Secret Clubs, Societies, Masons, etc - whos in one? Offline networks



Can someone tell me the point of joining one of these organizations?

I thought we all work online, just go to a fucking ad-tech if you want to network.

What kinds of favors will you get from these people in these organizations?
 
dfkdfk said:
This is a great question as I've recently moved and have been looking for more networking opportunities myself. I'm having decent success meeting people at the YMCA of all places. I swim there and usually hit the hot tub after, and I've met some interesting people this way. I have received a couple introductions through this and feel like the key is just to make yourself approachable.

Also be interested in people - not just for what they can do for you, but because meeting people is interesting. If it happens to develop into something that can benefit your business - great, if not, well, nothing wrong with meeting people and making friends. But I wouldn't be surprised if this stuff turns into a referral or something down the road, that is just how the world works.

But yeah, I'd certainly enjoy a slightly more structured setting. Maybe start a mastermind group of some sort? I've always been curious about those. Also another option is just getting involved in the community through volunteering and charity work. Joining the chamber of commerce is another idea.
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Actually the YMCA in my area is actually very active. Good call and other advice too.

dfkdfk said:
Also, what about alumni networks? (assuming you are an alumnus from somewhere). Some of these can be pretty active depending on the locality and will offer regular events.

Also there are some circles of professionals that meet for drinks or dinner every month or so, typically capped by profession (eg, 1 doctor allowed, 1 lawyer, 1 banker, etc). Perhaps similar to a mastermind group. My guess is if you are an entrepreneur I am sure they would welcome you.

Local colleges and universities could also be holding events.

I think there are opportunities here, it might take a little creativity / work - you don't need to become a freemason or join a tribe just to meet some people. Bottom line, ABC.
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Also another good call. SEC colleges have strong alumni orgs too. I need to leverage alumni organizations a lot more.

cardine said:
If only the average cop giving me a speeding went to Carnegie Mellon.
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Meh. He isn't as important as his boss or the DA

jryan21 said:
Getting involved with the school system, or if the kids do sports, offer to be a coach. This helps networking with the other kids' parents.

Whether or not he went to school in the area, just getting a sense of how much an 'outsider' he is.
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Not from the area. Been here 3 years now. Newborn.


Aznxmtg said:
Wouldn't be much of a secret if someone knows about it. It's more of a public club with requirements.
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True.

amateursurgeon said:
I've heard there's this really well-established secret society who likes dressing in white and setting fire to things in the South. Can't remember the name, but maybe give them a go?
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Paging Dresden. EDIT: Actually I just read that a Georgia KKK wants to 'adopt-a-highway'

Edit 2: and got denied. Lol http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/13/154958707/can-the-klan-adopt-a-highway-not-in-georgia

BradGrant said:
Can someone tell me the point of joining one of these organizations?

I thought we all work online, just go to a fucking ad-tech if you want to network.

What kinds of favors will you get from these people in these organizations?
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The point being that you need friends/contacts in all trades. Knowing a guy in Germany that does awesome SEO work doesn't help me when I need a new transmission. (you of course might do some local SEO for some members in a bind and/or for a discount
 
thehobbster said:
I keep telling my real life friends that we should start a guild and help each other with our unique skills and connections and help position ourselves into powerful positions. They look at me like I'm a conspiracy nut. But this type of shit has been going down since the dawn of civilization.
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I've thought about this a lot too and yeah it sucks how close minded 99% of people are. I have friend with some INSANE talent and they keep telling me "yeah bro I'm gonna be making $80k a year soon sick brosef" and its such a waste of their talent.

Ever since I read Napoleon Hill's Law Of Success I've been obsessed with starting a mastermind. It would be nice to meet with entrepreneurs every night, grab some good beer (Stone IPA FTW) and just talk business. Most of my conversations are with 9-5ers with closed minds and it gets old. When I meet someone and they say the right thing and I can tell they get it and that they are a serious hustler I get giddy because it is so damn hard to find.

