“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people”
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
When you think about networking the first thing that comes to mind is a forum with people who have achieved something (big) and made it in life or the industry they represent and now this networking platform provides a point for which you can connect with the individuals and leverage on their experience and learnings. A forum where you can milk the folks who have tried and tested strategies, process and resources to be where they are. To be honest I did not think that way of ChessSunday. I first attended it like a month or two ago and to my very pleasant surprise I met with some great minds. I ate chips that I could count and still paid 200bob for them. But the biggest achievement for me was meeting with young people who just love Sunday and want an excuse to meet up and argue on different ideologies while playing a game of chess. I thought it was a forum to test wits and in my case chess and the tech conversations that I listened to just for a moment made me fill little in a way because I could not contribute to the fun on the table or the conversations on the ground. I had a choice, so the 1st time I went with my laptop and turned it on and tried to work but I kept eavesdropping on conversations and kept hearing great ideas. My second choice was to leave the laptop at home; stop looking all clever and stuff because these are just some simple people enjoying a Sunday. The people who attend this forum are entrepreneurs and some are still in campus but already got the passion and the drive to get ahead in life by doing one thing or the other. I also thought for a moment maybe I could make some new friends because that is what I am about thus my reason for joining Twitter/Facebook. It was here that I was reminded that there is no school better in the world that will teach you the art of getting around or doing business like seating with a group of people with a similar mind and passion like yours. People who share similar values and principles in life sharpen each other. When you are with these guys you stand corrected. For me that is what takes me to ChessSunday for the several times that I have been there. It is to meet with guys and understand the world of business; technology and just see what I can add into my daily vocabulary and my bucket list as well. Like how about learning what the word Android meant *giggles* I did not know and in that forum you can ask anything and get an honest response without feeling irrelevant. The groups of young people who seat in this forum are sharp and they challenge my status quo. If you always ask yourself these questions: when am I going to start my own business, what kind of support do you think I need to write a marketing proposal, who can give me advice on a creative revert that I preparing for a client – those and many more, at ChessSunday you will find a bunch of people who are warm and receptive to the person that you are and the value that you believe you can add to table to progress a business venture. They will hold your hand and guide your idea and possibly bring it to life depending on whether you accept their concepts. We, for example, argued about whether we should home school our kids in the near future, it was a yes for some and a no for some. The cocktail of experts represented at ChessSunday is thought/action provoking. Once you attend a session you feel compelled to attend another and another, purely because you make friends with these people you meet there and you are guaranteed an ear when you need a sounding board for your ideas. When you leave that session you feel like you can move the world an inch to then north – really – it feels like a group of giants with giant ideas. I believe if you haven’t attended one of these sessions I challenge you to do so. Come and get a taste of the Kings & Queens represented at this even and sample what I would call a change to socialize and speak ideologies, introduce authors that we can review you name it anything can fly on that platform. When I think about meeting with people who will make a difference in your life, come meet me and the rest…let’s play with our minds and move the pawns around and see whether we will topple others as we contribute to building each other…!
