North Shore Business Forum FAQs
- WHAT IS THE NORTH SHORE BUSINESS FORUM (NSBF)
The North Shore Business Forum (NSBF) is a group of small business owners who meet each Friday morning for informal lectures given by business owners on a wide variety of topics. Participants also introduce themselves and describe their businesses at each meeting. All business owners are welcome; future, past, experience, or beginning – no membership or pre-registration is required! - HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
$10.00 per meeting with no annual membership fee. This fee includes a continental breakfast. - IF I DON’T EAT BREAKFAST, DO I STILL HAVE TO PAY $10.00?
Yes. We pay the Danversport Yacht Club per attendee. - WHAT IS THE FORMAT?
People begin arriving at Danversport Yacht Club after 7:00 am for coffee and networking. Registration officially begins at 7:15 am. If you are a regular member, there will be a name tag for you on the desk. Please remember to return it at the end of the meeting. If you have not given your five minute talk or spoken at the forum in the last 6 months, make sure to get a ticket at the desk. At 7:30 am, we all sit down and each person stands up and has 30 seconds to introduce themselves and provide information about their business. It is important to respect others and keep your introduction to just 30 seconds so everyone has a chance to introduce themselves.We then have a five minute speaker. This speaker has been chosen the week beforehand through a random drawing. While you certainly can talk about your business, we encourage five minute speakers to tell us more about themselves. How they got into business, their hobbies, interests, etc. We then randomly pick a five minute speaker for the following week from the tickets handed out at the door. Please do not take a ticket if you cannot attend the following week. Let a board member know ASAP if you need to cancel your presentation. We break for a two minute coffee refill and then have a 30 minute speaker. - MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
If you are a regular attendee at the forum, you may submit your listing to our online membership directory. There is a fee to be listed. The required Invitation Code may be obtained from the Greeter at the check-in desk. - EMAIL REMINDERS
Each week an email reminder is sent out. The sign up is located in the right hand column of this page. Note: If you change your email address, please email: events@nsbforum.org. - HOW DO I BECOME A SPEAKER AT THE FORUM?
We publish a listing of the subjects and volunteers for the upcoming year on the website:
The volunteer for each month is responsible for scheduling speakers. If you’d like to speak on the subjects that have been chosen, contact the volunteer directly. - VOLUNTEERS
We depend on volunteers to sign in participants, do publicity, schedule speakers and host the meetings. Each year we send around a schedule and ask for volunteers. If you’d like to volunteer, please speak to a board member. Please do not volunteer if you are new and have not attended meetings for at least 6 months or will not be able to fulfill your commitment. - HOW WAS NSBF STARTED?
The North Shore Business Forum (NSBF) is a group of small business owners who meet each Friday morning for informal lectures given by business owners on a wide variety of topics. Participants also introduce themselves and describe their businesses at each meeting. In the mid 1980s, Fred Schaeffer owned Wadsworth Village, on Centre Street in Danvers. It was an incubator office building, meaning that he supplied the clerical staff, fax, and copier. Tenants, usually new businesses, paid per service. A unique concept at the time. To lure prospective tenants to his offices, he began a Friday morning networking group which he called The Wadsworth Forum. Each attendee gave a 30-second self-introduction and then there was a 30-minute business-related presentation—frequently by members of the group. He supplied the coffee—once a month he’d pass the hat; each week two volunteers brought orange juice and donuts/bagels, etc. Unfortunately, he didn’t rent office space as much as he needed to and the bank foreclosed on him in 1992. A group of eight attendees wanted to keep the Forum going so, with the bank’s approval, they continued to meet in the schoolhouse building. They called the group The Business Forum. But the heat was kept at a bare minimum and attendees had to keep their coats on for the winter meetings. In 1993, the group moved to the King’s Grant Inn on Route 128N, and renamed itself The North Shore Business Forum. The structure was the same as the Wadsworth Forum—each member gave a 30-second self-introduction and we had a 30-minute speaker. One item was added—one person expanded the 30-seconds to five minutes. In January, 2004, the King’s Grant Inn closed and the NSBF moved to its current location at the Danversport Yacht Club. On July 1, 2004, The North Shore Business Forum incorporated as a nonprofit organization. The North Shore Business Forum had been managed successfully for 26 years as a well-run, but loose, organization with a steering committee at the helm. Our first President was Bob Stephens. Brett Kirkpatrick is the current President. All business owners are welcome; future, past, experience, or beginning – no membership is required! The NSBF meets each Friday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Danversport Yacht Club, Route 62 East, and Danvers, MA. The $10 admission fee includes a continental breakfast.
