Business and Brewskies 2014

[LibertyForMe]

Demand for B&P exceeded supply. Anyone interested in doing another meet-up?

I've been negotiating with a hotel in Atlanta, GA. The hotel has 3.4 stars and is a mile or two from the Airport. Dates would be March 14th, 15th, and 16th (tentatively).

***EDIT: For room liability reasons, I am thinking it would be best for everyone to get their own room. The discounted room rate at the location I am exploring is $89/night plus tax. Ticket + Food would remain at $175 if we stay with the hotel I have chosen. ***

I am thinking about doing pricing to include the room, I may be able to get a better discount that way. I've run some numbers, and I believe I can offer tickets for approximately $350.

For ~$350 you would get the following:
-3 nights stay in the hotel. You would share the room with a room-mate, each person would have their own queen bed. Exceptions could probably be made if necessary (but price would go up).
-Lunch all three days
-Dinner on Friday and Saturday. (Dinner Sunday would be on your own - we would probably get reservations for a good restaurant)
-One ticket to the event.

If you only wanted the ticket and food with no room reservation, the price would be $175.

I need about 20 people that are interested in order to make this work. Want to gauge interest before spending more time working on details.

14 out of 20 have expressed interest so far: need 6 more or so.

So who is in?

 

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[DennisD]

I'm in.

 

[Get Right]

I'm in.

 

[Guest12120]

If I am able to get a B&P ticket (I'm on the waiting list) I would do my best to attend both.

If not, I'll be in Atlanta for sure.

 

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[Mike39]

Count me in, cash in hand.

 

[Runum]

I could do it if those were the specific dates.

 

[LibertyForMe]

For room liability reasons, I am thinking it would be best for everyone to get their own room. The discounted room rate at the location I am exploring is $89/night plus tax. Ticket + Food would remain at $175 I we stay with the hotel I have chosen. ***

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Thanks for doing this.

Definitely interested, never been to Georgia.

To avoid my last fiasco, I can pay for the ticket now or as soon as you want. Just please put me on the list haha

 

[Jonleehacker]

Why don't you do it same dates as the main B&P and have it in Scottsdale nearby. That way if people get tix to the main B&P they won't have to change plans, and you would be in the same city, and be able to still network with the folks from the main B&P?

Just something to consider.

 

[LibertyForMe]

Why don't you do it same dates as the main B&P and have it in Scottsdale nearby. That way if people get tix to the main B&P they won't have to change plans, and you would be in the same city, and be able to still network with the folks from the main B&P?

I am thinking that some people may want to attend both, and also by spacing them a month apart this event may work for some people whose schedules didn't work for B&P.

Additionally, We have a lot of East Coast members, and being located in Atlanta would be a bit closer for them. Plus, this is going to be a bit different than B&P, so I want to give people the opportunity to do something new if they want.

Once we get an attendee list, I want to have a couple in-depth sessions of 30-45 minutes with extended Q&A. This will allow for a deeper dive into people's experiences. Also, I want to have a problem-solving/biz growth seminar where we choose a couple businesses that people have and do a group brainstorm on how they can take it to the next level.

This isn't B&P's little rascal younger brother - this is a similar event created because people were getting excluded from the other event.

Thanks for the suggestion though - I will listen to everything!

 

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[Mark396]

I'm In.

 

[Mike39]

Why don't you do it same dates as the main B&P and have it in Scottsdale nearby. That way if people get tix to the main B&P they won't have to change plans, and you would be in the same city, and be able to still network with the folks from the main B&P?

Just something to consider.

I wont be able to make B&P due to scheduling issues so going on the same dates as then would not work for me, just putting in my .02

 

[TopChef]

Libertyforme. I would be interested in this meetup, but I wonder if we should coordinate all the meet ups together as this one is very close to B&P.

For instance, zen******* had a meet up last year. Will he host another one too? We have had three meet ups so far in San Diego that went well. I know there are a lot of people here from Texas, etc.

Maybe we should spread these out a little more so we are having three or four big meet ups a year.

San Diego and Scottsdale would probably be popular in the winter time, maybe your event and Texas could round up four big meet ups a year. What do you all think?

 

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[JEdwards]

I just want to note, how very fastlane of you. See a need try to fill it.

 

[LibertyForMe]

PatrickP has expressed interest to me as well.

