There are 27,000 current members in Linked n Chicago, thousands of members & friends of Big Ooga, Local First, BNC, Evanston Chamber, West Suburban Chamber, the Naperville LinkedIn Business Group and the Evanston / North Shore Business Group. Among them, the owners, founders, leaders, volunteers and members share a common vision, to create a working, [...]

You don’t pick your family but you do pick your business community – and they are a second family of choice.  Surround yourself with good people and they will up your game, watch your back and genuinely help you succeed.  Good people will talk about what is tough and noodle how to get through it.  [...]

Image by Francesca Tronchin via Flickr I can see not wanting to keep meeting overhead – but lowering overhead to meet the future. I can see my current business tools are not sharp enough and that sharpening them means finding new ones. I can see that the power and depth of my relationships are as [...]

Image by natawiedee via Flickr Big Ooga recently sent out a survey to find out what our members want for the coming year.  Did they want to meet more wonderful people?  Did they want to learn more skills? Did they want small group think-tanks and Mastermind groups? Did they want to create products or go [...]

Image by wburris via Flickr When I first thought up Adopt a 30 Year Old, I had a specific one in mind.  My ideal candidate has ADD, is a multitasking maniac who converses sporadically between texts.  Person X also has 4,000 friends, is part of 600 social media groups, has a bevy of private clients, [...]

Image via Wikipedia This particular company joined Big Ooga in our earliest stages and it was instant bonding on all sides.   Darling people, they just moved into their new Chicago offices and invited me to a meeting. When I arrived, the building seemed so familiar. The elevator stop seemed so familiar. The walk to their [...]

Image via Wikipedia If falling in love with the people with whom you work is a crime, I want to be guilty.  I’m an unashamed fan of work well done, inspired leaders and motivated people.  Awe, to me, does not go with shock, it belongs with words like brilliance, trust, accomplishment and courage. Love and [...]

Image via Wikipedia Let’s say you have the most brilliant business blog on the planet.  It is well written, well researched, optimized and rich with SEO words like business networking, small business marketing, Chicago professional networking, social media tools AND it is a great read with deep insight and usable tools that will impact your [...]

Image via Wikipedia If you haven’t read the FAQs on Facebook, think of it like your car’s owner’s manual except Facebook still owns the car.  If you push the wrong button, or worse, repeatedly push the wrong button – you get bonked-honked-and taken out of the game. They send you a warning WHILE you’re doing [...]

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Last year, there was an AND in networking. I’ll join this group AND that. I’ll be active in this organization AND that.  With cash flow, there were lots of choices for events, luncheons, networks, meetings and classes.  If one blew, there were plenty more..not that you were reckless.   It [...]