Idea Tailgate + Pizza + BYOB
Last night (8.14.08), some of the crew stopped by to help group88 whip up some ideas for our new event series starting in September. When the group arrived, we put them to task, telling them that our goal for 2008-09 is to have zero PowerPoint presentations. We want attendees to walk away from group88 energized and brimming with ideas.
So, here are some quick notes about topics and formats that were discussed:
Interactive Elevator Pitch Contest. This is morphed from Suzi E.'s participation in the recent CT Showcase Elevator Pitch contest where 25 of us were given 60 seconds to give our pitch while judges took notes on delivery, content and time. To keep the group88 event interactive, we are going to remove the judge part and swap it for a sounding board. After each pitch, the crowd will provide feedback and then he/she will have time to rework their pitch while others get up and do their thing. Then we'll do one or two more rounds to see how people improve.
Book Club. The idea of a book club with a focus on business came up. One attendee was part of a club that took 7 weeks to go through the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Possibly we would just take one book and talk about it for a few weeks. Something like The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation by Matt Ridley or another resource that explores cultural or behavioral theories that can be discussed in a business context.
Tech Tools Interactive. From LinkedIn to ning, where should you spend your time online? This session will be hands-on and kicked back. We’ll invite savvy social media folk in to help us play around with the different tools on the big screen.
Gender Mashup. Many times women and men take different approaches to business. We’re not sure exactly what this session will be but it might include role playing, some theory and no holds barred discussion about the best business practices, whether you’re guy or gal.
Stress and Time Management.
These sessions might be panels with experts from different
areas brought in to talk about feng shui, aromatherapy, massage, balancing
work/life everydayness and focusing on big picture items while bombarded with
the little stuff. Either way, all agreed that these sessions are very much
needed for anyone in business.
There were lots more ideas thrown
around during the session. Next steps include: mapping out the sessions,
getting sponsors and promoting, promoting, promoting.
Enter Stage Right: Drama Kings and Queens at group88
Zoe Vandermeer Helps Us "Deliver Stage-Worthy Presentations"
We've all attended at least one presentation on how to deliver a presentation and the advice is usually the same: speak clearly, stand up straight and picture everyone in their underwear (hey, it worked on the Brady Bunch!).
Zoe Vandermeer wants you to know that there's more to it than that. Such as: breathing, incorporating mind migration techniques, heightening awareness to your surroundings and tapping in to your off-stage energy - your unique charisma that people connect with on a one-to-one level that so often dissipates when you step in front of a crowd.
Some of us were a little hesitant about Zoe's insistence to make us get off our behinds for some theater exercises. She perservered, however, and the group was soon transformed from a static bunch of listeners to participants in our own unscripted production.
The finale of the night was by far the most enlightening. A few of us brave souls stood up to give our elevator pitches while Zoe recorded our speeches. The group had a chance to give some instant critique and the volunteers walked away with some great feedback on how to improve their delivery, content and presence.
We learned that Melanie has great delivery when she kicks her energy level up a notch, Barbara is very engaging when we can hear her, Brent has a powerful presence when he kills the distractions and Suzi works best with a soundtrack.
With a fantastic Chive's spread provided by our friends at Co-Communications, the night was great fun.
In September we have plans to bring Zoe in for a longer, more intensive session so stay tuned!
To learn more about Zoe, go to LiveSoundStudios.
Adam Ney Gets Our Green On
"Green Up" Discussion Reveals That You
Don't Need To Be Big To Be Green
June 12, 2006 -- If you're looking for a dry, head-bobbing discussion of what it takes for a business to go green, don't invite Adam Ney. His stories are too good. His favorite story of late (and now ours too) is of the California-based adult boutique that has tripled its sales since greening up its store. How did they do it? Along with double-flush toilets and encouraging employees to take mass transit, they now only sell toys with rechargeable batteries. Now, if a porn store can figure out how to go green, what are you waiting for?
To learn more about Adam and his business AuctorVerno, go to BuildingCTGreen.com. Adam is a great resource if you're looking to learn how your business can develop sustainable, cost-effective business practices that will not decompose your budget and actually increase profits.
