Today I was a contestant in an Elevator Pitch Contest sponsored by CT Showcase and Microsoft.

There were about 25 of us competing. I decided to pitch my other biz, group88, for the contest. All were small biz folk and ranged from my pal Cherie Griffith-Dunne of VLO Group Northeast who is on a mission to bring affordable but sleek houses to the underserved market of young professionals and the winner of the contest, Dori DeCarlo of S1 Bags who produces see-through bags and backpacks that helps make security check-throughs a breeze for travelers and high school kids.

The first contestant was a cookie lady who brought props, a.k.a. cookies! She handed them out to the judges and the entire room. Dang it! I half thought of running into the back room to grab the tray of fruit for my pitch but I couldn’t figure out how to make the connection from cantaloupe to coworking. The cookie lady was pretty good but I have to say she quickly fell into a classic mode of thinking, “well, I’ve 60 seconds so I might as well fill it right to the brim.” Kind of like a big cookie that has chocolate chips, pecans, butterscotch, craisins and dates. The cookie was great until you hit the craisins. And the dates were just not necessary at all.

Some folks were pretty seasoned pitchers. Others had tons of hootzpah and will be great if they keep at it. I was somewhere in the middle. The night before the pitch session, I was meeting with my top client and I had the chance to bounce my pitch off of them. They had some great feedback which I incorporated. Being able to verbalize my pitch outloud the night before was just what I needed to juice up my confidence and tighten up my goods.

Here was my pitch (although somewhat morphed because verbally it was a bit more cas):

“Hi, my name is Suzi Edwards and I’m with group88. group88 is a community of independent professionals on a mission to stay independent. At our facility in Simsbury, we share work and meeting space, office equipment, wifi, coffee and knowledge. Our members are freelancers, ecomm entrepreneurs, laptop loungers and road warriors. Starting at just $18 per day, members can use group88 when they need it: either 1 or 2 days per month or every day. You can find us at www.group88.us or call us at 860.658.4888. Our motto at group88 is, ‘hey, if you can work from anywhere, why not here?”’

Blech. Well, it was okay but I could have done better and this is how:

“Hi, my name is Suzi Edwards and I’m with group88. group88 is a community of independent professionals on a mission to stay independent. At our facility in Simsbury, we share work and meeting space, office equipment, video conferencing, wifi, coffee and knowledge. Our members include a doctor venturing into ecommerce, a marketing consultant, an executive search professional and other mobile workers. Our relaxed but professional environment helps solo professionals break the chains of solitary confinement and save on the costs of working solo. Starting at just $18 per day, members can use group88 when they need it. Some members drop in 2 days per week and others come and go when they need it. You can find us .88 miles from the Avon line on Route 10 in Simsbury. Check us out at www.group88.us or call us at 860.658.4888. Like we always say at group88, ‘If you can work from anywhere, why not here?”’

In listening to the other pitchers, I have to say that I see three top elements to a great pitch:

1) Pain Point: You need to express pain with pleasure. Connect with your audience by presenting the problem, a.k.a. “pain,” and the solution that will take the pain away. My pitch still needs help on this one but I’m getting there. John Stroiney from Microsoft, our host, picked his personal fav as the winner, Dori, because she hit the pain and solution points perfectly.

2) Illustration: Use stories and examples. Any time your audience can visualize how your schnizit rolls, you can take them 5 more steps into understanding what you offer. The third place winner was Princess Bola Adelani of Royal Proclamations. She was the only person to make personal contact with the judges. She walked right up to them, shook their hands and walked down the table to make direct eye contact with each of them. With her passionate words and interaction, she killed the judges and the crowd.

3) Clarity: Say what you mean and do it 30 seconds or less. Don’t say that you “build relationships” (which I did not hear today thankfully) or that you “provide solutions.” Terms like that mean nothing and get you nowhere darn fast.

So, I didn’t win. But, that’s okay. Dori, the gal that did win, totally blew us all to bits and she deserved it. It was definitely worth my time. I made some great connections and learned some good tricks. I might even steal the idea for a group88 event. The cookie lady will be invited for sure.

When I first started going to Web Innovators Group, it had the feel of an underground happy hour of geeks on parade. We were about 200-300 strong. Last night I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened the door to the hotel’s ballroom in Cambridge and found 800+ people inside! Holy cannoli! This is no longer the little event that could.

Let’s get right to the recap:

The Vibe: Anxious. Very little could be heard during the three main presentations due to chatting and poor audio from the front stage. Most of us spent time looking around the room to see who we wanted to talk to when the demos were over. My biggest feedback for host David Beisel is this: time to switch up the format. A bunch of attendees I chatted with said they’d be just as happy with 10-15 side dishes versus any presentation or demo. I typically ask for a quick demo at the booth anyways to see what I missed in the presentation. More one-on-ones would allow us to have more conversations and give us time to meet with more folks.

