Connection in Sonoma County
History
SCOOP is a local independent non-profit business networking organization that was formed in Santa Rosa in 1962. The two founding members got together often to trade information on prospects. They found this helpful and the group grew to five. They continue on the same principle: Tell me who you sold, or tried to sell, and I'll do the same. There were obvious benefits in becoming larger so more new members were brought in, with only one person to represent each business category. Today, five decades later, the club still operates on that same principle and has stood the test of time. Over the years the group has been as large as 50 members but usually stays around 30.
Business to Business
One of the big differences between SCOOP and other popular networking organizations is SCOOP's emphasis on business to business sales. Although we have had consumer oriented members successfully participate, SCOOP's emphasis on "B to B" generally means the information that is available relates to larger potential clients with larger projects and larger budgets. Another important point to mention is that the group does not focus on buy/selling between members. Although it will inevitably happen that members will do business with each other, the goal is always to bring in new prospects from outside the organization.
Socializing
SCOOP is more than just a business networking group. There are numerous social events throughout the year that serve several purposes. Obviously getting together can be fun, but more than that, the social events help cement relationships between members that allows for a greater level of trust and more valuable business information to be available to the group.