Piggybacking

This evening I attended the Columbia MO Chamber of Commerce new member meeting. I alwas like Chamber events; they tend to build effective mingling events -- plenty of business people, good food, nice locations, decent give-aways.

What most impressed me today, though, was not something that the Chamber or the event organizers did.

The mixer was held at the University Club at the University of Missouri (www.uclub-mu.org), which served tasty finger food (including homemade guacamole) in a spacious, well-lit room.

The organizers introduced the manager of the club, and after talking about his establishment he asked for a few extra moment to introduce someone else.

Apparently, the boys at Hot Box Cookies (www.hotboxcookies.com), members of the Chamber, had learned of the meeting and had badgered the club manager until they were allowed to serve their cookies at the event and get an introduction.

With persistence, willingness to part with just a little free stuff, and the initiative to try, these young business owners received all of the benefits of event sponsorship essentially for free.

Sean Spence
Community Events
www.CommEvents.com
seanspence@earthlink.net