The Parade: Curious. My prediction pre-event was that the start-ups would be hyperlocal focused. The hyper part is dead on but hyperlocal is not the only way tech is improving. I typically use “hyperlocal” when I refer to sites like Zeer (one of the features at WIG) or MarksGuide. These sites connect people online to offline activities such as grocery shopping or a business seminar. The value of good hyperlocal is an improved experience — both online and offline.

The brainies at WebInno (and beyond) are building tools and apps that take experience beyond the either/or activity of website or real life. They are giving us platforms to create “hyperactivity,” only not the kind that makes your little cousin Johnny ruin Thanksgiving dinner. Sharing stuff is mixing with selling stuff. Communicating ideas is mixing with experiencing ideas. Building cool tools is mixing with playing cool tools. And if you can’t take it on the road, it’ll get left behind.

For instance, I spent some time chatting with Jeff Cutler from 211me, a text ad mobile mashup site. I asked Jeff how 211me differs from my pal Rob Flynn’s venture Pulse Media (Rob is also a group88 partner). Jeff proceeded to show me a promo for the upcoming flick Eagle Eye where fans can mashup Shia LaBeouf’s head with their own pic and forward it to a radio station promo to enter to win a walk-on role on some other DreamWorks flick. As Jeff would say, “That’s hot, right?” Yes Jeff, it sure is.

Mobile apps and i-ing up is the focus of start-ups these days. Apparently we will all be iPodding eventually, or at least everyone born in the ’80s will have them surgically attached to their texting hand. It’s not enough to be interesting, have a cool interface or provide something that brings users back. If you’re not bringing the activity to users while they’re waiting in line at Six Flags or hanging out drinking beers right now, figure out how. And figure it out fast because tomorrow will be too late.

The Deals: ?. My buddy Matt (a very sharp Rails developer) commented that the climate has changed because the start-up crowd has very few pre-funded folks these days. A lot of the companies are off and running and looking for next wave funding or need to figure out how to bring in the ecomm dollars (the biggest question of the night). I didn’t get to chat with any investors which is too bad because I’d like to know where they stand these days. Considering the packed house, I’d say that the funds are there but my gut tells me that the ideas getting the most notice have business plans beyond ad revenue or social connection models.

There is one prediction that I completely blew. Unlike last time, no one cared that I came “all that way from Connecticut.” Well, okay, two people did. Mostly, people were too busy trying to connect with the best connections, yours truly included.

The ride back was quick as my companion, Robin Towle-Fecso from JumpStart Creative, and I had a lot to chat about. Next week is Tech Cocktail. I’m up for the drive all the way from Connecticut, ludicrous gas prices and all. Bring it on Boston.

Every time I attend WebInno in Boston, I get the same question: “you came here ‘all that way’ from Connecticut?”

Honestly, is an hour and a half really “all that way”? I realize Boston is not exactly in my backyard but the mini-schlepp is definitely worth the trip. I like to think of The Web Innovators Group as the best geekpreneur sock hop on the East Coast. One Tuesday evening per month start-ups and techie guys and gals with ecomm and weberactive ideas court VCs and funders. We sip cocktails, watch demos and chat each other up with our best elevators.

As a writer and marketing message maven, I attend for very selfish reasons. The first is to have cool stuff to write about. The second is to have cool stuff to share with my clients. I could Google all day long to find out what new soc media or ecomm ventures are kicking up but, until you talk with the creators, you can’t really get a sense of how trends are shifting. Not being a techie, what seems new and fresh to me is old hat to a developer. I constantly feel like I’m behind the curve. I hate that. But feeling behind the curve is not all bad because it constantly drives me to learn something new every day.

I’ve met some sharp onliners at WebInno that I’m looking forward to checking in with, particularly Mark Doerschlag with MarksGuide, who just launched sites for NYC, Seattle and more, Kevin Gardner who runs the cool online music collab site Tune Rooms and Chris Keller from Fafarazzi, a fun soc net site that is like fantasy celeb sport meets The Onion. These guys have weathered the storm so far and have proven that they have the right combo of good idea + positioning + audience to pull it off.

Another reason I attend is to share ideas (to anyone who will listen) from the marketing and business perspective. Developers and programmers have a tendency to work within their world and focus on the “it”: what does “it” do, how does “it” look and where will “it” take the next wave of online cool? These are all very important “its.” The one I find missing a lot, however, is this: why are we doing “it”?

Asking why forces you to think beyond the immediate application and ten steps ahead to the possibilities of multiple apps. I sense that geeks and techies are getting wise to this, now that start-ups are transforming from dorm room innovation to dedicated career path.

If I could make one forecast for trends we’ll see on Tuesday night, it is this: hyperlocal. It’s a safe prediction, considering the pretty long list of new tools and apps for people to make online and offline connections for business and hobbies alike.

