Germinators - a How-To Guide
What is a Germinator?
A Germinator is an in person meeting where business development ideas or issues are presented and/or discussed under the auspices of BizSprouts. Every meeting has a Topic. This meeting can take many forms: after work, over lunch, as a side discussion at a national meeting, etc. Typically, a Germinator is held as a dinner meeting. It can have a pre-arranged speaker or just a discussion leader. A Planter, e.g., the person who sponsors or hosts the meeting, arranges a Germinator meeting.
Germinator topics are limited to B2B business development. The meetings cannot be used for sales or lead generation activities.
A Germinator topic might, for example, include one presented by an invited speaker or lead by a member who has a business development issue for which they seek ideas or input.
Who Can Host a Germinator?
The Host who intiates the Germinator must be a BizSprouts member. Members and non-members can sign up and attend.
Planting a Germinator
A Host is anyone in the Club who takes an initiative to organize a gathering where business development knowledge is disseminated or desires to network with others having similar interests within a limited geographic area. The Host uses the BizSprouts website to organize the meeting. The website tools provide identification of a topic, speaker or discussion leader, date, time and venue.
The Host arranges a meeting venue with a restaurant or other meeting location as needed. The venue is kept appraised of the number of anticipated attendees by the Host.
The particulars of the Germinator is published on the website where members and non-members are able to view and sign up. The website tracks attendance and notifies attendees of particulars or changes by email. Enrollees can cancel their plans to attend. The Host can view the names of all those enrolled and is able to issue an group email to all those listed.
Finding a Germinator
Website visitors may search for a Germinator by geography or topic. The website provides the ability to sign up for the Germinator. Germinators may also be announced by the Host on LinkedIn, Twitter or/and Facebook and directed to BizSprouts.org to sign up.
Attending a Germinator
For a typical Germinator dinner meeting may have 6-20 attendees. If the Germinator has an invited speaker, the attendees typically cover the speaker's meal cost along with paying for their own meal and gratuities. These cost arrangements are collected by the Host at the time of the meeting. Usually after introductions, the Host may seek a general over-dinner discussion prior to the post-dinner presentation by the speaker or discussion leader.
Following the conclusion of the meeting, the Host, or their designee, should interview the speaker and some attendees. Making a short video of the interviews is a nice add-on.
Disseminating the Findings
It is the Host's duty to post the findings as an article on the website no later than 48 hours after the date of the Germinator. The posting will include a short written summary, any video or photos and use of searchable tags including "Germinator". A link to contact the Host should be provided.
