The Importance of Business and Social Networking

I have thought about what to write for this post for a few days now.  After lots of thought and careful attention to how to mince words together, I have finally formalized these few principles about the importance of business and social networking.

We all know that building a good network of friends, colleagues, clients, etc. is important in any field, but I am not sure many people know how to effectively network.  With emerging social networking websites such as Facebook and business networking sites like Linkedin, networking is becoming increasingly popular among business professionals as well as anyone from young adults to grandparents.

However, I believe these websites are just one part of the equation of effective networking.  Getting out and meeting people the old fashioned way is important as well.  Here is what you should do before getting out and meeting people at networking events, social gatherings, and in public spaces:

1. Have a business card (Even if you are not employed full-time, it can help you establish credibility with who you meet – Having your name, contact information, and current position is a MUST)
2. Be able to clearly state what it is you currently doing with your life and what you want to do next (What are some of goals and aspirations in a quick 20 second pitch?)
3. Have something to offer the people you meet besides just a business card (Maybe it is the ability to connect the person you meet with someone you know in their field)
4. Dress to impress (When in doubt, wear business-casual and know what this means)
5. Be confident in how you express yourself and carry yourself – Remember that around 90% of communication is non-verbal.

Monday Morning Observations

Marc Dreier

Lately, I have been commuting to Manhattan on the train from Connecticut and I haven’t gone a day in my journey to and from the city without having some uniquely introspective thought or a revelation about society.  Today was no different as I exited Grand Central Station on 42nd Street and Park Avenue and proceeded to walk through the streets of midtown Manhattan to the office where I am currently interning in the Flatiron District.

I noticed this man leaving the station in his fifties or early sixties wearing a neatly pressed white oxford shirt, red suspenders, suit pants, and those signature horned-rimmed glasses that somehow define the intellect and success of a man at the probable height of his business career.  My first thought was, “Is this what I am going to look like in forty years after I have worked my way through the business ranks?”  My second thought was, this guy has probably been doing the same commute for longer than I have been alive and he probably knows every nook and cranny there is to be discovered around the area of Grand Central Station.  Lastly, my third and final thought was, “Look at what other uniquely similar business executives of this man’s generation have done to serve their own ego’s and personal ambitions, while seamlessly ignoring a greater moral obligation to the greater good of all humanity.”

Perhaps, this thought was the least pragmatic yet most complicated idea in my brain at the time.  I immediately thought about the 60 Minutes interview I saw last night between CBS’s Steve Kroft and Marc Dreier, the disgraced lawyer who attempted to finance his law firm, Dreier LLP, by defrauding investors and clients of around $400 million.  After he was caught and convicted this past year and sentenced to twenty years in prison, the man who lived large as the head of a very respectable law firm on Park Avenue with 600 employees, had created an enormous mess for himself, his family, his employees, and the entire community.

I thought back to my prototypical midtown executive and immediately compared him to Dreier and Madoff and all of the recent history of corruption, greed, and moral bankruptcy belonging to this club of power-hungry scam artists.  Perhaps this fellow baby boomer in the suspenders and horned rim glasses had risen to the top of the corporate ladder through a life of hard work while abiding by governmental and societal regulations.  However, I couldn’t help but wonder, who we can trust to lead our big corporations, law firms, and even government operations in this country.  After seeing what Dreier and Madoff could pull of, it is hard to trust anybody in positions of power.

New Haven Line Commuters Will Have to Wait Until 2010 For New Rail Cars

Seats in New M-8 Car

Prototype of New Rail Car

Talk about bad timing.  The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is the public corporation responsible for serving the transportation needs of the city of New York and 12 counties in Southeastern New York as well as 2 counties in Southwestern Connecticut.  The MTA works in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, overseen by Governor Jodi Rell, who originally had proposed the idea of investing in 300 new rail cars for the New Haven Line of Metro-North.  Rell, also proposed a $1 per ticket surcharge to take effect after the new cars were successfully in operation.

The original date proposed for the brand new Kawasaki M-8 cars to begin testing on the New Haven line was August of 2009, with several M8’s in full operation by December of this year.  However, August has come and gone and there is no sign of the M8 rail cars, which are manufactured in Japan and shipped over to the United States post-production.

