New England Business Expo Rocks!

I learned one very important piece of information at last Thursday’s business expo. One bit of data that is essential for anyone doing networking on a large scale like the expo. I thought about putting this information in an ebook and selling it ala Robert Allen (with the usual upsells, of course) but I’ve decided that this must be given to the people… free of charge. What is it?

You gotta have good comfortable shoes.

I spent six hours at the expo mostly on my feet and I came home limping. I symphathize with you folks who were there all day. I just hope you had great shoes.

So Many People, So Little Time

Other than brief moments of culinary ecstasy (in other words, stuffing my face with the great food on hand), I was talking to anyone who was willing to be networked. One of the first people I ran into was Peter Caputa of WhizSpark, the man of the hour. I blame him for my sore feet. If it wasn’t for Pete’s ability to pack a house, I could have left early. If you know of anyone who needs to put butts in seats, contact him or check out his website.

I will not attempt to cover the entire event in one post but there were a few key people that stood out for me. First of all, I am always captivated by magic and Jason Kallio of SayItWithMagic.com was doing his thing. He was at the combined StrategicRemarketing.com and YourPageToday.com booth with Stephen Paulin, auctioneer extraordinaire, and Jo Erickson, expert web development person. Did you know that Jason does educational programs at schools for bully control, fire safety and self-esteem? Jo was her usual upbeat self — she seemed in her element at the show. Even though she ate all the Kit Kat bars at their booth, I won’t hold a grudge.

Michael Langford of Course Pilot Financial (another person with a lot of energy) and I had a nice conversation. An easy guy to make friends with, I already received a follow up note in the mail from him (hand-written). Joining in the fun was Clarissa Rodriguez from Clear Road Associates, a guest of Roy Sequeira. Clarissa was looking for me as the only other Rodriguez on the list. She bills herself and her associates as “productivity architects.”

I’m Not Done Yet!

I’ve got a fistful of business cards with some memorable encounters behind them. I’ll talk about them in my next post. I better hurry, though. I’ve got another fistful of business cards from the Corridor Nine Speed Networking event today that I’d like to talk about. Never a dull moment!

Art, Wine, Networking… and Armor

I was one of many that attended the well-attended Art, Wine, and Networking event on June 20 at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester. Someone from the museum came up to me and asked me if I had ever been there before and I replied, “I’ve never even heard of it before. I guess that means ‘mission accomplished’ for you!”

It was a lot of fun (OK, I like networking events!) and I ran into several people mentioned in my last blog. Of course, Peter Caputa was there, the mastermind behind the evening. He and his company, WhizSpark, are destined for great things. But the very first guy I ran into, standing outside the front door next to a Jaguar (or was it a Ja-gew-wah), was Rick Roberge of Dave Kurlan & Associates. This guy is simply everywhere! More on him and Dave Kurlan later.

Once inside, I was (of course) drawn to the food, which was top drawer. Amanda Graves of Amanda Cooks, Inc. was the main caterer and boy can she cook! And if that wasn’t enough, newcomers Cheryl Maloney and Kim Anger of Blue Hydrangea Bake Shop were handing out the sweets (I tried to keep my networking close to their table). They’ve just started their business recently so the best of luck to them.

My business consultant, Roy Sequeira of Sequeira Consulting, was there working the crowd. He’s usually the tallest guy there so he’s easy to spot. If you are in need of help in your business, Roy’s your man. He’s one of the smartest people I know. He introduced me to Lindsy Parker of Lindsy Parker Media. You wouldn’t normally hear the word “shy” and her name mentioned in the same sentence. We hit it off quite well and have plans to get together to see where our companies can help each other.

Kenneth Perry of Intergration, Inc. and I had a little “geek” chat. His company specializes in software development and EDI consulting and is based in Connecticut. While in geek mode, I decided to say hi to Larry Altobelli of Allatar Hardware and Software Solutions. After a sushi break, I had a conversation with Leo Manning of Kenai Computer Forensics, the “Gil Grissom” of PCs. Talk about geekspeak!