More importantly than trends, however, I’ll be paying uber close attention to conversations. It’s been a while since I attended a WebInno. Last time I attended I met the spectrum of smarties, from genius kids who were green in the ways of business to sharp-eyed suits who could use a little less business in their business.

Either way, I’ll be counting the times I hear, “You came ‘all that way’ from Connecticut?” So, let’s make another forecast. I predict that I’ll hear that question at least 4.5 times. More or less.

Hope to see you there! To check out the attendee list, go to the Eventbrite site for WebInno.

This week my biggest mission has been sleep. Last Saturday I worked a marathon, from 9am to 3am (no joke), as I attempted to fix a project that I had delegated and poorly managed. Lesson learned. Each night since Saturday I’ve snagged maybe 3 hours of sleep, until last night when a heavenly 8 hour slot opened up and I jumped all over it like a squirrel at nutapaloooza.

Speaking of paloozas (cheeky segue, I know) . . . when I arrived at the Greater Hartford Women’s Conference yesterday, I was less than my usual energy-infused self. But, thank goodness I pulled my sorry act together to go. It was exactly what I needed.

Last week, I met with a really sharp, creative client potential. He’s forward-thinking, cool and just the type of folk I want to be associated with. At some point in our chat he said, “So, what is it that you really want to do?” Oh boy. Not this question. I never have a good answer for this one. Sad, but true. My answer was wishy washy and vague. I knew it was yucky even as it came out of my mouth. I can’t remember exactly what I said but the translation was pretty much, “I don’t know.” He picked up on it right away and said, “Well, when you get your s*&% together, give me a call.” No lie, those were his exact words.

Oy! There’s nothing like thinking you’re making a great impression on someone and then kicking yourself square in the nuts (so to speak, of course). So, fast forward to yesterday. I’m tired, I’m drowning in project work, I’m fuzzy, I’m kicking myself for recently taking on some projects that I don’t want, I’m anxious to spend time on my favorite baby, group88, and my 37th birthday is coming up in 3 days. That number is like 3 years from that zero number that I never thought I’d have to think about or face.

The first session at the conference is a panel of some very cool, smart women. They include Janet Peckinpaugh (award-winning TV anchor), Renee Sherman (Ameriprise Financial mover and shaker), Laurie Rosner (Rockville Bank bigwig), Karen Rossi (artistic entrepreneur) and . . . WHAT?!, who is that I see up there, is it, could it be? . . it is! Regina Barreca, UConn professor and sharp-tongued killer of bulls&*#. I could never get into her classes when I attended UConn and one time my mom (also a huge fan) and I tried to get to one of her speaking engagements and it was snowed out. Then I moved to NYC and life got in the way and so, meeting Gina has been a long time coming for me.

As I’m listening to the panel, my energy is coming back in full force. The discussion volleys back and forth between personal stories of the Old Boys Network pioneers and what, if anything, has changed since then. It’s good bonding that needs to happen at something like this. Chics bond, that’s what we do.

After the session ended I thought of something smart to say. Of course. If I could go back, this would be my commentary:

I think it’s great for younger women to hear about the early battles of feminism. We need to know our roots. Let’s face it, I just don’t have to work as hard because of their hard work. And, this leads me to my main point: I think the women who have fought so hard for respect and career advancement need to know that they have succeeded. We are there. We have accomplished the first “it.” I’m a great example. I was never told, “you can’t do that because you’re a woman.” I face different challenges. A friend of mine once said, “Women are a real pain in the ass to work with,” and he laughed it off like a joke. So, I think women today face more subtle challenges. The old mindset still exists but it has, for the most part, morphed. Saying degrading things out loud is now a no-no so they come out in fuzzy tones versus actual dialog. Often times I’ve thought, “Am I being treated like this because I’m a woman or because this guy thinks I’m a jerk?”

My point is that we are there, we did it. So, why are we still rehashing the old stuff? It’s time to take two steps into the future and kill that one leg in the past that is dragging us down. I realize that I just created a three-legged scenario here but, that’s what it feels like. If we’d just chop off that one unnecessary carnival-freak leg, we can sprint forward.

Either way, the humor and insight of Gina and Janet and the rest of the panel was the beginning of a day that has become a turning point for me. Here are the highlights:

1) I had a quick chat with Gina and bought her new book, Babes in Boyland. After finding out that I was an English major at UConn, she said to me, “How come I didn’t have you in a class?” I was impressed that she didn’t say, “did I have you in a class?” I’m guessing she does remember all of her students - or she can at least fake it really well which is just as good.

2) I attended three sessions. Two were excellent and one was not (that’s okay, it happens). My favs were “Designing the Life You Want” with calming Feng Shui expert Lin Huntting Congdon and “Great Presenters and Presentations: Fact vs. Fiction” with spitfire Debbie Fay. Both sessions were complete opposites and both were excellent. Both Lin and Debbie are extremely generous with their knowledge and time and I know I will be learning a lot more from them in the future.

