each member learn more faster, about exactly what they need and want to know about now.
"If you'd like to discuss your new group and ask questions, I'd be delighted if you'd call me. Or ask about one of the new groups that I'm continuing to start, always one face-to-face in some major city (your city next if you'll ask me) in in a library or other public space. Call me now (see number below), I'd hate for us to miss this opportunity to work together to get a new group going."
John S. Wren, MBA+++ Founder and CEO, \
Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc. \
Facebook/Small.Business.Chamber \
Http://www.SmallBizChamber.org \
By appointment only, call first: 1881 Buchtel Blvd #501, Denver, CO 80210 Call (720)495-4949
