BOARD MEMBER MESSAGE
Learning Perspective
The past two years as the Learning and Social Chair have been rewarding in many ways. When I first took on the role in 2018, I was intimidated. I’m a business and marketing strategist who runs a media planning and buying agency, not an events person or educator. I knew Learning was a big role, and there was a high bar to meet for EONY’s expectations. But, I’m also the kind of person who can rise to a challenge, and when asked by Jon Tota and David Schnurman to stretch far out of my comfort zone I decided it was “game on.” Both were generous in helping me ramp up and their support is still much appreciated.
We started my first year by doing the first-ever organized chapter meetup at Nerve Buffalo which evolved beautifully into more participation and EONY moxie this past September at Nerve Charleston. If you haven’t been to Nerve, it's our Regional Conference for all US East EO Chapters (consider attending in September 2020). It’s like getting a year of learning and top-notch socials in just a few days away from your business. And, yes, I just happened to meet my fiance there.
We’ve had such a mix of topics and contributors the past eighteen months—from Debra Searle, a woman who spent six months rowing across the Atlantic to share the notion of actively choosing your attitude despite the challenges you face, to Eric Maddox, the military strategist responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein. And there’s much more to come. But, my biggest learning about being Learning Chair is that it really does take support from everyone to get it right:
- Thanks to Dave Kerpen, we had Suze Orman give us her personal take on what entrepreneurs should pay attention to financially, and Randi Zuckerberg shared her experiences, from Facebook to her multiple books.
- Richard Levychin has been a gem in consistently organizing 9+ rated Master Class workshops with expert speakers who freely donate their time on topics that drill deeper than the main events can—he even gets sponsors to donate the space.
- Scott Mesh is organizing and planning his third annual Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES) for March 2020.
- Lauryn Chun is working on our chapter’s second annual EO Talks event for April, having shared her story with us last year.
- Beth Chernick is leading the charge for another Chapter Retreat this June since our first one was so well received.
There’s so much happening even beyond learning—with Chris Wilkerson’s MyEO events and our new “In the Boardroom” opportunities that came at Yossi Hasson’s suggestion. I’m grateful that I haven’t been alone in creating so many unique and wonderful opportunities for our chapter to connect and grow.
Another cool thing we do is video record main learning events. This allows you to re-watch events you’ve attended, as well as see them if you couldn’t make it. Of course attending the events is where you’ll get to meet other members, have an opportunity to ask the speaker your specific questions, and get the insights in real time, so please don’t stop coming out and supporting them in favor of the re-runs later.
As we hit the mid-year mark on my second term, it’s bittersweet. I think I made a positive mark on the chapter, and I know I grew personally, and created new and lasting bonds I could never have made had I stayed in my comfort zone. I’m in the final sprint to deliver the best learning events possible. I hope that they give my fellow chapter mates the opportunity to gain some perspective on a topic that interests them, find some nugget that they can apply to their business to help them grow, or foster a new connection with someone they may not have otherwise met. There’s always room for a helping hand or a connection to a venue or rock star speaker suggestion. Please reach out if there’s anything you are willing to do to make your mark on our Learning program.
Lauren Boyer
EONY Learning Chair