3) Marcia Weider. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. I didn’t realize it but I sat with Marcia during lunch. I was across the table so I didn’t get the chance to chat with her. But no matter because her talk after lunch was worth every penny of my $129. Typically, I roll my eyes at motivational speakers. I have a bit of a closet arrogant side and usually am skeptical of someone else inspiring me about things that I already know or feel like I should know. Marcia is different. Marcia’s schtick is about dreams. But she doesn’t talk about dreams in a floaty, head cloudy kind of way. She talks about dreaming as a way of living. So, you want to be a dentist? You want to live in Key West? What are you doing about it? Her approach focuses on understanding that our realistic side is really just doubt’s ugly step sister. Our doubt paralyzes us. This is not revolutionary, of course, but the way she frames it has made me think about my own approach to life. The time has come to get off my arse and start doing the two things I really want to do: 1) become a great commentary writer and 2) make group88 successful. I have morphed her ideas into one, simple, three-word question that I will now forever ask myself each time I doubt my decisions: “Who will die?” Really now - if the result of my decision is not death for someone, either family, friend or stranger, than I have no excuse.

4) Dr. Norling. This week we rented out the group88 space to Dr. Sharon Norling and crew from the Mind Body Spirit Center in Westlake Village, California. Dr. Norling is a renowned optimal health expert who focuses on integrating natural and traditional practice. Dr. Norling, massage therapist Lorri Dzuiba (had a chair massage today - she’s awesome!) and Biofeedback Specialist Jim Holton have been meeting with their East Coast clients all week. They love the space and I love having them here. They’re good people. When my group88 co-founder, Jaye Donaldson, said, “Why don’t we have Dr. Norling do a lunchtime talk before she leaves town?”, I thought - can we really pull that together in 2 1/2 days? Well, yes we can! While at the conference Janet made an announcement about our very reasonable $10 lunchtime session on Friday with Dr. Norling and I immediately got 3 business cards handed to me. Dr. Norling’s session at the conference was packed and there were a lot of chics, like me, who weren’t able to get in there so we’re really happy to be able to do this. And, we’re getting the group88 name out there in a big way. Niiiiiiiiice!

5) I know Debbie Fay is reading this and seeing that I now am presenting a list of 5 things which, according to her is okay but not as good as just having 3 things because we all can’t handle more than 3. She’s absolutely right about that. But, frankly, I think 4 things is too weird and I wasn’t about to cut any of them. Odd numbers just seem to work for me which is not odd at all considering I like to think of myself as sufficiently odd. So, number 5 is really just that, number 5.

My crossroads has arrived. I have two career priorities that have been lost in the everyday shuffle of life but no more. I’ll let you know how it goes. Now that I’ve written out my dreams in this blog, I’ve gotta do it, right? Marcia will be proud, I’m sure.

And, by the way, the end of the day topped off with a great bonus: I won a raffle prize! I won by default because 2 other chics were not present, but who cares? It was the perfect prize too of a massage appointment and spa stuff. I deserve it after this week of laptop hell.

Thank you to the South Windsor Chamber and the committee for the Greater Hartford Women’s Conference. The event was phenomenal. Next year will be even better.

Back in “the” day, I helped my parents run a nursery school in our hometown. That was, for me, about 13 years ago. Other than my 4 year-old nephew that was probably the last time I had any major interaction with kids . . . until today.

Today, I attended a Lunch ‘n Learn at the Henry James Middle School in Simsbury, Connecticut. Folks from the local Chamber were brought in to sit with four groups of kids and talk about their career experiences. The event was pretty cut and dry: we sit down with a group of kids during their lunch time (about 20 minutes) and talk about ourselves and impart any wisdom on choosing a career path, what it’s like in the real world and, well, you get the idea.

My tables went like this:
1) ALL GIRLS: The first group I chose was all girls. I’d forgotten what it was like in middle school - girls to the right, boys to the left. This goes for walking down the hall, dances, lunches and anything that requires mingling. This table was a group of talkative friends who all knew exactly what they wanted to be in life (as of today) and were not shy about asking questions. They picked up handwritten questions from the bucket on the table (an excellent idea for ice breakers) and also chimed in with their own. This group was more interested in where I went to college than my career path but for the most part they seemed to be engaged with talking about both their career interests and mine. Easy first group!

2) ALL GIRLS AGAIN: This group had a variety of quiets and talkies. I enjoyed this conversation as well because these girls really wanted to know things about how my day went and why I do what I do. These girls were great about talking about their interests: actress, writer, nurse, dancer, forensic scientist (although this girl was a bit embarrassed by this choice for some reason), psychologist and child advocate. Lots of “my mom” or someone that has influenced their life was dropped in reference to why they are choosing what they are choosing. You really do forget how much of an impact you have on the young minds around you until you hear them talk about their own future.