Before turning into a real digit-head, I decided to venture over to some of the sponsors’ tables. I had a very short chat with Nancy Fredrickson of Edward Jones. (I had a longer talk with her a few days later when I picked up the gift basket I won!) Did you know that she started business on September 10, 2001? (the day before… well, you know). Ace photographer Jay Groccia of Onsite Studios and I were asking a very competent Neil Anastas of New Look Auto Detail a lot of questions. If you saw the Jag in front, that was his work. By the way, I won the $25 discount from them although I probably wasn’t the only one.

The I-Gotta-Sing Guy, John Abbondanza of Vision Care Specialists, sang a selection from La Boheme exclusively for Chris Tzellas of Corridor Nine and then a short ditty to all to announce one of the raffle prizes. John is a fascinating guy. Get him talking about behavorial optometry, his specialty. You won’t be sorry.

I had a nice conversation with Kristen who works for a real estate attorney. A sharp gal but didn’t get her particulars because she didn’t have a business card to give me, which is how I remember all this stuff. Kristen, if you’re reading this, send me that email you promised!

Did you see the photographic artwork at the end of the hall? It was by Robert Balogh and his photographs were very compelling. Check out his work and upcoming shows at his website. His wife, Rita Coco of Rita Coco Consulting, was by his side and networking her own gig, which is performance, training and marketing consulting.

Someone I didn’t meet but had a nice impact: The basket I won was put together by Sharon Kuchenbecker of Express Yourself. It was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the wine paraphernalia will be very useful. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go and have some cheese and crackers right now.

Finally, I saw some of the very same people the following morning at the Dave Kurlan sales seminar. Dave has sales down to a science! His 2-hour seminar was just the very tip of the iceberg and it made me hunger for more. If you’ve never talked to Rick Roberge about the Dave Kurlan sales program, do it. I’ve ordered Dave’s book and I’m meeting with a Kurlan associate next month to talk more about the program.

And now, off subject…

Does anyone know a good bass player? Call me! More on that in the coming weeks.

Great Fun at Worcester Crown Plaza Business After Hours

I had a terrific time meeting new people, newly-made friends, and finding out about other people’s dreams for their businesses. It was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Worcester where everything is top drawer. They even managed to bring incredible weather. I don’t really know how they did that…

I ran into Jimmie Ames from Bay State Savings Bank, newly crowned Ambassador of the Year for Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce (in my PDA, they are simply known as C9). Jim’s a great guy and responsible for signing me up for the Worcester Chamber. I met Julieane Frost of Frost Manufacturing, a company that’s been around for 115 years! We had a discussion about the many items she offers, so many that you will have to go to her website to see them all. We had a nice discussion about search engine strategies.

On the geek side (and there were many of us there!), self-proclaimed geek Trave Harmon of Triton Technologies gave a short lecture on the wonders of Bluetooth technology. After seeing his shirt and tie, I wished I had brought sunglasses. Nate Harris from New Perspective Web Solutions was introduced by my new friend Peter Caputa as someone who is very sharp. Chris Tankis from PC-Plus Technology Solutions and I had a nice little talk but he couldn’t do anything for me regarding the Red Sox/Yankees tickets drawing that night.;) Another new friend, Jo Erickson from Your Page Today, brought her enthusiasm to the event. She and I have already talked about future collaborations. With Jo there, not far away was Stephen Paulin from Strategic REmarketing. Stephen gave Steve Strella from The Alternative Board and me a demonstration of various auctioneering methods. Stephen does a lot of online auctions with incredible state-of-the-art software developed by his business partner. Steve Strella does great work with businesses who are starting up or in transition. He says his main purpose is to make the business owner’s vision synch up with what they do.

Other people I met are Larry Altobelli from Allatar Hardware and Software Solutions, Charlie Cary from Biomass Combustion Systems, and Tim Demski from Choice One Communications. It was fun talking with everybody and, as usual, stayed after the food and bar were taken away. The networking after the event is always fun, especially when someone like Rick Roberge is involved. If you’ve never met Rick or Peter Caputa, then come to the Art, Wine and Networking event on Tuesday, June 20 at 6 p.m. at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester. Peter tells me there are 200 people signed up to attend. KJ Baaron’s will be serving the wine and my friend, Amanda Graves from Amanda Cooks will be catering. Don’t miss it. I’ll see you there!