The meeting had some great topics, and a cool demo from a TIMEOCer.

We had a demo of Labdoo.org, which is a non-profit that helps put used notebooks into the hands of children worldwide.  If you have an old laptop or want to help volunteer for the group, contact them for more information.  Its a great cause.

One thing that Labdoo has that is kind of interesting is a board game that you can learn geography while tracking notebooks all over the world.  Sometimes your startup could use a board game to help execute on its idea, but where do you go to get one made?  TheGameCrafter to the rescue!  It’s like Cafe Press for games.  That means that you can design your game, including tokens, differently sized boards, unique dice, etc., then sell the game on their site with nothing up front but your time.  If you have had a game percolating in the back of your mind for a while, now you can see it come to reality!

Next was a tour of WordPress.  We went over the TIMEOC.com site  and showed the general setup, with the plugins chosen and them configuration.  It may be easier than you thing to set up your own blog at WordPress.com.

Networking was next – the human kind.  We talked about the four questions you should be able to answer prior to networking, including

• What you want? (customers, partners, ideas, resources, etc.)
• Where do you go? (Meetup, Chamber of Commerce, Library, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Who do you talk to? (event host, research on Meetup prior to attending, the person with the most people around them , etc.)
• What do you say? (find out what they want, don’t just pitch, 8 second value statement, etc., then find out if what they do has any opportunities)

The important thing to remember is to build your network, not get a customer that night.  You might not get what you came for until weeks or months later.  you are just trying to be a connector and build your reputation, brand, and usefulness.  most importantly, follow up if you tell someone you will get them a website, blog post, etc.  It will show you are someone they want to work with.

See you next time!