ENG Meeting December 8, 2005

Jack Heyden of Gray Hair Management made a unique and forceful presentation to ENG on Thursday, December 8, 2005 about Networking. Jack has recently co-authored a book with Scott Kane entitled: “Winning the Job Race: Pathways through Transition”.

Jack’s presentation consisted of four parts:

• Networking Groups
• Planners
• Resources
• Methods

Networking Groups

• General Networking
  • ENG-Executive Network Group of Greater Chicago
  • www.engchgo.org
• GHM-Gray Hair Management
  • www.grayhairmanagement.com
• DEN-DuPage Executive Network
  • www.cod-theden.com

Industry Groups

• ChemPharma
  • Jerry Jones (630) 904-3703
• Consumer Products Group
  • Joe Nagle, naglejc@aol.com
• Food Network Group
  • Gail Foster, (630) 691-1455
• Crain’s Chicago Business
  • www.chicagobusiness.com
  • On the left side of the home page is an area labeled “Business Tools”, Click on ‘Join an Organization’, then ‘Industry & Trade Associations’. The list is broken out by industry.
  • There are many groups that can be identified by attend the groups as well as checking the ENG home page.

Entrepreneurial Groups

MEF-Midwest Entrepreneurs Forum

www.gss.net/mef/wheaton_meetings.htm

University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, Entrepreneurial Roundtable www.chicagogsb.edu/alumni/roundtable/

Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC). This website lists many local entrepreneurial groups. www.itec-evanston.org

MIT-EF- Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Enterprise Forum

www.mitefchicago.org/dojo/78/v.jsp

Planners

www.chicagotribune.com/business/local/monday/
http://crainschicago.com/cgi-bin/calendar.pl?date=2004-11-01
www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago-conventions-trade-shows-conferences.htm

Note: If you receive a response that the page cannot be displayed, edit the URL back to *.com, *.org, *.net, or *.edu then follow the path manually.

Resources

Score

SBA

Entrepreneur’s Magazine

Illinois Venture Magazine

Illinois Venture Capital Association

Fortune Small Company

TechVenue.com

The May Report (www.themayreport.com)

I-Street

e-Prairie

American Venture Magazine (www.avce.com)

Great Lakes Entrepreneurs Quest

The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center

The Chicagoland Small Business Events (CSBE) List published by the Coleman Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) DePaul University

Methods

To network you must know your objective:

• Connecting with as many people as possible that may help you.

• Some caveats:

  • Be realistic by fishing in the right pond with the right bait.

  • Always give prior to expecting to get.

  • Be prepared: name tag, business card, resume or handbill, proper attire

Have a well-prepared elevator speech that has four points:

• Who you are

• What you do

• Three problems that you fixed

• What makes you unique

Visit and become one with at least four groups a week. Meet and exchange information with at least twenty people, make arrangements to meet with all those you wish to know better (ten), give and gain two referrals from half (five) of these. Follow-up, follow-up more. Hold yourself accountable or have a teammate do so. Keep a record of your activities and you will notice your activity build to a crescendo. Just about the time you realize that this is harder than working fulltime you will have interviews with prospective employers. Some of these interviews will lead to offers. Only one offer need be accepted to make a successful transition to your next position. Once you land keep networking because your position is likely to last between eighteen and thirty-six months.

Submitted by Karl Randall: karl_randall@alum.wvu.edu