12/10

Hello B2B Group! Here it is the New Year and Carol is just getting around to writing this update. Happy New Year to you all and we, as a group, are preparing for a prosperous one aren't we!

It was a great "party" at our last meeting. We had 19 enthusiastic participants in our gift exchange and each one of us went away with a smile on our faces. It was great to hear Ken from GSI commenting on how he believes our Downtown B2B Group is the most dynamic networking organization that he has been involved with! What a super compliment to each and everyone of us.

It was a busy month for networking too...9 LEADS SINCE OUR LAST MEETING (YIPPEE!). All of these LEADS are listed on Google at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA Check it out 'cause it is the most exciting thing that I have sent to you in the new year. Yes, the only thing but I have never professed to be an "exciting" author!

The group also discussed the appointment of a new Chair Person, Vice Chair, and Treasurer. It was agreed that I would move from Vice Chair to Chair for 2009. We will be voting on a Vice Chair and Treasurer at our next meeting which will be held on Wed. 1/14. Please make sure to attend this meeting so that we can have everyone's input on these important positions within the group.

Alrighty then....see you NEXT WEDNESDAY!

10/22 Meeting

It seems I've been lagging behind a bit on the posting of minutes... sorry about that!

10/22:

Hello All! Speaking of Re-Capping....looks like we are all going to need our furry caps here soon. Brrrr. We can look forward to hot soup at Luigi's next Wednesday though!

As for the last meeting we had 19 attendees. Good show! We had 2 guests, Steven Brower from Farmers Insurance and Colleen Gould who is with GSI. We also welcomed Brent Runge from Access Telcom as a new member. So happy that you joined the group Brent! We are certain that we can send many fabulous leads your way.

Leads were the theme of the day with Mark from the Wonderful Spokane Public Library giving one lead and receiving one from Bob from Copeland Architecture and Construction and one from Kyle with Standard Digital Print Co, Mark sent a lead Clint's way at Western States Insurance, Teresa from Mission Possible kindly referred a friend to Grant with Welcome New Neighbor and I too (Parkside Physical Therapy) sent one to Mr. Pond. You can get the full run down at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA

I would also like to thank Teresa from Mission Possible for making a visit to our office with her handsome son Greyson and her husband. Mr. Greyson is an aspiring model and actor....it would be fun to hear alittle more about that at the upcoming meeting. But, thank you for the visit Teresa!

We did not have a presentation this past meeting and are looking for member to step up for dates. Especially you newer members! Alisha with GSI did update us on a few activities that will be taking place soon. 11/7 is the Breakfast Meeting at Quality Inn, 11/14 is the Economic Forecast meeting. The emails we all get from Greater Spokane Incorp. are always full of activities that will keep us all busily doing business. If you have not looked at the website lately-DO!

Guess that is the news of the day. Take care all and we will see you on Wednesday at 11:30!

9/10 Meeting

Hello Everyone, Hope you all are well and happy. We had an informative and "MOVING" meeting on 9/10 with Bill Kilian presenting from American Van Lines. Bill did a fantastic job of giving us a taste of history concerning the moving industry, how Bill became involved in this line of business and how he loves his work and the people in the community he serves. From all us in the group Bill thankyou-it was fun to hear your story! We all know the moving company we can suggest to our friends, acquaintances and family when they are planning a move or need storage space.

We had a rousing group of 17 at the meeting with 4 referrals passed to me to be recorded. The attendance and these referrals are noted on the google site at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA&gid=7

The group was reminded by Alisha that we have another little competition going. The person who brings the most visitors that actually become members of the Downtown B2B in Oct. and Nov. wins the illustrious prize of a free B2B MEMBERSHIP! Now there is a prize worth throwing your full energy into obtaining! Get those invitations out one and all and lets keep our group not only growing but thriving.

Hope to see each of you (and your buddies of course) for the meeting on Wednesday 10/8/08 at Luigi's.

6/25 Recap

Hello B2B Members and Guests. It was great to see you all at the meeting on Wednesday. Such a nice big group that some of us got "scouched" over to a table at the side! Sorry about that Cheryl-Ann, Sarah and Brent.

We had a quick go around the table to allow everyone the opportunity to tell what new and exciting things they and their place of business are offering this early summer. We got to hear a little from our guest Brent Runge representing Access Telcom. He is fairly new to Access Telcom but has worked in the field of telecommunication for over 8 years. I personally know that Access Telcom has some fabulous products as I tested -- and our office purchased -- a fancy little headset that works remotely from our phones and it has been very beneficial for ME! I just love it. So...we would like to welcome you to our group Brent. We hope you enjoyed your visit with us and will be lunching with us every 2 weeks as a member.

Gina, back from her exciting trip to Africa looking happy and ready to make all of our homes and businesses more beautiful! She gave us an excellent presentation (with a stage and everything!) showing us unique carpets, luscious glass tiles, and new eco-friendly countertops that she is able to offer to her clients for updating their homes and offices. Gina takes the time to go the clients homes to find out exactly what it is they are hoping to accomplish. She then puts together a package to accomplish the tasks set forth and then gets the necessary contractors to complete the job. She has all the contact with the contractors and reports to the client. It sounds heavenly! No job is too small she states and she offers the first hour consult for free, after that it is $75/hour.

I know that we will all tell our buddies and family members about Gina and her wonderful shop.

