This meeting today however was to mark the passing of time, and acknowledge the winds of change.

We did some reflecting and agreed that Tazzu™ had been a blast!

Since that first meeting in ’07 Tazzu™ has had its share of successes – initially a vibrant growing community, networking meetings in Yaletown, Gastown and Richmond, a number of WordPress Camps, Joomla Camps, including organizing and hosting the very first Joomla Day in Canada: “Joomla Day Vancouver”.

The Tazzu™ community grew from an initial small handful of local acquaintances in 2006 to a vibrant group with members hailing from around the globe.

Some say that all good things must come to an end. I’m not so sure this is true, but what I do know is that time keeps ticking, and along with the passing of time comes change.

SO… it is with mixed emotions that Rastin and I announce the legal dissolution of Tazzu™ Networking Ltd.

With Rastin living downtown and myself moving out to Langley, and both of us being very busy with our Companies we have had very little time to grow and nurture Tazzu™ the way we should.

For me, dissolving Tazzu™ means that my connections will no longer be through the entity Tazzu™ or Tazzu™ website, but be maintained other ways: email, phone, skype and through the obvious popular social networking sites (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn) which have served to retain many of my newly formed friendships and connections while the Tazzu site was down.

JenTekk Web Solutions has retained ownership of the Tazzu™ Trademark and 2 domain names (tazzu.ca / tazzu.com) and is considering reinventing Tazzu down the road!

In closing, Rastin and I would like to thank all our wonderful friends for your contribution to the Tazzu™ community, your support and most importantly your friendship!

It was a great party while it lasted. We both look forward to keeping in touch with you to continue our friendships!

~

Well… I’ve just signed up to attend my very first BarCamp, which is happening in Vancouver Friday, September 26 (5pm) – Saturday, September 27 (5pm).

BarCamp is advertised as an ad-hoc un-conference where people get to share and learn in an open environment. Its also promoted as a great opportunity to meet a lot of creative and friendly people, learn about their recent projects, and where you may also brag about your own recent projects.

I’ve opted out of the bragging part, with this being my first visit, but will definitely be participating in the presentations, taking notes, and engaging in Q & A opportunities.

Apparently we’re also told to bring a sleeping bag and pillow… I guess the ‘camp’ in barcamp is taken literally! Hmmm… not sure anyone wants to see my morning face/hair, so I’ll drive in on Saturday morning and spare them the details!

For more info: Barcamp Wiki

To register: click here

I hope to see you there!!

~

Technorati Tags: barcamp, vancouver, networking event

Here we go again! I’ve just joined Twitter, a micro blogging social networking site. You’d think that with Tazzu and FaceBook I’d have my fill of online networking… not! Networking has become a way of life for me, and Twitter allows me to connect yet again on another level with friends.

WHAT?

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

WHY?

“Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely…
Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
Partying? Your friends may want to join you.”

HOW?

“With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted. Twitter puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.”

Twitter is best described as micro blogging website. Each tweet (post or update) holds only up to 140 characters maximum. Believe it… Twitter counts them for you. 140 characters is just enough room to sum up in 1 sentence what is going on in your world, so that all your friends can be in the loop. Popular tweets are: links, events, comments, questions, thoughts etc.

Imagine a flock of birds perched in a tree, each one communicating in short tweets whatever is on his/her mind – that is Twitter! The more friends you follow (and follow you) the more twittering you will see on your own home page.

I’d like to invite my Tazzu and FaceBook friends to join me onTwitter. Hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: twitter, networking, micro-blogging, tazzu, facebook, jentekk

Typically this group heads out every Saturday for “dot com pho”, something I’ve not yet experienced, but hope to soon!

Well, last month in thier quest for international cuisine, the dot com mogul crew decided to head out to Tandoori Kona in Richmond for some East Indian food – you’ll have to check out John Chow’s Dot Com Tandoori at Tandoori Kona blog post for some enticing photos of the food.

This get-together was their largest gathering to date. In total, 16 people attended – and we all had a blast!

