Local Connections
Meeting Tips 
5 Tips to make Your Group Excellent
Current Directors

At For You Network™ Local Connection meetings members share a camaraderie and form lasting business relationships. When you join you may attend as many Local Connection meetings as you would like. You will have the opportunity to network with women who are interested in helping you reach your goals.

Dynamic speakers are invited to give presentations on topics of interest to women in business. Bring lots of business cards and brochures, buy 50/50 tickets and donate gifts for our opportunity drawings.

Wondering what a For You Network™ local connection meeting is like?
Take a peek at some Typical Meeting Highlights HERE. Of course, not all meetings are alike, but this will give you a general idea of what to expect. Links to other meeting and member highlights pages are located on local connection pages.

Our Current Directors

Alina Estrada Beverly Hills	Temporarily closed, check for updates. Burbank	Shirley Kerr Corona	Marie Y. Lemelle Glendale
Liz Montgomery High Desert	Lena Elbek Long Beach	Michele Calia Moreno Valley	Sue Lopez Murrieta
Leigh Godart North Orange County	Barbara Eldridge North San Diego County	June Davidson Pasadena	Denise Chilson Rancho Cucamonga
Ritchie Wills Redlands	Robin Hardy Riverside	Mardi Arnold San Gabriel Valley	Carol Pilkington Santa Clarita Valley
Susan Pomerantz Santa Monica	Laurie A. Santos Westwood Century City	Robbie Motter Interim Director South Orange County	Susie Jacobson San Fernando Valley

Los Angeles, CA
 Long Beach
 Santa Monica
 Pasadena
 Beverly Hills
 Burbank
 San Gabriel Valley
 Glendale
 Westwood Century City
 Santa Clarita Valley
San Fernando Valley

 
 Orange, CA
 North Orange County
 South Orange County

 Riverside, CA
 Moreno Valley
 Corona
 Murrieta
 Riverside
 
 San Bernardino, CA
 Rancho Cucamonga
 High Desert
 Redlands 
 
 San Diego, CA
 North San Diego County

Meeting Tips

Directors of the For You Network share tips and suggestions to improve networking meetings.

Cut out shapes and make two out of each shape. At check-in of meeting everyone is given one half of the shape and they must find the second part of the shape and ask specific questions about their business/successes/failures etc.

Pair everyone up. Take the first four letters of the first names and have the partner equalize it to a positive attribute of the person; then have the partner introduce the other person with those attributes.

After each introduction of a person’s business, ask one person if she knows of someone who could benefit from that business. Exchange cards for follow-up.

‘Live Happens’ Introduction

Exchange of Business cards in a coordinated manner

5 Tips to Make your Group Excellent!

Lisa Marie Platske, co-author of the upcoming book Authentic Connections in Business, has over 15 years of experience in the public and private sector. She founded Upside Thinking, Inc. to help individuals who want to develop their leadership ability, increase their sphere of influence and improve their profitability.

Are you thinking about starting an organization but don’t know what to do first? Or are you already the director of a group looking to expand your membership? If you’re interested in experiencing ling-term growth and sustainability, apply the 5 LEADMe principles to make your group excellent.

1.      L – Leadership List. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Regardless of our talents or skill set, one person cannot do it all. The first step to creating or rebuilding any organization is to establish a strong board of directors. Recruit, volunteer, solicit or even beg for help, if you must, but getting a capable group of people together on your board is a must. However, it isn’t enough to assemble just any group of people. The aptitudes of each board member need to match the list of responsibilities need to create the “E” – excitement, enthusiasm and extraordinary event planning.

2.      E – Enthusiasm, Excitement and Extra-Ordinary Events. An enthusiastic board produces excitement for the organization, which will run like wildfire through the membership. Each meeting should be crafted as a must-attend event. Often times, women write meetings in their calendar and attend if nothing better comes up. Doing something different every meeting ensures that your meeting is the one that shouldn’t be missed.

3.      A – Ask! Determine what your membership wants by asking. Answering the following questions with ease is important. Why did they join? What do they expect to get from the group? How will they measure their expectations? Create many venues to solicit information – e-surveys, written questionnaires and verbal solicitation to ensure the needs of your members are being met.

4.      D – Deposit first. People want to know WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? Spell out the specific benefits to being a member at every meeting. Give members countless opportunities to highlight their businesses and network with others.

5.      Me – Make necessary changes. Too often, organizations become mired in “we’ve always done it that way”. If something isn’t working, be flexible enough to make the necessary changes that will keep your membership interested.