Not too long ago I was in New York with Rich Hagen, Brian Overby and Chris Sandel, and together we engaged in a fun experiment: we sent an email out to a few NYC-area clients to see if they might be interested to have dinner with us and talk turkey about their experience with TradeKing. As it turns out, several of them took us up on the offer, and we had a great, informative night at Osso Buco in the Village as a result.

The dinner crew included Steven and Marjorie, a married couple from Newtown, CT (just one town over from where I went to high school, at Pomperaug Regional High in Southbury, CT!); Vincent, a retired Wall Street exec from North Jersey; and Ramnarine, who joined us from the Bronx. It was a great mix of Q&A on both sides, over a killer Italian meal at one of my favorite NYC joints. Everyone got a kick out of Brian’s doodling on the paper tablecloth to explain options strategies and tearing off big strips as take-home notes. What can I say: the man’s on fire when he gets to teachin’. Vincent had some great pointers for us as an industry insider, some of which Rich has been putting into action. Steve’s an active AutoTrade user, so it was super-useful to hear about his experience with this relatively new service. Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

I always crave live interaction with our clients, and luckily this blog keeps me well in the mix – but meeting folks in person is rewarding, too. We’re toying with the idea of running more dinners like this in cities we visit – so if you’ve got a great restaurant, or you see we’re heading to a conference in your town, let us know! Maybe I can spring you a free meal. ;-)

[image: from Osso Buco’s website]

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Follow the markets at the TradeKing Blog, learn options strategies from the Options Guy, or check out expert commentary on real client trades at TK All-Stars.

Tucson is gorgeous this time of year and will be through the end of April or May before it gets too hot for most people. Would be great meeting you guys face to face if you happen to be around.

Don - Washington DC is where it's at - especially these days!! Glad to see your focus on the customer. I'm new to TradeKing and so far things are going well but they would be going even better if none of my trades were executed. Any chance of incorporating a trade rating system into the preview mode? Most of my recent trades would be rated "What are you thinking?" ;-)

Thanks for the tips, guy. I do pass through D.C. fairly often, so that's a possibility. (Not that I don't like a nice dry desert-heat, Corbinb2...)
 
I always enjoy the chance to meet our clients face-to-face, which happens all-too-rarely in an online business like ours - and clients seem to value meeting us and each other, too. In fact, for 2009 we're considering ways to overlap our online community with offline "meet-ups", perhaps with some educational offering at their center (and, of course, those two magic words: "free eats"). If you have any suggestions for getting the most bang out of such an idea, I'm all ears.
 
Golax, that trade rating idea is a real winner - if only we could get down in the workshop and invent it! ;-)

Well it may seem obvious, but 'Local Chapter Meetups' always seem to work well. Of course be prepared for the inevitable brainstorming that comes out of them and the friendly suggestions that may come your way after the fact...lol

Even something at the regional level may work, but city specific is usually easier for us online types.

Never fear, Corbinb2 - the brainstorming and suggestions is definitely welcome with us. In fact, if we sprung for an entire dinner for clients and only heard about what we're doing right, I'd feel like we didn't get our money's worth! Everybody digs praise, of course, but it's even more valuable to hear the constructive criticism from clients who constantly use your product.

K-Man, you've definitely got my number - I'm a huge BBQ fan, so much so that even thinking about cleaning the smoker doesn't cut my appetite. ;-) I especially like trying BBQ from the different regions from the South. I always like brisket and Texas toast; my blog editor Jude went to Wake Forest and always talks up Western Carolina BBQ: pulled pork, with a sweet tomato-based sauce. How do you guys prepare it down in Georgia?