Going clockwise from the front, we can (barely) see John’s mom, Danny, Greg Morgan, Erin Berringer from Newport Business Media, Tejpal Salooja Singh from 1234Pens, Michael Kwan, StephenFung, Ed Lau, Gary Jones from BlueFur Hosting, Lisa Jones, yours truly – moi, Rainer Schmoll from Think Referrals, his son Matthew Schmoll, and the most infamous John Chow. Not shown in the picture are John’s wife Sarah and their daughter Sally.

Lisa Jones and I had a really warm heart to heart conversation – what an amazing gal! “Heart” is what you will find with the Jones’ family. Lisa’s hubby Gary Jones – from BlueFur Web Hosting decided to treat us all to lunch – again!

I heard via the grape vine that he paid at Dot Com Dim Sum too. I know Gary to be a generous, and thoughtful guy, and have stories to back this up! Thanks Gary – the food was superb and the company was delightful!

In yet another gesture of generosity, Gary Jones handed out a few BlueFur promotional t-shirts. John Chow was the only guy that tucked his in (far right), it made him look like Steve Urkel – “…everybody do the Urkel!”

My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. Many thanks to the the Dot Com Moguls and BlueFur Models for a fabulous end to a delicious meal!

Photos courtesy of the BlueFur Fans Facebook group.

Technorati Tags: networking, dot com moguls, Tandoori Kona, Richmond, BlueFur Hosting, Greg Morgan, Erin Berringer, Newport Business Media, Tejpal Salooja Singh, 1234Pens, Michael Kwan, StephenFung, Ed Lau, Gary Jones, Lisa Jones, Rainer Schmoll, Think Referrals, Matthew Schmoll, John Chow, jentekk

It is no longer what you know that can advance your career, but who you know.

This leads us to reason that the more people you know, the better the chances of finding that ideal employee, landing that perfect job, selling your product/services and growing your business.

Have you ever heard of the Small World Phenomenon? The small world phenomenon theory is that everyone in the world can be reached through a short chain of social acquaintances. The concept gave rise to the famous phrase Six Degrees of Separation.

Whether or not these two theories are accurate is debateable. There is however one fundemental truth to these theories, that by increasing the number of people you know, your circle of contacts and resources compound exponentially.

FACT:
The day that I set out to network was the day that I really began to influence the growth of my company.

In 2001, I launched my company website JenTekk Web Solutions. I’d just finished my schooling, had a loan to pay off, and not enough projects to pay my bills. So, I worked part-time as a Hairstylist to supplement my meagre website design income.

While I had the passion and skills to succeed, I was not busy enough to leave my hair design job and work at JenTekk full-time, which was really what I wanted to do.

One day I sat down and took a hard look at my clientelle and realized that the majority of my clients came to me by way of referrals.

It was then that the light went on. If referrals had been my strongest source of business, it made sense to me that I needed to expand the number of people I knew, and who knew me – apparently this is called networking.

If you’re anything like me, the thought walking into a room full of strangers and talking about myself can be somewhat intimidating. However, being as desperate as I was, I added networking to my list of things-to-do.

In the fall of 2004 I took the leap – albeit tiny – and gave networking a shot.

Being an extreme introvert, joining an online forum was within my comfort zone. Networking from the comfort of my own office, listening to my music, sipping my coffee – all great fun!

Eventually, I forced myself to attend my first networking event, which incidentally, is where I met Rastin Mehr who is now a dear friend and business partner.

Now, referrals make up 90% of my businesses leads. Networking is the main thrust of my marketing strategy, and has largely replace advertising, cold calling, pounding the pavement, and other less productive efforts.

Networking generates results and should be TOP priority for every business owner. In addition, networking can be fun and personally rewarding!

If you’re thinking about networking but not sure where to begin, why not start by networking in an online networking forum. It’s a great way to meet like minded business people, and start your journey to growing your company.

My recommendation: Tazzu Networking Forum – for all business professionals. The members are friendly, ready to offer assistance, and there is a growing range of topics – it’s also where you’ll find me doing my thing.

I hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: networking, business, marketing, online networking forum, tazzu, rmd studio, jentekk