CIC-SIG Meeting Report

by Elaine Garnet, CIC-SIG Co-ordinator

What do we do?

The Consultant and Independent Contracting Special Interest Group (CIC-SIG) tries to hold regular meetings throughout the year on topics that would interest a consultant or independent contractor. We try to meet every month, although this is not always possible given the busy nature of our lives and the unpredictable demands of our clients.

When did we have our first meeting?

Friday, September 10, 2004

Where did we meet?

We conducted our meeting over a tasty lunch at East Side Mario’s in Waterloo. The reservations were kindly taken care of by Maggie Lichty.

Who was there?

There were six attendees in all:  Maggie Lichty, John Dreger, Chet Skibinski, Leo Petipas, Judy Newell and Elaine Garnet. Unfortunately, a seventh member lost her way and regrettably returned home.  We missed you, Robyn!

How did the meeting progress?

Since we had not seen each other for several months, we had a good time catching up on our personal and business news and sharing tips, which we hope will assist in our success.

Marketing Proposal

In particular, we discussed Chet’s marketing proposal, a strategy that we hope will list all of our businesses by specialty. In this way, we hope to have a centralized location, possibly a Web page, on which to market ourselves.

Business Profiles

To bring this to fruition and assist us in developing accurate business profiles, we agreed to fill out the following business evaluation. This will help us market ourselves and provide the rest of us with useful information should we need a writer with a different specialty. It’s a great networking tool and everyone should have copies of each other’s profile, so take your time and provide as much detail as possible.

1. Who are your preferred clients?
2. What are the detailed goods and services that you provide?
3. Where do our businesses intersect?
4. What can I say about your business that makes my client say, “Tell me more?”
5. What questions can I ask to see if your services would be required by my client?
6. What stories can I tell about how you help your clients?
7. What are some of the reasons your clients came to you in the first place?
8. What hours do you reserve for seeing clients?
9. Who are your centres of influence? Champions? Mentors?
10. What other businesses intersect with yours?

Ideas for This Year

We also spent time brainstorming meeting topics for the coming year. These included guest speakers and workshops. Here is the list in brief:

• Invite a seasoned professional to speak to the group about marketing strategies for services. 
• Meet at the KW Public Library for a guided tour of the business library and its many resources. 
• Invite a tax professional to explain tax filing for micro-businesses. 
• Conduct workshops on applications such as Frame Maker, PageMaker, RoboHelp, etc. We will try to arrange these through Conestoga College or the local universities.

Next Meeting

Our October meeting will be held after Thanksgiving (date to be announced) and will be a lunch venue, possibly in the Conestoga Room at Conestoga College. By that time, we should all have seriously considered and filled out our business evaluations. Over the coming months, each member will get a chance to profile his or her business.

Requests

On a purely practical note, John and Maggie are both looking for a reliable, nearly new computer. If you want to part with a computer, please e-mail me and I will forward the message.

About Elaine Garnet

Elaine is a writer with twelve years of experience in the scientific and engineering fields. Her years of experience, coupled with three degrees and one diploma, have resulted in projects with over 30 companies during the four years that she has owned and operated her business—Words To Order. 

Currently, Elaine writes the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) reports that technology-based companies submit to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to obtain tax credits. She also prepares documentation for Industrial Research Assistance Program grants, as well as proposals and business plans.