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Gotham Speaks > Profiles
Fred Klein & Nancy Schess
By Steve Skyles-Mulligan
We all want catalysts that will help us speed up our marketing efforts and yield better bottom-line results. Networking groups are a sometimes underrated and often overlooked tool that can help you exponentially increase your exposure. But the right group is elusive, and even once it’s found, many professionals and top-level executives have difficulty using it properly. Attorneys Fred Klein and Nancy Schess founded Gotham City Networking partly in response to some of their own frustrations. We spoke with them about Gotham and how it works.
1. First, I have to ask: how did two lawyers end up founding a networking group?
(Fred): Gotham is a thinly-veiled marketing vehicle for our law firm. We have 50 groups, none of which has a labor and employment firm representing management. So one of us is at just about every meeting and we meet a lot of terrific people.
(Nancy): Seriously, about 12 years ago, Fred was invited to somebody else’s networking group. The facilitator invited him to join. Fred wasn’t interested in being a member; he was interested in chairing a group, but the facilitator was pretty possessive. So Fred came back to the office and said to me, “we’re going to start a networking group.” I said, “great; what’s that”? And here we are.
(Fred): One of the things that was a bit off-putting to me about that group was that the facilitator was charging $2,500 for a breakfast group in the mid 1990s. I didn’t think that was a particularly good value since the members had to do most of the work. Today Gotham charges $600 and we have 8 lunches at the Friar’s Club, plus daily access to our listserv.
2. What three things make Gotham different from other networking groups?
1. Responsiveness to member needs. For example, when the economy started weakening, our board – we call it the Tribal Council – decided that no member should have to leave Gotham for financial reasons. We looked at ways to cut the cost for members by paring off one meeting per group per year and we have other creative ways to help people remain in Gotham.
2. Cross-pollination with other groups. We have 50 groups, but we try to give people opportunities to take advantage of the entire network. You may be a member of one group that has 25 members, but you have access to all our members through our listserv and our social events. We also have an expression, “ride the circuit,” from the way judges used to operate. Members are encouraged to visit other groups and meet new people. If you can meet one new person a year who leads to business, you’ve covered your membership investment.
3. Tribal networking. Three or four years ago, Time made U2’s Bono man of the year and asked him how he stayed relevant with his fan base. His response: “we interact with our fans as if we are all members of the same tribe.” That resonated with us; we are all in this together and we really, really care about each other. If there’s any way that we can help somebody, we will. We don’t want monetary compensation; we want psychic compensation.
3. What’s the key promise that Gotham makes to its members?
(Fred): Well, your mother always told you that it is better to give than to receive. We’ve taken that and added what goes around, comes around® (yes, we’ve trade-marked it).
(Nancy): Our perspective is very simple: Gotham is family, it’s about building relationships. We like to say that the social comes first and business comes second.
(Fred): Gotham members are tremendous resources for each other, and we encourage people to become the “go-to” person for their specific area. Also, we work very hard to filter out people who are just takers; they are not welcome in Gotham.
4. How did each of you get started as a connector?
(Fred): My father was a salesman in the garment center. I didn’t get along with him and he was very hard on me, but either through genetics or through working with him in the garment center, I saw the power that he had. He really felt good when people came to him and he could do something for them. I recognized some of the same things in myself. I’m really shy, but within my tribe I’m comfortable; I draw energy from it. In some ways I’m like a performer – maybe Johnny Carson – when I’m leading a meeting. Nancy, on the other hand, is naturally very telegenic.
(Nancy): I’m not at all shy. Since I was a kid I’ve always enjoyed being around people. This is an extension of that. Besides, I’ve had an opportunity to learn a lot from Fred.
