Mindfly’s Chamber Breakfast Experience
This morning was breakfast at the chamber of commerce at Northwood Hall on Northwest Avenue. Starting at 7:00, it’s a breakfast that’s geared towards lots of businesses introducing themselves to others at a table in a fast paced “speed-dating” format. It’s something that I’ve attended for the better part of 7 years now, and the format works well to meet new folks who may need Mindfly’s services to spiff up their websites. Drew Graham the MC puts on a great show, and there usually 150 people attending.
In order to get folks attention I try to say something different, and not too dry and tech-talk boring. Some folks try humor (Richard at Central Moving and Storage), or cool $25 free gambling coupons (see Mindy Mathis at the Nooksack Casino), or the “I’m new and just got a great new job” (Mel Monkelis at Ski to Ski), and not to be outdone was Steve Beringer from Anthony’s Hearthfire Grill who was talking about free deserts! How do I follow this with something remotely interesting to keep people’s attention on web design?
“Hi, I’m John Raasch, and I’m an owner of Mindfly, a web design studio located on Holly Street in downtown Bellingham”. I look around the table. Richard is looking out the window, Mindy is sorting her paperwork, Mel is on my right, so I can’t see his expression (eyes probably closed) and Steve actually is making eye contact! Great, I’ve got about 25% of the audience.
“So websites are nothing new, and lots of businesses have them”
I’m starting to lose Steve.
“Think of a website as a cheese” This got everyone’s attention. Lots of perky faces interested in Mindfly, or at least the train-wreck that was becoming my talk.
Did I just say websites are like cheese?
“Websites are nothing new out there on the business landscape, it’s just that there are a lot of them, and a lot of old ones. If your cheese has been cared for it will age well and be a delight. Left alone, like a cheese, they don’t do so well.”
I rambled on for a while about Mindfly, and how wonderful we are, but the cheese was the defining moment of that talk.
Keep your website current, stay on top of technologies that are appropriate, don’t ignore the Search Engines and if something smells funky on your site, please contact me here at Mindfly! And as for the captivated crowd at breakfast this morning, here you go. As I promised, you are all mentioned on Mindfly’s website before lunch! 