Into the chamber
Last night I attended my first mixer as a member of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce. I grew up in Sunnyvale’s neighboring city, Santa Clara, and I also hold my California Wine Hikes business license in Sunnyvale, which is where I’ve been living for the past 11 years. So it made sense for me to join the SVCOC, and it was time I showed up to do a little networking.
After an initial presentation to local business owners about identity theft, everybody was greeted by Chamber CEO Suzi Blackman. I’d heard people say - people who apparently are members of more than just one local chamber - that Sunnyvale’s Chamber is the most fun. Within moments, I felt compelled to agree - just experiencing Suzi was pure confirmation. What a ball of fire this woman is!
And then >gulp!< it was my turn to take the floor.
As is the custom at the Chamber, Suzi introduces new members at these mixers. Suzi admonished the crowd of approximately 100 to allow us newbies each 30 seconds of presentation without anybody talking (though people could laugh and clap if they wanted to). The woman to my left introduced herself and her business first. She was well-rehearsed with her 30-second spiel, almost overly so. Sure, she was nervous. Me? Well, I didn’t stay up all night rehearsing or being nervous. I just went with my gut, took a sip from the glass of red wine I was holding (Columbia Crest Merlot, for gawd sakes!) and stepped forward.
“Hi, I’m Russ Beebe. Before I tell you about my business, I have two questions to ask you all,” I ventured. “Let’s see a show of hands. Who among you enjoys getting outdoors to enjoy Nature, maybe do a little hiking?”
About two dozen hands went up.
I raised my glass. “And now tell me, who here likes wine?” This time, there was quite a chorus of affirmative hoots, a great show of hands, and one loud “Duh!”. I laughed and, having captured everyone’s attention, let them know that I lead guided hikes and wine tastings in the California wine country. Then, after rounding out my 30 seconds with a few details about life balance, my ecommerce website, and the wonders of the California wine country, I relinquished the floor to the third newbie.
Moments later, after a drawing for prizes donated by local member merchants, the evening evolved - devolved? - into a mass flurry of flying business cards. I had walked in with about two dozen of my own earlier, but mismanaged to quickly run out of them. My shirt pocket, however, fairly bulged with the cards of others, many of whom I’m glad I met.
For instance, I expect to talk more with Janie Tubbs, who runs AccrualWorld (great name!), a local accounting service. Ken Sorensen is District Sales Manager for the Wave Magazine, a popular city guide for the Silicon Valley area. Ken and I are soon going to discuss hardcopy advertising of, in Ken’s words, my “very unique business”. (I think so too, Ken!) And then there’s Trish Guerrieri, a fellow tour operator and CEO of Gary Air, an air taxi service. Trish exudes a lot of knowledge and passion about flying, and I’d already been advised by my Chamber mentor, Becky Griffey of BG Specialty Printing, that I should talk to her. I expect to talk to her more.
Why? Because I like the idea of offering winehiking tours in places such as Lake Tahoe, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Albuquerque, Walla Walla, and Sedona. And what better wine touring adventure could there be than one that includes flying to the trailhead and the tasting room?
The evening was complete when I chanced to talk to Linda Soto, a Los Altos realtor who recently attended one of my blind tastings. I hadn’t known Linda was a Chamber member, and she hadn’t known about my membership either; we just hadn’t broached that topic at the tasting. Neither had we talked about hiking, particularly, but last night she agreed to join me on the winehiking trail soon.
It’s a small world, surely. Last night, I felt my small world growing comfortably larger. And so I’ll be attending next week’s mixer, too: a function combining the Sunnyvale Chamber with the Santa Clara Chamber. I better bring 200 business cards - and my own wine.
