Last night, I attended a speed networking event here in Des Moines. Adam Steen engineered the shindig to take place at the Village Bean. The goal: attract 50 people of diverse backgrounds together to gain introduction and discover synergies and give them 5 minutes to swap pitches and learn about each other. Take a look at some video of the event. You'll see Mitch Matthews explaining to all of us how it works, then what it looked like in practice, and then the mingle that happened afterward. I explained to people in my elevator speech that companies hire me as a strategic consultant. I help a company re-discover their strengths by learning who drives their culture internally. I talk to their customers and vendors and learn why people like to do business with them and dig to see how deep that loyalty is. Looking at the company's strengths both internally and externally then enables me to see what blue oceans they might explore to grow their business. My deep IT background, breadth of experience across industries, and artistic creativity help me help them see their business in new ways. All in 45 seconds. Whew! So who did I meet? Matthew Clements, of AdWorks 
Matthew is a principal of AdWorks, which produces a kiosk to print coupons. They want to position these in airports and get local malls and other retailers to buy ad space. Interesting idea, and it seems like they have a few folks excited about it. He talked of how one local mall developer wanted to place these in ten places. But being a new business, buying all of those kiosks is spendy. If the idea truly has legs, why not get capitalized and shortcut the bootstrap phase? Mitch Matthews and I asked the question at the same time: "Have you talked to Adam?" Money guys are called Vulture Capitalists for a reason, but they're not all cut from the same self-important cloth. Joe Fitzgibbon, of Farmer's Insurance
Joe handed me a business card with his office manager's name on it. Maybe he grabbed the wrong box on the way out the door to this event. I asked him how he is differentiating himself in the marketplace. Why is his insurance better than others' insurance? Why is his agency better? What niche can he explode that his competitors haven't? I think it's cool that he showed up, but I don't think he was ready for my questions. Julie Moore, of Pinnacle Construction 
I enjoyed my conversation with Julie. She's 3½ weeks into her new gig as the director of client relations for Pinnacle Construction Group. They compete with the big dogs, like Weitz. So I asked, "Why would I choose Pinnacle?" She responded with "We're smaller. We're personal. We care." Good answer. Here at home, I looked at her business card and tried to visit her company's web site. I made the mistake of reading the domain as www.pinnacleconstructiongroup.com, when it's actually www.pinnacleconstructiongrp.com. I wonder how many other people do that? If I could talk to her customers, what would they say? Why did they choose Pinnacle over other commercial contractors? Once they learn those strengths, how can they amplify those for growth? How strong are they in networking with collateral businesses, such as architectural firms? How can they deepen their personal approach in those relationships? People like doing business with those they can consider friends. If I were them, I would blow that angle wide open. Wade Den Hartog, of Association of Business and Industry Foundation 
Wade has a great story. ABI is a business advocate here in Iowa's capitol. He works for the foundation. From the web site, "High school students from across the state of Iowa, and parts of Illinois, attend Business Horizons, a week-long camp where they run their own mock business. Students interact with business leaders to learn about the free enterprise system and work in teams. With volunteer mentors, they design a marketing plan, create a television commercial and deliver an investor presentation." Very cool. Wade comes across very human and engaging and I bet he's quite good at what he does. But his business card doesn't reflect the foundation's generosity of spirit at all, nor does it teach the mission as given above. I told Wade that as a kid, I had five paper routes. At the age of 12, I made money. What can 12-year-olds do for money today except to catch scraps from their parents' table? It would be cool if the foundation continued to explore ways to allow for the entrepreneurial drive to take root early. I need to follow up with Wade. I want to ask that question and chase that. Andy Drish
Andy and a partner, both Drake University students, have developed a program to help students with their personal presentations. But no business card, no company, no contact information. Ginger Johnson, of Snap Creative Works 
In a sea of white business cards, Ginger's was green. A great laugh and a personality you don't forget, Ginger wants to help make businesses better. She and I think along similar lines about business growth, so I'm sure that I'll see her again. Wish she had a web site... but she did promise a blog - real soon! In the absence of a web site, I Googled her, but I get this page. Amanda Brend, of Siemens 
Amanda is a woman in a male engineer's world, and she loves that. She knows that she gets relationships better, is more intuitive, and being a brainy chick, she looks and feels like she is at the top of her game. I pointed her to Tom Peters' web site. I came away from the conversation wondering what's next for her. Anthony Marinaro, of Out of Box 
Out of Box does event planning. Anthony and I talked a bit of his plans for a web site. He owns the domain - good - and we talked of how he wants to put the menu and other details online. I told him that every business is a good story. How it got started, how it gets business, how it grows. Does he blog? Not yet. But wouldn't a blog about how he approaches each event and how he helps to make it a success market his business well? I think so. David Elliott, of Business Network International 
I have to confess, David's model was the first I heard where I wondered how viable it was in today's climate. For $295 a year, a person can pay dues to be a part of a closed group of people who do business within that circle. He told of being in the sign business years ago and getting $10K in business within that circle. That makes sense. Within the group, they have a strict agenda for each meeting and no outside speakers. I dunno... it seems to me that the more dots I can connect, the stronger a business can be. Maybe I'm missing this one. Abby Tjaden, a pharmaceutical rep 
I asked Abby, "What makes you stand out from the crowd of other pharmaceutical reps?" Her answer: her appearance. "I'm tall and blond. I'm hard to forget." That's true. I think this was the only time that I felt I talked more about what I do more than the other person talked about themselves. Mandy Van Maanen, Garrison Organization 
Mandy comes across down-to-earth and self-assured. Her job is executive recruiting within the insurance industry. How do you succeed, I queried. Her answer was kind of mystic. I got the impression that she's quite intuitive and that she sizes people up quickly. She's been doing this for 8 years. Garrison isn't a firm of which I've heard. I asked if she knew much about her competitors, and her nonchalance made my question seem irrelevant. Lauren, a government employee
My final conversationalist was Lauren, who insisted that I not take her picture. She works rather high up in the government here in Iowa and would like to run for office someday. I suggested that she get her future domain early - that it would prove to be a benefit later for her when she was ready to run. But she seemed hesitant. We talked of campaigns and the phenomenon of Jesse Ventura, who ran for governor of Minnesota with comparatively no money and won. I said that I thought the Internet and his use of grassroots tactics spelled his success. She countered that and insisted that it was the same-day registration of 18- to 25-year-olds attracted to his fame as a wrestler that put him over the top. Here in Iowa, politicians are particularly clueless about the use of Internet campaigning. What makes a candidate buzzworthy? Did our newly elected governor in Iowa win because he was a Democrat not associated with Bush, or because he radiated great ideas that resonated with people? I asked her what made for a great campaign. Loyalty, she said. 24/7, stalwart advocacy for the candidate. You could see it in her eyes that she knew this in her heart. It was an interesting night. What I did notice is that some industries/large companies in the area were notably absent. Sometimes music is found in the notes left off the page. | 
