Profits in Partnership

The Profits In Partnership Luncheon is an annual event held to foster networking among representatives from major corporations, government agencies, and minority owned companies. In addition to featuring guest speakers, there is formal recognition of executive education patrons and scholars. This event is hosted by Virginia Tech and organized by Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council.

The guest speaker this year was Nikki Giovanni, Professor of English and world renowned poet (Check this link out)

Who attends these events?

Executives and Contract Representatives of major corporations and government agencies; owners and marketing executives of minority owned companies, supplier diversity coordinators, and staff of business development organizations.

I’ve attend dozens of these events over the years. Aside from gaining key contacts at major corporations like; Freddie Mac, BAE Systems, Capital One, Exxon Mobil, Lockheed Martin, Philip Morris, Hilton Hotels, to name a few...I’ve learned that these organizations have a strong need to develop innovative products and services that can help them gain competitive advantages. My experiences has been, that they rely on and seek entrepreneurs' input at these events for this very reason. (After all, who is more innovative than an entrepreneur??) Most of my conversations go as follows:

1) They ask me what my company does
2) They test my knowledge of their company
3) They then bounce ideas off of me or ask for my general feedback
4) Ultimately, the more familiar I am with their organization the deeper the conversation

Sometimes, I forget that it’s not just individual people who seek out other people to create experiences and partnerships but also the bigger and well known corporations. Martin

Defining Moment

We all have certain defining moments in our lives which have shaped the course of our lives; moments that have propel our lives in new unforeseen directions, brought us great joy or sorrow and growth. There are a few factors that can bring about defining moments and one of the most common factor is: meeting someone new.

Life is a journey, that for many of us, rapidly becomes a routine and a series of patterns. We find ourselves unhappy and bored. We start wondering if there’s more to it all and how we might go about changing things up.

Well, meeting someone new can be the catalyst to: exploring who you are, getting a new job, finding romance, trying out something different, discovering fresh ideas and options, getting a huge contract, making a sale and who knows what else.

Once you reach your hand out to someone and introduce yourself…you open up the door of possibilities that reside in the interaction, experience and openness of meeting someone new.

When was the last time you met someone new? What happened? What did you learn? What did you discover about yourself?