North San Diego Business At Large
Show Notes: January 27, 2012

Harvey Brate will be my guest. He’s the founder of Contacts N Coffee, a new networking group in North County.

Contacts N Coffee’s purpose is to enhance the growth of their members’ businesses by providing an environment to share qualified and mutually profitable professional referrals and leads.

Contacts N Coffee became the fastest-growing networking group in the Santa Barbara region. Which just goes to show you, keeping it simple has huge rewards. The Santa Ynez, Ventura, Ojai, Conejo Valley, Simi Valley and Carlsbad groups are also rapidly expanding which suggests that the first group wasn’t just a case of beginner’s luck!

North San Diego Business At Large
Show Notes: October 7, 2011

Carolyn Gross, Creative Life Solutions, is organizing, Your Health is Your Wealth, an evening devoted to those who choose to make health a priority!

My own life has been affected by Cancer over the past year. A good friend passed away from pancreatic cancer the day after Christmas. A young family member was diagnosed and is not going through chemotherapy.  So when I discovered the event Carolyn was holding, I immediately called and asked her for an interview.

In this episode she shared her story and how this event came to be.  It’s ideal that the event is being held in Escondido at the California Center for the Performing Arts. It starts at 4pm with Networking and a Health Marketplace,  featuring wellness experts, health services and products.

From 5:00-7:15pm you’ll hear from Author/Patient Advocate Carolyn Gross, Geronimo Rubio MD, Dr. Cherilyn Lee and a Health Panel and they’ll be answering your questions. Of course there must be entertainment with Adrienne Nims Band performing. Networking and hors d’oeuvres from 7:15-8:30 pm end the evening. Fun, Food, Life Changing Information! Reserve your ticket to Your Health is Your Wealth now!

North San Diego Business At Large
Show Notes: July 29, 2011

Listen Live at 3pm PT

It’s summer. I thought I’d take time out to highlight some of the business networking events around north county. You’ll also hear a few networking tips.

If you have an event I need to highlight, please visit my North San Diego Business Facebook page and post it to the wall.

It’s that time of year, the Women In Business Symposium will be held May 19th at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

This year I had the privilege of interviewing Rita Kahn, So What, Do It Now!, one of the keynote speakers at the symposium. At each event over the past 11 years, we have a charity of focus. For the first time ever, we are focusing on the same charity in back-to-back years, the Wounded Warrior Homes.

The early registration for the symposium ends this Friday, May 13th. Sign up now for a fabulous day of networking and learning. There are several roundtable sessions that will share business and lifestyle information with you.

This event draws over 300 women from all over San Diego County and over 75 exhibitors. It’s a day of fun and catching up with the women in business that you may not have seen recently. Who knows, you could meet your next client at this event. Register Now!

North San Diego Business at Large
Show Notes: March 25, 2011

On March 24th, the Business Women’s Mega Mixer was held and over 600 women were in attendance. I decided to go “old school” with my hand-held digital recorder and held some interview of a few of the exhibitors.

I spoke with:

Score
C&L Maintenance
Rancho Santa Fe Professional Women’s Networking
Good ‘Ol Gals
Leads Club

North San Diego Business at Large
Show Notes: March 4, 2011

The Vista Chamber of Commerce is holding the Soul Sharing Sisters event March 19th. It’s a celebration for women, sharing collective passions. Sarita Maybin a local, energetic and engaging motivational speaker, and author of If You Can’t Say Something Nice, What Do You Say? will keynote the fundraiser. In this episode of North San Diego Business Sarita will share with us what this event is all about. Who knows, she even may share a bit of wisdom, and inspiration.

This event benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

North San Diego Business at Large
Show Notes: February 18, 2011

Several large networking opportunities are coming up in the next couple of months. Today we are sharing:

Vista Chamber of Commerce
Soul Sharing Sisters
Saturday, March 19th 2:30pm, Vista Valley Country Club

Connected Women of Influence
Business to Business Networking (you must be B2B)
Open Networking Event, March 31st and April 29th

Business Women’s Mega Mixer
The Mac-Daddy of Mixers
March 24th

Women In Business Symposium
11th Year, if I were a man, I’d attend
may 19th

North San Diego Business at Large
Show Notes: February 8, 2011

As an entrepreneur, one of your most valuable business assets is your list of potential prospects. More people on your list, means more sales. Barbara Eldridge, Mind Masters, discussed some techniques for filling your pipeline.

What strategies are you using to keep your marketing funnel full?

