• We have a monthly meeting that starts at 9:30 and ends at 1:30.
• The meeting starts with the issues roundtable. This is the real "nuts and bolts" of the group - an opportunity to get feedback on real problems from other company leaders who care and are not competitors. (Examples of some typical issues follow.)
• Sometime during the issues session we have what we call a learning exercise. For example, we may discuss the traits of successful leadership and use brainstorming as a tool.
• We break for lunch at 12:00 and are joined by the speaker who usually starts at 12:45 and ends at 1:30. Sometime members host the lunch/speaker session.
• Within 2 days after the meeting notes are published on all that was discussed including the speaker's comments. These are usually 3-5 pages in length.
• In addition to the monthly meeting we come to you for a 1 on 1 meeting each quarter. These meetings typically last 1-4 hours depending on the needs of the member and the depth of the discussion. We always come with some discussion ideas but will always defer to the immediate needs of the member. We also publish notes on these meetings.
• The facilitator also serves as all members' strategic salesperson matching buyers and sellers within the group, among other groups, and beyond. For example we have recently connected a supplier in MD to a potential customer who is a Texas Executive Forum member.
• Beyond the above we have a "whatever it takes" attitude and welcome the opportunity to help any member in any way to achieve the member's goals.

• "We have an opportunity to quote on a project for a large Las Vegas hotel that will exceed $1,000,000. Our typical project is less than $50,000. Will this overwhelm us? How will we finance it? Should we follow the specified details or offer options? Do we just mail it in or present our proposal in person?"
• "Our local distributor customers are being purchased by large national companies which is disconnecting all of the relationships we have had in place for years. We have gone from talking to the president of a local company to a lower-level buyer in corporate headquarters in another state. I need a strategy to deal with this issue."
• "We are a company that has suffered in the economic downturn but are now turning around. Since our business is capital intensive we need to replace some older assets to continue to improve. The banks have a somewhat negative view of our industry in general although we outperform our competitors. We need a plan of attack to make ourselves more attractive to sources of funding so we can buy new equipment."
• "Our health insurance costs have reached the stage of nearly making it impossible to make a profit. We pay $700 in premiums per person per month and expect a 30% increase in rates next year. What can we do? "

Peer advisory groups are a very hot trend nationally. There is TEC which has charges of $12,000 per year and TAB, PRO, Inner Circle, and the Renaissance Executive Forum which generally charge in the $700-800/month range. We feel we offer more hands on service than the other groups and our fees are less.

One last point - a membership is good for 2 people. We prefer only one person from a company at the issues session but both are welcome at the speaker session and the alternate is welcome at the issues session if the primary member cannot attend.