Posted by eric-fl on August 08, 2003 at 16:27:16:
I have the same problem on #2. It’s like you don’t want to be rude, but at the same time, most newbies with no capital aren’t going to be there in 6 months, and I know I’m wasting my time, which drives me crazy…
1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by Ray - AZ
Posted by Ray - AZ on August 07, 2003 at 13:57:01:
I plan on attending my 1st REI club meeting this coming Tues. Right now I’m interested in birddogging while I’m still learning. Now networking is not one of my strong points so I was wondering what would be the best way to go as far as finding people to birddog for?..also as a little side note, what is the dress usually at these meetings(Jeans/t-shirt,business casual,or what)??
Re: 1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by Christopher - WA
Posted by Christopher - WA on August 07, 2003 at 22:48:32:
Ray,
I’d like to make two suggestions on how to maximize your exposure at the meeting.
1.) Make something (perhaps a small flyer) to put on the business card table if there is one. I made business cards targeted specifically at networking and had good results.
2.) Circulate! Leave a business card and move on. At the few meetings I’ve been to, I always seem to get trapped in conversations with the first few people I meet - whether or not they can be of use to me, or I to them. I don’t know how to gracefully move on to the next contact. If you can introduce yourself to the entire group at once, that would be the most efficient and effective. Then interested parties can come to you.
Good luck and enjoy!
Re: 1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by RichV(FL)
Posted by RichV(FL) on August 07, 2003 at 18:24:12:
Ray,
Just get in there and start talking to people. Make yourself known. Do you have some business cards?
Some clubs let people leave cards on a table. Its kind of a nice touch.
You will see most of the people in “neat casual” clothes.
Ray the main thing is enjoy it. Clubs are a great way to meet other investors. You will find so many people who just want to chit chat about REI, I’m sure you will feel at ease in no time.
Best of Luck,
RichV(FL)
Re: 1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by Arthur
Posted by Arthur on August 07, 2003 at 16:24:37:
May i suggest you join AZ-REI over at yahoo groups. There are not many members, but it won’t cost you to join, and it could get you some clients. And soon, hopefully the membership number will grow.
Re: 1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by IB (NJ)
Posted by IB (NJ) on August 07, 2003 at 15:51:11:
Also recently, William Bronchick wrote a good post on how to make the most out of your club meetings. It may still be posted. Scroll down and see if you can find it. If your’re using IE as your browser, you can go to edit>Find (on this page) > and enter ‘Bronchick’ to pull up all of his posts.
Re: 1st REI club meeting help needed!!! - Posted by Stewart
Posted by Stewart on August 07, 2003 at 14:17:04:
The one I have gone to, just a few times now, draws about 100 - 150 people I would guess and people usually come with whatever they were wearing, which for most is casual but neat and clean. Some wearing more professional clothing. You of course want to have a neat and clean image if you want to do business with others, but some won’t care.
Also, at our meetings, some have requested a few minutes up front to talk about themselves and what they do. So if you have your knowledge down and know what you are talking about, that could be an option (it would be good to have business cards at this point for handing out). If not, then you might catch the host afterwards (whoever runs the meeting) and tell him what you have in mind. So far for me, the people I have talked to are just the ones I have sat next to. Some have no experience, some have rental properties, some are in the middle of their first deal. You may just have meet people one by one, which I would suggest at first and see how the meetings work and meet a few, then see if you can speak up front.