New Web Site on the Way!

Hi all --

Just wanted to let you know that the Library's new web page will be up and running sometime in late January... The new site will be much more concise and easier to navigate. For a sneak peek here is the new home page. I can't wait to show it off!

12/12 Recap

Hello all --

A brief follow-up, with the attendance here (let me know if you can't view it):

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA&gid=7

The big news items for the day:

• Jay Anderson is back with the group and we're thrilled to have him back on board. Welcome back, Jay!
• This was Genia's last B2B meeting as a Greater Spokane, Inc. employee. Starting in January, Genia will have her own business. She will have seven (correct, Genia?) leads groups of her own that she will be operating and managing. Thanks for your effort on behalf of the Downtown B2B, Genia.
• The gift exchange came off without a hitch, save my inability to count to 14... I've got 1-8 down but the rest still confuses me. The spirit of the season award goes to Kyle Klippert for sending an emissary bearing a bottle of wine on his behalf. Kyle, I've got a bottle in return sitting on my desk.

We will be taking the rest of December off and will start back up again on January 9th. I have on my calendar that Petrushka is scheduled to do a presentation while James Hicks is slated to do a table presentation. Let me know, Petrushka and James, if this needs to change.

Finally, as we sit back and drink our chosen drinks for the next few weeks, I have a favor to ask. If everyone could put some thought toward any changes that you might like to see in either the form or function of our group, I'd love to hear them. Email me with ideas, or even better, put your thoughts up for the entire group to consider at our little homestead on the Internet: http://downtownb2b.blogspot.com/

Happy holidays to all and here's to a productive '08!

~Mark

11/28 Recap

Hi all --

The next to last meeting of the year had a turnout with 11 members in attendance, 9 excused absences and 6 members that I didn't hear from -- you can see the guilty parties on the online spreadsheet. Also, 5 leads were passed and graciously received. Related to leads, Paul Hajek came to visit me at the library for a quick tour of the facility and an even briefer showcasing of library resources. Thanks, Paul. The full leads/attendance run-down can be viewed here (make sure you are looking at the 11/28 tab): http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA

We also had 3 guests: Brook Cunningham from the law offices of Paine Hamblen, Dan Edwards from CSK Communications and Jason Rautenkranz from Shred-it. Thanks for coming, guys. If you have any questions about the group, just give Jason, myself or Genia a shout.

As for group business, Jason announced that in a landslide, the group voted to add an extra $10 to our extra membership dues to create a pool for awarding our top leads producer on a semi-annual basis. Members have until the end of February to get their $10 to Dean, our newly appointed treasurer. In all seriousness, cash would be preferred so that Dean doesn't have to deal with cashing checks.

In other news, Geez... I can't think of anything. Oh, wait. I've been elected chair for the coming year! Carol Reynolds will be the new vice-chair, Dean Marshall is our new treasure and Paul Hajek and Petrushka Pavlovich will serve as mentors for new members to the group. As we slip into 2008, I think we should all give a round of applause and thanks to Jason for keeping the group vibrant, engaging and shiny side up. It may be the self-interest kicking in, but I'd like to suggest that we all chip in at our meeting on December 12th and pick up Jason's lunch. Bring an extra buck and we'll be set.

Finally, the meeting on the 12th will be the greedy gift exchange. It seems the standard gift has become a bottle of wine but any gift of $5 - $10 will suffice. Note: as tempting as it might be, this is not a white elephant gift exchange so this is not the time to unload that vase that's been sitting out on the garage shelves for the past 30 years.

That's it. See y'all on the 12th!

11/14 Recap

Hi all --

A good meeting with fourteen members in attendance, seven excused absences and one guest, Daniel Jones of the Spokane Chiefs, brought by John Sutherland. Should you want to see it, the attendance sheet is posted here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pC3IuhtGzGDN4XkuAfah9CA.... let me know if you can't view it (make sure that you are looking at the 11/14 sheet). Everyone was accounted for with the exception of John Gilchrist, Tami Sevier and Trina Olson. If anyone heard from these folks or if they mentioned at some point that they weren't going to be able to make it, do let me know.

Also, if you had any leads to pass along please send them on to me so that I can record them.

There was no presentation at the meeting but Jason and Genia handed out the new B2B rules and regs for 2008. In addition to new rules/regs, Jason is looking for nominations for group officers for 2008. Something to be thinking of for the next meeting...

