I have a family member who did well running a successful company.  When I asked him why he succeeded, he said “I’ll tell you what everyone will say – work hard, never give up, have vision, etc.”  He paused for a moment, smiled, and looked at me and continued sharing “There was one thing that played a key role in our success.  Once a month, I would invite everyone in my company for a drink, from the most senior staff person to the most junior.  We’d spend the first part just mingling and socializing.  Once everyone had two drinks, I would bring out a note pad and we would brainstorm solutions to whatever problems we faced.  That’s where we generated our best ideas!”

In that spirit, I’ve hosted/facilitated a monthly happy hour for the last year which are not only a place to generate great ideas to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles, but also meet great people as well.  As a consultant, I interact with phenomenal leaders working on a variety of issues all throughout LA.  This is one way in which I bring everyone together and I welcome you to attend. 

My next happy hour is tonight, February 2^nd, starting at about 5:30pm at 7 Grand in Downtown LA.  The question I’m asking folks to consider is “what will you do to make LA a better place in 2010?”  We generally go until about 8:30 or 9pm. I’m looking forward to seeing who attends tonight and introducing some great people other folks they don’t already know.