We have 866 Denver Small Business Chamber Facebook Group members.When we get to 1000 we'll have our first monthly "Big Event", free to exhibitors and free to those who attend. So join by clicking the above link, then clicking "Join" if you haven't already, and invite your Facebook friends to join us too, OK?

Denver IDEA Cafe startup workshop will have two meetings this Friday, downtown and south Denver. Details and optional RSVP at http://meetup.com/Denver-IDEA-Cafe We're trying to find a way to cooperate with local chambers of commerce to offer an alternative to the SBDCs most of them promote to their members.

SBCC Weekly Membership Report

Thanks to the magic of technology, we've started a new, free daily newsletter focused on small business and startup. It's called Small Business Chamber Daily News  (For  a free subscription, click on this link.)

The new South Denver IDEA Cafe is off to a great start. The first meeting was held last Friday, January 14, and the next meeting will be the 2nd Friday in February, when the group will make a decision about whether to meet once a month or once a week. Thanks to Ken Wyble with the South Metro Chamber and Richard Oppenheim for getting this off the ground. To get an invitation become a member of either (1) the SBCC Denver Facebook group (when we get 1000 members we will hold our 1st monthly "Big Event", free to exhibitors and free to those who attend) or (2) the SBCC Denver IDEA Cafe Meetup.

The Small Business Chamber's Community Room College is holding 50-minute chalk talks on how to start or join a CEO/entrepreneur/creative manager peer advisory group. For more information see http://meetup.com/CommunityRoomCollege

There are still a couple of seats open in the new Franklin Circle Alpha Group that is now forming. This will be the last peer advisory group personally organized and led by the founder of the Small Business of Commerce, John Wren. For more information contact him at (303)861-1447 or John@JohnWren.com

Life's short, let's get started!

Denver-Boulder New Tech

There will be a presentation about your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce tomorrow at the Denver-Boulder New Tech Meetup. This is a great group, should help us get to 1000 members for our Denver SBCC group so we can schedule of 1st "Big Event." http://www.bdnewtech.com/

Thursday we are having a lunch meeting at 12:30 p.m. near I25 & Colorado Blvd. for small business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals, and creative managers who might be interested in the Franklin Circle that is forming now. For infomation contact John Wren at John@JohnWren.com or (303)861-1447

I went to bed last night at 1 a.m. on 1-1-11. We get a second chance for 1-1-11 @ 1 this afternoon.

The advice from my friend Bob keeps ringing in my ears as we ring in the new year: "Stay willing and keep making contacts. When you are right and the time is right, Providence will provide." 

Seems like the time may be right, finally. I can only hope that I'm right now, too, to take advantage of the good things that are happening:

Yesterday I was invited to present on your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce at Denver/Boulder New Tech.  http://www.bdnewtech.com/

This week's Denver Business Journal quotes me in their "Big Ideas" article: "I’d like to see every DPS high school made available as a community center each weekend. How this would be done could vary from school to school, worked out by the principal with input from surrounding neighborhood associations and various business groups." — John Wren founded the Small Business Chamber of Commerce"

Ken Wyble with the South Metro Chamber is working with Richard Oppenheim to launch a South Denver IDEA Cafe January 14.

And finally, the new Franklin Circle Alpha Group is scheduled to start January 13. This will be the last Franklin Circle I ever personally organize and faciliate, let me know if you'd like an invitation to the information session we are having January 6.

Happy new year! Let's get started!

John

John S. Wren, MBA+
Founder, your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce
http://www.johnwren.com/
John@JohnWren.com    (303)861-1447

Small Business Chambers Everywhere Effort

Today we are launching an effort to help people start new Small Business Chamber groups using Meetup.com's new program. See http://www.meetup.com/Small-Business-Chamber-of-Commerce/

This will be self-organizing. Go ahead, start a group now. I'd suggest you start with a monthly IDEA Cafe, let me know and I'll email you a newcomers guide you can customize for your group, and my thoughts on what makes for a good startup workshop.

Most of my effort for now will be focused on Denver and Colorado, but it is possible that this will spread around the world over the next year.

We'll be trying to help people start Small Business Chamber efforts that will have 3 parts:  1)  A monthly "Big Event", free to exhibitors and freet to those who attend; 2) a monthly or weekly IDEA Cafe startup workshop; and 3) Franklin Circle peer advisory groups.

A few of us are having lunch this Thursday to discuss a Franklin Circle Alpha Group that I'll use as my source of inspiration as we move forward. I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Years!

John

John S. Wren, MBA+
Founder, your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce
http://www.johnwren.com/
(303)861-1447

I just sent this out to a couple of thousand people who are on my

email list. If you didn't get the email, and you'd like to be on the

list for next time, please let me know.  John Wren

December 8, 2010

Dear friend,

Your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce is off to a good start, but I need your help to keep it growing during this critical phase. Would you take just a minute now to help?

1.  Facebook Groups doesn't allow for unique URLs, but they allow for the announcement of meetings like our weekly Denver IDEA Café startup workshop. We already have nearly 700 members for our Denver SBCC group, when we get to 1000 we will schedule our first “Big Event”, free to exhibitors and free to those who attend. If you haven’t already, go to the Denver Group and click “Join” at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/group.php?gid=145283622175466 HELP US GROW BY SHARING THIS GROUP SITE ON YOUR FACEBOOK WALL AND INVITING YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS. THANKS!

2. Facebook Pages are great places to post general information of interest to customers. If you haven’t already, it would be helpful if you would “Like” our Facebook page with the easy to remember URL at http://Facebook.com/Small.Business.Chamber.

4.  Starting something new? Share experience and brainstorm with us any Friday at the Denver IDEA Café.  This Friday (Dec 10) Ken Wyble from the South Metro Chamber is joining us to facilitate the meeting and he’s bringing some entrepreneurs from the South Metro Chamber to share their startup experience. Optional RSVP and details about the meeting at http://meetup.com/Denver-IDEA-Cafe.

5.  We are looking for people who would like to start an IDEA Cafe with their local chamber of commerce. Please let me know you are interested in learning more about this.

6.  Finally, I'm organizing a Franklin Circle for entrepreneurs, business owners and creative managers that will meet once a month for lunch, maybe more often until we jell as a group. If you or anyone you know might be interested email me for the details.

This life is short, let's get started!

How may I be of service to you?

John

John S. Wren, MBA+

Founder, your new, free Small Business Chamber of Commerce

http://www.SBCCBlog.com  or http://www.johnwren.com/

(303)861-1447

Facebook:  http://Facebook.com/John.S.Wren

Linked In:  http://LinkedIn.com/in/John.S.Wren

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/JohnSWren

18 minute Ted video worth watching: Amy Tan "How do we create?"

I think it was Amy Tan's book that my daughter and her girlfriends read over and over again in college. The last one took the nearly worn out copy to a book signing and the author was, of course, deeply moved.