A new month and a new Chairperson. This month sees Maria Pearson – Chief Learning Creator at Grow.ME take the reigns of the Leading Links Club. Guests and members (28 in total) congregated from 7.30 onwards for breakfast and coffee. The news followed.

News and Events

Greg updated us on the mortgage saga, latest is loan to value of 80% for Emiratis and 75% for ex-pats.

Bridgett advised us of the Business Factory taking place in April, and that she would send details out later.

Faysal thanked Jacqui for an excellent lead, and Greg thanked Bridgett.

Irene was delighted to be thanked for by both parties for arranging a successful job placement through Leading Links.

Jessica Pakenham-Money explained how LL was responsible for her new position with Gerry O’Leary photography, taking over as head of business development from Caitriona.

Bridgett recommended a networking event at Media One Hotel, Under the Stars, Wednesday this week, 90 AEDs each.

Greg recommended the free Public Speaking sessions at Building 3 Dubai Internet City. (Toastmasters)

There then followed a session of speed networking and a break for coffee.

Presentation

Our chairperson, Maria, explained how her company helps businesses across many countries in the region. By helping people to adjust to their new environments, and gain knowledge of local customs and business practices, grow.Me is achieving substantial results that can be measured in revenue growth

Speed Networking

A second session of speed networking followed.

Mentoring update

Maria and Scott briefly outlined how our mentoring program works and what we get out of it. Barry, Guy and Bridgett all spoke about what they had got from the process

Referral Request

We moved into the referral request where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would like to focus on this month.

February sees Bridgett Lau of Lau Consultancy taking the reigns of the LLC. Good turn out today with 12 guests in attendance. We started a little differently and people were either asked to introduce themselves or someone else – the whole focus of the meetings lately has been on how we can make our lead referrals more effective. The news followed.

News and Events

David Cook thanked Matt for a great introduction to Mr Khalifa.

Faysal Khan announced another US Embassy auction to be held on 8th/9th March where surplus items of furniture, household goods and even cars. Please see Faysal for further details.

Irene Lau is VP for Public Relations at Toastmasters Club. For details of events, please see her or Greg.

Greg Pogonowski announced that he has been Head Hunted by Lime Financial, and is about to start work with them shortly.

Greg also announced that NASDAQ are about to launch a platform to trade shares in SMEs.

There then followed a session of speed networking and a break for coffee.

Presentation

Strengthening our Links in Leading Links – Lead/Referrals and more Business

We heard elevator pitches from:

David Cook (DC)                          UAE Compare

Greg Pogonowski (GP)               Lime Financial

Paula Bellamy (PB)                     Allseas Global Logistics

The meeting was split into four groups where the elevator pitches were analysed and ideal leads/prospects for the three individuals were discussed, and feedback provided.

Referral Request

We moved into the referral request where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would like to focus on this month.

Any Other Business

Caitriona announced the first ever Short+Sweet Dubai will be held at DUCTAC in MOE Feb 21st- March 2nd. Over two jam packed weeks with more than 100 of Dubais most exciting actors, writers, directors and independent Theatre Companies will present thirty 10 minute plays. Lynsey Wright will be starring as a Russian bride.

Irene asked for anyone that is looking for a housemaid

Welcome back Shayma and Welcome to Omar.

Meeting Ends

The New Year kicked off with Sam Dancy from Fifth Ring as Chairwoman for the month. We had 6 members missing, 1 substitute attending and 12 guests in attendance. We started a little late, and began with the round the room 60 second introductions followed by the News.

News and Events

Greg informed us of the need to register all tenancy agreements with the authorities and it is cheaper to do so at the Post Office. (160 AEDs)

Prophet Muhammed’s birthday is this Thursday, so we have a public holiday

Matt Wilson of Animus Creative is leading a session on Creative Thinking this Thursday 1.00pm. Please see Matt for details (+971 50 559 0074)

BBG has an evening ‘Back to Business Networking’ Session 30th January at Med Terrace at Media One Hotel, 7.30pm.

The Australian production group, Short & Sweet is appearing in Dubai during February and March. Performing a series of short plays at DucTac, the cast also includes Dubai’s own literary and stage legend Caitriona McBride. (http://www.godubai.com/events/EVENT_page.asp?pr=1424)

Irene recommends the Scene club for excellent films, shown free of charge. The Scene Club is a monthly film club that highlights the best of international independent cinema and provides a platform for the film industry to come together to celebrate and discuss independent productions.( http://www.thesceneclub.com/)

Steve Cronin can offer some advice on how to prevent hackers getting into your gmail account and making your website impenetrable. Steve’s portfolio of products now includes Viagra.

Greg reported the recent change in loan to value of UAE mortgages. Now at 60 to 70% in attempt to cool the housing market.

