Thursday, January 25, 2007

"Networking In The New Year" Event - TODAY

This post originally ran last week, but I moved it to today so anyone in Austin who was still interested could make last minute plans to attend! Read the comments section, they were fun.

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Thursday, January 25th I will be co-presenting a seminar for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce with Scott Ingram. The topic is "Networking In The New Year: Developing Your Strategic Plan".

This will be held at Carmelo's Restaurant from 4:30-6:30 PM.

The cost is $30 for chamber members, $45 for non-members.

Click Here for more info.

If you live in Austin, I hope you will attend.

thom

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

$45 for a Chamber function on networking...you have got to be kidding me! I can't imagine a better place to meet nail salon owners, idependent massage therapists, countless chiropractors real estate agents and "coaches."

Is it Austin after all.

Why not save the $45 and buy your book?

thomsinger said...

Dear anonymous-

A negative attitudes in life like you present here is what leads to failure. Do you see the whole world as out to rip you off? Do you always leave negative comments without posting your name? Do you immediately look for ways to put others down? Gosh, it must not be fun to live like that.

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce is a great organization that has been assisting this city with economic growth for decades. Without the GACofC you would not have the opportunities to live and work in this fabulous city. I will not let anyone discredit the Chamber on my blog. They are an important organization in town. If you do not find personal value,that is one thing...but to jump to the conclusions you do hear is low-brow.

A few points:

One, I don't set the price...I am not making any money from the event. Scott and I volunteer to host these seminars for the Chamber. The Chamber of Commerce makes non-member prices higher as they want to provide benefits for their memebers. They could make it for members only, but they are an inclusive organization.

Two, without having attended this event, how do you know that Scott Ingram and I will not share $45 worth of valuable information? If someone attends an event like this and learns something, or makes a contact that leads to more business, $45 is a small price to pay. You need to look at the glass as half full...not half empty.

Three, how arrogant can you be to say bad things about people in other professions, while remaining annonomous and hiding what you do for a living? Maybe there are people out there who read this that would think poorly of what you do for a living. Maybe they see your profession as a bunch of snake oil salesmen. I personally have met some amazing people who are salon owners, massage thereapists, chiropractors, realtors and coaches. You never know who can become a referral source in this interconnected world. You discredit all these people in such a horrible manner. Discusting.

Four, The information for this seminar is not just out of my book. (although I think people should buy my book, thank you!). Scott and I have created a whole new program for this event. Some of the information will be similar, but not everything.

Five, Not all events will appeal to everyone. If you are turned off by events because of a higher cost, then stay home. If only eight people attend, and one is touched by the information we share...then it is worth my time. I believe that Scott and I are bringing value to those in attendance. Not everyone will like it (I have been doing public speaking long enough to know that, like art, it is subjective to different styles and tastes), but I trust most will find some inspiring nuggets of information.

Six, I am sorry if I offended you, Anonymous. My guess is that you will be angry and defensive about what is said above, because that would go hand in hand with your negative slap at the chamber, and some fine professions. I wish you had shared your name with me (although, out of respect I would not have gone into a long public rant if you had, cuz that would not have been polite...but since you chose to be anonymous...then I am not insulting anyone publically). My hope is that you are not really the type of person who always finds the dark cloud in every silver lining.

Seven, Thank you for reading this blog and for leaving a comment. Success is about differing opinions and debate.

Have A Great Day

Anonymous said...

Thom:

Great response. I love the passion!

Negativity is always going to be part of the blogosphere...it's part of our normal conversation. But as in life, there should be something positive in the negative comments...ADD to the conversation with constructive ideas.

I hope anonymous comes back and adds to the conversation with some constructive ideas.

-MT

Anonymous said...

Thom - your response is great. I think anonymous took a cheap shot. I do some networking, and I think that it has some karma involved. Anonymous has bad karma and will never reach his/her dreams.

As a real estate agent, I appreciate you defending us!

Mary Pat

Steve Harper said...

Classic responses to the comment Thom. Well done!

Good luck with your event!

Hopefully anoymous buys your book, attends the event and get's a life and perhaps learns a little something along the way.