Meanwhile, Governor Rell’s fair increase was approved by the state legislature in 2007 and was written into law to begin taking effect in January of 2010.  And, what are commuters who ride the New Haven line’s 30-39 year old M-2 cars to New York City everyday supposed to get in return?  They are going to be riding the same loathsome, cramped, and overheated cars passengers have continued to ride since the 1970’s.

Luckily, the Connecticut Board of Transportation is listening to advocates like Jim Cameron, Chairman of the Connecticut Metro-North Rail Commuter Council and former NBC News Director and Anchor.  Thanks to the help of Cameron’s outspokenness, the state legislature and transportation board have begun to realize the atrocity of raising fairs without new cars.  According to an article by Martin B. Cassidy of the Greenwich Time newspaper, “The state’s transportation head told Connecticut rail advocates Wednesday that Metro-North Railroad commuters would likely skirt any fare hikes for at least four to six months, with existing fares possibly remaining in place until the state’s long awaited M-8 rail cars are in use.” (Greenwich Time, 9/17/2009)

Metro-North as a whole, like many publicly run programs, operates at an annual deficit, bringing in around $240 million in fares each year while having around $328 million in operating expenses.  The state is able to bail out 65% of the deficit annually, but I am sure Governor Rell and the state legislature would like to close the gap towards profitability.

Remembering September 11th: Eight Years Later

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news that fateful day.  It was third period during the first semester of my sophomore year at Wilton High School and I was in health class when the principal made an announcement across the school’s intercom: “Attention please,” said Principal Deborah Low.  ”We are just receiving word that a small plane has hit the World Trade Center.”  I remember looking at my friend Justin and saying, “Is this some sort of a joke?  What kind of an idiot would accidentally fly his plane into one of the Twin Towers?”

As the bell rang for the next period, I soon found out that this was no joke.  In fact, Wilton, a small town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, about 60 minutes northeast of Manhattan, is home to fathers and mothers who commute to New York City everyday, some of whom worked in and around the site of the World Trade Center.  Principal Lowe may have said to the students of Wilton High, “If you have family members that work in and around the Twin Towers, please report to the main office.”  If she did, I can’t quite remember because word began to spread around the hallways of WHS that this was not an accident:  This was an act of terrorism of a magnitude none of us could fully understand at the moment.

I remember going to my next class, fourth period, which was the lunch period at Wilton High School.  At that time, I had English class with Mr. Walsh, one of my favorite professors in high school.  I sat next to a girl, Stephanie Davies, with whom we conversed about the potential magnitude of what was going on around the country.  I could tell that Steph, who was a senior at the time and whom I looked up to as a young sophomore, was equally as stunned and saddened by the news as anyone else in the class.  At that point, word was going around throughout the high school that one of the Twin Towers had collapsed.

“Collapsed?  I asked Steph.  ”There is no way one of those buildings could collapse,” I exclaimed.  At that point, Principal Lowe came back on the intercom to tell us there would be “live coverage” of the events in the school’s auditorium and that we would be having “early dismissal” at around 12:30 p.m.  Like everyone, I was still in shock.  It wasn’t until I was driving home with my mom, who picked both my brother and I up from school, that I fully realized the magnitude of what had happened.  Also, the fact that we were so close to the site of the attack and that some of my classmates had loved ones that worked down there, made everything seem all the more surreal.

As I look back today on the events of September 11th, 2001, it seems such a distant memory, but still very near and dear to the hearts and minds of the people of New York City, Washington D.C., and the entire country.  I still think about what it would have been like to be a fireman, a police officer, an employee of a company in one of the buildings.  I think about how catastrophic the damage was and how a city like New York, with such pride and resilience, was not going to let this attack stop the way it carried on and perservered.  Lastly, I think about the family members who lost loved ones that day and the photographs of the “missing” that were put up all around Lower Manhattan and the entire city of New York.

Eight years later, September 11th is still with us:  We must continue to rebuild and recover, but like the slogan of the firefighters of New York and the FDNY, we must also “Never Forget.”

Internships! Internships! Internships!

Welcome to the Fall of 2009, where recent graduates are being advised to put their full-time career aspirations and goals on hold temporarily.   Instead of the expectation of making the salaries that past graduates have typically made in their first year out of school, young professionals like myself have come to the harsh realization that we will have to work even harder to reach our goals.