Libertyforme. I would be interested in this meetup, but I wonder if we should coordinate all the meet ups together as this one is very close to B&P.

This is a very good point. I guess I was just striking while the iron was hot. I know there is a big waiting list for B&P, which is why I scheduled them so close together. I really like your idea of having 3 or 4 big ones a year. However, we already have had 9 people express interest (including yourself).

If there are no more people that want to do this then we can definitely postpone; but if there are 20 or 25 people who wanna meet we might as well do it anyways. Next year we could plan it more in advance and properly space it out. Your point is very well taken, but lets give it a week or so to see how many people would be interested.

 

[1step]

I would be interested but I wouldnt 100% commit right this second if there was a gun to my head (if that makes sense)

 

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[Edge]

I'm interested.

 

[throttleforward]

Interested

 

[Atown512]

Not just interested...if those are the dates, I'm in for sure. I can do anything on the weekends. I also like the idea of spreading meetings out throughout the year. One in Texas would be awesome, and I could certainly help organize it.

 

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[exige]

I'm in for B&B.

Maybe we should spread these out a little more so we are having three or four big meet ups a year.

Well, it might make sense if B&P was a "big" meetup, but I think its been made clear that it is decidedly not. I think spreading it out defeats the purpose of having a non-pretentious alternative to B&P. At least this way if folks don't make it through the arbitrary vetting process for the wait list or the "kool kids" at the velvet rope don't like you, there is a more open alternative to go to. Also, Atlanta in March is better than humid HOTlanta in the summer ;-)

B&P:

B&B:

 

[Vigilante]

B&P is changing.

Up until a few years ago, it was a gathering of like minds (and friends) but people were not beating the doors down, and I am not aware that there was a waiting list. Attendance might have hovered around 30 people. With the growth of the book and the growth of the forum, get-togethers like B&P will likely continue to have more and more interest.

One thing the newbies will be surprised about is:

there's not really a good ol' boys club. First, several of the long termers are women. Second, the longstanding members welcomed and included everyone last year in absolutely everything. There was/is no club. If there was a division, I would say it was only around lets-go-out-and-party-and-club vs. I'm-totally-past-college-binge-drinking. However, anyone would have been welcome in either of those groups, and that generally only involved 9PM and later.

This gathering is one of a kind. The challenge will be to maintain that as it grows. The old school is going to have to adapt to the increased desire and popularity of the event, and the newbies have to adapt to the unique proposition and one-of-a-kind venue.

One of my most vivid and valuable experiences at B&P didn't happen during the official "meet up." It happened after hours, with a bunch of people sitting around a closed bar, at the end of the day, trading war stories. The bonfire, the breakfast spot with an opportunity to meet new people, and the get-togethers at Mike and Danielles. That's B&P.

Hopefully everyone that wants to be there can gain access. Last year, several people get excited early on, but as life caught up to them their tickets were sold. Same will probably happen this year.

You can tell from this thread that there are some hard feelings out there already. That's nobody's intent, and it would be my desire to support a movement where hard core, serious people who wanted to meet other fastlaners didn't have a 30 second window in time by which to secure one of a handful of spots.

We all preach about meeting needs. For 2015, I suggest maybe the format be opened up a bit more so as to be able to create the type of event that can have wide reaching impact on as many people as want to attend.

I'd pay for a ticket to hear presentations by MJ, Biophase, Zen, GW, Snowbank, CW, Karate, Jill, KAK, Runum, Million$$Smile and several others including several newbies that could be vetted and selected and asked to present. Maybe that, combined with mastermind subgroups based on categories of business interest... might be a way to lend scale to this.

Or not. Or keep it the way it is and let some of these splinter groups form by geography.

I just recognize (and don't like) seeing people divided, as I know there is no intention to create a "cool kids" club. Nobody intended that, nobody fosters that, and nobody wants that. That's not the way that B&P is... and I have met and or talked with nearly all of the people that have been around here for a while. It just needs to possibly retooled.

 

[JasonR]

It just needs to possibly retooled.

Perhaps, you may be right. We were shocked with the demand of B&P this year, and it caught us a little off guard. B&P (as far as I know) isn't a good ol' boys club, and we have no intention of dividing any particular member or group.

Had we anticipated there would be this sort of demand, we would have reserved a bigger room. As it was, we were a little worried about filling the space we had.