3) ALL BOYS: Oh boy. This group was a small group because as they said, “we just don’t have that many friends.” These guys were not exactly speech-barren but they didn’t really offer up too much to say, except for the jokesters of the bunch who gave me fake answers to questions. I kept it casual with these guys and tried to ask questions about what they like. Lots of answers included “boring” and shrugs of shoulders. I also tried to be as unintimidating as possible, being a girl, but who knows if I succeeded or not. Hanging with the boys is a complete 180 from girls. And hanging with a mix was a bigger switch . . .

4) THE MIX: My last group was 4 girls and 3 boys. This is the bunch of jokesters that I would’ve hung out with in school. You have to be thick-skinned and sharp-tongued to sit at this table. There was no keeping on topic or keeping serious at any minute. They were humoring me because I was at the table but, other than that, they can pretty much make a good time all on their own. Good stuff.

In general the questions were along these areas: “why do you do what you do? how did you choose this line of work? where did you go to college/what did you major in?” The best question came from one of the cards on the table: “what has been your best and worst experience in your career?” That was a tough one to do on the fly. And, I’m kicking myself a bit because I didn’t have enough stories. I shared a few but I wish I had a few more that would’ve kept them engaged more. Well, maybe next year.

All in all, I really enjoyed this event. It was casual and free form. The kids that sat with me hopefully enjoyed the conversation and if I was able to impart anything, I hope it was the one philosophy that I live by: Whatever you do, choose something you love that plays on your strengths. If it starts to be something you hate, take the best parts of what you’ve learned and get something better.

Thanks for the day kids - that was a much needed break!

To Connecticut businesses big and small: where are you? A small scant of you I met this morning at Connecticut Business Day (if there was more information on this event, I’d link to it). Others are skimming this post and asking, “what is Connecticut Business Day?” Sounds impressive doesn’t it? It’s really less of an event and more like a half day of discussion and stale danish.

I didn’t know Connecticut Business Day existed until I attended a Simsbury Chamber of Commerce event last week. I also didn’t know what to expect. I attended the open session to hear Governor Rell and legislators speak about the top priorities in Connecticut business. Mission accomplished. I also attended with the intention of raising my hand to ask Gov. Rell if any incentives or programs are being discussed to support the growth and unrelocation of mobile and solo entrepreneurs. Oops.

Well, I missed my chance with the governor but I was able to pose the question to Rep. Kevin Witkos (Avon, CT) and we also had a quick chat about coworking. Kevin will be one of our first group88 speakers and seemed jazzed about the idea. I also had a half-second drive-by chat with the ever-effervescent Rep. Rob Simmons, Connecticut’s Business Advocate. I will be taking Rob up on his offer of 15 minutes of his time (your place or his), and hope to get his thoughts on how we can introduce Connecticut to coworking and other new ways that entrepreneurs are doing business.

Walking out of Connecticut Business Day (which, by the way, is from 7:30-noonish, so not so much of a “day”), I felt both inspired to get more involved with the state (did I just say that outloud?) and edgy about possible outcomes from upcoming sessions: either paralyzation of possible incentives or overreaction of useless mandates. Below are a list of action points discussed and WallFly’s review categorized as “Inspired” or “Tired”:

High-tech Corridor – TIRED: Discussion of this state’s wish to be nano-pioneers and the mayor of high-tech is great but what communities are we building for innovators? We have pockets of innovation via Yale, CCAT, UConn, CCSU and others. Resources, programs and seed/investment dollars are available. What we lack is real-world connections and initiatives that move at the pace of business versus government. Government needs to understand the unique mojo of young entrepreneurs. The new mobile, home-based and start-up workforce requires different environments, culture and interaction. Unfortunately, I feel like that by the time government gets it, the trends will have moved on.

Many times today, I heard “You entrepreneurs need to reach out and get involved. Talk to us. Tell us what you need.” All true, we do need to get more invovled. But, to be candid, the Connecticut government needs to work on its rep for newbies to even consider reaching out. If you are new to entrepreneurship, the word on the street is that state government will slow you down and pain up the process of doing business. Is it true? Honestly, I don’t know. The few folks I’ve met in the state are sharp and very helpful. Is the state my first choice when I need help? No. Last summer I presented the idea of coworking to one state-funded org. Discussions were encouraging and there were many Hollywood “yes’s” about the project. But, eight months later, I’m still waiting to hear if they’re going to move forward.

Transportation – INSPIRED: If you’re not trapped under something heavy during the hours of 7a.m. to 6p.m., driving in this state is an issue for you. Gov. Rell gets this. Her recent proposal to split the DOT may or may not be the best answer but at least the discussion will (fingers crossed) lead to a real reorg. As State Senator John McKinney commented, the best solution for transforming the DOT is up for grabs right now but, one thing is for sure: “the answer is not more roads.”

