In May my firm, The Contractor Coaching Partnership, joined The Eastern Mass NARI chapter to network with professional contractors. My goal is to help the chapter grow its contractor membership using effective best practice networking strategies. Over the summer, I have been exposing this great organization to contractors, sub-contractors, and companies who provide services to the residential construction industry. On September 10th, I was joined by several clients and guests at the monthly NARI dinner. The theme for the night was to recognize the contractors who earned their NARI certifications.

A Great Networking Night

The networking part of the night was held from 5:30-7:00PM. The networking was so robust that you strained to hear the person you were talking with. The call to dinner at 7:00PM had to be repeated several times to get everyone to stop networking and sit down for dinner!  

Dinner was served and you could still hear the buzz created by the intense networking. At 8:00PM the President, Bill Farnsworth began the introductions of new members and the guests. After the first three or four guests were introduced the microphone was handed to the incoming 2009 President, Phil Bates. After each guest is introduced the member who invited them is recognized. Here the night was about to take an interesting turn. Unbeknown to myself, the leaders collaborated to have a little fun with me. They decided to introduced all of my guests in succession. After each guest Phil would say invited by Mark Paskell. On the fifth intro instead of saying my name he paused and looked at the crowd and they like trained Pavlov dogs said "Mark Paskell".

Many said to me "you brought an army". I am fortunate and appreciative to all my guests who joined me for the event. Most networking pros know that becoming successful in a group requires inviting and bringing guests to the meetings. In one evening my guests helped me build enormous credibility.  I would like to thank all my guests for their support. Joining me at the event; Jason Kallio; ExpoVantage,Trade Show Expert, Paul Ceccereli; Safety Trainers, OSHA and First Aid Training, Joe Holm; Sandler Sales Training, Derek McDougall; Professional Painter, Siraj Ahmed; Contractor Lawyer, Steve Babineau; CNE Distributors, Kitchen Cabinet Supplier, Andrew Marengo; APM Construction, Small remodel jobs, Rich Duhamel; Fiver Homes Remodeling, new homes and additions.

If anyone wants to recommend a great organization for contractors or for companies supporting the contractor industry please have them contact me and I would be glad to introduce them to NARI, an organization that supports contractor education, training and growth.

Mark

The Contractor Coaching Partnership