I have been in an absolute whirlwind of networking, conferencing, communing, and connecting in the past several weeks. Once the expenses are expensed and the suitcase is unpacked, I’d like to say I sit down and calculate the cost-benefit analysis of the travel. I advise my clients to do this – to keep track of what they gained from each conference. We may discuss how many contacts were made or how robust the opportunities are. And finally, was it worth it?
Benefits
As I discussed during my WOW week webinar with WBEC NY and DMV last week, I break down the benefits of different organizations by three main things that my clients are looking for:
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Contracts/Clients
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Connections
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Collaboration
Contracts/Clients
If one of my clients goes to the WBENC conference (this year in Salt Lake City) and then keeps following up on an opportunity that started there until she eventually wins a contract 18 months later -does that make the conference worth it? This is precisely what happened to a client of mine. By managing expectations and knowing that a client may be in your future…but that future may be long term, business owners can recognize where there wins actually come from (or don’t).
Building in that time is especially important, when your ideal clients are large procurement organizations that require a lot of follow up.
At the same time, the value of every network isn’t measured in the number of contacts or contracts. One thing I see that consistently frustrates people about their networks is that they are going to conferences that have different goals and missions with only one goal in mind.
Connections
WTC Retreat and Champions Retreat
This event was a two for one. The organization that I sit on the Leadership Circle for, We The Change, held a retreat on Day Zero of the Champions Retreat in Milwaukie in April. The conference was a mix of business owners, sustainability directors for large companies, policy advocates, researchers and NGOs who all have an eye toward driving business as a force for good.
What B Lab understands is that change like that takes a village and that’s where the B Corp community really shines.
We the Change, the affiliate for purpose led businesses -B Corp certified as well as B Curious – has an aligned but ultimately separate mission of growing women owned and led businesses so they can lead those changes.
Having a small retreat at the beginning of the conference was a benefit for those of us who are growing our businesses and those who were attending Champions Retreat for the first time. However, a company who went to Champions retreat for facilitated networking and sales would likely be disappointed.
I contend that every time you get business owners in a room together, there will be sales but it’s clearly an addon to the conference, not the main event.
WBEC NY and DMV
I mentioned WBEC NY and DMV and their WOW week. I attended several events for them and while they know the main reason that business owners get WBENC certified and become a part of their network is for clients and contracts – they ALSO know that many of those clients and contracts come through connections that we make as part of the organization. They held a series of events in the Greater New York and DC areas where certified Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs) and potential WBEs could simply connect.
My friend Sherene Straussberg of 87th Street Creative and I hosted an event together in New York (after we got to meet up at the Champions Retreat!) where we got to connect with some potential WBEs, some current WBEs unsure of how to leverage their certification and the new President of WBEC NY and DMV, Diana Domenech.
Take a look at the cool things Sherene’s company creates!
It was a small gathering, not at all what business owners encounter at the WBENC national conference. But we got the chance to learn more about each other and our businesses and talk about the ways to make that large conference less overwhelming.
Collaboration
WPO Conference
The Women Presidents Organization is a peer advisory group for women who generate over $1MM in sales annually. The defining feature of the conference is growth through access, to education, to community, and to other bad ass women business owners.
The ROI in the conference lies with what you learn and how you are able to bring that learning back to your team. WPO gives access to world class speakers who are world class because they make complex ideas simple, and then provide leaders with the tools to bring those ideas back to their businesses.
The WPO conference is also where I saw generous collaborations flourish. A new member joined my DC and Baltimore Chapters for dinner and a current member immediately offered to introduce her around her network at the DC Chamber to do some joint networking.
While the WPO Chapters offer exclusivity to each member, meaning that they will not have a member of their industry or a competitor in their chapters, I find that WPO is a place where those businesses come together more often in collaboration than competition. They bid on projects together and find ways to, as the motto says, go further together.
What is the ROI on community?
These organizations are my business community and for me the return on that investment includes:
- Adding value when the members of one network know nothing about the other networks. Connecting the dots for clients and potential clients is not only gratifying but puts me in a position to contribute and give back.
- IRL connections. One of my new members in WPO had reached out last Fall to discuss joining but seeing the members connect with one another in real life, provided a boost that one more zoom or phone call couldn’t have done.
- Camaraderie and Collaboration. At the We The Change conference, one of my friends made the astute observation that two people simply being woman owned businesses is not a strong enough bond to create a real community. It takes showing up, often in person, but if nothing else consistently to identify those areas of synergy, to make yourself vulnerable, and to find what you need in these networks.
Takeaways
In terms of actual takeaways I will remember:
- Thought leadership panel at We the Change with Sandra Stewart, Mary Stelletello and Jenn Grace discussing how to get started
- The Mayor of Milwaukie discussing his city’s sustainable policies and the advocacy tools B Lab is bringing to certified B Corps to drive their values into policy discussions and places of power
- Kim Scott talking about Radical Candor which a concept that people who know me, know that I already adhered to but perhaps without the guardrails that Kim recommends
So when it comes to taking those lessons back to my “team” my team is my network of clients, connections and collaborators that I have build and grow at each conference and gathering. Each of these organizations all three C’s – Clients, Connections, and Collaboration- and what you put into it, makes the members part of your community.