Energy – TIRED: There are no energy-related bills on the table this year. The state is currently implementing and “administering” the building of transmission lines so any other discussions on energy is apparently not a priority. Connecticut has the highest energy costs in the nation. According to State Senator Donald Williams, we pay $300-500 billion in energy costs due to out-of-state purchases and then paying for it all year long. Rep. Larry Cafero told the story of a business who increased prices 75% to cover the cost of his skyrocketing electric bill. He also discussed a recent article in Expansion Management magazine that ranked Connecticut as 50th in attractive business-friendly political climates. How is it possible that energy and cost-reduction measures are NOT a priority?!

Health Plan – INSPIRED & TIRED: Gov. Rell discussed her Charter Oak Plan (insurance for those of us in the gap – i.e., one of this state’s primary workforces) and her distress on this bill (and others) that will “break the bank.” Her original proposal would cost the state $15 million while the current proposal on the table is peaking at $15 billion. Ouch.

Entity Tax Repeal – INSPIRED: Okay, it’s only $250, but for a tax that did nothing except take money out of our pockets, I think we can all be happy to say goodbye to that one.

Overall, Gov. Rell’s message is to be “cautious and realistic” as we bear through this thing that her advisors are afraid to call a recession. I agree with cutting costs, for sure. But being “cautious” doesn’t exactly fit right. Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of FDR’s famous “the only we have to fear is fear itself” first inaugural speech. For those kids out there who have heard the “fear itself” quip many times, he was not talking about Al Queda. He was talking about beating the Great Depression and building a vibrant economy that required action and didn’t bow to self-fulfilling financial doom prophecy. Today it’s true that our economy is built on stilts right now. However, if we don’t move forward and be aggressive and smart, we are sure to fall on our face.

I hope to meet with more legislators to discuss the new business environment. If there is any mandate out there to discuss, it should be the requirement of new businesses to meet with government in some fashion. Talk all you want about inactivity or overactivity in state government, until we all make our Who voices heard to the Hortons at the Legislative Office Building on Capitol Ave., can we really complain about it?

It’s not about “how” can I get successful but “how successful can I get?”

This week I attended two girl power networking events, both discovered while rummaging through MeetUp.com. Although hosted in the organizer’s home, each event was very different. The first was The Professional Women’s Lunchtime Collaborative in Springfield, Mass., a small group of business indies who gather once a month with a purpose. Each month a member takes the wheel and presents a project or challenge for the group to nosh on. I like this approach. We bring our lunches, get to know each other in small bits and do our best to stay on topic.

The second event was a wine and chocolate half-social, half-networking evening. About 20 gals and one unsuspecting guy (don’t worry, we went easy on him) gathered in a very cozy fireplaced family room. The group is the Western Mass. sect of eWomenNetwork. This is atypical of their monthly meet ups which are usually a paid-speaker-dinner event. The flow of this event was possibly too casual, as discussions drifted here and there, but I didn’t mind. We kept topics to 90% business and the ideas flowed plenty regarding marketing, staying motivated and looking for new avenues to grow business.

Both events confirmed a gut feeling that I’ve had for several months now: women are itchy. Today’s professional women are energetic, smart and eager to suss out new opportunities. We’re competitive and supportive all at once. Business networking has really grown up and we all recognize the value in creating communities that have direct and indirect impact on our business.

I believe the focus for women succeeding in business is finally shifting from isolated big strides to a multitude of smaller but more effective leaps. In the early days of my career I worked with several women who were still living in the residuals of vigilante feminists. Don’t misunderstand me here – I am a huge proponent of competition and empowerment. I also believe competition is at its best when it coexists with mutual respect and support.

With the long-time career women I encountered in the 1990s, fear of not getting ahead was the driver and an expectation of suppression was a natural response. They were still “fighting the good fight” but their fight was not of 1970s and 1980s solidarity. Their fight had moved from “the man” to protecting their hard won territory against the younger women who were looking for mentorship and empowerment. It was a weird time. My views of this time were possibly skewed because I was green and new to office politics but I doubt this is the case since I see a definite change these days.

We are beyond the 1990s confusion of “every woman for herself while pretending to stick together.” Today, it’s not an either/or situation. In the U.S., it’s not about conquering territory and making a claim anymore. Now is the time for action where the focus is not reaction but impact.

The opportunities now open to everyone in business is causing an itch. I can literally see it in people at the networking events – they’re jumping out of their skins. The breadth of opportunity is immense. It’s not about “how” can I get successful but “how successful can I get?” Moms take time off to hang with their kids and then they float into business whenever the opportunity strikes. I met a woman the other night who quit her job last summer and is just now thinking about getting another one, if the right one comes along. The organizer of the eWomenNetwork group home schools her six kids, yet finds time to help build a community of professionals who are focused on motivating and philanthropic business practice.

Man or woman in business, it’s time to scratch that itch. I want 2008 to be defined by action. Your actions should result in success for your business and for others in your community. Big or small, the actions we take to improve the business environment for others will always have great rewards for our own growth and success.

