The ConnectMe!: Networking Summit is New England's largest trade event and conference strictly dedicated to networking. We are promoting this to all of our New England Exchange chapters in 4 states: CT, NY, MA and RI; over 10 chapters, 5,000 members and close to 100,000 business executives in the New England region. Not only will there be business to business decision makers, influencers and business professionals but also high-level global speakers.

You will also be able to participate in at least 3 special networking break-out sessions lead by several business networking experts. They will train you on how strategically network to find the decision makers in a crowd, how to asses their needs, how to leverage your own sphere of influence and more.

This is the Contact Advocate event that is truly a Don't Miss!!

Come prepared with many business cards to distribute to those that you meet, and open mind and a pocket to handle the cards that you do receive.

All in all Contact Advocate runs close to 30 business networking events a month - however in December we are inviting all of our chapters to this year-end event.

Get re-charged and re-focused with new contacts for 2006. Empower you and your company with prospective customer, vendors and alliances for the New Year.

December 8, 2005
7:00am - 3:30pm
(Registration beginning at 6:30am)
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Cromwell, Connecticut

Only $125 per person if registered by December 7th, 2005

Sponsorship Opportunities Available
Click here for more information

• Sarano Kelley, Acclaimed Author of "The Game - Win Your Life in 90 Days"
  
  The founder of the Game and author of the book, "The Game - Win Your Life in 90 Days," Sarano Kelley grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood in Brownsville, New York, and became a Vassar College graduate who was earning $400K in commission as a stockbroker on Wall Street by the time he was 23 years old. When he was at the height of success as a stockbroker, he had a life-changing experience -- he lost some of his beloved family members in a fire. This tragedy caused him to begin a spiritual and philosophical journey to understand the meaning and purpose of his life.
  
  Sarano is now a motivational speaker and life coach who has trained more than 250,000 people. He served as a media coach for leading corporate and government spokespersons who were being interviewed on CNN, 20/20, and 60 Minutes; and for President Clinton's White House Fellows, a leadership group that included General Colin Powell.
  
  Sarano has been a trainer and consultant for the elite Hanover Forum producers at Kidder Peabody, a top Wall Street firm, and for leading producers at Paine Webber. As the corporate spokesman for Phoenix Investment Partners, a $50 billion financial institution, he addressed 50,000 people annually. He travels extensively, both domestically and internationally, and is often invited to give keynote speeches for Fortune 500 companies.
  
  
• Duane Cashin, President, Duane Cashin International
  
  Humorous. Inspirational. Well Grounded.

  That’s how audiences describe Duane Cashin. A unique blend of humor, entertainment and content.

  As the founder and president of a successful manufacturing company Duane knows firsthand about how to embrace change, face adversity and meet the daily pressures of life head-on!

  He incorporates real life examples into his presentations by sharing his experiences as a company founder and business owner, salesman, Corporate America Middle Manager and loving husband and father.

  His encouraging style helps audiences re-energize lives, careers and relationships and see the possibilities for their life in a fresh new perspective.
  
  

• Deb Clifford, President, Inspired People
  
  What Do You Do For A Living? The L.E.A.D. Approach
  
  

  Are you clear about what your job really is? And, do you enjoy it? Can you tell others the fundamental reason your organization exists? Just what is it that you do for a living?

  Starting with a humorous look at the question, the session moves on to explain the L.E.A.D. approach. You will leave with a simple way to guide you, personally and professionally, in leading your life.

  L.E.A.D.

  Leverage your strengths
  Employ the whole person
  Be Accountable &
  Make a Difference

  Inspirational, fun and informative, the L.E.A.D. approach will help you identify where you excel, and where you could use some focus, in personal and professional leadership.

• Mark Shepard, Certified Master Practitioner & Trainer of NLP, Hypnosis & Time Line Therapy
  
  Rapid Rapport: Foundation of Communication
  
  

  How to build trust and create a positive unconscious connection in 90 seconds or less.

  Have you ever been around someone who instantly put you at ease? Have you ever met someone for the first time and felt as if you already knew them? What about the opposite situations? Have you ever felt stiff and awkward meeting a new person?

  What is really going on when we "click" with someone else, or not? It’s a lot more than body language and common backgrounds. Wouldn't it be great to be able to walk into any business, educational or personal situation and be completely at ease and in command of yourself and your communication? Participants learn how to establish instant rapport when they most need to communicate. Perfect for anyone who deals with people! Sales Professionals, Teachers, Administrators, Executives, Managers, Customer Service Personnel etc. (Pssst! These rapport techniques even work on teenagers!)
  
  

• Ethan Bloomfield, Vice President, Hire1-2-3
  Mark Snow, Senior Manager, HRD Press, Inc.
  
  Networking with Style
  
  The single most important aspect of networking in groups is the ability to quickly adapt your communication style to your audience. In this workshop Ethan & Mark will use the INSIGHT Inventory to help you identify your personality strengths and ways you can “flex” your style to improve communications during your Contact Advocate networking events and throughout your life.

