U.S. SOUTHERN PLAINS: BABWA

By Peter Biadasz

Southern Plains Bureau Chief
(Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico)

I have had the privilege over the years to have had very positive interaction with the Broken Arrow Business Women's Association (BABWA). Many of its members are involved in the community in such ways that our paths cross regularly. BABWA has as its mission to: Provide professional and personal support, camaraderie, networking and education through the collective voice of business women. The group was founded in 1996 by Betty Kennett, Sandy Southard, Teresa Morrison and Michelle McKown to fill a need in the community for a professional women's organization.

The group meets the third Tuesday of each month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for their monthly luncheon at Tarp Chapel and Gardens, a beautiful and picturesque wedding chapel and reception facility overlooking a stunning landscape. No matter what time of year, the glass walls reveal surroundings that set a warm tone for the meetings. In addition, for the past six years BABWA has held a Business Extravaganza for an opportunity to showcase businesses to BABWA members and guests. This is accomplished by combining the lunch with many booths “manned” by member businesses and a very large attendance. It is a great time of networking and business learning for a few hours.




Babwa is highly organized. Officers include the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Vice-Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice-Treasurer. The Executive Committee consists of the officers and the immediate Past President. The Board of Directors, consisting of the current officers, including vice officers, the immediate Past President, and the standing committee chairs, manage the affairs of BABWA, including arranging for an annual review of the financial records. There are also standing committees such as the Membership Committee, Program Committee, and Public Relations Committee. Each Committee establishes goals for the coming year.

The group has an Annual Meeting of the Membership every December. One of the honors bestowed at that meeting is the Founder's Service Award. The Founders’ Service Award is an award given to an outstanding BABWA individual who has demonstrated continued involvement in BABWA above and beyond expectations. The award is given to someone who has served as an active member in good standing for a least one full calendar year, has demonstrated commitment and dependability through their efforts in helping and has assisted in organizing and participating in BABWA functions. Each year, nominations are taken for this award which is voted on by the previous recipients. The award is given at the December Christmas Banquet.

In addition, every other year, leadership supplies a list of local organizations to the membership for voting to select the main focus of donation distribution. As fundraising and donations allow, BABWA also makes donations to several other community organizations. In addition to financial support, the general membership also volunteers, donates requested items and provides non-monetary support. Last year, for example, when the community food banks were hit hard by a combination of external and internal factors, BABWA members and their companies donated over 50 food baskets to help with the holiday shortfall. These donations were over and above the money given by BABWA.

Teri Dorshorst has been involved in various leadership roles within BABWA over the years. She shared with me that “as business woman there is much emphasis on creating a very nurturing environment. Relationships and a sense of community are top priority. Experienced members’ mentoring younger members is strongly encouraged. The group works hard to foster strong relationships with the local chamber, the city and the local board of education.”

Babwa has an informative and great website that even allows for members to invoice themselves for dues payments. This helps to makes the job that is dreaded in many groups, Treasurer, to flow that much better. To learn more about this outstanding organization, feel free to go to www.babwa.org

Peter Biadasz, author of such book as More Leads as well as Increase Your Sales And Lower Your Golf Score, is President of Total Publishing And Media. To contact Peter about getting your book published feel free to contact him at Peter@TotalPublishingAndMedia.com

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U.S. SOUTHERN PLAINS: BABWA

POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Building Virtual Community, Part 2

Power Thought of the Week with Patricia Parham, Ph.D.

Setting Boundaries

One of the things that virtual communities require is a container. This container is defined by the purpose of the network. The more detailed the purpose, the more able people are to appropriately select in, or out, of the network. With a strong container, powerful community members will populate the community and they will know how to show up and contribute, thereby helping to build community.



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POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Building Virtual Community, Part 2

U.S. MID-ATLANTIC: Social Networking – Training the Next Generation

by Bruce Newman, U.S. Mid-Atlantic Bureau Chief

(New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC)

I was watching my son interact with his friends on Xbox 360 live last night. Playing in advanced mode, they had to coordinate all of their actions to win their game. There was my son telling his friends where they should move and who should protect whom. It was truly impressive to watch how they worked as a team. In fact, even when they completed their very intense game, my son still talked with them as he walked into our kitchen to get something to drink.

It made me wonder; is this the future of networking?

And I would have to say, yes. Kids - Generations Y and Z (Millennium) have embraced instant communication, remaining in constant contact through a multitude of modalities – all of which appear as natural extensions to them. Even their socialization is more group oriented than in previous generations. Going out in groups instead of one-on-one is now the accepted norm. They are constantly instant messaging each other, writing on each other’s Facebook walls, text messaging and sometimes even speaking with each other face to face.

So, how does this affect business networking?

Do you have a Twitter account? Or Facebook? Or LinkedIn or any other social account? Do you have a blog? Most people have at least one and should have more. Relationships are built, nourished and grown through these applications. There are a number of people on my various networks that started out as contacts and whom I can now truly call friends and business partners.

Would you have even considered creating a MySpace account five years ago? (Be honest.) Few people did. Today, there are many social websites and many more under development. Whether or not they add value depends on both their capabilities and the quality and use of the relationships constructed by their subscribers. Increasingly powerful tools such as Google Friend Connect allow people to connect through any number of social media sites. Gmail and Google Latitude allow us to locate and visually communicate with people on our network by literally, the click of a button.

Click on the Banner, and Receive your Membership Free Trial and Discount

Networking is more than just attending events and passing out business cards. It’s about interacting with people. It’s quality versus quantity. The days of having a Verizon representative merely collecting as many business cards as he can at an event are rapidly ending, being replaced by a medium that is fast-moving and based on the development of quality relationships.

Which brings me back to my son and his video games. Many behavioral experts decry the violence of video games – which I certainly don’t deny. Yet, while advocating their position, they overlook one key benefit: the ability to develop and maintain social interactions through this medium. When I see my son get up in the morning and check his Facebook account, sometimes discuss what he and his friends accomplished the previous night or text a friend, I realize how interconnected this world is and how adept and socially networked is this new generation; no training required.



Bruce Newman, an expert on consulting, is the mid-Atlantic
editor for The National Networker and the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC. The Productivity Institute has provided consultant and client-centered solutions that significantly increase productivity and profitability to small and mid-sized companies since 2000. Subscribe to our informative and free newsletter (circ 6,000+), receive our RSS feed, and read and comment on our blog. Bruce can be contacted at bnewman@prodinst.com.





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U.S. MID-ATLANTIC: Social Networking – Training the Next Generation