Yesterday I attended a Hasbro vendor fair at their Pawtucket, Rhode Island headquarters. If you think hanging out all day at the birthplace of Mr. Potato Head is all candy canes, pumpkin pie and green apple licorice . . . Yahtzee! You’re right.

The purpose of the fair is to connect freelancers (writers like me, product and package designers, molders, illustrators, photographers, etc.) with in-house Hasbroites. I have been doing some work with excellent copywriter Kara Parlin at the East Longmeadow, Mass. location and was really psyched to attend this one-day only event. I invited my graphic design co-hort, Amanda Bedard of Spielman Design. Amanda does incredible work and she’s a networking hound like me so it was a perfect fit.

First things first, I need to give some major props to our organizer, Susan Algeo. Susan has more energy than Spiderman on speed and could give lessons on how to keep an event ticking while dealing with 800 interruptions, competition with the buzz of daily life at headquarters and a four-hour window to ensure a productive day for 50+ folks who have traveled as far as Portland, Oregon. At one point, I caught Susan attempting to fill up a plate for lunch and told her that I had a question for her when she was done. Nonsense! We chatted while she tried to eat and then, of course, also took care of a few more interruptions along the way. Along with a catalog of all vendors, a fab hot lunch, an afternoon snack of kettle corn, access to the discounted Hasbro boutique (Christmas for my nephew is done!), we also received either Scrabble or Yahtzee! as a parting gift. It was better than spending the day in Candy Land.

Talking with the Hasbroites was really refreshing. These people love what they do. I talked with copywriter Danielle Slawsby who has great war stories from the dotcom days and is working on some cool web stuff for Hasbro, Joanna Kalafarski who manages packaging and product copy and was kind enough to let me bend her ear while I could tell she was swamped with work, Art Director Kathleen Murray who apparently loves pop culture more than me (although I think it might be a tie) and Design Director Melissa Mips who began with Hasbro at the East Longmeadow branch and seems to know just about everyone in Hasbro’s extensive network of past and current employees. I also met tons of designers like a kid (I think he was older than 12 but I’ll still call him a kid) who designs GI Joe and a guy who’s worked on Play-Doh for ions.

Equally cool was hanging with the other vendors. Here’s a list of my favs:

Fuszion - Killer design company located in Virginia. Rick and Jeff let me babble on about branding and marketing so I loved them even more. How can you go wrong with a name like Fuszion? These guys have awesome years ahead of them.

Smith Design - Mr. and Mrs. Smith are green-concerned packaging and product designers out of New Jersey. Their daughter Jenna, an ex-Silicon Valley girl, represented the fam and did a great job of showcasing their excellent work.

Gary Leveille, Berkshire Creative - Gary is a fellow writer who has quite an extensive list of experience in the biz. He had some great writer-to-writer advice for me which I will keep to myself.

Smartshape Design - Did you know Cleveland is really just an old ‘burb of Connecticut? These guys did - they know everything! Smartshape are innovative engineers who can also hook clients up with tooling and manufacturing. Smart.

Gary & Maggie Houston, A Printer’s Film Service, inc. - Gary and Maggie are a husband and wife duo who met in Providence, RI and worked for Hasbro “back in the day” and now live in North Carolina. Spunk doesn’t begin to describe them.

Philip Hatter, Thistledown Puppets - You have not seen puppets until you’ve met Philip and his puppet posse. His work is incredible and his love for puppet theater really shows in his designs. I kept meaning to ask him why he went with the name Thistledown versus a play on Mad Hatter. For another day.

Pumpkin Pie - Jennifer and Sheridan specialize in branding, logos and package design. They practice what they preach and have done some of the best branding for their own company that I’ve seen in a long time.

Adam Gillespie, Night Light Graphics - Adam is an extremely talented illustrator and graphic designer of cool other worlds. He has a very bright future ahead of him.

Floating Pear Productions - Digital animation experts, Floating Pear were our neighbors and Hasbro’s too since they are based out of Providence, RI. Co-founder Dee Boyd’s bubbly personality and their cool mug give-aways kept the traffic flowing our way. Thanks Dee!

And last but absolutely not least . . .

The Linnett Sisters - A long-forgotten ’50s pop band? Nope. Two creative New Hampshire gals, Katie and Patti, daughters of illustrator Charles Linnett (also an ex-Hasbroite) and owners of Linnett Studios. The Linnett Sisters are talented illustrators and innovative package and product designers.

All in all a great networking event. I’m sure Susan will be looking for feedback on how to make the day better and I really only have one suggestion:

The Catalog - The catalog of vendors was not distributed to Hasbroites unless they strolled down to the event. I would flip this entirely. Why not offer up an electronic catalog teaser to those groups (Design, Creative, etc.) one week ahead of time? In the teaser, I would allow the vendors a quick promo paragraph and also a chance for them to say which Hasbro projects (or types of projects) they’d like to work on.

