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Find out more about FountainBlue and our consulting, advisory and recruiting services.

FountainBlue Communities and Resources
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FountainBlue Communities

At FountainBlue, we believe that the best way to forge positive change is one conversation, one leader, one organization at a time. We also believe that the best way to make connections with the right quality people is in person, face to face. We therefore, we produce monthly events for clean energy, high tech and life science entrepreneurs as well as for executives and women leaders. As we are a strong believer in collaboration, we also highlight other events of interest to key stakeholders, we send out weekly e-mails highlighting partner events, including this e-mail.
We have, therefore, also created several FountainBlue communities to facilitate ongoing communications. Everyone is welcome to become a member of our community on Wild Apricot. Membership benefits are detailed at http://www.fountainblue.biz/aboutus/membership.html and include event admission, content, community, promotion, consulting and other benefits.

FountainBlue also offers general resources and benefits to partners and non-members.
  • See our weekly recommendations for face-to-face, Silicon Valley-based events
  • See current and past newsletters in this section
  • See articles and blogs on entrepreneurship, innovation and networking
  • See our list of free and lost-cost recommended productivity tools
We welcome your suggestions and input on other resources we can provide to the community overall.
See a list of upcoming recommended Silicon Valley face-to-face events!
FountainBlue is pleased to support our members and partners as we collaboratively forge entrepreneurship and innovation across the Silicon Valley and beyond. Approximately every week, we support cross-marketing efforts by profiling upcoming FountainBlue and featured partner events submitted by members and partners which may be of interest to entrepreneurial FountainBlue community members.

Members and partners may submit a Silicon Valley (only local), in-person (no webinars) for clean energy, high tech or life science event, by completing the form at http://fountainblue.biz/resources/svevents.html or e-mailing us a COMPLETE and FINAL copy of the event details, in text format (no attachments) to events@fountainblue.biz in the format below by noon on Thursdays, at least one week before your event:

Date and Time:

Event Topic:

Sponsoring Group:

Location:

Speaker (s):

Cost:

Registration and More Information:

FountainBlue Discount Code (if any):

Submissions not sent in the format above, or not submitted via the form will not be included. In addition, we may not send out event recommendations during spring, summer, or winter holidays. Below is a list of this week's event recommendations.
FountainBlue's Monthly Newsletters
FountainBlue's monthly newsletter is designed to help you plan your activities with FountainBlue, and benefit from the wisdom gained from our monthly events. It is sent monthly to all FountainBlue members on Wild Apricot http://fountainblue.shuttlepod.org, as an additional benefit of membership, and we welcome you to forward it on to interested others, with proper reference to FountainBlue, our community, and our speakers. Below are past monthly newsletters for your reference.
To sign up for the newsletter, complete the adjacent form, and specify whether you are interested in our clean energy, high tech, life science, virtual worlds, executives or women leader information or any combination thereof.
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Productivity Tools Recommended by FountainBlue
The range and usefulness of free and low-cost productivity tools available on the web constantly amazes us. At FountainBlue, we are delighted to leverage these readily available, inexpensive productivity tools to better serve our community. In the spirit of collaboration for which we've become known, we would like to share some of the productivity tools which help us to efficiently manage communications and deliver services to our community. We of course also welcome your recommendations on other tools we could use, and recommend to our community.
First Name
Last Name
Company Name
E-mail Address
Which productivity tool would you like to recommend and what is the link to access the tool?
Why would you like to recommend this tool and how do you use it yourself?

Message to All FountainBlue LinkedIn SubGroups, Regarding Policy for Posting Discussions, August 2009


FountainBlue fosters transformative leadership one conversation, one individual, one organization at a time through our monthly Silicon Valley events for clean energy, high tech and life science decision-makers, through our dynamic communities, through our custom event production services, and through our soon-to-be-released series of books. For more information, visit http://www.fountainblue.biz.

 

Our LinkedIn SubGroups is one way we support communities of decision-makers in high-tech, life science and clean energy executives, entrepreneurs and investors. In the interest of better serving our membership, we have divided our group into sub-groups for: Clean Energy, Life Science, Women Leaders, Executives, and Virtual Worlds.

 

Although we do not allow discussions on the main list, we allow them in the sub-groups, and respectfully request that you focus discussions on the following topics and themes:

 

         Topics related to high tech, clean energy, life science, or leadership and the economy

         Conversations about Silicon Valley activities, not other regions

         Job postings from principals only (sent anonymously if youd like, recruiter please do not reply)

         Information and ideas and questions about your business

 

The following types of posts will not be accepted:

         Events not posted by FountainBlue, but if youd like to send your Silicon Valley event, please e-mail it to info@FountainBlue.biz rather than send it to this LinkedIn group.

