I’ve been heads down the past few weeks working on a project for one of my businesses, TheBDevent. The entire concept is centered around bringing executives together in a particular industry segment of the Technology Industry for education and peer networking without the distractions that a typical trade event brings of multiple different areas to cover and too many places to be. The event is regionalized and held in different parts of the country a few times a year. Well, we’re just about done with our 3 day event in Boston and I’ve learned a few things and have been reminded of a few things this week.

1. Personal Connection makes a difference: There is extreme value in meeting someone face to face, shaking their hand, and grabbing a chair for conversation.  Getting to know them better from both a business and personal perspective has a huge impact on the ability to do better business when you’re in different geographic areas and spend a majority of the time communicating via email and telephone. Your relationship gets stronger with each personal touch.

2. A little relaxation goes a long way: While we may have fun with it, many of us spend a lot of time running from place to place, stressed out and plain old tired as we grow our businesses. It continues to amaze me what happens when bringing people together, in one place, to get a little work done and then allowing time to socialize and relax. Brilliant ideas are born and synergies are created. Sometimes in the formal meetings, sometimes at dinner or at the bar afterward. Hanging out is important to the business relationship and we don’t get to do it enough as we’re spread across the country.

3. The value of the live event is huge: When you get dozens/hundreds of the smartest people in an industry together then bring in other smart people to provide education through discussions, forums and presentations – the collective “smartness” increases. The learning that is done leads to new ideas, new products, new partnerships, new relationships, etc. As event promoters, we may not know it during the event or immediately after – but at some point something that was said at X event has a positive impact on someone and they take action. New companies and new products are born.

4. We are all human: Our events include many of the “who’s who gurus” of the industry. I’m talking about the people with oodles of respect, money and influence. It is wonderful that the take the time out of their busy days to join us and share with us. And yes, sometimes I am surprised they take the time – but they do. They weren’t always gurus or part of the who’s who. They started somewhere, worked hard and moved up and didn’t forget their roots or their friends. It is awesome to watch. Having put on these events for a while now, it continues to remind me that deep down we’re all just people looking to grow our businesses and live a good life and that connecting and helping others learn is all a part of that.

I want to encourage you to take a look around your industry and see if there is an association or group of people that puts on live events during the year and if you haven’t been to one I want you to look into it. Whether you’re a lawyer, florist, realtor, artist, mechanic, network marketer, or basket weaver – there are others like you, your peers, that want to get to know you. And there are events for you. Go, enjoy yourself, learn and you’ll benefit from the knowledge and friendships gained. Trust me on this one. I’ve seen it happen for others and experienced it myself.

Have a beautiful day!