Even if you graduated from a “Top 50 Business School” like Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in Oxford, OH (my alma-mater), there is no guarantee of full-time job placement in these tough times.  What I believe is that professional networking and furthering your experience with additional internships out of school will help someone get to where he/she wants to ultimately be.

Here is what I have done in the last year since I have graduated (You can be the judge of whether or not I am on the right path to a full-time job opportunity):  First, I was originally slated to graduate in May of 2008, but decided to take an additonal business practicum course in marketing.  Once I officially graduated in August of 2008, I had already been offered an internship at start-up company in the business of sports, Legacy Direct.  Although there was no guarantee of full-time employment, I worked at Legacy Direct for nine months and was able to get paid on a part-time basis between December of 2008 and March of 2009.

In 2008, the job prospects were slightly better than those in 2009.  Although, the document below from the Farmer School of Business suggests that 82% of my classmates achieved full-time employment, I felt very lucky just to be offered an internship in the sports field, whereas most of my peers went for the traditional jobs in accounting, finance, and other such fields.  Here is the supposed breakdown for 2008 graduates of the Farmer School and their job placement:

http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/fsb/content/about/class-profile/2008-class-profile.pdf

While at Legacy Direct, I worked hard at my job, especially in social media and its applications for a fledgling business.  Using my writing and social networking skills, I succesfully launched the Legacy Direct company blog, which is still going strong at around 16,000 unique visitors (http://legacydirect.wordpress.com)  After Legacy Direct, I was now competing with graduates in the class of 2009 and was once again unable to land a full-time job.  With the economy in the midst of a terrible recession, I wanted to make sure I had some money saved up for summer activities, so I took a job as a server at Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Between May and August of this year, I continued to fully use my resources and connections in hopes of landing something full-time, but I inevitably realized that once the Fall of 2009 rolled around, it was important for me to continue to gain all the experience I could get in both the business of sports and the field of marketing.  Thus, I decided on two separate internships (both unpaid) to keep me on my feet and working hard.  One internship is a “Marketing and Events Internship” at nightlife production company known as Joonbug.  This internship has required me to commute to New York City 3-4 times per week at a cost of $239/month via a monthly train pass.  Whatever the cost, my hope is that the work experience and the connections made at this three month internship will help lead to what I ultimately want: A full-time job.

The other internship is with a sports agency out of Gainsville, Florida started by a successful young law student, Darren Heitner.  His agency is known as Dynasty Athlete Representation, and I am currently in a four month internship from my home in Connecticut that revolves around Dynasty’s clients (updating their peformance, progress, current status).  So far, so good at both internships and I am very pleased at how each one is progressing.

Once again, if you are a recent college graduate in my shoes, don’t sweat it!  Unless you are very well connected and have deep ties to certain businesses, you will probably be forced to take unpaid internships just like I have.  The hope is that these experiences will help shape your career goals and aspirations and ultimately lead to full-time employment.  ”Just keep plugging away and good things will come,” says my mom, a successful children’s book author.

Local Entrepreneurs Hoping to Grow Their Ideas Into a Successful Business

Even in this brutal economy, there are those individuals who are inspired and passionate enough to start a company completely from scratch.  Having an idea and a vision for a new company and then trying to implement the vision is definitely a risk that few people will venture to take in their lifetime.  However, behind these three local start-ups are individuals dedicated to driving home new business in these tough times.

The three companies are all products of Fairfield County residents, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons who have been inspired to take an idea and try and turn it in to a full fledged business operation.  They are all uniquely creative and inspiring ideas, starting with Tufitout, a local clothing company I have previously written about:

http://andybailer.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/introducing-tuftitout-a-new-fashion-line-for-men-women/

Tufitout is the biproduct of two local women, Linda Schoff and Amy Luett, who wanted to create a line of clothing that reflects the toughness and the spirit of all men, women, and children through these challenging times.  With personally designed shirts with a fist pump logo and slogans like “It is What it is,” the tee shirts and shorts Schoff and Luett have created are sure to be a hit among local families and clothing boutiques.

