August 30th Network Meeting Agenda

The next Venture Network meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30th at Giuseppe's in Frostburg again. As we don't have a volunteer business this month, I thought the arrangements at Giuseppe's worked out well, hence we'll go back.

The agenda is:
5PM - 6PM; informal meet and greet
6PM - 7PM; meeting discussions over appetizers supplied by me
7PM - ; dinner (buy your own) for anyone that wishes to stay and continue the discussions.

For those of you that have not yet attended, I think the now-regulars will testify to a couple of things:

1. The discussions have been interesting and helpful
2. Though this is being organized by me, you don't have to worry that I'll be pitching my consulting services - I haven't yet and don't plan to.

If you plan on attending the meeting this month, please let me know as soon as is feasible. I'll send out another reminder later this month as well.

Regional Needs

Again, as part of our overall discussion last evening, I'm creating this post as a place for you to comment on what you think your company / the region needs to better support growing companies. Don't be shy.

Thanks - Ted

Regional Resources

As part of our group discussion last evening, we identified a need to share information regarding regional resources that stand to be used by our various companies. Legal firms, accountants, or a good web development company :), are good examples of the types of resources that we'd like to share. These can be local, but could also be contacts that extend beyond our region.

Please post contact information for any resources that you'd like to share here. Thanks to all.

Meeting Recap and Next Meeting Information

For those of you who missed our recent meeting on the 28th, we had a series of great discussions about ourselves, our businesses and doing business in our region. I had originally thought that we'd have one hour to go over these topics, but instead found that we needed 2 1/2 hours to get through everything that needed to be said. The level of discussion from our first meeting, leads me to believe that the network itself is badly needed.

As such, our second meeting will be held on July 26th at the offices of Spectrum Bioscience, Inc. in the Garrett Industrial Park near Grantsville. We'll tour the Spectrum facility, then move to Penn Alps to continue the discusions and have dinner, etc.

I'll pass along more information, including directions to Spectrum's facility, as the date moves closer.

Ted

June 28th Meeting

Highland Venture Network - June Meeting

Once again, to let everyone know the date, time and location of this first meeting, please refer to the information below;

Date: Thursday, June 28th, 2007

Location: Giuseppes Restaurant, 11 Bowery St. Frostburg

Start Time - Networking: 5pm - 6pm. This will occur in the main section of Giuseppes so people can order beverages, etc.

(More Formal) Meeting Time: 6pm - 7pm. I will provide some appetizers.

Post Meeting Dinner: For anyone that would like to continue to chat, we'll have dinner at 7pm. The official meeting will end at 7pm, but I will stay to continue the networking and enjoy a great Giuseppes dinner.

Please note that any drinks and the dinner will by purchased individually, and I will supply everyone with appetizers during the meeting portion of the evening.


As for the agenda, as this is the first meeting for group, rather than providing an 'outside' speaker, I think it's more appropriate to keep this to a 'meet and greet' and to find out what type of information the collective group would like to cover. I'll speak briefly about Highland Consulting Group's mission, how it fits with a venture network as well as some of my operating history in this area. I'll then open the discussion to find out how this network can assist the participants.

In order to help facilitate this type of agenda, I'll assume that the group would collectively like to cover some of the following topics;

- finance
- growth planning and strategies
- marketing strategies
- various topics related to operating efficiencies
- regional politics
- regional / national support services
- regional supporting organizations
- etc., etc.

I hope that using this blog will provide an efficient forum for the sharing of ideas and information, as well as a vehicle to respond to issues raised during our meetings.

Please remember to invite other companies that would benefit from participation in this group, and to RSVP either to attend or let me know that you won't be able to make it next week.

Thanks and I'll speak with you all soon.

Welcome

In pursuit of the ideal of creating a community of entrepreneurs in western Maryland and surrounding areas, I've established this blog to allow a forum for ongoing communications between the Highland Venture Network participants.

This blog can be used to post questions, observations, requests for information, or whatever you'd like. I'll plan on creating regular posts covering a variety of topics related to entrepreneurship in this region and beyond. So, welcome and post away.