Women Business Owners Idea Cafe
a different kind of networking group
Meeting Info
General Etiquette
Membership and Cost
Directions
Charity
Raffle
Food
The WBO Idea Cafe is different than your typical networking group. While we encourage business owners to learn about each other and exchange contact information, our focus is not just to collect business cards. We're a resource organization, with the goal of educating, invigorating, and encouraging other women to succeed in owning their own business. Please bring business cards to our meetings, as well as a brochure or handout about your business. We do not allot any time to showboating or retail sales at our meetings.
We are an open women's networking group and do not require any type of membership sign-up or attendance committment. Any woman business owner is welcome to attend meetings at the WBO Idea Cafe. While we do maintain a list of email addresses for those that have attended WBO meetings, we do not publish this list. We do ask that you RSVP to our monthly evites to let us know if you'll be attending. There is no cost or fee to attend our meetings. We cover our operating costs by offering a monthly raffle.
Would you like to get on our mailing list to receive our monthly evites? Click here to go to our sign-up page. We will not share your contact information with anyone.
The WBO Idea Cafe meetings are held at:
- Curtis Solutions Network, Inc.
3929 Nancy Lane
Collegeville, PA 19426
Note: Driving directions on Google and Mapquest are faulty. Use the driving directions below for easier travel. Phone calls asking for directions can not be taken after 4:30 on the day of meetings, so please plan accordingly.
From King of Prussia Area: Rt. 422 W. to Collegeville/Phoenixville/Rt. 29 exit. Turn right at exit ramp and proceed North on Rt. 29 (Second Ave.). At Hess gas station and McDonald's, turn right onto Main Street and go over the Perkiomen Creek bridge, staying to your left as you cross over the bridge and approach traffic light. Bear left at light and go about a half mile to Cross Keys Rd. (Superior Tube Manufacturing plant on your left). Turn left onto Cross Keys Rd. and make your third right onto Ashton Rd. At end of Ashton Rd., turn left onto Nancy Lane and Curtis Solutions will be immediately on your right at the corner of Nancy Lane and Robin Lane
From Pottstown Area: Rt. 422 East to Collegeville exit. At bottom of ramp turn left onto Rt. 29 N. (Second Ave.) and then follow directions above.
From points South: Coming through Phoenxville, Bridge St. becomes Rt. 29 North. Stay on Rt. 29 North and when you come to the intersection at Rt. 422 and Rt. 29, follow the directions above.
From points North: Coming through Skippack, follow Rt. 113 South until you come to The Gypsy Rose Restaurant. Directly across from Gypsy Rose, turn left onto Creek Rd. In about a mile, Creek Rd. becomes Township Line Rd. Follow this route and you will first pass Collegeville Rd. on you left, but do not turn here. Proceed a very short distance ahead and then turn RIGHT onto Collegeville Rd. Then make an immediate left turn onto Nancy Lane. Procede 2 blocks to the corner of Nancy Lane and Robin Lane and your're at Curtis Solutions Network.
Each month, we collect non-perishable food items to donate to a local food bank. During the month of November, we collect new toys for the Toys For Tots campaign. In December, we collect new or gently used blankets and coats to donate to a local shelter. Please bring your donations to our meetings!
The money generated from our raffle collections are donated on a yearly basis to the Montgomery County Community College's "Let's Talk Biz!" Entrepreneurial Camp, which educates high school students on becoming business owners.
WBO Idea Cafe attendees are invited to participate in an optional raffle each month. Tickets for the drawing are sold at each meeting and the winning ticket is pulled at the conclusion of the meeting. The cost of raffle tickets are $1 each, or 6 tickets for $5. The money collected from the sale of raffle tickets is first used to cover our nominal meeting expenses. Any balance in the treasury at fiscal year end (June) is donated to a local charity.
Any participating member of the WBOIC may volunteer to donate a raffle gift. If you would like to donate a gift for the monthly raffle, we ask that you meet the following guidelines:
- - The gift donation must be approved in advance by the steering committee.
- The gift donation should be something of "universal appeal to women", in general, but may not include items intended purely for marketing your own business, such as coupons or gift certificates for savings off of future purchases from you or sample-sized packets of your products. Acceptable gifts would include regular retail sizes of any products that most any woman would enjoy receiving. These gifts may be retail items from your own business or you may choose an acceptable gift that is not directly related to your business (e.g. a gift basket, fashion accessory, movie passes, etc.)
- To maintain consistency from month to month, the approximate retail value should be $25.
- For a gift you choose to donate, it should be nicely wrapped or gift-bagged. You are encouraged to include your business card and you may also include literature about your business.
Snacks and finger food are provided by volunteers. Each evite provides an option to sign up to bring food for our meetings. When RSVP'ing to our meetings, please note if you will bring an item for us enjoy.
latest news
7/23/2010
There are no WBO meetings in July or August. We'll pick back up on September 21, 2010 at our usual location at Jean Curtis' home in Collegeville.