  Every attendee will complete the INSIGHT Inventory assessment and discover their own strengths, clarify the pressures that cause them to behave differently in different situations and develop strategies for flexing their style to communicate better with others.
  
  

  Come prepared!

  Download a sample of the INISGHT Inventory report.
  
  

• Networking Session presented by Radio Disney
  
  Don't miss our Radio Disney networking session - a fun-filled way to interact with other business colleagues - this is something that you've never seen before and won't want to miss! Just went you thought Survivor is tough you haven't seen anything yet! Come see what the buzz is all about!
  
  
• Additional Keynote Speakers to be announced

Networking Breakout Sessions (9:00am - 12:00pm)
Networking is an essential skill for most business people, but especially for entrepreneurs. The strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and create and maintain business relationships. During the Networking Breakout Sessions individuals will breakout into three sessions for group networking exercises with our Networking Leaders. This will be the ideal occasion to build new contacts or renew old ones.

Networking Leaders

• Kimberly Kasparian, Owner, Imagine Solutions for Success
  
  Kim Kasparian, also known as the Success Genie, is a business coach/life strategist with over 20 years of sales and marketing management experience. In her personal sales career she created dynamic personal success in such competitive industries such as Telecommunications, Employment Staffing, and Cosmetics. Some of her corporate clients have included, New Haven Savings Bank, United Illuminating, and Northwestern Mutual.
  
  She has been a professional coach for 5 years and created an executive income with in the first 6 months of her business, when the average coach takes up to 7 years build up to a full time practice. Her Success is that she is a product of what she teaches and has helped hundreds of people reach their goals in record time while helping them balance their priorities in life.
  
  Join us and find out what everyone is talking about when they say they have met and worked with the Success Genie... Come and learn how to claim your Birthright. Join us and Imagine solutions for success!
  
  
• William Kenney, President, Networkingyou.com
  
  Through a series of corporate promotions, Bill Kenney has lived in many great communities in the United States. Networking became a very important part of his growth both personally and professionally. Networking enabled Bill to quickly learn about each community and the key individuals of influence. Also, Bill was able to create internal relationships in the corporations in which he worked; this helped him be more potent in his role and guided him to new areas of opportunity.
  
  Bill left the corporate world in 1997 and founded The Small Business Network (TSBN) in Hartford, Connecticut. Concurrently, Bill developed a series of best practices to help business people maximize their results from networking. These best practices are available in his recently published book, Why Don’t Doctors Cold Call?
  
  Passionate about improving the quality of networking opportunity for business people, Bill now consults with many businesses and individuals around the country helping them create valuable networks in “Their Community.” Today, Bill is licensing the methodology of constructing and sustaining a networking organization. This Networking Organization System is a complete planning and implementation guide for building powerful networks.
  
  
• Diane Darling, Author, Founder & CEO, Effective Networking, Inc.
  
  As principal consultant for Effective Networking, Inc., she founded the company on the premise that everyone can learn to network, they just need to find their own style.

  Combining interactive training, strategic planning and an exploration of the natural fears of networking, Darling demystifies the process by providing techniques that can be immediately implemented.

  She has received rave reviews for her seminars and speeches and is increasingly sought after as an expert resource on the subject of networking.

  McGraw-Hill commissioned her to write the definitive book on networking called The Networking Survival Guide which was published in April 2003 and went into a 2nd printing just 90 days after the book hit the shelves. The translation rights for the Korean version have been purchased.

  She has appeared on NBC Nightly News, in The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe.

  She has lived in the Philippines, Thailand, Colorado, Indiana, Alabama and now in Boston, MA. Her travels include all seven continents and approximately 60 countries.

  Her hobbies include watching football, reading, and attempting to play tennis. In order to overcome her fear of public speaking, she took acting and standup comedy classes.
  
  

• Additional Networking Leaders to be announced.

Click here to register

Power Networking (1:30pm - 3:30pm)

Networking is a buzz word these days. There are many events which offer networking opportunities. Large corporations, in their desire to help people move into leadership positions, create networking events for their employees. While the existence of these opportunities is wonderful, few individuals know how to use them to reap the maximum benefits. Power Networking is designed for attendees to have the opportunity to connect with others, create possibilities for mutual gain, and learn how to make the most of a networking experience. Power Networking is fun, educational, and productive series that creates a venue for collaboration and support for all participants. Power Networking is fun, educational, and productive series that creates a venue for collaboration and support for all participants.

Payment and Cancellation Policy
If Contact Advocate, Inc. produces an event all attendance fees are due and payable prior to the event. Because we typically must provide non-refundable deposits and pre-pay for all meals and event operations, all payments are non-refundable. Since a portion of the proceeds of most of the special events that we run benefit a charitable organization we have had no resistance to this policy. If there are extenuating circumstances regarding attendance or sponsorship please call 203-996-4417.