Things to watch for in 2007
January 4, 2007
 West Kendall Business Association holiday party drew a crowd of 130 for dinner and dancing. |
Happy New Year! It’s hard to get back into “work mode,” isn’t it?
2006 was an interesting year in the networking community. What can we look for in 2007?
We saw a continuing trend in 2006 in the development of smaller groups, often centered around a geographic area or a subject. The energy has been flowing in this direction for some time. Not that people are giving up on the big chambers, but they are joining and forming smaller group in increasing numbers. Now, just about everyone belongs to a large group and at least one small group, sometimes a half-dozen.
2006 brought us the West Kendall Business Association and the Cutler Bay Business Association. Both have developed a personality and a following.
West Kendall was the success story of 2006. By year’s end, it topped 100 members, was getting 90-100 regularly attending monthly lunch meetings at Signature Gardens (good food at a fair price), had a wildly successful sold-out expo, and ended the year with a party for 130. It has drawn an audience from far outside the West Kendall area because it offers great networking, and people really have fun.
One of the interesting questions for 2007: will West Kendall level off, or will the dramatic growth continue, fueled by a geography where it seems a new shopping center pops up just about every week? Count on Jorge Pena of AFLAC, entering a second term as president, to keep things moving.
Cutler Bay’s success was more modest. It has a friendly little core group, but still struggles with finding a home for its lunch meetings. Recent meetings have been at RJ Gators, where I received The Worst Networking Meal Ever. Given a choice of chicken or fish, I ordered the fish. It came on a bed of black beans and rice (whatever happened to peas and carrots?) I tried cutting the fish with a fork, and when that didn’t work I tried the knife. And when that didn’t work I sent it back and traded for the chicken, which at least was pre-sliced. The only redeeming thing I can say is that the meal was free, underwritten by sponsors.
You would think that a restaurant, given the opportunity, would show off its food service, in the hope of winning repeat business for business lunches and family dinners. RJ Gators instead has turned off a lot of people. Question for 2007: Will Cutler Bay Business Association find a good place to have its meetings? It has tried a few meetings at the new OC’s on Old Cutler Road, and while the place has drawbacks, owner Mike Pace generally serves a decent meal.
My previous candidate for Worst Meal was the Perrine Cutler Ridge Palmetto Bay Rotary meetings at Tony Roma’s. But I’m told that has improved, and I need to attend a couple of meetings to check it out.
If you are wondering about my vote for Best Meal, that would go to the Palmetto Bay Business Association, which meets at Fleming’s in Pinecrest. Always an excellent meal for an inexpensive price, as owner Andy Hall offers members discount coupons to return for dinner, and really shows off the restaurant’s quality. Is food important to a networking organization? Palmetto Bay tripled its membership from 50 to 150 since moving to Fleming, and regularly gets 90-100 for lunch. So yes, food is a very important component of an organization’s success.
Another interesting question for 2007 is how will the Pinecrest Business Association do under new leadership? Kevin Charlton of Strictly Trailers becomes the president this year, and there is every indication that he will shake things up. Meeting attendance has dropped in recent years, but we can count on Kevin to make things interesting. I will certainly be in the audience to see what happens.
There is much overlap among these organizations. I can think of a number of people who belong to all of them. If you want to try a meeting, check the Events Page for details. If you want to know more about the group, check the Organizations Page.