There was a discussion about rewarding the most prolific leads producer in our group and how best to do that. One suggestion was to have group members toss $1 into a commonly held pool each time they showed up to a meeting without a lead. At the end of each 6 month period, the top lead producer would be awarded the pool. While there was some enthusiasm for the competitive edge that comes with such an arrangement, there was a concern that such a system may feel, on the balance, more punitive rather than rewarding and might take the group in a direction we would not like for it to go.

An alternate suggestion was to raise the yearly cost of B2B membership (to $60?) and the extra funds would be cared for by the group's treasurer. At six month intervals, the top leads producer would get half of the pool. In effect, each member would be contributing $5 every six months for the prize. Want to increase the size of the pot? Bring in new members and watch it grow.

On a related topic, one other suggestion was to provide rewards to (or acknowledgement of) group members who meet one-on-one outside our normal meeting time. The more knowledgeable we are of each other's specialties can only lead to two things: more leads and more productive leads.

But back to the rewards system... If I understood correctly, Jason would like to have group members email him and vote their preference for providing a semi-annual reward to the top lead producer. The two options right now are "Don't Have a Lead? Toss in $1" vs. "Add $10 to the yearly membership cost." Send Jason your vote right now (jason@americanvanservice.com) as we will be instituting this new system at the beginning of the year but we only have two more meetings (11/28/07 and 12/12/07) left in 2007.

Bookkeeping notes: if y'all would be so kind as to change Troy Watson's email address to troy@printelements.net, then our group's messages will go directly to him instead of the general contact email for the business. On the good news front, Genia shared that Jay Anderson is making a fabulous recovery and plans on rejoining the group in December.

And to wrap up, there are two thing to pass I'd like to pass along: this message will be posted online (http://downtownb2b.blogspot.com/) where comments/suggestions can be made. Secondly, I promised to send along the link to the streaming audio music databases that I mentioned during my 30 second plug, so here it is: http://www.spokanelibrary.org/research/electronicresources.asp#Music To get into the databases, you'll need a Spokane Public Library card issued to either a city resident or to a business located within Spokane city limits.

And that's the wrap.

Cheers,
Mark

10/24 Meeting

Hi all --

A great showing today, thanks everyone. Who knew that Petrushka had such funny and revealing anecdotes to share about both Jason and Genia? Wow. I would never have believed it if I hadn't been sitting right there...

To recap, there were 19 in attendance today with Trina Olsen from Wolf Corporate Housing providing a fabulous bottle of wine and a great presentation to boot. The wine went to Paul Hajeck for asking a series of what I can only assume to be canned questions, based on their insighful nature and Trina's ability to whack them out of the ballpark...I'm sorry, but you just don't do that without practice.

In part, here's what I gleaned from Trina's presentation: If you know of anyone moving into the area but they are unsure of which neighborhood they would like to settle in, direct them to Trina as she can get them a place to stay with all the amenities of a home (fully furnished), with all the services of a hotel (on-staff housecleaning), all for an economical price. People in such a scenario would then be able to live in the neighborhood of their choice on a trial basis and see if it is a good match. On the other side of the equation for Wolf Corp. Housing, if you know of someone with a vacant property who would like to have it occupied by quality, pre-screened occupants, Trina will in effect lease the property from the owners, assume the risk and responsibility for the condition of the property and sublet it to the aforementioned quality, pre-screened occupants. Property owners then receive the following: a check in the mail and someone keeping their property occupied and secured. A win, win, win.

Giving a brief presentation just before Trina was Alfred Pilialoha, the Community Development Director for Airway Heights. Alfred gave a quick overview of the growth that has been occurring in Airway Heights along with some hints about the type of business that they are hoping to attract to the area. Thanks, Alfred.

Regarding other guests, Kyle Klippert from Standard Digital Print Co. was in attendance, as was Jodi Woodwell (sitting in for Genia), Vice President of Business Resources for Greater Spokane Inc. Don Cain, of Print Elements, will be attending in the stead of Troy Watson from here on out. Welcome, Don!

On the attendance front, I know of excused absences for Dean Marshall, Genia Seghetti and Jason Farrow. I didn't hear from James Hicks, John Gilchrist or Tami Sevier so if anyone received a message from them, please pass it on to me.

Finally, the leads -- we had a flurry of 'em. First, the leads passed: Genia Seghetti (6), John Sutherland (3), Paul Hajeck (2), Grant Sorge (2), Carol Reynolds (1), Chris Hagerman (1) and Dean Marshall (1) for a total of 16 leads. Leads received: Dianne LaValley (1), Grant Sorge (3), Paul Hajeck (3), Petrushka Pavlovich (3), John Sutherland (2), Mark Pond (2), for a total of, um.... 14. Dianne or Dean, some accounting help here? I fear the leads were coming faster than I could keep track of them so if I missed anyone, I both apologize and ask that you please set me straight.

