In November, members of the Falcon business networking organization, Business Entrepreneurs Enhancing Relationships, hosted 10 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs students at a dinner etiquette and business networking workshop at the Creekview Grill in Falcon.The Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, the Falcon BEER networkers and LnB Connectors sponsored the event.The students asked the networking group to host the event after seeing a similar etiquette training sponsored by LnB Connectors for group members. ìNo one else is doing it. We were the only one on the Internet in the Springs doing this kind of etiquette training,î said Lynda Cink, LnB co-founder.The five local business trainers for the event went through previous etiquette training with LnB. ìThis kind of training came from necessity,î Cink said. ìWe didn’t have anyone to invite to higher-end events that the mayorís office or the Regional Business Alliance puts on.îScott Hatlin, a UCCS junior who is pledging with the business fraternity, coordinated the event with Cink and the networking group. ìWe were expecting the dining part, like what forks to use,î he said. ìBut what we all really enjoyed was the networking and elevator speech part. Everyone could benefit from that and should get this out of their college business education.îCary LaVigne of Accounting Pros, a volunteer trainer, said the students picked up the lessons quickly and showed potential moving toward their business careers. ìThe ones I was talking to didn’t even know what a 30-second networking speech was before now,î he said. Ruth LaVigne said being an instructor for the dinner was beneficial for the volunteers. ìWhenever I teach someone, it makes me better at it as well,î she said.Lucas Frye, food and beverage director for Antler Creek Golf Course, arranged for the restaurant to serve half-sized portions of a three-course meal in a formal setting so the students would have a real-life experience while the instructors worked with them. Frye said he would like to host a similar event again. ìEven if they remembered a quarter of what the LnB folks taught them tonight, it will help the students a lot in their careers,î he said.
