5th Tuesday Tweetup - big success!

Last night I attended the last Tuesday tweetup for 2009 at Dockgate 4 in Southampton hosted as ever by the wonderful @tuesdaytweetup. It was perhaps the most successful and well attended too date,which bodes very well for future events.

I was pleased to meet a number of new (to me) people at the event, including local twitter celebrity @CatStormont who was selling cook books for her Brownies (of course I was seduced by her very natural, almost undetectable selling technique and purchased a copy), @stewzer @fradgepick @ejjyjo (the last two being a lovely couple who were a delight to meet) @barrysampson @MikeyPalmer @clarebeckingham and @iBoov -phew! The tweetups are a great way to meet people. You normally already have a connection through the wonderful world of twitter, which makes the introductions and getting to know each other much easier than the usual cold start of a conversation with a stranger.

It was lovely to see familiar chums @Sandanista @doclorraine @freshtherapies @icicle_halo_ and of course @tuesdaytweetup herself! @tuesdaytweetup has, through her efforts, given a lot of people a lot of new contacts and hopefully new friends, a wonderful result for something she regards as a social experiment. There are so many business and social opportunities at the tweetups and its always exciting being there.

And now for the inevitable @adammanning & @iBoov photograph from the tweetup last night, both of us proudly displaying our #movember moustaches :

Report from the Guests' Meeting - Monday 26th October

Guests’ Meeting – Monday 26^th October 2009

We had a fantastic guests’ meeting this Monday with a large number of visitors to the group which made for exciting business opportunities for everyone in attendance.

The visitors included the following:

Tessa Smith from the Chilli Jam company – check out their site at http://www.thechillijamcompany.co.uk/ for more details of their delicious products

Catch 22 – this is a charity looking to help 16 to 18 year olds get into the world of work through apprenticeships. http://www.catch-22.org.uk/ for more details.

Christine Hammacot from the art of communication is a graphic designer. http://www.artofcomms.co.uk/

Philip Filgate from Stonewood Construction is a builder who is looking for quotes for building work.

Chris Ward from Award Health and Safety has clients that include P.T.C. in Fleet. They provide advice on health and safety matters. http://www.awardhealthandsafety.co.uk/

Gordon Wheeler’s company Surfatec provide home maintenance and installation services. http://surfatec.co.uk

Val Down from ACT provides assessment of training needs including leadership and management training. http://www.ukact.co.uk

Benjamin Dalby is a spreadsheet designer and is looking to help businesses with data challenges. http://brdalby.co.uk

Ashleigh Chiropractic’s Azrael Tiamat can provide chiropractic treatment including help with your golf swing!

Melissa Holmes – MJH Administration provides help with project support and secretarial services. Check out their site at http://mjhadministration.com

A great meeting and thanks to all our visitors for coming along!

Notes from the FBG Meeting - 26th October

Notes from the FBG meeting on 26^th October 2009

Adam Manning – Moore Blatch Resolve LLP is looking for anyone who has had a crash or crush, slip or trip, bump or bang

Andy Richards – TLR Ltd painters and decorators can take on a range of jobs and can deal with them no matter the size

Bob Pitman – Global Webtrader help with website design and construction and software solutions

Chas Cordina – Chas can provide help with limited partnership protection and pensions

Dave Lithgow – City Locals site can help with webpages to advertise businesses

Dave Sanderson – Post Art provide photography for portraits, weddings and websites

Karen Warne – Solent Design Studio’s printing customers include Ikea and Pets at Home

Maddy Law – Wooden Tiger provide bespoke media units and coffee tables amongst a range of products

Mark Banks – Firbanks IT provide remote back up and can deal with Windows 7, Macs and Linux systems

Peter Moore – Forever Living Products are looking for distributors to earn more money

Robert Spriggs – A&S Signs and Graphics provide boat graphics and signage for shop fronts

Theresa Lawrie-Ashton – I Can Achieve provide the Crazy Goals workshop

Vijay Desai – Utility Warehouse provide amongst a range of utilities broadband and telephone rentals.

4Networking at the Spinnaker

I went to a very enjoyable network meeting with the 4Networking group at the Spinnaker Hotel in Swanwick (like us they seem to think its a great venue too). The group made me feel very welcome. Everyone got the chance to give a short presentation about their business followed by more networking. Then there were three chances to get to know someone a bit more in detail.

I was very pleased to meet Jordan Williams from In Communication Ltd ( http://www.4networking.biz/members/view.htm?UserID=33477 ) whose company's website is at : http://www.incommuk.com/ . His company provides web conferencing and Microsoft live conferencing.

I also had the pleasure of meeting of Tony Knight from Knightsure Insurance who is particularly interested in insurance for the haulage business. Knightsure's website is at : http://www.knightsure.co.uk/ .

Andy Blissett runs his own painting and decorating company AB Painters and Decorators and he tends to deal with domestic properties although he wants to make links with letting agencies to increase his work.

I also had the pleasure of seeing Chris Hatch from Zedoary (http://zedoary.net ) who I know from @tuesdaytweetup as @ChrisHatch.

Another interesting business at the group was Low Ryders Advertising ( http://lowrydersadvertising.com ) which looked like an interesting way to advertise your business.

For more information about the 4Networking group that meets at the Spinnaker on a Friday go to : http://www.4networking.biz/events/7602.htm and my thanks to the group for making me feel welcome!

Beneficial Business Networking

Last Thursday I went along to a networking meeting at the Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh for a meeting of the Beneficial Business Networking group, run by the wonderful Maddy Law of Wooden Tiger ( www.woodentiger.co.uk ).

There was a good turn out and a tasty breakfast served. Everyone had a chance to give a brief presentation of their business, followed by a more in depth chat with other people in the group. I was very pleased to chat to Nicola Dickinson of Fresh Therapies. Her business provides organic based therapies ( www.freshtherapies.co.uk ) and she was clearly very passionate about the products and services Fresh Therapies can provide.

I also met Christine Etheridge who was promoting her business selling glasses to people directly without growing through an optician. As a spectacle wearer, this seemed particularly interesting to me. The website for her business is at http://www.focus-on-you.net/.

It was a great meeting and it looks the group will do well with Maddy's boundless enthusiasm.

Tuesday Tweetup...

Your trusty correspondent attended the most recent Tuesday Tweetup at Dockgate 4 in Southampton recently and it was a great success. The wonderful Ms Tweetup had managed to invite an interesting cross section of people and it was good to catch up with people met there previously and to make new contacts.

I had the great pleasure of making the acquaintance of @frontieruk and got to chat to @doclorraine @Sandanista @CrazyGoals and the beautiful @icicle_halo_ along of course with the wonderful hostess @tuesdaytweetup herself.

The next one will be on 17th November at Dockgate 4, Southampton again. For more details go to http://tuesdaytweetup.blogspot.com/ - already looking forward to it!

Notes for the Diary..

Forthcoming events you maybe interested in :

Some dates for the diary :

Tuesday 22nd September : Tuesday tweetup at DockGate 4 Piano Bar, Southampton :http://tuesdaytweetup.blogspot.com/

Thursday 24th September : CityLocal Business Contact Club 4pm in Widley, Waterlooville - please contact Dave Lithgow for more details

Friday 25th September : Coffee, Cake and Carving morning with Wooden Tiger - please see Maddy Law for more details

Monday 21st September : next ten minute presentation by Adam Manning of Moore Blatch Resolve LLP

Monday 28th September : Next FBG Guests Meeting at the Spinnaker Hotel

Tuesday 29th September : FBG social event at the Portsmouth Greyhound racing stadium.