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.
I've 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 you'd like (who you would like to connect to, either a specific person or a person in a specific organization or role),
o What you'd like to achieve through the connection, and
o What's the benefit to the person/organization you'd like to connect with.
· Attend a FountainBlue event (or a featured event) where you'd like to meet a specific speaker, or where the audience might have people with whom you'd be interested in connecting. My main role during an event is to connect people in person to each other.
Here's the DO-NOT-DO List:
· Please do not do a phone call as that would rely on me getting what you're 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 don't nag. There's 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.