         Anything which invites more people to join someones LinkedIn group

         Invitation to join other LinkedIn or other groups

         Inappropriate use of the news posting option

         Anything promoting someones individual products or services, even if done softly (if we accept one we should accept all, and that would be TOO much e-mail)

         Anything disparaging about someone else personally or their organization

 

Thank you for honoring our requirements. Any postings which violate these policies will be deleted and posters will be warned, removed or removed & blocked, at our option.

 

Please let me know if you would like to become a manager for the FountainBlue LinkedIn group, so that you can help manage and enforce these policies, for the benefit of all our members.

 

Linda Holroyd

CEO, FountainBlue

FountainBlue LinkedIn Policy, March 2009

Dear Members of FountainBlues LinkedIn Group,

 

Thank you for joining FountainBlues group on LinkedIn! In the interest of better serving our membership, we would like to focus our conversations on the following topics and themes:

         Topics related to high tech, clean energy, life science, or leadership and general economy topics

         Conversations about Silicon Valley activities, not other regions

         Job postings from principals only (sent anonymously if youd like, recruiter please do not reply)

         Information and ideas and questions about your business

         FountainBlue and Collaborative Partner events will be sent to the list, but if youd like to send your Silicon Valley event, please e-mail it to info@FountainBlue.biz rather than send it to this LinkedIn group. Thank you.

 

We will not allow the following types of topics:

         Anything which invites more people to join someones LinkedIn group

         Invitation to join other LinkedIn or other groups

         Anything promoting someones individual products or services (if we accept one we should accept all, and that would be TOO much e-mail)

         Anything disparaging about someone else personally or their organization

 

Thank you for honoring our requirements. Any postings which violate these policies will be deleted and the poster will be removed and banned.

 

Please let me know if you would like to become a manager for the FountainBlue LinkedIn group, so that you can help manage and enforce these policies, for the benefit of all our members.

 

Erring on the Side of Privacy, Feb 5, 2009

Thank you to everyone who has submitted feedback regarding our BigTent community!

 

While it is difficult to please everyone, we have decided to err on the side of privacy and hide e-mail addresses for our members.

 

We have also decided to send just one invitation to people who have attended an event, and opted to share their contact information. The invitation will expire 15 days after it was sent, and no reminders will follow the invitation.

 

If you're more interested in meeting people and sharing contact information and experiences with others, please attend our events, which are designed to provide quality networking and educational experience.

 

Thank you for your support of FountainBlue and our community on BigTent. Please continue providing us with feedback so that we can make it a quality experience for you!

 

Regards,

 

Linda Holroyd

 

CEO, FountainBlue

A message to the community, on the occasion of our third birthday, January 2009.


Dear FountainBlue Community Members,

 

This Sunday, FountainBlue will turn three years old. I am amazed by the growth of the organization and the community, and grateful to each one of you for your personal contributions to our successes to date, and for the opportunity to build on our strengths to better serve our growing community.

 

Every time I send out an e-mail invitation, every time I attend a FountainBlue or partner event, every conversation for possibilities Ive had with members, I marvel at what we have created together over the past three years: a trusted community of people dedicated to working together for business and personal success.

 

Whether you are just joining us now, or whether you were with us before we launched our first event in January 2006, your involvement is a key factor in our success.

 

Whether you have spoken at a program, offered a job to a colleague, sponsored an e-mail, or spread the word, your actions are growing the community and the organization.

 

Whether youre an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur or an investor, an executive or a service provider, a student just starting out or a retired exec looking to re-join the workforce, or just someone whos not sure who youre going to be when you grow up, your valuable experience and insights add a diversity of perspectives to the community.

 

Thank you to one and all. And in the FountainBlue tradition, we would like to express our thanks with a gift:

 

         Please be our guest for one of our upcoming events (rsvp by January 31)

         If you are an entrepreneur, intrapreneur or investor, let us know if you would like to participate in one of our upcoming 2009 entrepreneur panels.

         Since you are a member, let us know if you would like to offer a guest membership to a trusted colleague who would also add value to the community.

         Let me know if you have another idea on how we can express our thanks to you for all you have personally done.

 

Heres to another successful year!

 

Best,

 

Linda

A Thanksgiving 2008 message to FountainBlue Community Members:

 

As we enter Thanksgiving week, 2008, it is amazing to think that another year has passed. It has been a year of hope as well as uncertainty, and then uncertainty again, followed by hope. I wanted to take a moment to express our thanks to each of you, for all you have done to grow the FountainBlue community.

         Thank you to each of you who have sponsored FountainBlue this year. Your faith in us and the work we do make our work possible. May your investment return to you many times over.

