Felix Yeung, 23, had been in the world of work for less than one year when he volunteered to coordinate the San Francisco Bay Area Company of Friends cell. Now, several months and several meetings later, the cell is thriving under his care, with more than 200 members.

'This is my first networking group. This is also the first time I've tried to organize something like this, so I'm learning as I go along,' says Yeung, who is an account associate for Niehaus Ryan Wong Inc., a high-tech PR firm based in South San Francisco. 'But these are people who really enjoy ideas, and that makes it a lot of fun for me.'

The group emerged after Yeung and other San Francisco-based Fast Company subscribers started exchanging email about the magazine. At their initial meeting, Yeung volunteered to organize the gatherings. The meetings offer real benefits, Yeung says: 'Fast Company puts out a lot of great ideas. But what do individual readers do with those ideas after they put the magazine down? The group gives us a chance to discuss these ideas and to figure out how to make them come to life.'

-- Tricia Tomiyoshi

From: October 1998 issue