Launch - Spring 2009 - (Page 28)

Utah Networking Events Below is a listing of just some of Utah’s more popular business networking events. Don’t Sound Stupid Utah Valley Entrepreneur Forum (UVEF) www.uvef.net UVEF conducts monthly educational and networking meetings including an annual award banquet. Wayne Brown Institute (WBI) www.venturecapital.org WBI’s quarterly “How to raise money in Utah” seminars are a great way to meet people while learning valuable funding information. Utah Technology Council (UTC) www.utahtech.org UTC holds a wide variety of networking and peer-to-peer meetings each month for its members. UTC’s annual Hall of Fame awards program is one of the largest business events each year. Salt Lake Chamber www.saltlakechamber.org The chamber offers many events including the mother of all networking events, the yearly Business-to-Business Expo. Grow Utah Ventures www.growutahventures.com As a nonprofit organization, Grow Utah Ventures offers many educational and networking events throughout the year for entrepreneurs including the Business Ignitor Series. Utah First Fridays www.utahfirstfridays.org The name says it all. On the first Friday of every month you’ll find a networking and business growth-oriented meeting. MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN) www.mwcn.org MWCN hosts monthly luncheons related to raising and managing capital in Utah. MWCN’s annual Utah 100 program is one of the most well attended business events of the year providing the opportunity to network with hundreds of peers. Utah Pulse www.utahpulse.com Utah Pulse maintains an up-to-date event calendar listing most local networking events. Women Tech Council (WTC) www.womentechcouncil.org WTC hosts a number of educational and networking events throughout the year including an annual awards banquet. Spend 10 minutes a day reading, listening to or watching some news. With all of the sources on the Internet and simple ways to collect and absorb news (RSS readers for example), you have no excuse for not being up on current events and timely business topics. Not only does knowing something about the topic at hand make for good small talk, but you’ll also find it’s a great way to insert yourself into various conversations and stand out in a crowd. Watch Out for Crazy Every event has that one guy who’s looking for $75 million in pre-revenue seed money and trying to decide between developing a flying car or building an amusement park on his mother-in-law’s two-acre ranch. Be nice, but then quickly move on before you’re trapped in a 15-minute circular conversation about thrust-to-weight ratios. “So, why would someone want a parachute again?” Don’t Be Afraid Go ahead, walk up to a total stranger and introduce yourself. He or she wouldn’t be at the event if she or he didn’t want to meet people. Don’t worry, if you bore them, they’ll find an excuse to leave. Stop Your Yap and Listen for a Change Any good salesperson will extol the virtue of listening to a client’s problems instead of preaching solutions. The same holds true with networking. If you listen and then mentally process what’s going on with the person you are talking to before running off at the mouth, you’ll understand that person better and make them feel important. Ask for Introductions It’s generally quite acceptable to ask the event organizer for key introductions. Some networking events even publish the attendee list online in advance so you can see who’s coming. If there’s someone you know you want to meet at the event, make it your first priority to track them down. More often than not, if you wait until the end of the event, you won’t have time to find and meet the individual before he or she leaves. $ Click here for the HTML version of this article on launchutah.com. 28 launch spring 09 http://www.uvef.net http://www.venturecapital.org http://www.utahtech.org http://www.saltlakechamber.org http://www.growutahventures.com http://www.utahfirstfridays.org http://www.mwcn.org http://www.utahpulse.com http://www.womentechcouncil.org http://www.launchutah.com/article-feature-q12009.php

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Launch - Spring 2009

Launch - Spring 2009 Contents Editor's Note Dashboard Mentor: Mind Your Business Ps & Qs Diary: Great Idea, Now Show Me the Money Sales: Buying Eyeballs Funding: Stay Focused! NETworking Do’s and Don’ts Be the Networking King Entrepreneur Spotlight

Launch - Spring 2009

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