By John Gifford
Publisher & Editor

When Ron Shoff retired from AT&T in 1998, he and his wife Joyce, traveled widely. In addition, they shared a passion for wine.

It so happened they had fruit trees and thought it made sense to put them to good use. Ron learned how to make wine, so they fused their passion for wine with the accomplishment of making it. They shared their wine with friends, who wanted to know how to make it themselves. By this time, Ron was looking for a business opportunity — what better choice than one that let’s you
follow your passion.

Grape Inspirations was started in 2004, and Ron and Joyce now have 7 employees.

The process for making your own wine is simple — there are three steps: 1) tasting, 2) making, and 3) bottling the wine.

First, you come in for a free tasting of their 40 varieties of wines, and choose your favorite. After you choose your wine, they give you all the ingredients and assist you as you make your own wine (quality guaranteed). 4-6 weeks later (to allow the wine to ferment) you come back and bring in your friends to bottle your very own wine. You get to design your own label and walk out the door with 28-30 customized bottles of superior wine.

Making your own wine can be a process for you as an individual and your family and friends, or it can be something your business does as part of a retreat or meeting that can be held at Grape Inspirations. After you have had the business part of your meeting, you and your associates can take part in the tasting and the making of the wine. Plus, the special label wine that is bottled 4-6 weeks later can be used as rewards for employees or as special gifts for customers or prospective customers.

Customers who are afficianados of wine can slake that need through the Wine Club or the Connoisseur’s Club associated with Grape Inspirations. These include special events and tastings, seminars, newsletters and special price rates on the wines. In the Connoisseur Club, you can even participate in the judging and selection of new wines to be added to
their current collection.

In marketing Grape Inspirations, Ron has found the 30 -45 age group most responsive, while the baby boomers are the hardest. He believes that the 30-45 year old are more adventurous, haven’t made up their minds firmly about their tastes, while the baby boomers appear to have already decided on their favorite wines and are more reluctant to try
new tastes. If you are a baby boomer reading this article, I would challenge you to come in to Grape Inspirations and challenge Ron’s beliefs by inquiring about the wine-making experience.

One of the best marketing strategies that Grape Inspirations uses is being a part of the Wine Trail. The Wine Trail consists of seven wineries that pool their marketing efforts and showcase all seven simultaneous. Some people will actually tour the trail and go to all seven in a day.

It is particularly useful for promoting their offering to visitors to the area.

If you want to call Ron to inquire about whether Bella Bianco, Showcase Johannisberg Riesling, Classic White Merlot, Cabernet Syrah Zinfandel, Vin Amore(Amarone), Sangiovese Merlot, or Classic Inspirations Red is available for making your own wine, just call him at (317) 705-9463.

By John Gifford
Publisher & Editor

Eric Kallin, the owner of Indiana Business Network, has a Garrison Keillorlike presence with (I maintain) a noncharismatic charisma.

It has been three years since Eric first started the components of what is now IBN. One of the first meeting sites was in Broad Ripple at Mel & Johnny’s. The meetings were once a month, there were no rules — people just enjoyed meeting and networking. Initial meeting sites, each with its own chapter structure, were also located in Zionsville, Carmel, Fishers, and Geist. The sites were not unlike the early colonies. They had similar interests, but there was nothing formal binding the sites together (except in IBN’s case, Eric).

Eric wanted to maintain the value of informality, but add some structure to it. In complexity terms, he wanted to be at the “edge of chaos,” enough structure to allow people to function in the group, but to allow flexibility and creativity to flourish.

Currently, having partnered with Derek Bogard (Immediate Payment Solutions), Eric indicates that the uniqueness of IBN now centers around three concepts:

1) Weekly Meetings – this allows members of a Chapter to come to know each other much better than just monthly meetings,

2) Flexible Membership— Members can visit other Chapters on their IBN Membership. This enables flexibility for members of, for instance, Carmel IBN, which meets on Wednesday,
to go to Fishers IBN on Thurday, if their Wednesday, 10 a.m. time slot is filled with a command performance meeting with their most important client,

3) Minimal rules — the meetings are designed to be functional and responsive to the members in them. In addition, the meetings are relatively small, from 10 to 25, so that their is a more personal feel to them.

One of the BNI Chapters, Carmel, meets at Grape Inspirations, 1307 S. Rangeline Road. These get-togethers sometimes are followed by an informal wine tasting. The Castleton BNI Chapter meets at Marburger Carpet Gallery. I can attest that they have the fanciest seating of any networking Chapter; the time I was there I sat on a $3700 sofa (marked down to $2695). The settings are informal, but the participants mean business. Currently, there are 10 Chapters: Broad Ripple, Greenwood, Carmel, Zionsville, Castleton, Geist, Indy-East, Fishers I, Fishers II, and Indy- West.

In addition, to their face-to-face networking, Eric and Derek (especially Derek) have emphasized the importance of their website, ibn.collectivex.com, and its ability to help members network online.

I would be remiss if I did not mention one upcoming IBN event: The Indiana Business Network (IBN) Elevator Pitch Contest.

The Indiana Business Network (IBN) Elevator Pitch Contest, Sat., Nov. 22nd, 3 – 6pm, will take place within the context of the IndyBANG! BACK STAGE PASS COSTUME PARTY, which is a fun, energized, all-day costume party, hosted by local small businesses and artists and aimed at bringing together creative business and arts professionals to party and network.

BACK STAGE PASS features an afternoon trade show from 3 – 6 p.m. with networking opportunities, interactive booths, music, theatre, and dance performances, and a formally-juried Elevator Pitch Contest sponsored by the Indiana Business Network. The afternoon of formal business networking culminates that evening in an off-the-hinges, fullscale,
arena rock show from 6 p.m. – midnight at Mid-America Sound, 6643 West 400 North, which is located ten minutes east of I-465 along I-70 and just north of exit 96, near Mount Comfort. Registration for the IBN Elevator Pitch Contest begins at 3 p.m. and goes until 5 p.m. on November 22, 2008 at the Indiana Business Network booth on the main floor of Mid-America Sound.