Networking

Finally, after many months of planning, and over a year of considering, I finally held the first Folsom/El Dorado Hills family child care provider's networking meeting last night.  It was designed to be a social setting, with wine and snacks, where providers could compare experiences, ideas, and stories.

I sent the invitation through e-mail, which probably isn't the best way to reach providers, but is cheaper and easier than paper mailings.  It is probably still more effective even for those that don't use e-mail often, considering how much mail is junk.  Out of the 50+ e-mail addresses I had, I got 10 yes, and 9 no responses.  Most of the non-responders didn't view the e-vite, so I probably had a bad e-mail address or they may not be doing daycare anymore.

Of the 10 yes responses, 6 actually came.  I'm not sure if that is a good turnout, but I'll try again in October to see if we get a better response.  Some of the no's did express interest, even though they were not available this week, and I plan on following up with phone calls to see how many of the ones that didn't respond are even in business any longer.

I'm hoping to form a group that will bring together the providers in a network that can mentor, share ideas, refer, and otherwise share in what is a solitary profession.  The benefit of bringing together experience and creativity to a field where each provider is generally responsible for learning and doing on her own far outweighs the inconvenience of one more commitment every quarter.  But that's just my opinion.

I guess it remains to be seen if anyone else will agree!