It is no longer a criminal offence for Emirati’s to supply bouncing cheques. It still is for the rest of us though.

Greg thanked Irene for two great leads, and Barry thanked Peter for leading him to some new business.

After his recent experience, Steve Cronin recommends carrying an Alcohol Licence to avoid jail in Dubai.

As part of Fifth Ring’s service to their customers, they provide a daily summary of news and events. Sam offered the service to LL members. Please email her if you wish to accept the offer.

Thursday – Prophet Mohammed’s birthday (public holiday – dry Wed 6pm until
Thurs 6pm)

Friday – Dubai Marathon and Burns Night

Saturday – Australia Day

Monday 28th – Sun 2nd – Desert Classic (golf)

Monday 28th-Thurs 31st – Arab Health at Dubai World Trade Centre

Wed 30th-Sat 2nd – Bride Show Abu Dhabi

Wed 30th – Picante launch (Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai – Sam’s client)

Wed 30th – BBC Good Food awards

Sun 10th Feb – Chinese New Year

Thurs 14th Feb – Sat 16th Feb – Jazz Festival

Presentation

Sam Dancy made a presentation covering all aspects of PR, with special focus on how it can and does work for SMEs. She covered how a PR company works along with the fees and what they can do for various packages. Usually the PR campaign is adapted to suit the client’s budget. Sam also included practical examples of what may or may not be valuable content for the media.

Fifth Ring is largely a B2B PR business, but they do also have clients focusing on B2C, from large petro-chemical and F&B companies to SMEs. Fifth Ring is very transparent over their fees, making sure the hours worked represent good value for money. (NB Sam doesn’t like to get out of bed for less than 10,000 AEDs per month!)

Sam is leaving her presentation in the LL drop box for members.

For PR support and advice Sam Dancy: sam@fifthring.com and 043720154.

Referral Request

We moved into the referral request where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would like to focus on this month.

Meeting Ends

Mark let us know that there is still a 20% discount at Jaime’s italian for all LLC members.

A new month and a new Chairman. This month saw Steve Cronin leading the Leading Links Club. We had a good turnout with only 3 members missing, 1 substitute attending and 13 guests coming to see what we are all about. A prompt kick off at 8.10am started with 60 second introductions around the room followed by the News.

News

Maria and Grow Me will be at the Training and Development Show at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Wednesday from 3pm. Maria has a presenting spot as well. Please join and support if you are able to.

Bridgett had a great success story with a lead she passed to another member, David Cook, culminating in a cheque for 25,000AED for Bridgett for making the introduction. A great example of the kind of referrals passed in LLC.

Livia let us know about the first Yoga Music festival in the region, happening at the Mina Siyahi ext to Barasti, drop Livia a line if you would like more information.

Swati thanked Alan for an introduction and Mark for a great time at Jamie’s Italian Restaurant.

Scott let us know about the Entrepreneurial Ventures Arabia (EVA) event happening on the 11/12th December at the Dubai World Trade Centre – 100AED for the 2 days.

Irene invited anyone that wants to improve their public speaking to come to Toastmasters – for the first time it’s Free and if you need more information drop Irene a line

And last but not least, the LLC December Social will be happening on the 11th December (yep a Tuesday night) more details to come.

Networking

Members moved to the middle of the room and circulated with all guest, networking continued cleverly into the refreshment break.

Presentation

Steve presented Total Life Mastery – Mind, Body, Business (for 40 minutes!!)
Very interesting topic leading into differentiation in the market place for our businesses. In his own industry there is a lot of crossover happening where once singular offerings – salon did your nails, spa did your massage and gym did your workout, are now melding into one.
Differentiation is key.

Remember that YOU ARE NOT A BEAR – if nothing else, just remember that!

Body – You need to be fit in body in order to deal with the trials and tribulations of business,
when you can’t be bothered, just remember that by sitting on the couch your muscles are
literally wasting away – YOU ARE NOT A BEAR.

Mind – Do the hardest thing on your to do list first thing in the morning. If you eat a frog for
breakfast, you can be pretty sure that will be the worst thing you do all day, so it’s only going
to get better!! Usually the hardest thing to do will also show you the biggest diff erence in your
business so STOP PROCRASTINATING.

Business – Don’t allow yourself to achieve failure. Most business plans don’t make it past the
first interaction with a customer. It has to be revised. Get out the building – you can’t hide
inside and build a business, even an online one. Get out into the market, speak to people and
find out what they want from you.

Easiest form of marketing is to ask the market what it wants and give it what it asks for.

Useful Resources from the presentation;
Healing through Exercise by Jorg Blech 2009
Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy
The startup Owners Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dor f
The lean Startup by Eric Ries
Brainfulence by Roger Dooley

Referral requests

We moved into the referral requests where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would most like to focus on this month.

Meeting Ends

Meeting finished at 10.00am on the dot.

