Growing My Social Capital

Domain Expert on Industry

Scott Allan was the first President and CEO of Hydro Flask before it was acquired by Helen of Troy. He currently serves as a member of the advisory board for Hydro Flask great outdoor services expertise, as well as "expansion stage CEO" experience. Allan fills this spot because he has a ton of experience running a water bottle company and has engaged in the same type of activities that I would be doing. I found this Allan by researching the leaders of top water bottle companies around the United States. Then, I found his LinkedIn and connected and messaged him about my water bottle idea. The nature of the exchange is that I will present my idea in exchange for advice about the industry and the important lessons he learned that are pertinent to the water bottle business. Including Allan in my network will enhance my understanding of the industry as a whole because our products are very similar.  

Market Expert

Eric Hansen is Director of Marketing for Nalgene Outdoor of Thermo Fisher Scientific, a company that collabs with Nalgene to create a variety of products. Hansen has been the Director of Marketing for over ten years and was previously a Sr. Business Manager and Sr. Marketing Manager. Hansen fills this spot because he has extensive knowledge regarding Nalgene products, including water bottles, and knows how to market such products to target audiences. I found him after researching Nalgene and Thermo Fisher and picking an employee that seems like they would have plenty of expertise about targeting the water bottle market. I contacted him through connecting on LinkedIn and then messaging him, however, none of the people I contacted, Hansen, responded (probably partially because of all of the craziness that's going on in the world right now). The idea is that in exchange for sharing my idea, he will be able to help me better understand my market and how to target them. including this person in my network will increase my comprehension of the variety and size of my market as well as provide someone to discuss marketing with. 

Supplier to Industry

Nalge Nunc International is the company that manufactures, distributes, and supplies Nalgene Outdoors with all of its materials. I wasn't able to find a specific person within Nalge Nunc International to call or email, so I sent an email to nnics@nalgenunc.com, which was listed on the website. Nalge Nunc fills the "Supplier to Industry" spot because it is the only supplier to Nalgene, which is one of the biggest water bottle companies in the world. I found Nalge Nunc by researching who supplies Nalgene and going from there. Once again, I'm telling my water bottle idea to one of the biggest water bottle company's in the world, so I should expect an email soon getting back to me. Including Nalge Nunc in my network would increase my knowledge about what goes into a water bottle as well as helps me set up supply chain system eventually. 

Reflection

These experiences will have shaped how I participate in future networking events by opening my eyes to the industry, market, and supplies. This experience definitely differed from the networking experiences that I've been used to. This is largely due to the fact that I mostly socialize and network in person, so emailing them and then constantly checking my phone to see if they answer is not something I'm very used to.