Finally, remember that you can readily delete this message as it will be archived and made available for discussion/comment on the group's blog: http://downtownb2b.blogspot.com/

Cheers and see you all in November.

~Mark

How to get there from here

It was mentioned at today's meeting that we get to the point where we do the 30 second commericial for the person sitting beside us -- I like the idea. Maybe we could do something like that on the first meeting of the month rather than every time?

Also, at some point in the recent past, I heard someone mention the idea of re-arranging the seating configuration from the long horseshoe-type arrangement that generally restricts conversation between two or three folks and instead have us seated four to a table. Such an arrangement might lend itself to more conversation. Ideas? Comment below.

In the interest of keeping this forum just for us and out of the grasp of spammers, you'll need to register for an account before you can comment or post new topics. To register, go here. You'll just enter your existing email address and a password and you'll be set to go. If you want to start an entire new post, email me and I'll get you set up.

Mark Pond's Profile Sheet

Name: Mark Pond
Position: Reference Librarian
Company Name: Spokane Public Library
Phone: 444-5312 (work desk)
Reference Desk: 444-5336
Fax: 444-5364
Email: mpond@spokanelibrary.org
Web address: www.spokanelibrary.org
Location: 906 West Main (Corner of Main and Lincoln)


Overview of Products and Services:
1. The world of available thought and expression.
2. Free access to a multi-million dollar collection of thought and expression.
3. Guidance through the world of available thought and expression.

What type of Clients do you currently have?
The public library covers the spread when it comes to clients: moms and kids, entrepreneurs, the generally curious, the indigent, the business community, students, seniors, etc. Anyone you see on the public sidewalk you are likely to see in the public library.

What makes you different from your competition?
Equal access to information. The world of information has gotten significantly bigger in recent years, but democratic access to that information has not kept pace. The library’s role in the “information age” is to ensure that our entire community has access to the best possible information, be it for self-improvement, community building, or economic development.

Tell a story that exemplifies what makes you different.
A man walks into a bar and asks for a free drink. He gets tossed out on the sidewalk.
A man walks into a library and asks for a free drink. We show him the resources for bartending, mixing drinks, how to make homebrews, how to write a resume, how to search for employment, how to network and find job leads, how to start his own bar. And if all goes well, he’ll give the library staff free drinks at some point in the future.

Define what a “good” referral is for you.
Anyone who prefaces any statement with “I wonder if…”
If you encounter any unanswered questions, point that person towards the library. We can help.

Call to Action…if you see/meet/know/hear of…
If you know of any commissions, committees, boards, panels, etc. whose focus is improving the quality of life in our region and you think the library would be a useful addition to the group, please let me know.

Personal information: My wife and I grew up in Kettle Falls, 80 miles north of town, where both our parents and extended families still live. I have a daughter who was born in 2002 and a son born in 2005. When I’m not chasing after the kids, cleaning up after them, cooking for them, or playing with them, I enjoy sitting. When I’m done sitting, hiking, backpacking, vegetable gardening, reading, and eating all vie for attention.

July 25th B2B Luncheon

Jay Anderson's recap:

The ANSWER is 28
The question was………what is our official member ship right now, as of the July 25th meeting? A far cry from what we had about 18 months ago.

ATTENDENCE RECAP 22 members in attendance plus 6 guests. We welcome into our awesome group:
· Aifala Ama with Family First Senior Care
· Jeremy Pointer with Noel Communications Inc.
· Nicole Nanny with Regain your Brain; and
· Paul Hajek with Galliard.

James Hicks, John Gilchrist, and Trina Olson were unable to attend and gave their regrets. Al Boschma also missed the meeting and I am missing his hall pass.

RECAP; Counting our 4 newest……79% attendance. We are rapidly outgrowing our new location at Luigi’s. Perhaps we should have someone look into the Arena (James? Are you there?) To see about being able to handle the crowd.

Absent, in addition to the 4 members above, Rulene Henderson and Petrushka Pavolvoich were excused.

Guests consisted of:
· Larry Langiais-Time Warner Telecom
· Dee Ann Kirklin – Robert Half International
· Fran McCully – Administrative Solutions
· Mike Von Brethorst – PSI
· Angela Rapier – Volt Services
· Joni Woodwell, with Greater Spokane Incorporated, was our guest speaker and gave us a nice overview of her duties at overseeing the Business Resource Group and to how they contribute to new business in the area. It also was very interesting to hear how new business, is so key to bringing in additional business in the community that we all live.

