The Minard Guild—10 Tips & Techniques to Maximize Your Guild Experience

KNOW YOUR FIRM’S 3-MINUTE STORY

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n average, over 100 Guild attendees will want to meet you.

They’ve read your dossier.

They’ve

likely Googled you. We’ve designed an immersive

environment where you have a chance to summarize the key

takeaways about your organization.

Whether an asset owner, intermediary, or asset manager, “brevity is the soul of wit.” Practice authentic summation.

Work to refine your story into a “need to know” takeaway.

Establish the self-discipline to tell a consistent, repeatable, defensible, story. Tell your fellow Guild guest what you want them to remember. And if presented with aplomb, they will.

KNOW YOUR OWN 3-MINUTE STORY

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eople invest in people. They always have. The Guild is designed to build friendships through both its interactive roundtables and the CAA game room,

designed to bring out the playfulness in all of us. We’ve found most people are quite shy. They don’t like crowds... don’t like being put on the spot and cannot improvise to save their life. So establishing new friendships requires a finesse, a gentle nudge, a warm introduction. Consider over 100 Guild attendees will want to simply know who you are—where you’re from, what you like to do on weekends, your hobbies.

What you find inspiring. The human-ness of it all.

So before you arrive in Chicago, a simple exercise. Ask yourself: what do I want people to know about me? What defines the core of me? What’s the opening pitch when someone asks “where are you from?” How you chose to answer that sets the course for the conversation... and the chance to find common traits, common backgrounds, and new perspectives.

STUDY THE ENTIRE GUILD DOSSIER

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e know how busy you are! But we guarantee you’ll get more out of the Guild by reading the Guild Dossier, a profile on every Guild attendee before

you arrive in Chicago. The Dossier will arrive a week or two before the Guild via password protected PDF. Once received you can print (although at 400-pages, we’d ask you save the trees) or read and enjoy learning about the interests of your fellow Guild attendees, their investment interests, their allocation preferences, their areas of expertise.

These profiles will also be on the Guild App which you can download once you arrive at The Guild.

CROSS REFERENCE THE GUILD DOSSIER

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natural next step once you receive your Guild Dossier is to cross-reference it with your own CRM—finding those whom you know, those you may have been

working to establish a relationship, and those whom you’d been eager to meet. This also creates a robustness in your conversations—drawing from past stories, past interactions...a wonderful way to bring richness into your Guild experience.

INVESTIGATE ASSOCIATIVE RELATIONSHIPS

T

he power of your CRM, of the Internet and Google and LinkedIn is finding “associative relationships”— starting with the Guild Dossier, you may learn an

endowment CIO also sits on a Foundation Board. You may

find a pension consultant is the interim CIO for a state pension plan or a private investor is the consigliere and trusted partner for several family offices.

The opportunities to cross-reference and find associative relationships creates entry points into conversations and ignites new friendships through these discussions. And the old adage, “You never know unless you ask” is never more true at the Guild. Investigate and explore. As with any new experience, you get out of it what you put in...and it’s yours for the taking.

ESTABLISH YOUR GUILD NETWORK

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ltruism. Not keeping score. Not reciprocity and not ipso facto (if this, then this). A network is not to be mistaken for a contact list, Rolodex, Black Book or

pipeline. Most industry events are transaction oriented—and

they miss the whole point. For us, a network is a synonym for community. One’s Tribe. One’s Family. Finding those whom you know you can help and those whom simply deserve it because you’re “worth it” and that being enough.

So find those whom you know you can help... and if everyone at the Guild follows suit, you’ll have dozens of new Guild colleagues, peers and friends who want to help see you succeed. They’ll do whatever is in their power to be helpful— whatever that means for each of us.

COME PREPARED WITH QUESTIONS YOU’D LIKE ANSWERED

W

hat answers do you need or wish you had? What insights are you fascinated to know?

We’re all

curious and the Guild gives us the opportunity to

come prepared with the questions we’d like answers for... no matter how broad or specific.

You’ll be rubbing elbows with many of the most important actively-allocating, decision-making investors in the industry, powerful intermediaries and “best in class” sector-expert asset managers. Think in advance about what you want to learn more about... and pursue those discussions with the Guild guests whom fit that profile in the Dossier.

COME PREPARED WITH THE STORIES YOU WANT TO TELL

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hat do you want those at the Guild to know—not just about your organization or about you—but what topics are you eager to hear alternative—even

opposing—views? And what anecdotal stories will bring your ideas to life? Having those at the ready will help concretize your thinking, streamline your discussions and result in the answers you’ve been eager to find.

And any good jokes—we love those too!

Comedian Ryan

Hamilton, who opens for Seinfeld, will be entertaining us on Monday night. Hold onto your hat! He’s hilarious.

COME PREPARED WITH FACTS AND FIGURES to Validate Your Convictions

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t’s not enough to have what you think is a good idea.

Validate your thesis, your thought process and conviction with facts, figures, data to back it up. Come ready to

share stories and provide the evidential proof behind the story that leads your audience to the same conclusion.

Know what you know... but prove it out so you can teach, inspire and provide necessary context for others to “go alongside” and bring those arguments to their patriarchs, boards, trustees, colleagues with the caveat, “You need to hear this!”

UTILIZE THE GUILD TOOLS:

Take Notes, Send Customized Follow Ups, Set The Next Date

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nd last but not least, utilize the tools we’ll be providing you. From hand-engraved stationery, engraved and bound notebooks, stunning pens, a contact directory

and a clear path forward: follow up, write thank you’s, take notes so you remember the core of your discussions, maintain the momentum and carry the fire that comes with new friendships well past the Guild into 2020. You have what is necessary to secure these relationships—but they require nurturing, attention and care. Set the next date of your meeting.

And take what you’ve learned from the Guild so another $14B will change hands because—in the end—trust was established, proof statements were validated, arguments were supported, friendships were born and a community— the Guild Community—was sown.

We look forward to having you join us and welcoming you to The Minard Guild.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

The Minard Guild • The Flood Building • 870 Market Street, Suite 918 • San Francisco, California 94102 Phone: (415) 834-9000 • Email: connect@minardguild.com