San Diego Speed Networking, The Show Must Go On!

I founded San Diego Speed Networking Dennis-Michael Broussard of Silk Road Productions over a year ago to create a professional networking event that overcame these obstacles:

a) Networking at loud bar with music where people are yelling over each other because they can’t hear
b) People aimlessly wandering around in an attempt to meet everyone with no formal introductions
c) The awkwardness of interrupting a conversation or leaving a conversation

Here’s how it works.
-Each company attends with TWO representatives If you only have one person at your company then attend with a friend/ referral partner/ someone you collaborate with.

-Each company receives a table top to set up marketing materials, promo items, visuals, etc. Rep 1 from the company remains at the table while Rep 2 from the company is assigned to move around to each table

-When the Speed Networking sessions begin Rep 2 moves to the table next to table and 3 minutes are alloted for each session. When time is up Rep 2 continues to move to the next table until every company has had a chance to meet every other company.

Each person will connect with everyone in the room. The speed networking session is long enough to establish a connection and short enough to move on if no connection is made. At the end there is a mixer. That’s the event in nutshell.

I’m having many challenges with my marketing campaign for the event. It’s extremely frustrating. As a Marketer I know exactly what needs to be done but don’t have the means to do it.

I don’t have access to my domain name so I can’t redirect the website currently hosted under the Silk Road Productions Website. The domain was purchased by former partner who has the password and has not disclosed it. I tried calling GoDaddy they were no help. Any SEO work I attempt will not be credited to: www.sandiegospeednetworking.com since it’s not hosted as its own entity.

I’ve also been unsuccessful in hosting a wordpress blog within the site. I’d like it embedded into my site as a page but it only links to the blog on the wordpress site. Dennis-Michael has done a great job with the site given that neither of us are developers or designers. I’ve become so discouraged with the marketing that I’m compelled to cancel the event, but we’ve already invested a lot and thus the show must go on!

If you read this entire Blog you get a $10 discount to the event. Regular price is $50 per company. My blog readers get in for $40. That’s $40 for two people. Includes hosted appetizers! Twitter followers @SDSpeedNet also get the discount! If you have any feedback for my website, marketing strategy or event in general please comment! I hope to see everyone there. Reserve your spot today space is limited!

SuggestionBox, Innovation in Customer Feedback

Companies invest billions of dollars every year to improve their business through marketing to the right audience, branding their logo, cause marketing in the community and more. What most companies don’t realize is that improvements aren’t effective unless they know what needs to be improved.

SuggestionBox is revolutionizing the way customers can provide feedback by creating an online system that allows customers to submit and track feedback to any company. This engages the customer and allows the company to interact and follow up with their most valuable resource…the customer!

Currently when you have a suggestion, here’s what happens:

A. You keep it to yourself because there’s no easy way to share your feedback.

B. You call an 800 # get an operator and after sharing your suggestion, they thank you and you never hear from them again.

C. You go online submit a generic email and receive another generic thank you email back. You then get put on their mailing list as if you don’t already receive enough emails.

You’ll notice a pattern with all 3 options, the ultimate result is that nothing happens! Nothing will continue to happen unless customers and companies take action. So what’s next? Become a suggester Today!

Benefits of SuggestionBox-The Customer

1. User Friendly- Simply create an account and instantly start suggesting ideas/improvements. You may find yourself going on a suggestion spree since it’s the first time you’ve had an opportunity to share all your thoughts.

2. Easy to track- Suggest, rate, comment and track everything in one simple forum. No need to go back and attempt to call or email the company again.

3. Make a Difference- Your opinion matters and counts! Whether you’re paying $50K for a car or $50 for a dinner you’re making the investment so show these companies that you want to help them improve.

Benefits of SuggestionBox- The Company

1. Increase customer loyalty – When customers have a personal connection their loyalty increases. SuggestionBox allows companies to show their patrons they care and are actively working to accelerate their success with the help of their customers.

2. Easy to manage- Companies can easily manage their suggestions by placing them in one of the following categories: New, Under Review, Future, Coming soon, Implemented, Filed away and Deleted. Not only does this keep the company on track, the customer sees their suggestion in action.

3. Earth friendly- I commend any tools that eliminates the old paper method. This is not only better for the environment but now there’s need to hire someone to go over slips of paper in scribbled illegible writing. Show customers that you’re earth friendly.

BJ Cook, the CMO & Adam Levenson, the Online Marketing Manager of SuggestionBox were kind enough to set up a San Diego Speed Networking SuggestionBox. This is a startup so there’s lots of room for improvement. I already have a a list of improvements I plan to execute but I would love as much insight as possible. Please sign up for SuggestionBox, leave me a suggestion and you’ll be automatically entered to win a FREE entry to the next San Diego Speed Networking event in September. This is a $60 value!