The second company is Yum Nut Naturals, an innovative line of flavored cashew nuts, which I have gotten the chance to sample at a local grocery store, Porricelli’s.  At a tasting event, you may get the chance to meet Jerome Metivier, the man from Paris who co-founded the company with Tyler Ricks, two former employees of the successful start-up granola company, Bear Naked.  Ricks and Metivier along with their employees and interns have committed themselves to spreading the word throughout the Southern Connecticut, Northern New Jersey, Manhattan, and North Shore, Long Island communities.  Not only are the different flavors of cashews delicious, like chili lime, sea salt, and spicy cajun, but the whole mentality behind the company is powerful and exciting.  On the company’s website, http://www.yumnutnaturals.com, there is a section about the Yum Nut Philosophy and it goes like this:

“Everyone told us not to start a business during a recession. Maybe we’re just stubborn but we thought now more than ever it was time to do something good. After all, we believe in squeezing the yum out of life.  The ‘Yum’? That’s remembering to laugh, following our passions, enjoying the little things, chasing our dreams. Have you said yum today?”

The last company is Twelve Beverage, a startup of almost three years out of Fairfield, Connecticut, with a dedication and culinary expertise to create an adult beverage product that is loaded with healthy ingredients and can be enjoyed at any hour from noon to midnight.  The tea based sparkling beverage founded by accomplished chefs, David Burke and Alfred Portale, comes in bottles that are sold through mostly high end grocery markets, so the product is not available everywhere, but it is certainly worth a taste if you see it on the shelves of one of the markets listed on the company’s website: http://www.twelvebeverage.com/

Although all three of these companies are marketing completely different products, they are all maintaining the same spirit and dedication to growing their businesses during these tough times.  All of the people behind these companies have devoted their time and energy to not only running the day-to-day operations of their business, but also working late hours into the night and early morning to make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently.  It is my hope that these three companies can inspire others to want to create something out of an idea or personal interest.  We certainly need more people like Schoff, Luett, Burke, Portale, Ricks, and Metivier in this world, especially if we are going to rise up out of this terrible recession.

The Best Radio Program For Sports Talk and Live Entertainment in America

If you listen to New York radio stations in the mornings between 6 and 10 a.m. and are looking for sports analysis garnished with a topping of bathroom humor and pop-culture, look none other than WFAN Sports Radio 66 or 660 on your AM dial.  Here, you will find the Boomer & Carton radio program, which features radio personality and perpetual funny-man, Craig Carton, and former NFL quarterback, Boomer Esiason, who has been great for the New York community in the fight against cystic fibrosis.  Here is a link to the show’s website:

http://www.wfan.com/pages/1270233.php

If you are a feminist who believes that all men are evil pigs, then this radio program is probably not the best choice.  However, if you are a casual fan of New York sports and can stand the occasional display of utter chauvinism and testosterone-filled quips that you probably wouldn’t want your 7-year old to be hearing, perhaps you have come to right place.

What is somewhat ironic about this radio program is that Mark Chernoff, executive producer at WFAN, had to make a replacement decision after embattled radio personality, Don Imus, had his show removed by CBS Radio in 2007 for racist and sexist comments.  Chernoff decided to take Esiason, the former quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets and pair him up with a proven talk radio personality, Carton, who was previously heard crossing the line with comments about gender and ethnicity on 101.7 FM in New Jersey as part of the “Jersey Boys” program at that station.

So far, Chernoff’s decision has paid off, especially for the young adult audiences (ages 18-25), who would probably rather watch re-runs of “I Love Lucy” than listen to Imus.  As far as for Esiason and Carton, it seems like Carton has got the better end of the deal here in terms of his recent rise to a semi-celebrity status in the New York metropolitan area.  There is no doubt that Carton is good at what he does, but it is his pure narcissism and his border-line innapropriate treatment of women that could stir up controversy and also continue to aggravate the good-natured humanitarian, Esiason.

Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club

The Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club was founded in 1977 and serves as a great group for organized riding in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  When the club was first started, there were only a handful of members, but today there are over 1,000 dues paying members.  Organized riding servers as a great to meet other riders, improve your stamina and performance, and to learn how to ride safely in large groups and on busy roads or park trails.

If you are an experience cyclist or you have just purchased your first road or mountain bike, Sound Cyclists has all different levels and types of rides (hilly, flat, scenic, fast, medium, slow).  The great thing about cycling in Fairfield County and Southwestern Connecticut is the background during the rides.  Whether you are cycling along beautiful coastline or picturesque rolling hills, any trip through this New England gateway will provide for plenty of eye-catching backdrops.