We'll get our heads together and talk about this today.

 

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[LibertyForMe]

Yea; my intention was not AT ALL to diss B&P (I am a lucky dog and got a ticket). I just noticed that people were disappointed about not being able to go, so I figured I might as well see if there was interest.

The reason I put it a month apart and in a different city is because I didn't just want to rip off B&P. I didn't want to create hard feelings or anything, and seem like a copycat seizing an opportune moment.

I saw you all expanded the number of tickets for B&P, if you want me to I can postpone this event until later in the year. Not trying to encroach on your thing.

 

[jon.a]

There maybe a need for B&P to evolve. But, let's do it after this years meet-up. At least any major changes. We are going to run out of time before Feb pretty quickly.

Some of the perceptions being voiced while understandable are way off base. This year was the first year for me and the Mrs. Everyone was just great. Everyone. We didn't feel that we had much to ofter so we chose to be part of the group that didn't have to present. We had some dynamics going on that led us to be just a little bit guarded and everyone accepted that. We got to meet everyone and had some invaluable quality time with many.

I'm really going to miss visiting with Dave but I have a new friend that I have to finally meet and break some bread with.

B&P may be bending but it's not broken yet. One more year of small and intimate please.

 

[Tom.V]

To be perfectly honest, I wish there were more events like this throughout the year. Quarterly or at least biannually would be ideal IMO.

Wish I could make it Liberty, but money is buying me time at this point.

 

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[Runum]

To me it's funny to hear people say they wish there were more meetups throughout the year but very few are willing to organize one. I am sure the logistics of putting together a meetup is a huge headache.

Me, I have been to at least 6 fastlane meetups this year. Nothing is preventing anyone from meeting up throughout the year.

Hint: if you are traveling to another city or area post up and meetup. If you live in a metro area post up and meetup.

The small meetups are a nice break every now and then.

 

[AndrewNC]

We all preach about meeting needs. For 2015, I suggest maybe the format be opened up a bit more so as to be able to create the type of event that can have wide reaching impact on as many people as want to attend.

I agree that it should evolve into something bigger. I was shocked to see how quickly tickets sold out...and with the amount of attendees/people that emailed me showing interest to go - I could say that B&P will EASILY grow to over 100 people in 2015. It is really tough on me to see so many people wanting to go, and knowing that we only have limited amount of space in the venue.

Part of the obstacles this year was coordinating the meeting room, hotel group rates, lunches, dinners, etc. around what we experienced last year, and seeing interest blow up so much more this year. We planned at 30 for the type of event that it has been in past years, we are already up to 40, and with the amount of space that I increased it to just before signing the contract... we do have room for more than 40 people. More tickets will open up, because we do have some more room.

I like the idea of a very large B&P event in future years with as many spots as possible. I also love the idea of smaller/more exclusive events throughout the year, whether it be C&B in ABQ in June, or going to Denver/Vegas in the summer/fall...both come with their advantages and disadvantages.

Well, it might make sense if B&P was a "big" meetup, but I think its been made clear that it is decidedly not. I think spreading it out defeats the purpose of having a non-pretentious alternative to B&P. At least this way if folks don't make it through the arbitrary vetting process for the wait list or the "kool kids" at the velvet rope don't like you, there is a more open alternative to go to.

1 - After seeing this level of interest from everyone, I just emailed the lady I was booking the venue with to see our options for potentially expanding it this year to accommodate the people who want to go.

2 - I invite you to work the velvet rope with me next year. It's not as 'kool' as it looks from the outside. The first person to email interest after it sold out will be the first person to get a ticket when it opens up, and the second one will get the second ticket that opens up, etc.. Any inquiry I made to anybody about their business/presentations was only having to do with scheduling presentation topics and not selection for attending the event.

 

[AndrewNC]

I am sure the logistics of putting together a meetup is a huge headache.

It builds character .

 

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[LibertyForMe]

14 responses so far; some definite and some maybes.

Anybody else interested?

 

[Atown512]

I like the idea of this thing evolving into quarterly events.. with the amount of interest there seems to be, I would say this is a perfect time to make it quarterly. B&P is in Feb...C&B was in June (I assume this will be an ongoing event now?) we could easily add a third event around September. If there is interest in doing it around the Houson/Dallas/Austin area, I would be willing to do a lot of the organizing.