         Thank you to each of you who have facilitated our workshops and panels this year. Your knowledge, wisdom and generosity will live on in the notes we took from the events, and in the impressions you've left on the ones who've attended. May your participation bring you the recognition, exposure and connections you deserve.

         Thank you to each of you who have attended FountainBlue events this year. Your open mind, active participation and ongoing support have ensured that our events are tailored to your needs, and relevant to others in the community as well. May all this positive energy spread to other endeavors and aspects of your life.

         Thank you to each of you who have volunteered your time to support our marketing and logistical efforts. Your efforts made our events ever more polished and professional. May your proactive leadership bring you the experience and connections you desire.

         Thank you to each of our partners, who have cross-promoted our events and helped with our programs. You have added a new layer of richness to our community and our programs. May our collaborative efforts create a bigger community for all.

         Thank you to each of you who are ambassadors for our work, introducing new quality people into the community. Your efforts benefit all FountainBlue members, and the larger community.

         Thank you to each of you who have taken the time to hear me vent, fuss, whine and query. Your efforts have given me strength as well as humility and perspective. May I be worthy of your trust and support.

 

May you enjoy your time with loved ones this Thanksgiving, and throughout the holiday season.


Note to community on FountainBlues Policy for Forum Communications, sent July 18.
Practice a Tell, Dont Sell Policy and treat fellow members with respect. Below are some specific dos and donts for FountainBlue forum communications.
1.    Please feel free to respond to inquiries about who you are and what you do, but dont tell someone what you do or sell your services unless it is in an appropriate context.
2.    Please feel free to update your personal pages on BigTent to better describe your services in case anyone is interested.
3.    Please feel free to facilitate conversations in the subgroups around topics of interest to your organization or your business, and without heavily pushing your services.
4.    Please feel free to request feedback from your fellow members about your business challenges.
5.    Please let us know if someone from the community inappropriately or aggressively sells you services as a result of your posting. We commit to promptly responding to the issue you raise.
6.    Please feel free to e-mail your milestones and successes to the group, as appropriate.
7.    Please take conversations one-on-one where appropriate.
8.    Please dont send a message to the group about your services unless it is in the context of a question or conversation.
9.    Please restrict forum discussions to business issues as this is a community for business professionals. Thank you.
10. If someone expresses no interest, respect their wishes, please do not push him/her to re-consider.
The intention of the policy is to help ensure that all people professionally communicate their services, where appropriate and if requested, while also respecting the right of others to do the same, and while treating everyone in the community with respect.
Please note that we take these policies seriously and fully believe that it benefits everyone to insist that everyone adhere to the professional standards we set. We continue to welcome your participation and involvement as we grow FountainBlue to the next level.
July 11, 2008 Note from Linda Holroyd to the Community, Regarding Survey Results
Thank you to the 217 people who completed the survey about What FountainBlue can do for you, still available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WcHkddObgSw7DUji2yGUig_3d_3d through 7/29.
Based on the current responses to date, we know the following:
         Most of the people in the community are entrepreneurs (45.6%) or corporate executives (36.9%) and some may be both.
         A slim majority live in Silicon Valley (34.7%), but a fair percentage live elsewhere within the US (26.3%) and even outside the US (28.6%).
         Current networking goals center around corporate objectives (58.7% within an organization, 54.8% for corporate business development) and around professional development (52.9%) or professionals in transition (51.4%). Entrepreneurial goals are also common (32.2% seeing potential investors, 23.6% seeking co-founders).
         Only a small percentage of respondents (11.1% for regularly, 19% for sometimes and 15% for seldom) attend FountainBlue events. In fact 35.3% have never attended a FountainBlue event.
         Reading individual responses about networking objectives and how people would like to get involved:
o    Most people are interested in making connections, professional education, and participating in a quality community.
o    Some people would also like to get more involved, perhaps virtually.
o    Some people are overwhelmed by the amount of e-mails.
o    Some people are appreciative of the service provider policy, and others are pretty specific about selling their services to quality prospects.
As a response to the feedback from the community, FountainBlue will:
         Continue building a community of self-aware, other-centric business professionals who are interested in supporting each other in their business and professional pursuits.
         To address the many communication needs of our survey respondents,
o    We will send out weekly e-mails to everyone in the FountainBlue community.
o    We will create subgroups under FountainBlue, which would allow moderated discussions which bring value without pushing services the tell, not sell policy.
o    We will create geographical communities, as well as the three industries communities we already have.
o    We will create forums around the FountainBlue event topics, and invite participation from all members, whether they are available to attend Silicon Valley events or not.
o    We will facilitate sub-group conversations with wisdom from FountainBlue events to help build understanding on the topic, and relationships between people interested in the topic.
         As a result:
o    You will receive an invitation to be a Founding Member of the FountainBlue communities on BigTent, an umbrella group for all FountainBlue members. https://www.bigtent.com/groups/fountainblue. See separate e-mail with details.
o    We will begin producing Entrepreneurs Webinars so that all members from around the world can meet and learn about entrepreneurial topics. Our first monthly event will be held on August 25 on the topic of Strategic Entrepreneurism and we will finalize web hosting details and send out an invitation next Friday.

