If you're interested in how to help coordinate a CoF group -- and how groups can be structured -- be sure to read the section on possible CoF organizational models below. But if you want to jump in to what your local or special interest group is doing -- or could be doing -- right away, here are some examples of activities that groups around the world have decided to organize. Rememer that these are only ideas and suggestions. It's possible to follow more than one model, and other models -- including hybrids -- are possible.
This is where most groups start. These informal gatherings are fun ways to get to know who else is involved in the CoF, what they do, and how they can get more involved in the group. Social events such as mixers are important community-building activities, but it's important to remember that the Company of Friends can do more than provide opportunities to trade business cards and socialize -- chances are you're already involved in other organizations that do that. If people approach the CoF as just another way to network, solicit business, or search for a new job, they won't contribute much to -- or get much out of -- the readers network. (Some groups even discourage or shun people who do so.) Nevertheless, frequent social events can help cement ties between CoF members.
Many local groups quickly move to larger-scale organized events. These events can be more meeting-oriented, but they can also be events complete with speakers, panel discussions, and demonstrations. The Boston CoF organized a half-day weekend session with a career coach and strategist who worked with members to chart a career path with companies, as well as to start and run their own businesses. The New York City CoF brought in Nick Corcodilos of Ask the Headhunter -- http://www.fastcompany.com/online/21/toolbox.html -- to take the group through the job search and hiring paces. The Washington, D.C., CoF hosted FC Contributing Editor Dan Pink, author of 'Free Agent Nation' -- http://www.fastcompany.com/online/12/freeagent.html -- for a discussion of free agency. And Heath Row, FC's social capitalist, has visited CoF groups around the world. If you'd like to plug Heath or another member of the FC team in to an event your group is organizing, email him at heath@fastcompany.com -- we'll do our best to be there.
Based in the tradition of salons -- http://www.utne.com/books/salons.html -- several CoF groups focus their activities on discussion and reading groups, using FC as a starting point for in-depth conversations about various topics related to new business ideas, leadership, and innovation. CoF groups in South Florida, the Twin Cities, and California have picked one or two articles from the current issue of FC to serve as talking points, and CoF members gather for intelligent conversation and discussion. In Phoenix, Arizona, the CoF coordinator prepares a monthly discussion packet with several recommended -- and related -- articles, as well as a questionnaire to help fuel conversation and to act as a to-do list after the meeting. By design, the discussions are freeform, but most of the conversation follows discussion items on the worksheet.
As CoF groups grow and smaller groups within the CoF start to identify more focused topics that they'd like to explore, some groups splinter into several work groups. In Boston, these work groups meet at the same time, gathering at 'topic tables' that are determined before the meeting. In Los Angeles, one of the topic tables is left open so participants can set their own agenda that day. And some work groups meet outside of larger CoF meetings. These groups concentrate on a specific theme such as balancing work and personal lives or career development and might return to the local group at large later on with a special program to share what the work group has discovered and learned. Work groups -- such as those in Atlanta and South Florida -- might also work as 'mastermind groups' or creative problem-solving teams in which members propose business challenges and other participants help them solve their individual, real-world problems.
A couple of CoF groups -- New York City and San Diego, for example -- have organized mentoring activities in which members are paired with each other for peer-to-peer mentoring. In New York City, people participating in the mentoring program provide a brief profile of their background, interests, availability, and contact information -- CoF members' online profiles contain a lot of that information -- and self-select mentors based on their career situation, skills, related industries, and similar interests. In San Diego, participants are paired in peer-to-peer mentoring teams, in which people mentor each other. Each team is paired for a month; then new teams form. By the end of the year, participants have benefited from the experiences of -- and formed deeper friendships with -- 12 other cell associates.
Other than social mixers and networking events, several groups have organized social activities of a more active nature. Members of the New York City CoF went to a laser-tag facility after reading the NeoLeisure piece on laser tag. Members of the San Francisco, Sacramento, and Silicon Valley CoF groups gathered in Golden Gate Park for a potluck picnic. The Atlanta CoF planned a New Year's party to ring in 2000.
Many CoF members are also interested in using the group's resources to give back to the community in which they live and work. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, CoF members explored the potential of small projects with budding local entrepreneurs in which CoF members act as an advisory council or informal small business incubator to share the group's skills, talents, and experiences. In Melbourne, Australia, members worked with another group: 12- to 14-year-olds. The CoF group hosted a series of career nights at local schools. The career sessions were geared toward teaching kids about new business ideas, leadership, and innovation -- and about the skills that they need to thrive and survive in the world of work.
... NEXT