And speaking of leads...GRANT IS THE BIG WINNER FOR LEADS GENERATED! He had a whopping total of 17 and so will walk out of the next meeting with quite a bit of cash. I do not have the money count but I am sure that Dean who is in charge of the big bucks will hand it over to Grant on July 9th during our next meeting. CONGRATS GRANT AND A BIG THANK YOU FOR LETTING OTHERS KNOW ABOUT ALL THE GREAT B2B MEMBERS! Cindy Guthrie and myself we tied as the runners up with 10 apiece. Pretty darn good if I say so myself!

Please check out all the specifics at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA&gid=7

6/11 Recap

Here we go: The attendance and leads (10 of 'em!) for the meeting can be found here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA&hl=en (make sure that you get to the 6/11/08 tab).

As we didn't have a presenter for day we had a bit of extra time to chat about some of the other things that are important in our lives, including the following from Dianne and Roger:

Officeteam, a division of Robert Half International, is having our 5th annual SUIT DRIVE to support "OUR SISTERS CLOSET" the the YWCA. We are accepting donations of dry cleaned women's suits and any other career/interview type of clothes. We are also in need of gently used shoes and accessories. These donations will support the cause of helping women in the local community who need help getting back into the work force and have no other means of getting the wardrobe together for such events. It is a great program and 100% of the donations stay here in Spokane.

Donations will be accepted at the Officeteam office at 601 W. Riverside Ave #960 OR we would be happy to pick them up at your place of employment. The suit drive runs from July 21st thru Aug. 1st.

ALSO: The downtown National Exchange Club is the oldest service club in Spokane. We are celebrating our 60 year anniversary. We have an annual CRAB FEED that takes place the 1st week of December.

We are seeking donations of services, art work, and items that will get bids. you will get company or individual recognition for any donations you make. We typically make 30k+ in one night and 100% of the profits get split up between Vanessa Behan, SCAN and Children's Home Society.
Please contact Dianne LaValley for any additional detail. This is a great event and it is amazing how so many Spokane folks get out for this event and are very generous! I would like to begin the collection of donations as soon as possible. I am happy to pick up any donations from you.

And as if that weren't enough, Roger noted that he is on the board of the Union Gospel Mission and that both Classy Rack locations (http://www.ugmspokane.org/ClassyRack.aspx) are accepting donations and have some fabulous clothes and household items for even more fabulous prices. The proceeds go to support the Union Gospel Mission.

Thanks for passing along the info, Dianne and Roger, and thanks as well for being such models of engaged citizens!

Membership Update
On the guest front, we had Pam Lilla from US Bank, Jenna Buckley from KXLY, and Laurie Ramsey from Paine Financial. Laurie will no longer be a guest as she has joined the group, as has Teresa Bacal from JTGrey. Hooray!

That's a wrap. Hope to see y'all on Wednesday, June 25th.

~Mark

5/14 Recap

Hello to the Wonderful B2B Group,


A HEARTY thank you to all of you who trusted my cooking and braved finding Parkside Physical Therapy to attend the 5/14 B2B meeting! Erin, Brad, Rand and I just had a great time playing hosts and hostesses and being able to have you all see and hear about the services that our physical therapists can and are HAPPY to provide. We hope that each of you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

The group had 6 leads handed in during the meeting. Hopefully each of us is keeping one another in mind when we hear of needs or wants that our friends and family have! Who is responsible for these wonderful leads and who received them is posted at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA&gid=7


AND...congratulations to Cheryl Ann Millsap and Spokane Metro Magazine! Cheryl Ann and the Spokane Metro Magazine group had an absolutely beautiful and well attended launch Wednesday, May 21 at the Fox. Thank you for inviting the B2B Group Cheryl Ann. It was so much fun to meet so many people that are such a vital part of the Spokane "Scene"! We all wish you all the success in your new endeavor!

4/9 Recap

Hi to all of the B2B Group! I must say that I am finding our group more "rousing" every week. It is so exciting to be a part of. We want to give a hearty welcome to both of our new members. Cheryl-Anne Millsap, editor of Spokane Metro Magazine and to Renae Allen of Global Credit Union. We are so happy to have both of you join our fantastic group.

Mark started out the meeting with a discussion concerning when the meetings should start, how the time should be used and when we will adjourn. It was decided that the meetings would begin at 11:30 AM and would end at 12:30 allowing us to mingle afterward. As soon as everyone is seated we will begin our 30-60 second explanation of our businesses. If there is a presentation this will be next and scheduled to end at 12:30.

And then we went on to follow that script to the letter. Everyone introduced themselves and their businesses. We were introduced to Cheryl Ann Millsap and she explained to us that she will be the editor for the new magazine Spokane Metro. A beautiful, slick papered, "coffee table" type magazine that will give us interesting profiles about the people of Spokane, businesses in Spokane that have a special niche and HOPEFULLY a B2B group that is excited to be center stage so to speak! Renae Allen of Global Credit Union told us about her work and how she has much to offer the small business owner and their employees. She welcomed all of us to give her a ring and find out how she can help us and our workmates.

We also had the pleasure of being introduced our guest Teresa Bacal from JTGREY. We learned about her job as a planner of large corporate events and meetings. She explains that she finds speakers for these events-it sounds like a great opportunity for all of us to learn about the what great things will be happening in our area. Thank you for joining us ladies.

Many of our members have been EXTREMELY busy giving out leads. We had 7 leads turned in last week (did everyone turn theirs in on the referral form?). Everyone please check out the spread sheet that tells about all of the particulars of leads, visits and attendance at

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA

Keep up the good work gang. We will see you all on 4/23!

Tah~ Carol Reynolds, Parkside Physical Therapy