Connect & Collaborate - Pro Business Colorado

Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA is pleased to announce a new co-host and feature for our radio program - Pro Business Colorado with Dave Tabor. Pro Business Colorado will be dedicated to sharing the stories of successful Colorado entrepreneurs and small business owners. Dave is Senior Vice President of Business Partnerships with the State Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry - which gives him great access to some of the brightest people and exciting businesses in the state. We know there is much to be learned from these conversations, for you as a business owner, or simply for inspiration.

This week, our guests are Anthony Lambatos, Owner and CEO of Footers Catering and Luke Wykcoff, Chief Visionary Officer for Social Media Energy.

Footers Catering is a family owned business, recently changing hands from father to son. The world of catering is not for wimps. Lambatos manages menus, schedules, budgets and food shipments, all of which must be done with precision. But the Lambatos family adds flair and fun, making it a great place to work for employees who are creative and reliable. Listen in to find out just how crazy it can get and the innovative solutions that emerge from the madness.

Social Media Energy is a business built from a mistake. Luke Wykcoff was presenting a business plan, and diverged into sharing some social media suggestions, when the company asked him to handle their social media as an outsourced service. Social Media Energy was born, as Luke might say, before he  even knew what it was going to be.  Wykcoff encourages entrepreneurs not to let a business plan get in the way of starting a business. What exactly does that mean? Tune in to find out.

Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

 

Connect & Collaborate - CRMCulture

It takes a lot of savvy, skill and organization to remember everything you ought to know about your customers. Then think about sharing all that information with your sales team, and keeping track of everything they learn out in the field. This Customer Relations Management, it's mind boggling isn't it? Well, you know... there's an app for that. Lots of apps, and they're all snug together in a cloud computing system called SalesForce. This week, our Connect & Collaborate guest is Steve Roch, President, CEO and founder of CRMCulture, a SalesForce implementation partner and consultant. We will discuss how many businesses can make improvements to their strategy, increase sales, and find ways to keep clients happy.

"I've done CRM for 20 years, and I found myself in the past three years coming all the way around. I would build really complex, really robust systems ... and would always look at SalesForce and say, gosh it's so simple. It's simplistic. But the users are fanatical about the usage, and I've come to realize the only thing that matters is simplicity." ~ Steve Roch

Want to learn more? Listen Saturday at 1:00PM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

 

Connect & Collaborate - Two Speakers of the House

We're bringing you a unique perspective of the workings of the Colorado Legislature, through a conversation with two former Speakers of the House who will be ending their terms at the same time, at the close of the current legislative session. Mark Ferrandino (D) and Frank McNulty (R) share their experiences leading the House, from both Democratic and Republican perspectives. Together they have insight on term limits, bi-partisanship, and how to work together from both sides of the aisle. Mark Ferrandino on term limits:

"It takes about three to five years before they really feel comfortable, understand enough of the issues to really be affective. Let's say it's four years, for half your career you're trying to learn things and you have four years left to to be able to actually affect change as effectively as you can. Which means more of the knowledge, more of the institutional power moves to the executive departments and agencies and the lobby corps because they're going to outlast all of us."

Frank McNulty on Bi-partisanship:

"If you put forth enough effort to reach common ground, often times you'll get there. It's incumbant upon leadership in both parties, Republicans and Democrats, to try and find that common ground and that's what we're not seeing in Washington D.C. these days."

Hosted by Jeff Wasden, President of the Colorado Business Roundtable, and Gayle Dendinger, President of ICOSA Media,  the discussion covers the state of the legislature, all with a healthy dose of humor mixed in. If you've ever wondered what it's really like in the State Capitol, this week's program is probably the most entertaining way to learn about it.

Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.