LEADS----No leads to report, I think John Sutherland of the Chiefs is getting one from Jason Farrow….but no leads slip (or email) was passed. SO, the total for the entire month of July was ZERO-ZILCH-NOTTA.

Due to the size of the group, it was noted that we did not do a real great job with sharing of leads and (for the benefit of our newer members) how we refer them on to each other. Perhaps at our next meeting we can focus on that activity better as well as have referral slips available for review and passing.

Remember, I need to eat……but in order to eat….I need work….I need your referral, you need my referral….we both need work so we can continue to show up and network at events like this…….Sound like a plan?

Have an awesome week…..

June 27th Recap

Head count was 20 !!!!

GREAT attendance
GREAT meeting
GREAT presentation. If you missed it…..you missed it.

ATTENDENCE
· MEMBER HEAD COUNT ----17 members ------75%
· ABSENT---- 6 excused----------Jennifer Parker-Mark Hebling-John Gilchrist-Tami Sevier
o Leave of absences--------Petrushka Pavlovich and Rulene Henderson
o Substitute for Jennifer Parker, Kelly Price (1st visit) from Banner Bank
· GUESTS
· Darrell Reeves was a guest of Genia Seghetti. Darrell is with Greater Spokane Inc.
· Melissa Sisich, was a guest of Dianne LaValley, Melissa is with CPE.

REFERRALS
· 2 referrals passed, closed as of meeting end June 27th
o Dean Marshall referred business to Jason Farrow
o John Sutherland referred business to Dianne LaValley

PRESENTATION
Troy Watson, owner of Print Elements, gave a short overview of ALL the things possible that you can print an do. From dog collars to purses, to cutting boards to basketballs, to personalized murals to tiling your bathroom or kitchen. You name it. It ended too soon, as I said before, if you missed it …… you missed it.

This message will be posted on our blog (https://www.blogger.com/start ).

June 27th Luncheon Forecast

Just checking to see how many people are signing on to the blog. Please respond to this blog so we can find out how well this works. To go to the next step, which is to eliminate excessive emails, we actually need people to use the blog system.

The luncheon is at 11:30AM. Sounds like close to 100% attendence. Rulene has been excused, Grant and Jennifer are excused with substitutes.

If you don't know who Jennifer is, then you may be on the warning track as far as meeting the required attendence criteria.

Jason's Comments from June 13th meeting

Good day to everyone!

I would like to welcome and announce 3 new members to our Downtown Group: Troy Watson, Jennifer Parker, and Al Boschma

If you have not had a chance to meet them please make it a point at our next meeting. Troy will be our next presenter at the June 27th meeting.
Make sure to get your renewals in for the group which are due this month. Genia will have the receipts available I'm sure for everyone at our next meeting.

I would like to remind everyone to have their Profile sheets updated and copies brought to our next meeting for everyone to have. I have included a blank in this e-mail if you have not done one yet.

As normal I will remind everyone to practice their 30 second commercial and yes I will be timing people again next meeting to keep us on schedule. If anyone has question please contact me. Our presentations are suppose to be roughly 15-20 minutes in length so everyone please plan on staying until 12:30-12:45 to give enough time.

Thanks again everyone and again I apologize about being excused for yesterdays meeting. I was simply overwhelmed at work.


Your fearless Chairman,

Jason Farrow
American Van Service, Inc
Agents for Allied Van Lines

AND:

Thank you Genia for covering for me today at the meeting. It just figures the one meeting that I cannot make we get special passes for a great form of entertainment. Hockey. Oh well I will have to bride John to get some or else get my corporate sponsorship package together and sign up.
Anyway thank you to all that attended and our next meeting will be on the 27th.
Do we have a presenter lined up? Please update me if we do so everyone knows.

Thank you,

Jason Farrow
American Van Service, Inc

June 13 recap

From the pen of Jay Anderson:

Attendance SUMMARY for June 13 meeting
13 of 22 members in attendance
6 of the 22 were excused absence
3 were unexcused….*
6 guests in attendance

86% attendance (including the 6 excused)


* Unexcused, unfortunately 3 were MIA; Katrina Cline, Chris Woods, and Mark Hebling

I will admit that I may have received an email advising me that the some of the above would be unable to attend. So, if one was sent, please give me that date and time sent or resend the old one and I can modify the records. I was able to locate Petrushka’s email where she specifically requested a Monday morning reminder, and I do not believe she received those reminders. Those meetings have been updated.

MISSING (but excused) today, Jason Farrow, Dean Marshall, Sabrina Marx, Steve Elias, John Gilchrist, Petrushka Pavlovich, and Rulene Henderson.

