A newsletter brought to you by the next generation of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, the n is designed to keep members of our Young Professionals Network (YPN) up-to-date on Who's n and What's n and to provide you with the latest info.
Adam DeVoe (right) and his client Parry Burnap (left) in the bike shop
at Denver B-Cycle headquarters in downtown Denver.
Parry Burnap is the Executive Director of Denver Bike Sharing, the first large-scale municipal bike sharing system in the United States.
Q. When did you first start working with Adam DeVoe, Lori Baker, and the rest of Brownstein’s Denver Bike Sharing Pro Bono Team? A. February, 2009.
Q. To what would you compare your business relationship with Brownstein? A. Being on a team.
Q. Why would you recommend working with Brownstein? A. Adam, Lori and the team respond to and anticipate needs. They are fun and personable. They collaborate and educate. They are smart, articulate and dedicated to high quality. In spite of being a pro bono client, competing with other high paying clients for the scarcest resource of all – time, we have never felt that we were neglected or de-prioritized. If anything, we have felt like the favored child.
Q. What do you love about your job? A. I love being a part of the beginning of a transformation in our society that is fundamentally re-thinking and re-engineering how we move and its impact on the environment, economy, community and culture. Riding a bicycle is one of the most empowering personal actions I can imagine. It is so easy, yet it addresses issues I have cared about and worked on for decades – pollution, climate change, peak oil – and the associated issues of public health and over-reliance on fossil fuels. Bikes are healthy, fun and restore a sense of community as they displace the isolation of single occupancy vehicles.
I work with passionate, fun, healthy, hard-working and motivated people – “changing the world two wheels at a time.”
My education was in human biology and community development, and I am a career environmentalist. I have worked in the public, non-profit and private sectors. Denver Bike Sharing is an interesting hybrid social entrepreneur / business model. It is a 501(c)(3) that provides a public service and owns and operates an asset. It marries the very simple, appropriate technology of a bicycle with state of the art web-based information technology. I learn every single day.
And at the end of that day, I can point to something physical and real that is the product of our work.
What’s not to love!
Q. What is your favorite place to travel in the US? A. I don’t travel much, but usually I am enchanted by wherever the last place I went was. Since I just returned from four perfect days at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival – I’ll say Telluride, Colorado!
Q. What is your favorite restaurant in Denver? A. Lola
Q. What is the proudest moment in your career? A. What is the proudest moment in your career? Too hard to pick between the following two . . .
Riding a B-cycle in a pre-dawn drizzle to the Earth Day launch of Denver B-Cycle – seeing the evolution of an idea from its very first impulse during the Greening of the Democratic National Convention to something real, red and throughout the streets of Denver.
Getting a voice mail message from my recently returned college freshmen son who took the bike to a Rockies game with his buddy. He said “Mom, this B-cycle rocks. I am so proud of you. Everyone is talking about it. They love it. I know you will work out any problems – and when you do, this is going to explode. It’s so cool!”
Adam DeVoe is a Shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. His practice focuses on Natural Resources, Water and Air Quality matters. Adam is a Board member for the Institute for Environmental Solutions, IES pro bono legal work, serves on the Charities Board for the Metro Denver Sports Commission and participates in Metro Volunteer Lawyers.
Q. When did you first start working with Parry Burnap? A. I met Parry Burnap, now Executive Director of Denver Bike Sharing, and Steve Sander, Mayor Hickenlooper’s Director of Strategic Marketing, in January, 2009. Amy Venturi in our office suggested the meeting because she knows I’m a competitive cyclist and I was immediately interested in the bike sharing program.
Q. To what would you compare your business relationship with Parry Burnap? A. It’s hard to draw comparisons between Parry and other business relationships, as this is a non-profit venture with social change and a greater good in mind. It’s been a unique and fantastic experience.
Q. Why would you recommend working with Parry Burnap? A. I recommend riding B-Cycles! And if you have a chance to work with Parry, you’ll find that she is an interesting, insightful, passionate and engaged executive director of a great non-profit.
Q. What do you love about your job? A. Dealing with people and helping them creatively solve problems.
Q. What is your favorite place to travel in the US? A. Northern California – great food, great scenery, and endless options for entertainment and activities.
Q. What is your favorite restaurant in Denver? A. Bones – the lobster ramen is fantastic.
Q. What is the proudest moment in your career? A. Winning a three week trial in water court – and of course launching Denver B-Cycle!