It is never too late to start exercising and getting into shape and joining a bicycle club like Sound Cyclists provides for additional motivation.  For a lot of the riders in the Sound Cyclists, riding a bicycle has become an addiction, perhaps an outlet of stress relief and relaxation.  Almost all of the men and women who are regular attendees at the club’s rides are in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s, a curious age demographic for such exercise fiends.  However, it is important in cycling and in any sport not to overlook age as a barrier to performance, as many of these riders could leave a perfectly healthy teenager struggling to maintain the pace at which they ride.

If you are interested in learning more about the club or you are looking to get into road or mountain biking for the first time, check out the Sound Cyclists’ website, http://www.soundcyclists.com/BecomeMemberPortal.htm and these local bike shops:

http://www.smartcycles.com/

http://www.outdoorsports.com/

http://www.targetraining.com/

http://greenwichbikes.com/index.cfm

http://trekfairfield.com/

http://cyclecenterct.com/

Are the New York Mets a Baseball Team or a Soap Opera?

One day, you are on top of the world in New York City;  The next day you are worth absolutely nothing in Los Angeles.

Such is the story of the 2009 New York Mets, who left New York on a West Coast Trip last Wednesday, May 13th and have not been the same team since then.

The pre-West Coast trip Mets were a lot healthier and knew how to actually run the bases without missing third base.  This new, “Hollywood” version of the Mets is more like a worsening soap opera, especially since the team started out their California trip by winning three out of four from the San Francisco Giants.

Then came the news that Carlos Delgado would need to undergo hip surgery to remove his bone spur. Next, shortstop Jose Reyes was mysteriously out of the lineup and on the bench for Jerry Manuel’s squad.  All of a sudden the Mets began to implode and the epicenter of the earthquake happened to be near the epicenter of an actual earthquake, Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine, California.

Ryan Church forgot how to touch third base when rounding for home, costing the Mets the first out of three games with the Dodgers, the team with the best record in baseball.  Jeremy Reed lost his concentration when throwing the ball 90 feet from first base to home, almost like it was part of Shakespearean tragedy.  Angel Pagan seemingly decided to get in the way of Carlos Beltran as a ball that should have been caught by the Mets’ center fielder dropped in for a hit.

Last, but not least, when Alex Cora, who was filling in for the injured Jose Reyes, suddenly went down with a thumb injury prior to the Dodger series, the Mets were forced to move Fernando Tatis to shortstop, a position he has rarely played – What is this: “A Comedy of Errors?”

After getting swept by the Dodgers thanks to three straight losses and an injured front line of superstars, the Mets now must fly to Boston with their tails between their legs, wondering how they can right the ship in Bean-town.  The question is, which is more of a concern for the Mets: The fact they just lost four straight games and are now 3-4 on their 10 game road trip or the fact that half of their infield is now on the disabled list?

I sure hope the Mets can “Wright the Ship” if you know what I mean!

Introducing TuftitOut: A New Design for Men & Women

Two local women from Fairfield County, CT recently entered into a new chapter of business and entrepreneurship.  Given these uncertain times, Linda Schoff and Amy Luett, two mothers and former financial professionals, decided to expand upon an idea that represents the positive spirit of men and women faced with challenging decisions in their lives.

Since late February, these two women have created designs for women’s, men’s and childrens apparel, including tee shirts, tank tops, and even men’s stimulus package boxers.  All of the designs feature either the “Tufitout” logo design or the “fist pump,” which the two founders agreed upon as a symbol for the company and of the hard times that have fallen upon all of us.

Another aspect of their business is custom designing for parties and special events like weddings and bar-mitzvah’s.  There is a link on their website (http://www.tufitout.com) for “Custom Apparel,” which the two founders agree to be a very valuable part of Tufitout’s broader reach.  “If a family in Florida or California for example needs custom kid’s tee’s designed for their event, we want them to be able to go to our website and easily place an order,” says Schoff.

Both Schoff and Luett are excited about new business opportunities and they are no strangers when it comes to the business world.  Both women have worked for more than twenty years in either equity options, commodities trading, or telecommunications, depending upon what point in their respective careers you are referring to.  Schoff is originally from Westchester County, NY, and Luett spent nearly half of her life growing up in the Midwest.  Both women are married with children and live in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Tufitout = Tough it Out!