OPEN Event From American Express and SCORE – A Free Resource For Small Businesses!

As mentioned in our post "Funding your small businesses with other people’s money", grant monies are generally hard to come by for small businesses. Previously called Services Corps Of Retired Executives (SCORE) and currently renamed SCORE Association is a volunteer based non-profit organization. It is a very good resource for small business owners who need mentoring. Mentoring is a necessity for most first-time business owners and SCORE Association offers business counseling for free through their nearly 400 offices spread throughout the country. A few critical items for success that are missing in that type of a setup is actual contact with other new business owners, the power of networking with new business owners, and awareness about the huge industry that is around that gears toward servicing small business owners.

The 2008 OPEN Event sponsored by American Express and SCORE was an ideal resource as it afforded the chance to communicate with other people in the exact same situation as you are. Further, the American Express sponsor ship helped provide exposure to the services that were available. The first such event was a sellout in Orlando, Florida in 2007. In 2008, there were three such events across the country. The timings, locations and the agenda of the events conducted that year follow:

March 6, 2008 - Atlanta, Georgia
March 26, 2008 - Chicago, Illinois
April 23, 2008 - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas











































9:00 AM – 9:45 AMBusiness owner check-in and assignments (Continental breakfast and networking)
9:45 AM – 9:55 AMWelcome and opening remarks
10:00 AM – 10:30 AMSpeed Coaching Session #1, Workshops A, C
10:30 AM – 10:50 AMNetworking coffee break
10:50 AM – 11:20 AMSpeed Coaching Session #2, Workshops C, D
11:20 AM – 11:40 AMNetworking coffee break
11:40 AM – 12:10 PMSpeed Coaching Session #3, Workshops A, B
12:15 PM – 2:00 PMLuncheon, keynote address and facilitated networking
2:15 PM – 2:45 PMSpeed Coaching Session #4, Workshops C, D
2:45 PM – 3:00 PMNetworking coffee break
3:00 PM – 3:30 PMSpeed Coaching Session #5, Workshops A, B
3:30 PM – 4:00 PMClosing remarks, prize drawings and networking
4:00 PMEvent concludes



These were fun events for business owners located near Atlanta, Chicago or Dallas.

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