5. What kinds of successes have Gotham members realized from participating in the group?
(Fred): Three quick ones come to mind. A few weeks ago, someone used Fred’s List (the listserv) to ask if someone could connect them with someone high up in Sesame Street. Within a few minutes, someone had hooked them up and they got to meet with [the woman who created] Miss Piggy. A number of years ago a lawyer challenged me to prove that Fred’s List really worked. He had a son who didn’t speak Chinese who wanted to get a job in Shanghai. I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to meet that challenge, but I put it out. Within 48 hours he had 3 leads and right now he is working in Shanghai. A few years later, somebody needed a connection in Shanghai, and we went to him. Finally, one of our partners had a bit of a crisis; his granddaughter suffered a brain seizure and sent an email on Fred’s List asking for a good connection at Maria Ferrari Hospital in Westchester. Our 501(c)(3) had been donating to them, so the chair of our Westchester group was on their board. Within 20 minutes, he got the administrator to come down to the waiting room and take the young woman to her room.
6. What advice do you have for professionals and executives who insist that they are just too busy to network – or that groups are not effective business development tools for them?
(Nancy): I had somebody come to me after a Women’s Meeting and say that she loved the group, loved the women there and would never quit, but that she had never gotten a stick of business out of it. She wanted to know what she was doing wrong. So I asked who she had spoken to since the last meeting. She said she hadn’t had time for that. Part of what makes Gotham special is that we provide a really comfortable place for people to come, but the members have to take advantage of getting to know each other. We try and help that along. If we see some synergies, we’ll encourage people to get together. Still, the success really comes not in sitting around having lunch with people every six weeks, but in what you do in between.
(Fred): Also, you have to give to get; if everyone recognizes you as a giver then you are generating warm leads, not obligatory leads.
7. We’ve talked about Gotham’s listserv – Fred’s List. What’s the most effective way for people to use it?
(Nancy): The best way to use Fred’s List is for succinct, specific requests. You have to be brief and you absolutely need a good subject line. Sometimes it’s for a connection – like the Shanghai example or for a CEO of a specific company. Sometimes it’s related to a medical issue or other personal need. It’s almost a free-for-all (we do have a moderator) – and people read it. Every time I send something through the listserv I have this picture of a few hundred people waiting with their fingers curved above their keyboards.
(Fred): If you have it in your mind that Fred’s List is a magic wand – and that it’s your magic wand – then you’ve got a ticket to ride just about anywhere you want to go.
8. How can someone know if they’re a good fit for Gotham and if Gotham is a good fit for them?
(Fred): Well, we don’t advertise; our membership comes entirely by word of mouth. The best way for someone to see if Gotham is for them is to come to a meeting, put their toe in the water.
(Nancy): It’s all about feeling. We don’t accept people into a group unless they’ve come to a few meetings of that particular group. And we ask the members whether they’re comfortable. It’s all about relationship; you have to be in the room and you have to feel it.
(Fred): We go around the table twice. The first time is tell us who you are and what’s a good lead for you – the same old elevator speech you’ll get everywhere. The second time we want to learn something about you, about your humanity. That’s where the connections begin to form.
Fred Klein, Esq. is managing partner in the law firm Klein Zelman Rothermel, where he oversees business development, networking and client counseling. He also handles labor negotiations and arbitrations, assessing situations and resolving issues quickly so clients can get back to work. Fred is treasurer of the New York Friars Club and of the Christopher Morley Knothole Association, as well as founder of the mentoring organizations Bridging the Gap and the Friends of the High School for Leadership and Public Service. Fred can be reached at fklein@legal.org or 212.935.6020.
Nancy Schess, Esq. is a partner in the law firm Klein Zelman Rothermel. She represents businesses in diverse industries such as banking/finance, entertainment, building services, manufacturing and transportation. Her practice focuses on all facets of labor and employment law, as well as enforceable means to protect intellectual property. Working closely with clients, Nancy develops and implements preventative personnel policies and strategies that foster litigation-free workplaces, while helping better manage business assets – both human and intellectual. Nancy can be reached at 212.935.6020 or nschess@kleinzelman.com.
In January 1997, Fred and Nancy formed the first Gotham City Networking Group to bring together service-oriented professionals in complementary fields to share contacts, ideas and resources. The goal was to forge a virtually cost-free partnership with a deep spirit of community that transcends matters of immediate concern. Today Gotham has nearly 600 members in 50 groups up and down the East Coast. Gotham members relish its motto, “it is better to give than to receive” and benefit from that time-tested truth, “what goes around, comes around”®.
Visit Gotham on the web at www.gothamnetworking.com.
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