June 20, 2008 Note from Linda Holroyd to the Community Regarding Networking Success

The question came up in this weeks Transition event, How do you know youre networking successfully? Here are some thoughts on that question:
1.    You get responses from people you introduce others to.
2.    Other people introduce you to people who could help you.
3.    Two people you connect both benefit from the introduction.
4.    Youre getting return phone calls from people, even if you dont know them well.
5.    People are eager to help you.
6.    Your reputation precedes you, but in a good way!
7.    The size of your network has grown.
8.    The quality of your network has grown.
9.    Strangers approach you saying that someone you mutually respect mentioned you.
10. You are achieving your results for yourself and for your network ecosystem.

June 13, 2008 Note from Linda Holroyd to the Community Regarding Responses to Requests for Introductions:

Thanks to those of you who responded to last weeks message about requests for connections. I thought Id follow up with that message by providing advice for when youre on the receiving end of a request for connection.

 

If I send you an e-mail introduction, please:

         Consider responding promptly to the connection by:

o    Agreeing to connect with someone,

  If you help someone, thank you! Empowering one is empowering all, making a stronger ecosystem for everyone.

  Please let me know how I can assist you in return.

o    Connecting that person with someone else more appropriate for their/your needs or

  If you connect them with someone else, thank you! It helps me better understand what you do/what youre interested in, and introduces a new person to the network.

  Please let me know how I can assist you in return.

o    Letting me know why you cannot make this connection.

  Thank you if you do this. Your comments will be held in confidence and I will better understand your interests and needs.


June 6, 2008 Note from Linda Holroyd to the Community Regarding Requests for Introductions:

Thanks to everyone who contacted me this week, asking for one-on-one coffee or lunch appointments. Since a growing number of people are doing just that, I thought I should give everyone advice on how I best support you in your early stage venture.
Ive discovered that, given my limited depth of knowledge, my personal time constraints, and the breadth and depth of the FountainBlue network itself, my best value-add is to make strategic connections to others in the community: entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, investors and others.
Here are some tips if you are interested in getting my support with a connection:
         E-mail me specifics about:
o    Who you are (what you do, how you know me),
o    What organization you represent (could be multiple ones),
o    What type of connection youd like (who you would like to connect to, either a specific person or a person in a specific organization or role),
o    What youd like to achieve through the connection, and
o    Whats the benefit to the person/organization youd like to connect with.
         Attend a FountainBlue event (or a featured event) where youd like to meet a specific speaker, or where the audience might have people with whom youd be interested in connecting. My main role during an event is to connect people in person to each other.
Heres the DO-NOT-DO List:
         Please do not do a phone call as that would rely on me getting what youre saying, and not mis-communicating your intentions to a receiving party, assuming that I were to try to make a verbal connection on your behalf, which is unlikely. If you call, I would just ask you to send an e-mail.
         Please do not send attachments, text only please.
         Please put all the information in one e-mail, the first time.
         Please do not fill your e-mail with typos or extra (enthusiastic) text. Use spell-check as typos make a bad impression for the receiving party.
         Please do feel free to follow up, but please dont nag. Theres a fine line, and show that you know where that is. ;-)
         Please do not say I see that Ms. X spoke for you at Y, please introduce me to her. See the proper process for making the request above.

 

A Note of Thanks to FountainBlue Community Members from Linda Holroyd - Thanksgiving Day, 2007

Thank you to each of you who have sponsored FountainBlue this year. Your faith in us and the work we do make our work possible.


Thank you to each of you who have facilitated our workshops and panels this year. Your knowledge, wisdom and generosity will live on in the notes we took from the events, and in the impressions you've left on the ones who've attended.


Thank you to each of you who have attended FountainBlue events this year. Your open mind, active participation and ongoing support have ensured that our events are tailored to your needs, and relevant to others in the community as well.


Thank you to each of you who have volunteered your time to support our marketing and logistical efforts. Your efforts made our events ever more polished and professional.


Thank you to each of our partners, who have cross-promoted our events and helped with our programs. You have added a new layer of richness to our community and our programs.


Thank you to each of you who are ambassadors for our work, introducing new quality people into the community. Your efforts will benefit us all.


Thank you to each of you who have taken the time to hear me vent, fuss, whine and query. Your efforts have given me strength as well as perspective.

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