My Pinnacle Network

Grow Your Business Through Networking

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2020 Networking Ninja Awards

It’s time again for My Pinnacle Network’s 6th annual Networking Ninja Awards. Please vote for your favorite networker by clicking here.

Here are the available categories:
Best Connector (helping bring people together)
• Most Ubiquitous (appears to be at every networking event)
• Most Altruistic (does most for others)
• Brightest Beacon (adds energy to networking events)
• Rookie of the Year (new member to a My Pinnacle Group)
• Lifetime Achievement (an appreciation award for long-time networkers)

The winners will be announced in March and honored at an awards ceremony to be held in conjunction with the South Shore Professional Networking Group. That event will take place on Tuesday, March 17, at Stockholders, 1073 Main Street, Weymouth, MA.

Votes are welcome for My Pinnacle Network and other members of the local business community. The general public is welcome to vote. Voting deadline is Monday, March 9, 2020.

Vote now and vote often at: www.mypinnaclenetwork.com/Ninja

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My Pinnacle Network announces January 2020 schedule of B2B networking meetings.

My Pinnacle Network recently announced a full slate of business-to-business networking meetings for January. My Pinnacle Network meetings are as follows:

My Pinnacle Network – Pembroke, Thursday, January 2, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., ACTSmart Training Center, 70 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 1225, Pembroke, MA 02359.

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, January 7, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, January 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Mansfield BioIncubator, 241 Francis Avenue, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Needham, Thursday, January 9, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Bullfinch Group, 160 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494.

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, January 16, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree, MA 02184.

Only one B2B professional will be selected for each category. Those categories can be found at bottom of http://www.mypinnaclenetwork.com. Prospective members are encouraged to attend a My Pinnacle Network meeting before committing to join.
If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061 to RSVP. There is no charge to visit a My Pinnacle Network meeting.

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Dress for Success a success

One part of a My Pinnacle Network meeting is our Two-Minute Drill. A recent one—Dress for Success—sparked a lot of different stories and views on how your attire plays a role in your own personal success and success in winning over current clients and prospects. This included a story about a somebody wearing an AC/DC t-shirt to a client meeting and one member’s experience of birthing a baby shark! Let’s call that a topic for another day.

One prevailing thought on the topic of dressing for success was how it has evolved over the years. Conventional thought was that men wore a suit, shirt and tie, or a sport coat at the very least and women similarly were attired in business dress suit or slacks, with proper sweater or blouse. Yet many of the stories shared spoke to a new theme of dressing for the occasion or the person.

Several people shared stories where clients told them “not to wear a tie the next time.” Or when the member didn’t wear a time for a client visit and were told, “I’m glad you didn’t wear a tie.”

The more you hear these stories, the more you realize how what you wear impacts you and the person you are visiting. Some clients or prospects want to keep things casual. Others may appreciate the importance you place on a meeting by dressing more traditionally. You really do have to know your audience and dress accordingly.

Yet perhaps the most important audience you need to dress for is yourself.

A sub for one of our members in Westborough illustrated that point by sharing a story about playing competitive hockey in high school. Shirt-and-tie was mandatory dress for games. In college, he played club hockey. Come-as-you-are was the code. When the team didn’t get off to a great start in his first season, they internally adopted a dress code. No more sweats or jeans. Button-down shirts and nice pants were required. Almost on cue, the team began playing at a much higher level.

Interesting.

As you can see, dressing for success can play out in many ways and is very subjective. For example, one rule of thumb yours truly learned a long time ago: it’s much easier to take off a coat, undo a tie and a button then it is to convert a t-shirt and jeans into a suit or even business casual attire. Like I said, everyone’s experience in this arena can be very different.

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Think, act and grow rich. Mansfield, MA-based seminar shares entrepreneur hacks.

What is your New Year’s business resolution? Are you thinking about and doing the right things to make your business the most successful it can be?

A complimentary workshop entitled “Think, act and grow rich. Entrepreneur hacks” is set for Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 6:00-7:30PM at the Mansfield Bio Incubator, 241 Francis Avenue, Mansfield, MA.

The workshop will explore four strategies for thinking critically about your business to help it to grow and thrive.

• What is your next best move? Where is your business on the business life cycle and what are the implications for its future success?
• Are you focused? How do you keep your focus on your vision, goals, projects and actions?
• Are your employees your biggest asset? Do your employees embrace change? If not, what is causing their reluctance and how can you change it?
• What makes your business different? Knowing what makes you different and finding ways to exploit the differences can dramatically improve performance.

The workshop will be led by Dominic Grew and Lisa Levesque who are certified business coaches and trainers with FocalPoint International Coaching & training.

Grew has more than 25 years of proven business development experience, building, growing and leading change, primarily in financial service companies. Dominic earned a Masters in Management from Cambridge College. Dominic is originally from Belfast , Northern Ireland, but today calls Sharon, MA home, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Levesque is a leader in business productivity and has helped Fortune 500 companies reduce costs while increasing revenue and gaining market share. Lisa is a graduate of Boston College, with a degree in Accounting and earned an MBA from Babson College. She resides in Foxboro, MA with her husband, two daughters and two dogs.

Please RSVP for the event at EventBrite at https://bit.ly/33RRacF. For more info, contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061.

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Before and after: The best part of a meeting?

This one is an oldie but goody for almost all networking groups:

photo of empty conference room for a networking group

Arrive 15 minutes early. Plan on staying at least 15 minutes after the meeting ends.

