BRG successfully mixes business and fun
October 4, 2007
 At the installation banquet at Red Fish Grill, Kemy Michael Aznabay, AmTrust Bank, left, was sworn as the incoming president of BRG. Also pictured are immediate past president Eli Ristine of Pan Florida Realty and attorney Carlos Castillo, president-elect. |
It’s that time of year when the business networking organizations install new board and officers and have parties to celebrate the occasion.
In the smaller organizations, these are family affairs where people who network together all year party with spouses and significant others. It is usually not a comfortable place for an outsider. But when the Business Referral Group invited me to join its annual installation banquet, I accepted immediately because I feel part of the family.
BRG is a leads group that meets for lunch every Tuesday at City Cellar in Coral Gables. Members are expected not only to do business with each other, but to learn about each other’s business so they can make referrals.
I interact with many networking groups, and BRG is one that has lots of fun. The members really like each other. You can tell. The slogan is, “Where Friendships Create Business.”
My wife and I got to know BRG two years ago when the installation banquet was on a one-night cruise to nowhere. The food and service were terrible, the room was awful, yet we had a great time. It was a real bonding experience and when the 24 hours were over, we had some new friends.
Now BRG has scheduled a three-night cruise in December, put together by travel agent Louise Gross, and we are going again. Louise missed the installation banquet, being in Indonesia visiting her daughter and grandchildren. She came home long enough to do laundry and pick up Carol Alexander, and they are off to some new exotic location. (I hope I don’t have any tax problems over the next couple of weeks. Carol is my accountant.)
Anyway, the BRG installation banquet was at Red Fish Grill, where the food is great but the bathrooms are in an outhouse and apparently Coral Gables won’t let them build a covered walkway. Thank goodness the rain had stopped!
Eli Ristine of Pan Florida Realty stepped down after a great year as president, and Kemy Michael Aznabay of AmTrust Bank is the new president.
Dominic Lamberti of Padgett Business Services swore in the new officers and board, having them pledge to “serve cheerfully, willingly and to the highest standard of sobriety” and “to sacrifice all my free time, ignore my spouse and children, and give all my money to the BRG.”
Commercial attorney Carlos Castillo is the new president-elect, and other officers include Lamberti, Gross, Roxana Rauseo of ADP Small Business Services, Sara Granzotti of Health…Pure and Simple, public relations specialist Connie Crowther, Julie Rico of Rainbow Reproductions and accountant Ricki Mercado.
If you want to know more about BRG, go to the Organizations page and click on the logo. Don’t be put off if you business category appears to be taken, because sometimes you will be surprised. There are enough attorneys in BRG to start their own little bar association, for example, each representing a different specialty of law.
If you want to know if you are eligible for membership, call Sara Granzotti, the membership chair, 786-521-2800. First lunch meetings are free to eligible business people who want to check out the group. See the Events page for details of upcoming meetings.