Imagine too, not even a group of just entrepreneurs in general, but if you had a team of 3-5 people working with you to create something like a product, site, or whatever. And I dont mean an outsourced team in India or people you chat on skype with. I mean like 100% fireball entrepreneurs that are willing to stay up for 72 hours straight with you and just grind it out.

I'm working on a couple different things right now and one of them looks promising, but all of these mini-hustles are basically for me to stack cash for my product that i want to launch but need $5-7k to start. If none of my mini-hustles show promise within the next 8 weeks, maybe I'll just fucking bail and quit my desk job and move somewhere brand new and start fresh. Maybe grab a sales job. If any of my fellow hustlers out there are currently broke and looking to make some serious changes maybe we can all just bail on our current lives and go create affiliate island. Somewhere with good internet, but also beautiful women that don't speak english.

Any takers? Hit me up.
 
dfkdfk said:
Also, what about alumni networks? (assuming you are an alumnus from somewhere). Some of these can be pretty active depending on the locality and will offer regular events.
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On my LinkedIn I have been accepted into every local alumni network just for applying, they didn't check my background and it looks really good on your profile obviously. I haven't tried to mingle, maybe I could get into some events just through LinkedIn introductions and social engineering. Worth a look yourself.

dfkdfk said:
Also there are some circles of professionals that meet for drinks or dinner every month or so, typically capped by profession (eg, 1 doctor allowed, 1 lawyer, 1 banker, etc). Perhaps similar to a mastermind group. My guess is if you are an entrepreneur I am sure they would welcome you.
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These groups are really interesting. You can actually start your own quite easily I'd imagine. Advertised as some kind of mastermind group for business owners. I'm sure they'd all feel comfortable and enjoy it. And you would be the organizer, an authority figure, with the skills to help out everyone of their businesses with your marketing. It's a great position to be in.
 
mpbiz said:
I've thought about this a lot too and yeah it sucks how close minded 99% of people are. I have friend with some INSANE talent and they keep telling me "yeah bro I'm gonna be making $80k a year soon sick brosef" and its such a waste of their talent.

Ever since I read Napoleon Hill's Law Of Success I've been obsessed with starting a mastermind. It would be nice to meet with entrepreneurs every night, grab some good beer (Stone IPA FTW) and just talk business. Most of my conversations are with 9-5ers with closed minds and it gets old. When I meet someone and they say the right thing and I can tell they get it and that they are a serious hustler I get giddy because it is so damn hard to find.

Imagine too, not even a group of just entrepreneurs in general, but if you had a team of 3-5 people working with you to create something like a product, site, or whatever. And I dont mean an outsourced team in India or people you chat on skype with. I mean like 100% fireball entrepreneurs that are willing to stay up for 72 hours straight with you and just grind it out.

I'm working on a couple different things right now and one of them looks promising, but all of these mini-hustles are basically for me to stack cash for my product that i want to launch but need $5-7k to start. If none of my mini-hustles show promise within the next 8 weeks, maybe I'll just fucking bail and quit my desk job and move somewhere brand new and start fresh. Maybe grab a sales job. If any of my fellow hustlers out there are currently broke and looking to make some serious changes maybe we can all just bail on our current lives and go create affiliate island. Somewhere with good internet, but also beautiful women that don't speak english.

Any takers? Hit me up.
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Had the exact same experience after reading the exact same book...
I don't really have anything of value to add to this discussion but I thought it was worth pointing out.
 
dfkdfk said:
Also, what about alumni networks? (assuming you are an alumnus from somewhere). Some of these can be pretty active depending on the locality and will offer regular events.
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On my LinkedIn I have been accepted into every local alumni network just for applying, they didn't check my background and it looks really good on your profile obviously. I haven't tried to mingle, maybe I could get into some events just through LinkedIn introductions and social engineering. Worth a look yourself.

dfkdfk said:
Also there are some circles of professionals that meet for drinks or dinner every month or so, typically capped by profession (eg, 1 doctor allowed, 1 lawyer, 1 banker, etc). Perhaps similar to a mastermind group. My guess is if you are an entrepreneur I am sure they would welcome you.
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These groups are really interesting. You can actually start your own quite easily I'd imagine. Advertised as some kind of mastermind group for business owners, let them invite their friends. Let them talk shop amongst themselves and you as the organizer can organize topics, even trickle in marketing/advertising advice for the group. I'm sure they'd all feel comfortable and enjoy that kind of thing over a nice breakfast on the weekend.