Sabrina and Steve will not be continuing their membership with this B2B group, we wish them the best in their new ventures, and they will be missed. Both were counted as excused absences as I figure they are still members until the end of June.

Sabrina Marx has regretfully left the group, but she will not be forgotten OR be far away from our group. She is joining the B2B North group, which is a business decision for her, which makes the best sense for her. I look forward to seeing her at the social B2B group gatherings that we have 2 to 4 times a year.

CHAIRMAN Jason Farrow, had some staffing issues due to illness, which made it impossible for him to leave work (for what I believe is the first time) to run our club. Genia Seghetti, tan lines and all, gracefully led the meeting in Jason’s absence.

GUESTS, we were blessed with 6 guests, thank you for attending we hope that each of you will express to Genia your interest to join our group.
Al Boschma, Business Relationship Manager, with Wells Fargo Bank
Jennifer Parker, Retail Branch Manager, with Banner Bank
Troy Watson, Owner of Print Elements
Mylene Errigo, Wolff Corporate Housing-Panama division
Trina Olson, Wolff Corporate Housing-Spokane
Cassie Coombs, President and CEO for Roger Coombs P.C.

REFERRALS, I passed out some referral forms, but did not receive any completed ones back. Thank you Dianne LaValley for referring 2 customers to Dean Marshall. If you had a referral, please forward me the details so we can give credit where credit is due.

Last but not Least – Our program, JOHN SUTHERLAND, of the Spokane Chiefs, gave one of those very informative presentations that told us all about who the Spokane Chiefs are, when they play, and what ticket packages are available, which are a very competitively priced. As an added plus, all in attendance received TWO complementary vouchers, to be used towards the upcoming season. Good for any game of the regular season.

Wed. May 23rd recap

From the desk of Jay Anderson:

Unexcused at this point; Roger Coombs-Rulene Henderson-Petrushka Pavlovich-James Hicks and Genia Seghetti. Sabrina will be calling you soon! Please have your calendar ready for when you would like to host a Partylite show.

Both Roger and Genia have never had an unexcused before, so I am thinking I was notified and just didn’t couldn’t find the email. So, expect some revisions, as I ask tolerance. Also, Petrushka and James are brand new members, it is my feeling that we need to make sure these people get phone call reminders (looking for a volunteer here), until these meetings become a routine event.

Would like to acknowledge the following 10 leads:
Dean Marshall has referred 4 since the last meeting. To Roger Coombs, John Sutherland, and Jay Lake twice.
Sabrina Marx referred 3 since last meeting; to John Sutherland, Mark Pond and Dean Marshall
John Sutherland referred 2 since last meeting; to Dean Marshall and Sabrina Marx
Jason Farrow referred Sabrina Marx business.

A referral/lead is being counted as business or potential for business from one member to another where it can be determined that the transaction would never have transpired without the introduction from our B2B member to the other member.

Thank you Sabrina Marx for an outstanding presentation on your Partylite business and interactive presentation. One might say WOW!!!! But not me (I believe Mark Pond was the lucky stiff), I just think it was very illuminating.

And last but not least, very nice to have 2 guests today. Dave LejaMeyer, from Eastern Washington University and Nick Farline from Passport Unlimited. Both of you would be fun additions to our group, thank you for attending and hope to see you again. If you want to know what these people do in their positions you GOTTA show up!! I was impressed!

Okay, enough out me and B2B (is that poetry?? , or perhaps a bad Dillon song)….Get out there and make some money and send your fellow crew a few referrals. (Remember the game plan is 1 referral per member each month).

Library Networking Resources

Following up on my 90+ second library elevator speech (90 seconds can be a long time to be stuck in an elevator with some crazy guy frothing at the mouth about the library...), I wanted to make sure that those who were interested could get to the titles. The path to follow would be the following:

http://hzportal.spokanelibrary.org/#focus

After you click on the above link, look for the blue bar across the top of the screen and click on the "Starts with..." tab and search for "networking" in the "Subjects starting with..." field. You'll see a number of other subjects that have to do with networks (computer, social, parenting, neural, etc.) but we luck out as business networking is the first choice. Clicking on the subject will bring up the aforementioned 14 titles that the library has available on networking. For you commuters out there, note that there are several Books on CD available.

Don't have a library card to place these items on hold? 2 options: corner me at the next meeting and we'll get you set up. The speedier option would be to come into any branch library with some photo ID and we'll get a card for you. It takes about 3 minutes and costs you zilch, nada, bubkiss.