BRG: Good networking, lots of partying
April 28, 2007
 Albert Gil, staffing specialist, left, was a guest at the Business Referral Group wine tasting and business card exchange at The Grape. Next to him is Eli Ristine of Pan Florida Realty, the BRG president, and Adam Weirich of AXA Advisors, with wife Lee. |
Considering that the Business Referral Group has only 34 members, there sure were a lot of people at the group’s free wine-tasting networking event at The Grape, the wine bar in the Village of Merrick Park. The little wine bar was overflowing with people as prospective members, friends and even relatives joined in the three-hour event.
Since BRG members have lunch together every Tuesday at City Cellar in Coral Gables, you would think they would get sick of each other. But no, they are constantly partying. These are fun people!
My wife and I joined BRG in November 2005 as it held its annual installation dinner on a one-night cruise to nowhere, a shakedown cruise on the new Norwegian Jewel, put together by member Louise Gross of Wylly’s Professional Travel. Everyone had a great time, and much bonding took place over that 24-hour period.
BRG members recently attended a theatre party at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre to see “La Cage Aux Folles.” While they were there, they went upstairs to the theater lobby to support a charity event being hosted by one of the BRG members, Dr. Stephen Morris, the optometrist in the group.
Then last week there was the “BRG Night Out at Chihuly” at Fairchild Tropical Garden, preceded by a tailgate picnic in nearby Matheson Hammock park.
In December, BRG members again will take a short cruise, this time for three nights on the Majesty of the Seas.
With all this face time, the members and their families obviously get to know each other well. BRG is one of those leads groups where there is one member per industry. Members are expected not only to do business with each other, but also to recommend each other outside the group
For Dominic Lamberti of Padgett Business Services, one of the BRG founders, this works well. He says that perhaps a quarter of his business can be traced to BRG members, either directly or through their referrals, which is exactly how a leads group is supposed to work.
Lamberti was one of eight founders who broke away from another organization to create BRG in 1999. According to another of the founders, Derek Cohen of Raymond James & Associates, that group had national ties, and the feeling was that they were paying hefty national dues and getting little in return. Of the eight who began BRG, six are still active eight years later.
BRG also has been successful in attracting medical specialists. In addition to Dr. Morris, BRG also boasts a medical doctor, a dentist and a chiropractor. The internist, Dr. Robert Thomas, came to The Grape event with his wife and new son Ethan, just a week old at the time, to meet his BRG friends.
Eli Ristine of Pan Florida Realty, this year’s BRG president, brought her mother, Elizabeth Trelles Alvarez, to The Grape party. Actually, I first met her mother on the BRG cruise, and was glad to see her again.
BRG has lots of energy and lots of fun and members tend to stay a long time, which suggests that business is being done. If you want to explore the possibilities, click the Organizations tab above and visit the BRG website. If you like what you see, get in touch with Sara Granzotti of Juice PLUS+ at 786-521-2800 or sgranzotti@msn.com to determine if your business category already is represented in the group, and to explore the possibility of coming to a lunch meeting.
The Grape, by the way, looks like a great place if you like wine. If you are into Diet Coke, however, they don’t have any. But they sold me an $8 bottle of water to go with the great free appetizers.
