BizBlog

The Hidden Havana Cuban Cafe,

Fue un excelente lugar para convivir con miembros y nuevos empresarios de la camara de comercio latina de Santa Clarita CA, entre los asistentes estuvieron el CEO Bill Miranda acompanado con su esposa y la prominente empresaria Patricia Gracia y su esposo Tony Gracia de Power Media Group, la revista Our Valleys cubrio el evento al igual que LSN360.com con las noticias locales, esperando tener el crecimiento de Latinos en La ciudad con mas de un demografico de 50 mil Latinos actualmente segun el censo reciente del 2010.

Lots of things have happened since my last post.  Let's catch up. 

In April we held a wonderful mixer at The Cellar Wine Bar & Restaurant.  DiMaggio Washington was a stellar host.  A good time and great networking was had by all.


In May we held three events: The spectacular Taste of Cinco de Mayo, the first Breakfast Networking meeting and another terrific mixer at Sabor Latino Supermarket.  The Taste of Cinco event was one of the biggest ever for Newhall with over 5,000 attendees.  The Breakfast Networking meeting had 15 attendees all coming away with new contacts and new ideas for their businesses.  The mixer was unique, the first one we have had in a non-restaurant setting, and very well attended.  As usual a good time and great networking was had by all.

This month we again will hold three events.  On June 15th we will hold our first Leadership workshop.  On June 16th another Breakfast Networking meeting.  And on June 22 another mixer this time at Hidden Havana Cuban Cafe. 

Please come join us at all these events and make sure your Chamber membership pays you many times the annual dues.

To say a good time was had by all is to understate the great value the event presented to attendees.  Yes, a good time was had by all, but more importantly our members know how to network and exchange information for future meetings.  What these mixers do is give our members an opportunity to promote themselves and their businesses and to learn about other member's businesses.  With that as our goal the mixer at Barcelona Tapas Lounge really rocked.

Thank you to our hosts Dominik and Devano Lahmidi and Melissa Henson.  Thank you also to Martin Rodriguez who is our Mixer Coordinator and Raul Alberto who is our Master of Ceremonies at our events.  Thank you to Mayra Santana and Mario Galvez for handling our Membership Committee and making all attendees feel welcome.  Finally, thank you to all who attended.  You are the reason we do these events.

Tomorrow, March 23rd, is our monthly mixer event.  This one will be at the Barcelona Tapas Lounge in Stevenson Ranch.  We are especially excited to have as our hosts Dominik Lahmidi and Melissa Henson who are expert at making everyone feel good.

Mixers are another name for business networking.  They are meant to put people together who may not otherwise meet.  They come to a mixer to ... mix.  Yes, they don't become wall flowers and they don't become social butterflies spending all their time with people they already know.  They come to meet new people and make new contacts.  They come to grow their business's and to learn about other business's that can be good resources to them.  Mixer means mixing.  Mixing means making new contacts.  And that means making money.

“The self-confidence of the warrior is not the self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.”

Carlos Castaneda

In business as in all of life people choose to be either be ordinary or to be warriors.  There is nothing wrong with being ordinary.  That's ok.  Ordinary people will get ordinary results and that may be ok with them.  Warriors look for more so they give more to get more.  Ask yourself.  Are you an Ordinary Person or a Warrior?  You can choose.  Then you must do.

Tonight's event was terrific.  Thanks to the Our Valleys staff and a special thanks to Patricia and Tony Gracia who hosted the event.  About 50 people attended representing about 35 companies.  The area was very fertile for networking.  And networking was really done.  I saw so many of our members and guests introducing themselves and exchanging contact information.  Good job!  No spectators tonight, only movers and shakers.

Thanks to the Antelope Valley Hispanic Chamber for making the trip down I-14 for our event.  Thanks to Conexion, Edgar and Luis, for making the trip from the Pasadena area.  Sam and Yvonne from Medi-Serve also came in from the Pasadena area. 

Our Valleys spoke about this being just the beginning of their strategic plan to be a force in the Latino communities it serves.  They mentioned that it's not just another magazine.  It is a communications media, print and electronic, that will give their advertisers tremendous access to the Latino, Anglo and bi-lingual markets.  Their excited and they make us excited.  They are a great addition to our chamber. 

I get this a lot.  "I joined a group attended a few meetings and got nothing out it so I left."  Then I ask, "What actions did YOU take to interact with the group?"  Usually the answer is that they did little or nothing to get involved. 

Networking is like dating.  If you don't take the first step you most likely will miss out on a lot of opportunities.  There is gold in them there hills, but you have to mine it.  You have to reach out to people and build relationships.  You have to make them know you, like you, trust you and want to help you.

How do you do that?  You get involved!  Yes, you show up at the scheduled events.  You reach out to people you don't know.  You ask how you can help them.  You don't go off by yourself or with your best friend (save that for when you're not networking) all night long.  Instead you mingle.  You get out of your comfort zone and say "hello" to others.

Being a spectator at a networking event won't cut it.  Get involved!

I just spent a wonderful weekend in Paso Robles visiting with an old mentor of mine.  After some great food and fantastic wine we sat alone in comfortable chairs and shared some old war stories.  After a while in what is his custom he asked me, "What can I do to help you?"  I answered that I needed advice.  I wanted to know his thoughts on how I could become more productive.  His answer was aimed right at my heart.

"Get you fat tush out of the chair!" he said.  I stared in disbelief.  Did he not know how many hours I put into my work?  Did he not know how much I do to generate business for my clients?  Is he getting senile???

I was so confused ... and not a little bit annoyed ... at his answer so I asked him what he meant by it.  He explained that in today's business environment many take the short cut, the easy way in working with customers/clients.  They want to do everything on the computer or on the Blackberry/IPhone.  So the work at a desk all day long and get "fat tushes." 

He then went on to say that in his many years of experience nothing worked better than good old face to face contact.  He said being productive is not the answer to success.  Being effective is.  To be more effective you have to do more of the things that work.  Face to face contact works infinitely better than anything else. 

So if you want to succeed in your business be more effective and do face to face contacting.  And get your fat tush off the chair!

How busy can I get that I don't find time to post on this blog?  Answer: No excuse, Sir!  That's right.  I have no excuse.  So I commit here and now to post regularly on this blog site and to engage with others to provide meaningful information for all to share.  I will also commit to sharing this wonderful site with as many others as I can so we can grow this into a huge center of information provided by its many members.  Yes!