Professional and Business Development
The programs described below are designed to sharpen business skills, including those necessary to grow a small business.
Professional Development Series
Area academics and consultants share updates on current best practices and innovations in business.
The Leadership Forum
The Leadership Forum offers interactive meetings to resolve real life, real time leadership issues. Participants have leadership roles in organizations or are responsible for getting results through the efforts of others. Each month, participants select discussion topics or meet with guest speakers on specific issues.
Meets: 7:30 a.m., First Tuesday of month / CX South
Facilitator: Donna Craig, Leadership Resources
Toastmasters
In a supportive environment, Central Exchange members learn to become more effective communicators by presenting prepared speeches, giving impromptu speeches and offering and receiving constructive evaluations.
Meets: 11:45 a.m., Second Tuesdays of the month / CX Downtown.
Noon, Fourth Tuesdays of month / CX South
Marketing Roundtable
If the day-to-day job of running your business gets in the way of making more money or bringing in more clients, the Marketing Roundtable will empower you to think outside the box. The group is designed for entrepreneurs, independent sales professionals, and independent commissioned contractors. So if you feel stuck in a marketing rut, aren’t sure if you have the right marketing mix, need to bounce some ideas or need accountability for your actions, the Marketing Roundtable will provide the support you need.
Meets: 7:30 a.m., first Wednesday of month / CX South
8:00 a.m., fourth Thursday of month/Downtown
Facilitated by: Sherri Becker
Business Collaboration Network
With the current economic climate keeping us guessing, you need to have the right tools to stay afloat. The Business Collaboration network focuses on how prospecting trends change and how to keep our toolkit up to date. We also network with other CX members for great resources and referral partners! Each month we’ll look at different prospecting methods and discuss how to effectively implement what we learn. Come join us for great information and better connections!
Meets: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., third Friday of month/CX South
Facilitated by: Breandan Filbert
Rainmaking and Referral Resource Group
If part of your job responsibilities involve selling, but you have limited training in sales and marketing, this is the group for you. At each session business development and prospecting topics will be discussed and applied to your real life work situation. Participants will learn the skills of rainmakers including the latest and greatest networking and referral generation techniques.
Who should attend? Those in professional services, business owners, anyone with technical, not marketing expertise.
Meets: 8:00 - 9:30 a.m., second Tuesday of month/Downtown
Facilitated by: Breandan Filbert, SalezWorks LLC
Social Media Users Group
Are you engaged in social media activities to build your personal or company brand and/or influence? Do you blog, use Facebook, Twitter, or You-Tube and want to keep up with the latest technologies and best practices? This group is a forum for sharing expertise, case histories and best practices among those who are using social media (or want to use social media) as an influence tool for their expertise, products, services, cause and/or company.
Meets: Third Thursday of the month, 8:00 a.m. at alternating CX locations.
Facilitators: Janis Jones and Jennifer Peek
Entrepreneurs' Resource Group (ERG)
The Entrepreneur’s Resource Group (ERG) is a must attend for anyone who wants to learn how to grow her business through an invigorating exchange of information, ideas and insights. Facilitator, Laura Maver Ward, follows a format that is similar to a CEO roundtable. The difference is, attendees don’t have to spend tens of thousands to participate. Each month, an entrepreneur volunteers to be in the “hot seat” and brings a business challenge to the group. Challenges brought to the “hot seat’ have included growth strategies, sales and marketing strategies, branding, staffing and product development, to name just a few. The attendees are given the opportunity to ask questions to learn more about the business, the business owner and the circumstances related to the challenge. After a lively and eye-opening discussion, the business owner receives an abundance of candid feedback, ideas and suggestions that she can implement immediately. Some business owners have seen dramatic and positive business results in just 30 to 60 days! Entrepreneurs…we all know being an entrepreneur can be a lonely place! Don’t go it alone...come join us every month to learn how you can grow your business!
Meets: 2nd Friday of the month, 11:30 a.m., South
Facilitators: Laura Ward