This month the honour of Chairman was bestowed upon Matt Wilson, Creative Partner at Animus Creative. We had 5 missing members this week, 2 substitutes and 12 guests attending. The meeting kicked off right on time after breakfast and general networking at 8.10am.

Everyone had their 60 second introduction around the room, which was followed by our news section.

News

Our very own Maria Pearson was in the National on the 19th November – check it out here – http:// www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/the-life/cultural-conflict-looms-atwork-due-to-middle-east-age-gap A rather good read I must say.

Greg let us know that Dubai Knowledge Village has a training week coming up – due to the excitement created by the thought of Matt Wilson’s creative thinking presentation the secretary left the meeting on such a high he forgot the piece of paper with the information on it, but here is a link to the upcoming courses that may be of interest – http://www.dkvevents.ae/training_week_events.php?staus=forth

Mark let us know that Jamie’s Italian is opening a new restaurant is opening in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel soon – DFC branch is ready for any LLC members and they can enjoy a 20% discount.

Speaker

Our esteemed Chairman/woman – it’s up for debate – undertook the job of presentation today and did a great job on helping the group start thinking creatively. A thoroughly engaging presentation from the Creative Partner at Animus Creative In applying creative thinking to our own businesses we stand out from the crowd and do things
differently – it might just be a better way. Fear in general and fear of failure in particular is what stops us as people from doing many things. Don’t worry about what others will think, overcome that hurdle and you will make your business better. Vision, Passion, Knowledge and Passion are the vital ingredients for creative thinking. But I still
can’t draw for toffee.

Impromptu Stand up from Bridgett

Bridgett Lau kindly stepped up to the plate to do a little introduction to what LLC is all about and
how it actually differs from all the other networking events out there. A small exercise of non
members showed that of those that had been to other events, none had actually met 3 people at
any of them that would actually facilitate either direct or indirect business. LLC is different in
terms of the people you meet and the effort they go through for you. Along side this

the
mentoring aspect every 3 months adds huge value as it gets that external view of your business
from someone else with experience and knowledge that might have a creative way for you to
overcome whatever obstacle you might be facing in your business

Networking

Speed Networking took place and all members circulated the room to spend 1 minute with each of the guest.

Referral Requests

We moved into the referral requests where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would most like to focus on this month.

Meeting Ends

Meeting finished at 10.05am and many continued to network.

This month saw Swati Khanna take up the role of Chairman for the Leading Links Club. We had a few missing members, a couple of substitutes and 14 guests join us for this months Members and Guest meeting and we started at 8.15am with 30 seceond introductions around the room.

News

As always our news section followed the introductions.

• Leading Links made it into the Aquarius magazine in an article all about networking in the city – thanks to Irene for sorting that out.
• Greg informed us that there is a new credit card out from an Islamic bank that will help you find what direction Mecca is in, when you need to pray.
• Faysal let us know that on the 2nd November the auction of US Embassy staff furniture and cars will take place at the Storall office location in Jebel Ali
• On the 6th November, Greg will be speaking at the Dubai Internet City Excellence Series – Personnel Insurance and Shareholder protection for SME Business Owners
• On Monday – the Media One Hotel in Media City is hosting it’s Media Mondays networking evening – Thanks Matt.

Speaker 

Caitriona McBride from Gerry O’Leary photography gave a very interesting presentation on the very qualified Gerry O’Leary and how he he came to be doing what he is doing now here in the Middle East as a class act photographer.

Success Stories

Caitriona revealed her top secret project and thanks to an introduction made by Scott has been commissioned to write the biography for a prominent locally based person. This is a personal ambition for Caitriona and we are all very happy that she is able to reach a personal goal through an introduction made at LLC.

Networking

Guests remained seated whilst members circulated the room to spend no more than 1 minute with each guest.

Addressing Legalities

Swati answered a number of legal questions related to various elements of business.

1. Can you empty a space that has been rented out but then the payments have stopped but the contents remain? You can put in an appropriate clause into the contract, and the space is yours once they are in contravention, however, you can’t touch the contents unless you get a court order that allows you to do so.
2. What if local partner of an LLC dies? The company doesn’t dissolve, it will basically be inherited by the family of the local unless you put in a clause that specifies what should happen in this situation. As the company doesn’t dissolve, any issued visas remain valid.
3. What can you do if not been paid by your company? You have to go to the labour department to register a complaint, but get your complaint translated into Arabic before doing so.
4. Wage Protection – a question was asked on this subject but I missed the answer

Referral Requests

We moved into the referral requests where everyone asked for the introductions or referrals they would most like to focus on this month.

Meeting Ends

We finished right on time and a few members stayed around to do some additional networking and some mentoring.

Caitriona McBride was chairman for the month of September and the Members and Guest meeting saw 22 members and 16 guests attend.

