Our next Member MeetUp is less than a month away now, coming up on March 25 at the Arabesque Hookah Cafe & Restaurant.
We caught up with our business resource manager Jackie Gaudry to talk about Member MeetUps, and why you might consider coming out to the next one.
What is a Member Meet-Up?
Jackie Gaudry
Our Member MeetUps are really to provide both the member who is hosting and our participating members the opportunity to engage in a unique experience with a unique group of individuals. They’re meant to draw different types of crowds, but on a smaller scale. A Member MeetUp is not about selling, it’s really about storytelling. It’s about showcasing your business cycle; where you’ve been, where you’re going, your highs, your lows, your learnings, your takeaways.
For our members who attend, it’s a networking event. When we consider it from The Chamber’s mandate of ‘Lead. Connect. Grow.’ this is really about leading for the host, connecting for the attending members, and growth for everyone involved.
For our members who attend, it’s a networking event. When we consider it from The Chamber’s mandate of ‘Lead. Connect. Grow.’ this is really about leading for the host, connecting for the attending members, and growth for everyone involved.
Why should members care about MeetUps?
It’s peer-to-peer learning.
What we hear a lot from our business owners is how lonely it is. When you’re working on your own business, you’re usually in your silo. Yeah, you might have a couple staff, but it’s a bit of a different headspace to be an owner of a business than a staff member at a business.
So it gives the business owner an opportunity to connect with like-minded people, and maybe have some conversations they might not otherwise be able to have. It might be a lead, it might a connection, it might be a next step; depending on where you’re coming from, I’d hope that all participants come to a MeetUp with an intention. Knowing why you’re coming is important.
What does an ideal Member MeetUp look like to you?
I want fun. I want to laugh, I want to have a good time, I want to connect. I want to know that the time I’ve spent there has a purpose. I want to make sure that it’s something unique, maybe that I haven’t experienced before. I want to be able to go there and have learned something. If I can walk away and say that I did this or I experienced that or I met this person, just something that gives me some forward momentum, then to me, that’s success.
I don’t want to go to something and when I leave, be what I was when I walked in. I need to go into something and I need to know that I’m leaving different. That is a mindset and that is a choice, but if you intentionally go into something wanting a change, if you open your eyes to the potential of change through the people you interact with, you cannot leave the same. That’s your choice. So I choose to walk into Member MeetUps with the expectation that something will come out of there that will perpetuate a movement forward.
I don’t want to go to something and when I leave, be what I was when I walked in. I need to go into something and I need to know that I’m leaving different. That is a mindset and that is a choice, but if you intentionally go into something wanting a change, if you open your eyes to the potential of change through the people you interact with, you cannot leave the same. That’s your choice. So I choose to walk into Member MeetUps with the expectation that something will come out of there that will perpetuate a movement forward.
Tell us about one particularly memorable Member MeetUp.
We did one with WPG Cycle where we, as a collective group, all got on the bikes and rode together.
Just the diversity of who was in the room; people who had never been out to a Chamber event, and we had people in the room who came from large organizations who just wanted to experience what WPG Cycle was, it was a really nice, diverse group of people who came together.I love that moment, when you have people who would not otherwise come together collectively, join together towards a goal. That was a memorable one.
Just the diversity of who was in the room; people who had never been out to a Chamber event, and we had people in the room who came from large organizations who just wanted to experience what WPG Cycle was, it was a really nice, diverse group of people who came together.I love that moment, when you have people who would not otherwise come together collectively, join together towards a goal. That was a memorable one.
Make new connections at our next MeetUp
Monday, March 25, 2019
Arabesque Hookah Cafe & Restaurant
201 – 659 Corydon Ave.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.Tickets: $10 +GST
Arabesque Hookah Cafe & Restaurant
201 – 659 Corydon Ave.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.Tickets: $10 +GST
