Stranger in the room

I was a stranger in the room last week for the first time in many years. I know that’s something many of you face on a regular basis, so perhaps my experience might prove helpful to you.

Dominic Lamberti, Padgett Business Services, treasurer of the Business Referral Group, welcomes potential members Natasha Bravo, occupational therapist, left, and Onelia Collazo Mendive, Coral Gables Gazette, to the after-hours BRG event.

In the beginning, I was having a hard time deciding last week between two conflicting after-hours events: the Chamber South event at On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, or the Business Referral Group party at Anacapri on Ponce, to introduce potential new members to the organization. I heard afterwards that both were well-attended, but I ended up going to neither.

Instead, I spent the week at our vacation home in Ocala, where we ultimately will retire. I noticed that the local chamber there, the Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce, was having an after-hours event, so I decided to go. Why not? Maybe I will do some business after I move, but even if I decide to really retire and not have a business there, networking is also great for meeting the business community and finding all of the services I will need.

It was a good opportunity to practice the basic networking skills. I go to so many events in Miami that I always know many people. Even when I go to a group for the first time, I can always count on knowing a couple of people from elsewhere.

It has been a long time since I’ve been a stranger in the room. As you know, it’s never a comfortable experience. But if you follow the networking basics, you will do OK.

The event was at the Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, which was just as nice as it sounds. I drove to the guard gate and said: “Is the chamber event here?” and he replied: “Yes, the clubhouse is a mile down that road.”

The place was packed! Easily 300 people. Wow! Overwhelming! Where do you begin?

I saw a woman with a green ribbon on her name tag. “You look important,” I said, and that began a conversation with Heidi Meeks, vice president of Compass Bank. Turns out she is an ambassador, there to greet newcomers. Also, Dennis Pfeiffer of Orkin Pest Control was greeting newcomers at the door, and proved very helpful during my visit.

In all, during the two hours, I met several real estate agents and bankers, a computer repair person, two house cleaning services, the owner of a comedy club, a financial advisor, the sales manager for Dale Carnegie and someone who operates a high-end limo service. I got invited to join several other networking groups and the chamber’s marketing committee. Not a bad start.

If you want to be successful at networking in a room where you know nobody, follow tried-and-true guidelines. Bring plenty of business cards, develop your 30-second commercial, and be assertive. Have the courage to insert yourself into conversations. All these people know each other, and you can spend the whole event alone in a corner if you don’t step up.

One easy trick: “Is this the end of the drink line?” That starts a conversation, and you have a few minutes to chat while the line waits its turn. You can do that several times.

Another suggestion: Get people talking about themselves. Have a couple of conversation starters. For me, at this event, they were: “I really like this community. How long have you been here?” and “What’s the economy like here? How is your business doing in this downturn?” Then you just have to listen.

Best to know someone who will take charge of you at the event and introduce you around the room, but you will do just fine even if you are all alone.

Chamber group wants more education

Among those attending the Business Skills Workshop reunion at Chamber South were, from left, TK Heatley, First National Bank of South Miami; Larry Barditch, Aqua Marketing; Sara Granzotti, Health Pure & Simple; Ed Gorin, and Adam Ruff, Falconwind Consulting.

There will be no leads group within Chamber South, at least for now.

Participants in the “reunion” meeting of last year’s Business Skills Workshops instead decided that they want more practical education – lots of it – and the group turned into a committee that will plan for this in the future. Adam Ruff of Falconwind Consulting and the Small Business Committee will take the lead on this.

I was surprised by the outcome, since I thought a leads group within the Chamber would make sense. A leads group is a small group, usually one person per industry, that meets frequently (usually weekly), with members taking turns talking about their businesses. It’s an intense networking experience, different from the usual Chamber “large group” networking, and I recommend that everyone belong to at least one big group and one small one.

A leads group within the Chamber would allow members to have both experiences at no additional cost, which would be a significant added benefit to Chamber membership. But the reunion group decided that there were enough networking groups out there, and the real need was for programs that help members improve their business skills, like the programs we did at the Chamber last fall.

Those programs focused on networking and marketing skills, and were interactive and fun. The participants stayed long after the meetings ended, bonding into sort of a leads group, which is why I thought that would be a natural next step. But the participants felt that if they just continued the educational programs, the rest would take care of itself.

So stay tuned for further developments.