His work is rooted in a genuine love of helping other companies do things better. We like that.
Speaking of great companies, our sponsor for this event was Paine's Recycling. Because of their support, we had a great a dinner with fabulous organic wine from California. They are pesticide-free and use only ladybugs to keep the grapes bug free. How great is that?!
So, how will group88 become green88? Just for starters, we will:
- Give 20% discounts to folks who bicycle, run or walk to group88
- Bring in a worm composter for our food waste (don't worry, Adam assures us that you won't have to look at the worms!)
- Unplug chargers and turn off lights unless in use
- Work with companies that use recycled materials
- Bring partners in that can help our members become more sustainable and lower their environmental impact
Currently, we're already practicing good habits such as filtering our water versus providing bottled water, using PDF versus printing when possible and using washable dishware for events and everyday use. Got any ideas for how we can green88 our biz? Let us know: info@group88.us or call 860.658.4888.
Integrative Medical Expert Dr. Sharon Norling A Hit At group88
Event Comes Together in 2 Days!
Dr. Sharon Norling is in demand. During her 10-day stay, she spoke at 5 seminars, met with clients every day from 8-5 and caught up with her East Coast colleagues and pals at social events just about every evening.
So, when group88 co-founder Jaye Donaldson said, "why don't we have Dr. Norling do an event here?" three days before she was set to leave town, we were a little nervous about putting it together.
A few eblasts, flyers handed out the Greater Hartford Women's Conference and some key phone calls later and we had ourselves an event. Nearly 20 women attended the lunchtime session. We all learned a lot from Dr. Norling about preventative care, the scoop on product ingredients that no one tells you and the benefits of long-term healing from the inside out. We also had a great time hanging out and eating some fab food from our partner Chive's catering.
group88 Event, "Low-Cost Video Production for Solos and Small Business," is Small But Mighty
April 24, 2008, Simsbury, Conn. - Our first event was presented by Janet Peckinpaugh of New Media Institute and David Michnowicz of HD Media Design.
Food and drinks were compliments of our sponsor, Geezeo.
A great time was had by all. As Janet and Dave showed us cool video production tricks, fun homemade commercials like this one and talked about equipment and just how easy it is to get a video web-cool, we noshed on homemade chicken salad, sipped on Coronas and had fab desserts of every kind. Guests were from all spectrums: PR, attorney, start-up, media, graphic design and techie.
It was a cozy group and a happy one - hopefully they'll be back again!
group88 Open House, April 2, 2008 - Awesome Success!
For more photos of the Open House, go to Suzi's flickr page or click on the photo below.
When you invite gobs of people to a cool party you're never sure exactly what you'll get. You can agonize over the food, the show-ups, the weather, the possibility of no one having a good time but sooner or later, you just have to put everything together and hope for the best. We did just that and lucked out - everything came together and, better than that, everyone came together and made it a fantastic event!
Among the crowd of group88 partners and several small business entrepreneurs and local enthusiasts, we had folks like Mark Doerschlag and Matt Griffin traveling from Boston, as well as Raines Cohen, resident coworking and cohousing cohort joining us on his adventures from San Fran. Pal and local celeb Janet Peckinpaugh came out for the party, as did several folks from local organizations and businesses such as Building CT Green's Adam Ney, the crew from The First National Bank of Litchfield, small biz attorney Judy Gedge, Business Outreach Librarian Jennifer Keohane and work-at-home ambassador David Pena.
Thanks to all for a very successful launch party!
group88 would like to thank all of our partners, guests (all 70+!), on-the-spot set-up guys (i.e., anyone who arrived early), caterers (Ileana Kieffer, Chive's and Peaberry's Cafe), guitar guys (okay, one guitar guy, Mike Greca), servers John and Kelly, groupies Robin Towle-Fesco, Rick Culver and Joyce Boncal and special friend Janet Peckinpaugh.
We also want to especially thank the The Donaldson Group gang (John, Chet, Liz, Carmine, Ramona, Laura, Traci, Alina, Sheila, Johanna, Lucy and Cobi) for hanging in there through construction craziness and Jaye and Suzi distractedness!