App helps inventors meet influencers for coffee talk
A new smartphone app is allowing inventors and entrepreneurs to meet and network with key influencers in their own geographic locations. The “influencer of the month series” is a free iOS app from HereOnBiz, and features a geo-location service that helps bring together like-minded professionals.
Influencers simply select a city in which they want to meet, then all of the users in that city receive a notice of that influencer’s availability. I’ve learned that it isn’t too invasive because the influencers pick when they want to meet and with whom, after the app sends them possible candidates.
Once the two sides are linked up, it’s on to a 30- to 45-minute coffee session. This could be a very useful tool for networking, and who knows where these connections could lead? I am looking forward to hearing success stories!
The program soft launched last month in Pasadena, Calif. Porter Gale, the former CMO of Virgin America and author of Your Network Is Your Net Worth met with Evan White, a PR professional, and former core member of the social video site Viddy.
“It really was an awesome experience being able to sit down, drink an iced latte, and have a conversation with Porter,” he says. “I feel like I not only made a business connection, but a friend.”
This month’s big fish is Scott Minerd, the global chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, who manages more than $180 billion in assets, and is a special advisor to the Federal Reserve.
The next 14 months are lined up with a list of big names, including California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, tech blogger Robert Scoble, TechStars’ founder Brad Feld, Keith Ferrazzi, the former CMO of Deloitte and best selling author, and Charles King, an agent and partner at the William Morris Endeavor talent agency.
It’s a way “to show our community that we exist to help them never miss an opportunity,” Smoot says. “It’s not a first- or second-degree network, but an opportunity they never realized they had.”