Come Together
We want people to get together, now more than ever.
Tools are tools, what is important about those tools is how effective they are in getting people together.
We have spent the week at Biznik focusing on how we can get more Bizniks together. As well as those who are not yet Biznik members, and people who may never be Biznik members but are still cool people.
Obviously, the importance for us is accountability, and though that can absolutely be achieved in a Biznik event which follows all of the guidelines—we are opening our minds to see how we can extend the Biznik Way* to non Biznik events.
We are hugely grateful to all the Biznik members who have diligently hosted, and continue to host Biznik events. Our hope is that by restructuring the calendar we will fill a variety of Biznik needs:
- More attendance at your Biznik (and non Biznik) events
- Spreading the Biznik Way of networking to a larger audience
- Event promotion for events outside Biznik that you think are awesome, and want other Bizniks to know about
It has been an intense week, but we are narrowing in on a solution that meets the needs of folks across the country.
* The Biznik Way of networking is an ethos. Biznik is not a group of potential clients and customers to sell to, it’s a community of professional peers to engage with. We value collaboration over competition and a focus on relationships over a focus on referrals. Biznik Events follow a “95/5 Rule” that limits blatant self promotion and sales by the event host to 5% of the total time and/or content of the event. Biznik is business networking that doesn’t suck. That’s a lot to live up to.
July 15th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
How exciting. I am so thrilled you all are putting some focus on this area. I do my best to promote my monthly Biznik events but feel like there has got to be a way to let me Biznik network know about my events and would love to let more of the Biznikkers who are not in my personal network know.
Our monthly meeting is designed to help business owners connect, grow their business and grow their own knowledge. Any help you can give us to bring up the attendance is much appreciated!
Blissfully, Chrystal
July 15th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Yes.
95 to 5.
That is Inbound Marketing at its best and works within the new culture that is surging ahead with great success.
The new movers and shakers know this well and say “Give 90% away and make business grow on the remaining 10%”
Hubspot is a believer in education and value.
Personal Brain is another example.
Their are many others.
I like the Biznik system that encourages similar principles.
In a book coming out in this next week, another Biznik member and I will prove the power of Biznik principles, collaboration and creating more value.
Yes, in all things, there needs to be a win-win to continue.
In the hosted events, that win-win can come in many forms. Monetary, time, knowledge, collaborative projects. The issues are not with the platform or the tools available… the issue lies with the skill and will of those wielding the tool.
The virtual world is moving forward quickly and free webinars and social sites available at every click. Standing out in a crowd has never been easy and the larger crowd drowns the voices of even the hardest working folks.
Thought:
Find the best on Biznik whose events represent excellence, who support: business growth, education, and collaboration. Use those as example to the rest of the world of what is possible. Problem: Without a measured quality of life improvement to point to as a result of a social media site with testimonials, it will be an uphill battle.
The average Biznik member will not rent a first class hotel, serve wine and food delights and have amazing speakers. These are amazing but how about more templates for success for others to follow? OR a method / system to highlight the best of the best even more? Not based on quantity or membership level but based on quality and principles.
I will continue to offer Biznik member only “specials” to encourage participation and give special support to Biznik members beyond the norm. Great people. Great principles. The idea of creating: 1+1=3 and 4+4=12 within the Biznik community is possible and I look forward to seeing more.
I would not worry about “the importance for us is accountability”. There are hundreds of options online and offline to create events and connect with people. Each has its rules and boundaries, strengths and weaknesses.
An organization with a higher purpose will not make everyone happy and hopefully the principles will not lost. It would be great to have great examples and a rating system for the event holders as their are to the articles based on the principles and rules. In that way, the “police” is NOT internal within the staff but instead from feedback of the community.
My concern would be with the speed of the internet with real time searchability online vs. the slower controlled pace of a system as it is. Articles and events not being found online by those searching is definitely a negative.
How to have good attendance at events is an Inbound Marketing skill. Spend more time, effort and energy into education of how to maximize the system (sample: Polish Your Profile by Pete) and my mantra: Knowledge Empowers so Learn & Teach ™ will prove once more that when you put good tools into the hands of people with high will, magic can happen.
They say brevity is more powerful. Oh well. Missed brevity on this one.
Thank you for what you do.
Mike
@michaelhartzell
July 15th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Matt, you made my day! I must give you, Lara and the rest of the Biznik team much credit and respect for listening to the feedback with an open mind and yet keeping “The Biznik Way” intact.
From the many conversations I have enjoyed with dozens of other Biznik members, I believe you are on absolutely the right track with the direction of this. Biznik represents a “Cool” approach to business collaboration and creating a way for us all to introduce others to this “coolness” benefits all involved.
As you get closer to rollout, I encourage you to establish benchmarks and share them with us all. Things like membership growth, average meeting attendance, % of shows vs. no-shows at events etc.. Then let us all see the progress and share in the excitement as Biznik experiences the next wave of growth stimulated by reaching out into the broader business community and letting them experience a Biznik event for themselves.
Once again, congratulations on your progress and let me know how I can help!
July 16th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Hey Matt, this is great. In a nutshell, Miles said it all.
And yes, for some future events I have been mulling around in my mind, this will truly be an asset. Can’t wait to see the rollout and the detals. Thanks to you and the whole Biznik staff.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Thank you for the encouragement! We’re very excited about this solution.
For those not familiar with some of the background on this conversation – Biznik’s in-person events must meet some strict guidelines in order to be published to the main calendar. One of them is the The “100% Biznik” rule that requires the event host to agree to collect 100% of the RSVPs prior to the event through our web site. The result is that attendees know ahead of time through the event listing, who’s going to be there enabling them to begin networking with one another online prior to the event. After the event, everyone in attendance is listed on the same page, strengthening the power of the social network because it provides a seamless tool for furthering the conversation with those you met.
However, the 100% Biznik rule has not only been an obstacle in fledgling communities outside the Pacific NW where the membership is too small to fill an event all by itself. And in Seattle, the rule has resulted in missed opportunities to promote some fantastic events that the Biznik community would have benefited from knowing about.
The Beyond Biznik calendar is a place in the main calendar where we can publish outside networking and educational events. The listing will contain a feature that will enable event attendees to say they’re coming and thereby connect with the other Bizniks both before and after the event. The editor of the Biznik calendar will be looking for events that compliment the Biznik ethos and follow our general 95/5 rule that 95% of the event be helpful and relevant to a general audience made up of those growing a small business.
@Michael, in response to: “Find the best on Biznik whose events represent excellence, who support: business growth, education, and collaboration. Use those as example to the rest of the world of what is possible.” and “… how about more templates for success for others to follow?” Many helpful resources including best practices that cite successful events in the past currently reside in the right column of the Create-an-Event form. I agree that more effort could be put into some comprehensive guides for hosting an event.
@Miles, we will certainly share the success of the program when that success has made itself evident.
July 17th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Thanks Lara.
So much .. so much to see.
The tools and email reminders along the way for creating events have be of great value!
thank you!
Mike