On Friday, January 21st the San Diego Chapter of SCORE will present Susan Rust, Vice President Client Services, Achieve Internet presenting “The Business Owner’s Media Mogul Manual: A Strategic Plan to Leverage Web-Based Technologies”

These days you must be your own Media Mogul! Susan will discuss how you can leverage today’s free and low-cost web technologies to get more presence in your marketplace, drive more traffic to your website and convert more people into customers. You will gain insight into how to develop a chain of marketing channels from YouTube, Facebook, Linkedin and more.

Those of you who know me well, know I’ve attended these SCORE Breakfasts since 2004. You also know I came down on SCORE pretty hard a year ago in a blog post reviewing the Score breakfast and the mistakes I thought SCORE was making. After a discussion with the incoming team, I’ve found SCORE to be very responsive to suggestions from the attendees and have seen them “re-think” some of their decisions.

I’ll be there Friday the 21st and am looking forward to connecting with the other women business owners in San Diego. I’ll be sharing the exhibitors with those of you who follow North San Diego Business on Twitter.

I still think this is one of the premiere networking breakfast and well worth your time and investment to join me. See you there??

Wednesday Dec 1st, from 5-7PM the Vista Chamber of Commerce is holding it’s Holiday Sundowner at the new Civic Center Community located at 200 Civic Center Drive.

They’re having a special Tree Lighting Ceremony where Chamber & Local Businesses came together to present the city with a new Tree for the lobby of city hall.

The chamber is also teaming up with Angels Depot for a Food Drive, and for every non-perishable food item you bring you’ll receive a Raffle Ticket to win prize! They’ll also be holding an “Obnoxious Holiday Sweater Contest”! Prizes for the most obnoxious.

There will be appetizers graciously provided by EDCO Waste & Recycling, No Host Bar, and Lots of Networking!!! Cost $5 Vista Chamber Members, $10 Prospective Members. Usually over 100 people attend this event!

Thank You to All the Donors Who Made the Tree Possible:
Edco
Shadowridge Rotary
Kaiser & Associates IT
E-World Recyclers
Vista Industrial Products
Allen Brothers Mortuary
Allstate Insurance
Cruises, Inc.

Tomorrow is the EARLY-BIRD Deadline for registering for the EXPO! Prices go up $100/booth after tomorrow!

The Vista Chamber of Commerce invites you to Exhibit at our 7th Annual Vista Business EXPO on Wednesday October 20, 2010 in the Vista Business Park! The Business EXPO is a great way to reach your customers, raise your company profile, meet fellow business professionals and boost your bottom line!

Become an Exhibitor:

There is no better or more cost effective way to Showcase your business than to Exhibit at the Vista Business Expo. Exhibitors receive the following:

• 2,500 Potential Leads in 5 Hours – make face-to-face contact with business prospects and decision makers!
• Exposure – Your Company listing on the Event Web Site, the Vista Chamber Site, the Vista Magazine, and Trade Publications.
  New: All Exhibitors will be listed in our 8-page Directory, which is being printed by the San Diego Busienss Journal – and it will be an INSERT in the San Diego Business Journal the week of our Event!
• Free Admission Tickets – unlimited number of Free Admission Tickets for your prospects, clients, employees & guests ($10/ticket value).
• Pre-Event Networking – Mix & mingle at the Pre-Event Sundowner/Booth Picking Party on September 29th!
• Database – a Database of all the Exhibitors and Attendees will be given to each Exhibitor for follow-up!
• Booth Prices Start at $250 – Register by September 29, and your Booth cost is only $250 for Vista Chamber Members (and/or Members of one of our “Boulevard Partners”)!
• Priority in Picking Your Booth Location is Based on a First Come-First Serve Basis! Register Online Now!
  (call the office @ 760-726-1122 for discount codes)

Sponsor a “Boulevard”!

We will have several specialty areas in our event. The proposed list includes:

• Technology
• Health & Wellness World Trade
• Sustainable Technologies
• Construction
• Financial & Legal
• Travel & Entertainment
• Human Resources

For $1,000, you can brand your Boulevard with your company name/logo. You will receive a double booth (10 x 20) and your logo in all our marketing materials for the event. Plus you will receive priority in selecting your booth location.

For more details, you can click on this link, or email or call the office: bret(at)vistachamber(dot)org or 760-726-1122

Taste of Vista

Are you a caterer? Looking for more Business Customers? Join our Expo. This is a great way to gain huge exsposure in just a few hours!

Here’s how it works – you provide samples, we provide people – it’s a match made in heaven!

This is FREE to Vista Chamber Members and only $100 to non-members!

Register online today!