We kicked off slightly late today, as the infamous Dubai traffic played it’s part in delaying a few attendees.

After breakfast and mini networking on our tables we the group was called to order and we began the meeting. A 30 second introduction was given by all to get things moving and is a chance to ear mark anyone you might want to speak to further in the dedicated networking time later in the meeting.

News

Following on from introductions we follow our familiar format and News items were shared with the group;

• Greg informed us that children under the age of 15 do still need to register for an Emirates ID card and you have until the end of October to do so.
• Livia informed us of her new venture in JLT with Helle – free 20 minute sessions to trial the fitness regime – Also has a Dibba dhow trip as well as a 5 day Himalaya trip coming up – contact Livia for more details on all aspects.
• Irene informed us of the Toastmasters get togethers if you want to improve your public speaking.
• Matt mentioned the Liquid Gold Glam Gala happening on the 5th October. Great cause and a good night out to be had – further information at www.glamgala.me Sign up ASAP to secure your tables.
• Two week free trial for anyone subscribing to www.limebox.ae George can sort this out for you.

Speaker

David Parrack – ExpatAssist joined us to introduce us to his company Expat Assist – www.expatassist.co.uk – the first service to hep expatriates move and live abroad with peace of mind. This is an awesome service that can help expats around the world – as a member you can contact them 24 hours a day to ask for help or advice on anything from what to do if you are involved in a traffic accident to getting yourself re-employed and your children back in school after your company has dismissed you under incorrect circumstances.

Join up to the service using the coupon code provided in the meeting and receive a 10% discount as well as entry into the draw to win an iPhone 5 if you are one of the first 100 to sign up. Feedback from existing members is that this should really be compulsory as it can literally be a lifesaver.

Where they also spend a lot of time and empathy is during the unfortunate circumstance of an expat passing away whilst abroad – in the UAE, this should be taken care of by the company – but unfortunately the reality is that many companies turn their back on this situation. Expat Assist can step in and help during this traumatic time. Expat Assist App is due out in October and David has committed to getting each and every company attending the LLC meeting onto the network – anyone that has used any of the companies can then log in and rate them.

Success stories

David thanked Bridgett for the introduction that is about to see his biggest deal ever closed

Caitriona thanked Scott for an introduction on a personal level for a super top secret project that will be unveiled in the future.

Speed Networking

The group divided, guests stayed seated and members rotated around the room to introduce themselves and network.

Mentoring Update

Maria lead a short discussion on the Mentoring element of the LLC membership – for those that had not been mentored or a mentee before, they were asked what kind of value they thought they might get from it. Those that had experienced it, spoke about the value add of being a mentor and being a mentee.

Daniel mentioned how he gets more out of mentoring from a learning perspective.

Benefits of mentoring;

• gives an objective third party view of the issue you are facing in your company
• can be a great way to re focus on those things that actually matter most in your business and get away from the time consuming elements of little to no importance
• provide direction again towards the goals and objectives you originally set out to achieve.
• can provide a fresh pair of eyes on an outstanding issue with a suggestion of a different way to approach it form a peer that has gone through the same issue in their business
• learn from other people’s experience.

We moved into the referral requests and then to close the meeting at 10am. Many people stayed on after to continue networking as always!

LLC is a refreshing change to many of the networking events I have been to. First of all its a chance to meet like minded entrepreneurs and share real challenges that you face and best practices on how to make your business grow. Coupled with the opportunity to part of a group of individuals who are committed and sincere in wanting you to succeed. Since being a member, I have not only won business but also found it to be a reliable source of local knowledge and industry information, as well as source of motivation when needed! If you have landed on this website then you have most likely been forunate enough to be invited by a guest and so all I can say is the proof is in the pudding

Thanks to Leading Links I have met a dynamic group which lives up to its promise of connecting you to a valuable network around Dubai. I was introduced 4 months ago by Jennifer, and have found that everyone in the group is open and willing to share. In my view, Leading Link’s key attribute is the internal mentoring programme. People give freely of their time and experience to provide an opportunity to discuss business,the challenges in the market and you gain new ideas to grow your business. The great thing is you learn just as much being either a Mentee or a Mentor. The commitment that is asked of you is time, however in terms of what I have received for the time invested has made it more than worthwhile. Leading Links is an excellent opportunity to help your business grow.’ Obviously format and layout needs to follow exactly as all the others and make sure correctly tagged so it appears in the right place too.

Leading Links Club provides a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience through members from a diverse range of industries and backgrounds. The meetings are more relaxed than many traditional networking meetings, however the results are just as serious – I have personally received several referrals from members. The mentoring programme provides an additional benefit, allowing members to draw on the experiences of an unbiased third party in order to help develop their business. Plus, it’s a great group of people to meet with on a fortnightly basis for breakfast!’