The AGM in South Africa: What a fitting way to cap the year!
I just arrived back from my trip to Cape Town last Friday morning as I stayed on a few days in Qatar on business. It was so good to see so many people there in South Africa. And what a location as well!
I want to start this post by personally thanking everyone who came to Cape Town. You helped make it successful. You helped make it special. And it was very special this year.
The members who participated know that both of the AGM’s (AerOceaNetwork’s tenth and XLProjects’s first) were quite memorable and we made lots of new friends. I was also very happy to bring along five of our staff as it is always good that they can participate. You might not think about it at much but these events work the same for our company than it does for you and your network partners. When our people are able to meet you directly and you are able to meet them there is no longer a faceless name on the other side of the phone or e-mail communication. We become real people together and that helps along the communication between us.
When you have been doing this logsitics networking business as long as I have you will find that you meet less new people at these meetings than you meet the main stays. And this is what it is all about I believe. Although meeting new people is very necessary to keep growing our businesses, we need to be careful to remember that we grow our business with our regular contacts as well. In fact, you will make more business with existing partners than you will with the new ones, which is why I love to see the longer term members at AGM’s.
I’m not leaving out the new members either. They have a very important role in our meetings. They add the new blood that keeps it interesting for everyone. Always be thinking long term with the people who you meet with us and you will fare far better. Don’t forget to follow up and always think of your fellow members for new business. You are the future of our group and you are part of the team now. Attendance at the meetings is important so keep it up!
So even though we have yet to finish out the year completely I just want to remind you all that we are here for you. Let us know how we might help you over the next year. And also please keep in mind that when you go to an AGM and you feel the good vibes around that is a strong indication that the network is going well. The members are happy with one another. We witnessed this in Cape Town. And I look forward to continue witnessing it until the next year when we will meet again.
All the pictures from the event are uploaded on Flickr, you may view them HERE
Gary Dale Cearley is the Managing Director of Advanced International Networks Ltd. (AIN), one of the fastest growing and most dynamic business-to-business networking organizations in the world. AIN’s networks include AerOceaNetwork (AON), XLProjects Network (XLP), and AiO Logistics Netowork (AiO). Gary Dale has been in many facets of international freight forwarding for more than two decades from operations to sales to the owner of the first 100% foreign owned freight forwarding company licensed in Vietnam. The companies that he has been involved with have been both generalists and specialists. He has also worked from large European and Asian multinationals (Danzas and Hankyu Express) as well has small start up forwarders. For the past ten years Gary Dale has owned and operated AIN. He has lived in several major cities in four different countries and he is multilingual. Currently Gary Dale runs the AIN operation from Bangkok, Thailand, but travels the world over.
Gary Dale welcomes all sorts of interactions. If you have questions or comments about anything Gary Dale has written here you may contact him directly by e-mail.
