If you want to be successful with the RBA you’ve got to network, Frank Armstrong of the Bank of New York affirms.
"I was here for 22 years and I didn’t really do much," he said. "But then three or four years ago Dave [Herman] pulled me aside and told me I’ve got to really be here and make myself known. That changed my thinking and I’ve made some major connections," Armstrong explained to his fellow RBA members at January’s Relationship Building Network at the Orangeburg Holiday Inn.
Armstrong was talking with Dave Herman, CPA, Rich Reidy, CFP of Smith Barney, Peter Wade of Ad Pro Services Inc., Jim Hayes of Rich Worldwide Travel, Justin Schwartz, Service Consultant for Atlantic Business Products and William G. O'Reilly, Chapter President of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The networking session was mediated by Wade. Members passed business cards to each other and gave a round of brief formal introductions. Then members went around the table and told each other more about what they do. No business deals were made but that’s not how networking usually works, Herman said.
"If you go to a networking event with an attitude that you want to sell business, you probably won’t get too far. It’s more about making friendships," he said. "I want to be known as the person to be known…the dividends come through later. You hook up with people who reinforce your connections. If you come across as desperate, pushy or aggressive, you get nothing," said Herman, who is President of the New York State Society of CPAs.
In all 64 RBA members gathered in the ballroom to mingle and talk business. A raffle was offered as well as coffee and a continental breakfast. Event sponsor Atlantic Communications was given the floor to introduce their company, but Atlantic Account Executive Jeff Sherman gave the floor over to David Kirschtel of the JCC-Y. Kirschtel told members about the JCC-Y’s ongoing $25 million fundraising campaign for a new facility in West Nyack that will serve the entire community.
Nancy Feeley, Mortgage Officer of the Community Preservation Corporation, won both the 50-50 raffle prize of $51 and then beat the odds to win a second raffle prize of two tickets to the Westchester Dinner Theater.
"We got a busy day today. This is a good way to start things off," she said.
The Relationship Building Network event has been featured by the RBA eight years, long-time administrator Joan Neumann reports.
"The breakfast has become part of the culture of the RBA where people learn to take steps in building relationships. As they continue to come they make the relationships stronger," she said.
Samuels in Who's Who
RBA President and CEO Al Samuels was nominated and accepted to the 2006-2007 edition of Who’s Who.
"So goes the credibility of another august institution," Samuels joked in the RBA office one dwindling January eve.
