The Ivy League Comes to Atlanta

By Larry Block
Southeast Bureau Chief (The Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida)

Greeting from the South. Today I want to introduce you to a networking and social group that I have been affiliated with for the past 5 years. Originally created by Mike Eastman 11 years ago, shortly after he moved to Atlanta, Team Ivy is comprised of alums from all the Ivy League and Seven Sister Colleges as well as elite schools nationwide. They refer to it as the Ivy League Plus schools. A partial list of eligible schools includes: Brown, Cornell, John Hopkins, Princeton, Wellesley, Bucknell, MIT, Smith, Wharton, Colgate, Duke, Emory, Mt. Holyoke, Stanford, Yale, Tulane, Vassar, Penn, Colombia and Harvard. The group was originally created as a way to network professionally but has reaped many social benefits as well. Mike, himself, met his wife, Jill indirectly through this group.

Although most of the Ivy League schools are located in the Northeast, the South has proven to be one of the top relocation areas for some of these elite schools. With over 2,000 members in the southeast, Team Ivy has proven over the last 11 years to be a great resource for developing and maintaining both business and social contacts.

The primary purpose of TEAM IVY is to network and socialize with fellow business Ivy grads and friends of Ivy, refer business leads to each other, and possibly even learn something…

Team Ivy holds many different events throughout the year with their biggest event being the annual Polo party held every October in Alpharetta, which annually draws a crowd of over 500 members. A list of regular events include an After Work Social Hour at Park Tavern - every second Wednesday of the month from 7:00 - 9:30 pm. usually at Park Tavern, a Networking breakfast meeting held the third Wednesday of each month at Maggianos in Buckhead, a dinner program called Tables for Eight where people meet at various restaurants around Atlanta, day hikes, hang gliding, horseback riding excursions and even a Martini night held a couple of times a year. More information on all of their various activities can be found at www.teamivy.com.

In addition to social and networking events, in 2009 Team Ivy will begin a scholarship program and a lunchtime series dedicated to addressing the needs of fellow alums navigating the job market in today’s tough economic times. To get additional information or upcoming event information contact Mike Eastman at mike@teamivy.com.

As a regular attendee at the monthly breakfast event, this group is regularly attended by 10 -15 members with another 10 or so first time visitors each month. Recently Team Ivy moved from the Windy Hill Athletic Club to their present location Maggiano’s and as a result the attendance has increased. This group has a much greater influence on business to business rather than business to consumer opportunities. There are several regular members of this group who specialize in start up capital, angel investing and working with existing businesses to ensure success.
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The Ivy League Comes to Atlanta

One Networking Team…Ten+ Years of Membership – Now THAT is Commitment!

By Anne Kelley
Southeast Bureau Chief
(the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi)

I wonder how many of us have made the kind of commitment to a networking team that several members of the Buckhead PowerCore Team have made. I was a member of this team nearly ten years ago. Imagine my surprise when recently talking with a current member of this team to learn that five of the members I had known were still on the team. I began to wonder what made this kind of “stick-to-itiveness” possible. This team has had an average of 30 members and meets in a part of the city that is full of tall buildings and business is booming!

Looking at a list of the members, one realizes that the team is very strong in B to B members. Also in looking through the business categories represented I realized that the more personal services that were represented were the kinds of services that busy business people would need.

A phone call to Wendy Kinney, www.PowerCore.net founder, gave me the insight into the team member’s commitment. Success! -- Both for the long term members as well as this team. It sounds simple…almost too simple. These teams meet weekly at 7:00 a.m. There is an attendance policy to maintain membership, so no sleeping in! If you are going to join a PowerCore team you better be serious about networking and supporting your team. There is a wonderful structure in place for each team, active membership participation in leadership roles and a lead tracking system that rewards those members that are working to recruit and support team members.

The first part of the meeting is about education. Each person, including guests, has one minute to tell everyone attending about their business, ending with, "A good referral for me is..." The idea is not to "pitch" the people at the table. Next two Members of the Team give 7-Minute presentations, where they share more detailed information about their businesses.

Following 7-Minute presentations, there is a Referral Trigger exercise. Everyone on the team will answer to the same question. The question changes every week, and the Participation Coordinator will announce the question, so you have a chance to think of an answer. The final part of the meeting is passing referrals. Team Members pass referrals to each other, and you hear invitations to coffee and lunch.

If you are struggling with finding your place to network, I would encourage you to visit the PowerCore website and read some of Wendy’s articles and reading recommendations. Every networker has a different idea about what works, but considering all the options and input from the experts while evaluating the true “cost” of networking is a good investment of your time.

Please let me know of interesting and successful networking opportunities in the Southeast. I would love to contact them for an interview and spotlight in my column.

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One Networking Team…Ten+ Years of Membership – Now THAT is Commitment!