Life gets in the way - meetings, sick days, unexpected work issues - if someone isn’t able to meet with the vendors on the day we’re there or from the 10-2 time frame, it’s possible that Hasbro staff might want to meet with vendors before or after the event. I say promote the folks who are traveling to Pawtucket, RI as much as possible. There was a lot of talent hanging out in that Hasbro hallway. Keeping us a secret is like telling kids about this great movie where funky fighting, car-morphing machines attempt to destroy the world versus showing them this.

Either way, I’ll be back again next year. To those vendors who declined to attend because they considered it a Trivial Pursuit: you’ll be Sorry! next year if you Boggle an opportunity to Connect Four hours with folks that could move you along in The Game of Life. And let’s not forget the kettle corn. That’s worth the trip to Pawtucket alone.

Right now I’m driving back to my little house in CT from the Geezeo ZoomInfo Compete + sponsored Tech Cocktail event in Bostonian MA. Cool event. Probably 500+ folks chatting, drinking, hanging.

This is the type of event that I like. Nothing planned except for a few fun events - particularly, a raffle coordinated with a money machine (fitting for Geezeo) where folks had to enter a booth and grab as much fake money as possible as it blew around their heads. I totally rocked this game (which didn’t matter because you didn’t win anything except for the chance to drop your biz card into the raffle - blah) but my strategy was killer. I’d tell you but then if we ever were to encounter each other at another geek networking event with a money-blowing-around-your-head machine competition, you’d totally trump me. Not cool. A Wii, of course, was also present. First time playing a Wii for me and I totally stink so it will probably be the last. There were probably a few other things that I didn’t pay much attention to. I was too busy chatting folks up.

At the bar I ran into Mark from MarksGuide, a guy my buddy Matt has been trying to connect me with for sometime. He has an awesome concept for a hyperlocal, biz event happening site and I’ve already got some great ideas for how he can build up some excitement and get some Craig’s List type hype. I also had several fabulous conversations with Jill from Fashion Public. Her mission is to get boutique fashion directly into the hands of fashionistas. Another awesome concept. Jill is currently in the fund gathering stage. If there’s anyone out there that would like to invest in a sure-fire hit company, please contact Jill and give her your money. I’d love to work with her and the funds will make this happen. Thanks.

I also ran into BzzAgent reps. BzzAgent and I go way back. Pete from Geezeo will tell you that I told him about BzzAgent like four years ago. It was great to meet the folks face-to-face. Awesome WOM company and I’m excited to learn more about their new Frog Pond adventure. I haven’t participated in one of their campaigns in a while but I will be sure to hook up with one ASAP.

Honestly, if every conference and seminar out there was replaced with a straight out networking event, I think they’d be 30% more successful. Maybe even 38%. It’s the right environment to make things happen - people hanging out, talking, getting to know each other. It just makes sense. Thanks TechCocktail funders - looking forward to the next one.

Borough Clock Fund II reached its $200,000 goal!

The July 29th Games on the Green event, to benefit restoration of the Stonington Borough Clock and Tower in Stonington, Conn., was a huge success for both fundraising and fun raising.

It was really exciting to be a part of an event that brought together volunteer efforts from the community at large, from residents and local restaurants to businesses outside the immediate community like Enfield, Conn. cabinet maker Rome Polaski, Big Y, Jonathan Edwards Winery and the Lebanon Lions Club.

The day’s highlights included cool kids’ games that were the envy of all the adults like potato sack races and tug of war, a nailbiting croquet tournament, tons of belly-filling treats, fabulous raffle prizes such as Front of the Line passes for Borough hotspots and an olde tyme seranade by local barbershop troupe, the SeaNotes. We had expected about 15 SeaNotes and 24 showed up for the event! The media didn’t disappoint as well and included The New London Day, the Westerly Sun and Fox 61 News at 10:00. We were only on Fox for a millisecond which is a bit disappointing considering co-chair Kate Love gave a great interview but, hey, I’m just happy I was able to entice them enough to show up!

The biggest hiccups of the day included rocks in the bubble machine and a round of croquet that ran quite a bit longer than the players would have liked (next year we’ll do lightening rounds). Other than that, the whole event was just as the event committee had hoped - a fun, relaxing Sunday afternoon filled with friendly competition and a step back in time to the casual gatherings that draws a community together at the town green.

Heading into the event, the committee had raised $197,000. During our event, we had a crowd of both day long participants and passersby that reached about 150 people, but those folks helped raise over $2,000! One of the biggest compliments we received was from an anonymous donor who was unable to stay for the festivities but offered to provide the remaining funds needed to help us reach our goal. This donor hoped that by closing the gap on the final monies required through this event that it would encourage more celebrations of this kind in the future. It worked. We’re already gearing up for next year’s event.

Thank you anonymous donor and all the folks that helped us celebrate on Sunday. Your support has saved a treasured Connecticut landmark and has sparked a tradition - old-fashioned fun that breathes new life into community spirit!