Last week I attended a cool gathering - a smallish group of people gathering over wine and munchies not just to network or socialize (that happens anyway), but to hear and discuss stuff outside of the regular work milieu. Kind of like the salons of a past century, but more oriented to ideas and trends than art and philosophy, though that would be cool too.
Last week's topic was 'Strategic Philanthropy' and there was a panel of leaders of different kinds of local successful non-profits. Each of them talked about what they do, why and how they do it, and how they're managing in the bog of the Great Recession. They were all very engaging, and provided fodder for some very interesting post-panel discussions, but I felt that one speech in particular had a strong entrepreneurial appeal and it's message was transferable to just about any endeavor.