Photo taken at Denver B-Cycle station at 16th and Broadway.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE ART OF NETWORKING
By Michael King
With the proliferation of social media, many believe that we have forever revolutionized the ways that companies communicate with consumers and service providers connect with their clients. Consider that radio reached 50 million listeners after 38 years, television required 13 years to reach 50 million viewers, and the Internet took four years to connect with 50 million people. Meanwhile, Facebook reached 100 million users in under nine months. Ignore social media as a passing technology fad and a valuable opportunity will pass you by. The question is not whether social media is relevant in business, but how best to harness social media resources in your outreach and relationship building. Some common objections to deploying social media in business:
Social media is a time-consuming waste of time.
Those who claim social media channels are a time-sucking black hole tend to fall into one of two categories: either they have fallen in too deep and spend their days playing Mafia Wars and Scrabble with countless social media “friends” while posting about their every sneeze, or they have heard horror stories about those who have fallen in too deep and fear the same fate will befall them. A solid social media presence is like a garden: make an initial investment to establish your presence with relevant content that aligns with your goals, then spend a little bit of time each week updating and maintaining.
I am not comfortable pitching business through social media.
Social media cannot and will not replace the human element of communication with consumers and clients. However, similar to email, tactful use of social media can play a key complimentary role, with the personal connection of a telephone conversation, video conference or face-to-face meeting still integral to building and sustaining important relationships. Specifically, avoid blasting out impersonal sales spam through your social media presence. Impersonal, indiscriminate sales blasts are unwelcome regardless of the channel (think spam email, junk mail and the “do not call” list), and social media is no different.
Instead of posting impersonal, self-promotional blasts, consider using social media to maintain contact and reconnect with friends and alumni of past alma maters, employers and business partners. Post rich, meaningful content and keep it up to date, including links to articles you have published in other media. When inquiries on your content come in, be helpful and responsive, or your social media presence becomes irrelevant. When you have the opportunity, engage in matchmaking, referring out star performers from your personal experiences in response to relevant inquires.
I keep my personal life separate from my work life, and don’t want unwelcome intrusions.
Adding a personal component can assist in building deeper business relationships. By trusting your business partners with a more personalized relationship, you get beyond being a mere transactional commodity. Clients become your friends, and your friends become your clients. However, if
you elect to connect with clients over more friend-oriented sites like Facebook, beware of what happens “when worlds collide.” The pictures your college friends posted from freshman year might be a fun trip down memory lane, but they are not the image to portray when pitching for clients to trust you with a “bet the company” transaction. Either maintain a presence that balances the professional and the personal, or find the right privacy settings and keep the right balance. Not interested in accepting an invitation from your third grade neighbor to reconnect? Easy: just say no. Having a social media presence does not obligate you to befriend everyone.
So, go forth and build relationships through social media, but do so on the right terms. Add relevant content to your presence, but keep in mind that all the normal rules apply. If your company requires permission to use its name or to make statements on its behalf, be sure to represent only yourself online unless you obtain permission. Similarly, blogs and Twitter postings can be posted real-time and enhance your relevance when you have unique insights to offer, but remember that making inaccurate statements about a person or company on social media is no different than publishing them in an article or opinion column. With the right touch, social media can add a new dimension to relationship building, opening and cultivating new opportunities to connect in an increasingly interconnected world.
Mike King is a Shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Based in the Denver office, he works with the firm’s Corporate & Business and Finance & Lending groups.
Denver Bike Sharing is a Colorado charitable, non-profit corporation that has been organized and will operate to promote health, quality of life and preservation of the environment in Denver.
denverbikesharing.org
Denver Museum of Nature & Science City Park Jazz event
Private event for young professionals at the Pavilion/Boat House. Ticketed event.
[ 08.10.10 ]
LULU’S BARKIN’ BBQ
Join fabulous four-legged hostess Lulu for the signature fundraising event of the summer at the Castle Pines home of Jana and Fred Bartlit. You’ll enjoy gourmet barbecue by acclaimed Texas chef Tom Perini and entertainment by Singing legend Lionel Richie.
[ 08.21.09 ]
ddfl.org
Food Bank of the Rockies
Joe Sakic brings hope to the table celebration. Marriott Denver South, Park Meadows.
[ 08.27.10 ]
foodbankrockies.org
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This newsletter is intended to provide you with general information. The contents of this newsletter are not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about the contents of the article “Social Media and the Art of Networking” or if you need legal advice as to an issue, please contact the author or your regular Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP attorney. This communication may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions.
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