Back in Business!

So it’s been raining all week. But the weather knew better than to act up on Thursday afternoon for the Ideas in Motion Media’s annual Biz in the Backyard networking event. Biz in the Backyard can be translated literally. We had tons of people from different local businesses come together and network and party it up in the backyard of our office in Valpo.

“We had Biz in the Backyard to bring current clients, future clients and all the local businesses together to meet each other and share business and networking ideas,”Jenny Craig, Lady Lifer, said. “The formal suit and tie affair is way overdone and I think that this is something that people feel more comfortable coming to. They can head over after work in casual clothes and bet a lot of business done while simultaneously having a lot of fun.”

And oh, the fun we had. Besides the awesome networking opportunity, we and our guests were able to enjoy great food, games, contests, sweet music, and tons of giveaways. To give you an idea of how great our party was, let me drop a few names. We had 27 Entertainment providing music, Bounce N Around supplied a huge bouncy house (you’re never too old for a bouncy house), a photo booth was set up by Say Memories, First Trust Credit Union provided games, and there was delicious food provided by: Texas Corral, Industrial Revolution, The Silver Spoon, Firehouse Subs, Catch 22, Don Quijote, Rittenhouse of Portage and Valpo Velvet. Family Express brought water and BuzzedEnergy drinks, Ribordy Liquors provided libations as well as Evil Czech Brewery and Figure 8 Brewery.

Guest appearances were made by Scrappy the Turtle from Metro Recycling and Clippy from Direct Mail Advantage as well.

So we ate, drank and proceeded to be merry all afternoon. There were so many people that showed up that you couldn’t walk two feet without bumping into someone cool. We had businesses that just started working with us as well as businesses that have been with us from the beginning.

“We are a new client with ValpoLife so we wanted to come out and see what Biz in the Backyard was all about,”Brittany Young, a graphic designer at AMA Design & Print, said. “We want to get our name out there with other companies in the area. I’m glad I came and I’m having a great time.”

Jason Evans, owner of Catch 22, was in agreement with Young.

“We came here to promote Catch 22 and Evil Czech Brewery and to absolutely support Chris Mahlmann and his group here,” Evans said. “We’re having a blast. There’s a lot of great people here and a lot of good networking going on.”

So needless to say, Biz in the Backyard rocked. And if you missed it this year, come and see us next year!

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