There are many benefits to this strategy. Here are a few:

  • Being one of the first gives you time to network with the meeting host or early attendees. The host will typically be a well-connected person.
  • Other people arriving early are also guests or people you might have not met before, each with an address book of names of people you may not yet know.
  • It establishes your commitment to the group. It’s human nature but people do notice who is usually early or just on time.
  • During somebody’s verbal brand/elevator pitch you may have thought of a possible lead or intro. Planning on staying late gives you time to follow up.
  • One-on-ones – Set them up at the meeting. Waiting to set up a one-on-one until your back in the office leaves opportunity for it to slide through the cracks.
  • Staying later gives you the opportunity to catch up to talk to people who may have showed up as meeting/event started.

The time before and after a networking event provides a rare window of opportunity to learn more about people, set up meetings and increase your exposure to like-minded B2B professionals. Sure, you can call, text or e-mail the people in your networking group in between meetings. But more often than not, you will get the most out of these folks when they are right in front you—either at the meeting or at a one-on-one.

The tip here is leave yourself enough time before and after the meeting—at least 15 minutes—so you have the best opportunity to optimize the real-time human resources you have in front of you.

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My Pinnacle Network announces December 2019 schedule of B2B networking meetings.

My Pinnacle Network recently announced a full slate of business-to-business networking meetings for December. My Pinnacle Network meetings are as follows:

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, December 3, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, December 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Mansfield BioIncubator, 241 Francis Avenue, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Pembroke, Thursday, December 5, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., ACTSmart Training Center, 70 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 1225, Pembroke, MA 02359.

My Pinnacle Network – Needham, Thursday, December 12, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Bullfinch Group, 160 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494.

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, December 19, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree, MA 02184.

Only one B2B professional will be selected for each category. Those categories can be found at bottom of http://www.mypinnaclenetwork.com. Prospective members are encouraged to attend a My Pinnacle Network meeting before committing to join.

If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061 to RSVP. There is no charge to visit a My Pinnacle Network meeting.

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Is there a greater network?

It’s Veteran’s Day. We thank all veterans for their service to our great country. Thank you.

In writing that sentence, another thought comes to mind. Is there a greater network than our veterans?

Think about it. There’s an instant bond whenever two vets meet. It could be two entirely different branches of service. Their time in the service could be decades apart. It doesn’t matter. The bond of being willing to put your life on the line for your country ties these men and women together forever.

Now, there’s no comparing a networking group to veterans. That’s pure folly. Yet in running networking groups like we have over the past seven years, it’s difficult not to admire the veterans for more than their service, but their commitment to each other.

Happy Veterans Day. To our members who also served in our armed forces, Thank you.

Who is the veteran who comes to mind first when you think of Veteran’s Day? Post your gratitude on our Facebook page.

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November location for My Pinnacle Network-Pembroke meeting

For the November 7 meeting only, My Pinnacle Network-Pembroke will meet at 20 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 170-180, Pembroke, MA. The meeting will begin at 9am as usual. The photo here shows the exterior of the building, with the meeting site circled.

My Pinnacle Network-Pembroke will return to its regular meeting site, ACTSmartIT, in December.

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My Pinnacle Network announces November 2019 schedule of B2B networking meetings.


My Pinnacle Network hosts B2B networking meetings in Braintree, Mansfield, Needham, Pembroke and Westborough.

My Pinnacle Network recently announced a full slate of business-to-business networking meetings for November. My Pinnacle Network meetings are as follows:

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, November 5, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, November 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Mansfield BioIncubator, 241 Francis Avenue, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Pembroke, Thursday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., ACTSmart Training Center, 70 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 1225, Pembroke, MA 02359.

My Pinnacle Network – Needham, Thursday, November 14, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Bullfinch Group, 160 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494.

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, November 21, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree,
MA 02184.

Only one B2B professional will be selected for each category. Those categories can be found at bottom of http://www.mypinnaclenetwork.com. Prospective members are encouraged to attend a My Pinnacle Network meeting before committing to join.

If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061 to RSVP. There is no
charge to visit a My Pinnacle Network meeting.

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Sit or stand

Before you start saying that’s a bit of a personal question, we’re talking about networking meetings. And the question revolves around whether or not to sit or stand when you give your verbal brand (formerly known as elevator pitch). Yours truly took a little different approach the other day at My Pinnacle Network-Westborough’s meeting and not only stood but invited the group to do so as well.

That begs the question as to whether or not it is better to sit or stand when you give your verbal brand?

My Pinnacle Network is different from many other groups for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that we’re strictly for business-to-business professionals and business owners whose customers are other businesses. Another is that while we do offer a meeting structure, we try to be flexible in terms of the amount of time you take for your verbal brand. Along those lines, you can sit or stand.

No matter what you choose, you do want to take several things in mind before you stand or sit. 

First, you want to make sure you are both seen and heard. If chairs are in a horseshoe and you’re sitting on either end of the shoe, some might not be able to see you and that could impact how well they listen.

Second, standing or sitting, you still want to make eye contact with people in the room as you present. Again, you can do that sitting or standing. Just remember to do it.

Speak loudly so that everyone can hear. One of the benefits of standing up is that it is physiologically easier to speak louder than when you are seated. Something about being stretched that makes it so.

Finally, don’t succumb to peer pressure. If you prefer standing when you present and the rest of the group sits, you should still stand when it’s time to deliver your verbal brand. Or vice versa.