Venture Café
In continuing with our rewarding collaboration, the Venture Cafe will welcome back Boston World Partnerships this week for the next installment of the developing “Connectors’ Corner”. If you came to the inaugural Connectors’ Corner, you know that BWP was built on the premise of attracting more businesses to Boston by putting you in contact with people who will connect you with the Boston community immediately. Touted as “the Hub of Boston Growth & Entrepreneurship” with the mantra of “inform and connect,” BWP provides individual attention that can bring the best of Boston straight to your business. As part of an effort to make Boston an attractive place for more start-ups on the cutting edge of innovation, BWP’s resources are not to be missed. (While this non-profit was created by Mayor Menino, here “Boston” reads as “Greater Boston” to include Cambridge and surrounding environs.)
While considering our relationship with BWP, we at the Venture Cafe have also been contemplating how we may serve as “Connectors” for the Kendall Square and Greater Boston communities. BWP defines a connector as, one who is “mak[ing] a commitment to help distribute information on Boston’s economic opportunities and assets, and to be resources for their peers, helping to facilitate connections between business people and the specific resources that their respective growth strategies require.” Despite the high concentration of innovation in Kendall Square, community doesn’t flourish simply by creative individuals working in close proximity. Intermediaries between those with ideas, those who execute and those with resources are crucial. It is through efforts to establish community that people go beyond the simple desire to ‘network’ and make a conscious or subconscious decision to participate for the betterment of this community. Connectors are the social bridges between people who are actively involved in important projects. To that end, their responsibility lies in having an overall understanding of activity within the community and establishing relationships between different entities. Do you have an idea about how the Venture Cafe can better ‘connect’ Kendall Square? Feel free to comment or tweet @VentureCafe. We’d love your feedback during this crucial stage in our development.
Don’t forget about our two new kegs – likely a new IPA and a new brown – and we’ll see you on Thursday!
Liz Peyton