And you as the organizer, are seen as responsible for all the good that comes out of the meeting. Maybe you can get clients out of it, maybe not. But you've still formed many future possible partners and friends who understand what entrepreneurship is like.

As you said, dfkdfk. There's lots of opportunity for networking with successful and interesting people without having to be a bitch-boy rank climber to some weird cult.
 
mpbiz said:
I mean like 100% fireball entrepreneurs that are willing to stay up for 72 hours straight with you and just grind it out.
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Working on this.

It's hard to find fireballs though. A lot of guys just don't have that drive. They don't have that burning desire to be great and to crawl over barbed wire to get there.
 
guerilla said:
Working on this.

It's hard to find fireballs though. A lot of guys just don't have that drive. They don't have that burning desire to be great and to crawl over barbed wire to get there.
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How exactly are you putting yourself out there and trying to network with and find these guys? I've done some networking in my local area but most guys my age are a joke. I'm 22 and I've met a few people with good ideas and who seem ambitious, but they still dont have that do or die attitude. They would gladly watch the family guy marathon vs. hustling on their business.

Maybe I'm just fucking crazy and obsessed, either way I fucking love it so maybe I just need to start reaching out to people who have absolutely nothing to lose.
 
mpbiz said:
I'm 22 and I've met a few people with good ideas and who seem ambitious, but they still dont have that do or die attitude. They would gladly watch the family guy marathon vs. hustling on their business.
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Leverage the internet. It's easier to find like minded people online than off.

mpbiz said:
Maybe I'm just fucking crazy and obsessed, either way I fucking love it so maybe I just need to start reaching out to people who have absolutely nothing to lose.
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Winners are the 1%. They aren't desperate, they are driven. If someone isn't driven, they probably aren't a winner and they probably won't become a winner.

Everyone talks a good game. Action indicates preferences.
 
guerilla said:
Leverage the internet. It's easier to find like minded people online than off.


Winners are the 1%. They aren't desperate, they are driven. If someone isn't driven, they probably aren't a winner and they probably won't become a winner.

Everyone talks a good game. Action indicates preferences.
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Yeah I agree I have a skype list full of people that have inspired great ideas and offered great advice etc. but you have to admit you get more out of it in person then you do staring at a monitor. There's just more energy there.

+1 Most of the people you meet have great ideas and are professional story tellers but when it comes down to what they have actually DONE... 99% just talk and never actually DO.
 
guerilla said:
Working on this.

It's hard to find fireballs though. A lot of guys just don't have that drive. They don't have that burning desire to be great and to crawl over barbed wire to get there.
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Lol what an asshole you are.
 
I was always interested about joining free masons.

I was under the impression that they accept all groups but you must believe in god.


Don't know many other secret societies besides those.
 
Hav3n said:
Sorta....
"It is religious in that a belief in a Supreme Being and in the immortality of the soul are the two prime requirements for membership, but it is nonsectarian in that no religious test is used."
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I'm a master mason and that's pretty much spot on. My own lodge has members from several religions and some that aren't from any. Definitions of supreme being vary from a vague notion of a universal connective tissue that pervades everything but has no specific intelligence to highly anthropomorphised versions like jehovah or the holy bowl of custard that rules all from the kitchen bench. The immortality of the soul concept is equally variable.

Lodges do vary a great deal. I'm actually far more at home in a lodge which isn't my home lodge and visit it's meetings more than my original lodge's. As for networking, really depends on the lodge. It's really not the main reason most people join and isn't really encouraged but it does happen simply because your there. There is definitely an old boys club aspect though. I've been offered favours numerous times by people I didn't know because they recognised me as a mason.
 
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