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1. What is the purpose of this group?
We are a professional group of experienced CEOs from all industries and company sizes who network together. Our purpose is peer to peer networking for CEOs, to help our members run their companies better, and to have better careers.
2. Why was The CEO Place™ formed?
The CEO position is a very lonely one. CEOs often have no where to turn for advice; they often cannot turn to their Boards of Directors (who measure their performance), their investors, their spouses, their employees, or their industry partners. In addition, CEOs typically work very long hours and spend most of their time with people trying to influence them or sell them; spending some time among peers can be refreshing and cathartic. CEOs need a mental and psychological break in a protected environment among peers. We try to provide that.
3. Who founded this group?
Our founder was an experienced CEO in several companies, who could not find any organization that met the needs of CEOs exclusively.
4. What is a typical meeting like?
Firstly, we believe that much of the power of The CEO Place™ lies outside formal meetings. Therefore, most of our members communicate regularly among themselves via phone and email (if you do not have email access you will miss out on much of what happens in the group). We have our main meeting monthly, and we do not take a break during summer. The meetings start at 7:30 AM, and last until approximately 9:00 AM, to minimize the impact on your schedule. We have networking from 7:00am until 7:30am and again after 9:00am. We have a main speaker who talks on a topic of interest to operating CEOs from 7:30 until around 8:00 AM, which includes time for Q&A. The presentations are focused and often include handouts. A list of previous speakers is available form the Speakers pul-down menu above. Many meetings include a second speaker from our own membership, who provides us a "CEO War story" about experiences or advice they have from their own career. Many members say this is the best part of the meeting. We then have networking following. A continental style breakfast is available for a modest amount. Detailed meeting information is provided to members only because we do not allow walk-ins from non-members.
5. What other benefits does membership bring?
We have several subgroups within the main organization. One of the most active is the Career Subgroup, made up of CEOs looking for a new company to run. Because the lifespan of most CEOs at a particular company has shortened in the past few years, most members like the security of knowing there is another tool available to them when they get to a search. Our Websites offer information of specific use to CEOs, and we have a "Members' Only" section with meeting and other information. We also offer training to members from time to time at greatly reduced rates (we recently ran the "Power Hiring" seminar for our members). Partnerships and other benefits are being planned.
6. How big are you; how long have you been around?
The CEO Place is in its seventh year; we have 100 members and we are growing every month.
7. From what industries, company sizes, ages, genders, ethnic backgrounds do your members come from?
We have members from all industries including services, medical device, manufacturing (low tech to high tech), industrial, Internet, telecommunications, software, and many others. Our members come from both private and public companies, and company sizes run from divisions of the Fortune 1000, to $200 million public and private companies, to 2 person startups. We also have all ages (20+ to 60+), both women and men, and many diverse ethnic backgrounds. The common theme is that all have been a CEO, President, COO, GM, or Chairperson with standalone P&L responsibility.
8. Is The CEO Place™ a non-profit?
No. At the moment we have not organized in that way because there are some requirements on non-profits that add to the workload. However, all monies collected are used for the benefit of the members.
9. I thought this group was just about job searching for CEOs.
No. The purpose of the group is to help CEOs run better companies, and also to improve their own careers. Given the risk in the CEO position, and the expectations in the economy, at any point in time we have some members who are looking at new opportunities or to perhaps add to their Board memberships. Therefore as a service to our members, we offer a list of positions at the CEO or Board level.
10. Your meetings seem to be only in Boston. Do you have other locations?
Our initial chapter is in Boston. We would be interested in hearing from CEOs who are aligned with the mission of the group and wish to start a chapter in another city. Please send an email and tell us what city you are in, and why you might want to start a new chapter. This is not a 'get rich quick scheme', but strictly a labor of love!
11. What are the requirements for membership?
The requirements for membership are listed under Membership
12. How much does it cost to join as a CEO member? What is the money used for?
Current dues are $175 for 1 year. The money goes toward the running of the group, including maintaining our Web sites, advertising, paying for our administrator, etc.
13. I am aspiring to be a CEO. Can I join The CEO Place™ to help get there?
Unfortunately, our charter is only to help experienced CEOs with improving their businesses and their careers. We have no provision for membership for non CEOs. We suggest you join after you become a CEO for a while.
14. I was in charge of a regional office and had full budget responsibility. Can I join your group?
Unfortunately not. We are looking for members who have held the title CEO, President, COO, GM, Chairperson, had full P&L responsibility for a standalone business, and in most cases reported to a Board of Directors. These positions include responsibility for all functions. Regional offices are usually sales offices without a full P&L and without a full spectrum of functional responsibilities including engineering/development, finance, HR, etc.
15. I'd like to see the membership list first (before I join, or before I post a job).
Our organization is a professional organization to provide peer to peer networking for experienced CEOs. As such, we restrict access to those who meet our membership criteria and are willing to abide by our rules. One of our rules is that the membership list is only available to current members.
16. I would like to attend one of your meetings before I join as a CEO.
We don't provide this facility, for several reasons. Some of our members wish to remain anonymous, and many discuss confidential CEO matters that members have signed a written pledge to hold confidential. If you wish, we will have an existing member call you and tell you the value they have received from their membership.
17. Why are your meetings closed? All the other professional groups in town have meetings open to anyone who pays the entrance fee.
We want to provide a place where CEOs can 'let their hair down' and discuss confidential issues among their peers. All members sign a pledge to keep matters discussed at the meetings confidential. There is no provision to do this with visitors. Further, we wish to have an active membership, as opposed to casual visitors.
18. I am an outplacement expert (or lawyer or whatever) and would like to attend a meeting to meet CEOs.
Our organization is for experienced CEOs (or COOs, Presidents, GMs, Chairman) only. Outsiders cannot attend our meetings other than as speakers, and they do not stay once the presentation has been made.
19. How much does it cost to be listed on your web sites as a partner?
We have a nominal annual fee for being listed, in addition to requesting that we be listed on the partner's site, if other partners or links are provided as a matter of course for that site. Partners sign a simple agreement agreeing to be listed on our Web site.
20. I would like to be a speaker at a meeting. What do I do?
Send an email to Site Administrator and outline your availability and the type of topics our experienced CEO audience might like to hear. You will be contacted by one of our group who will discuss this with you and to arrange a date that is available if you have a subject of interest to our group.
21. What is involved in being a speaker?
In general, we meet on the 4th Thursday of each month, and our speakers present from 7:30-8:00 AM, with a focused 20 minute presentation with handouts, and then 10 minutes for Q&A. We encourage handouts, and it is OK to include with that information about your company or service, but we do not want an overt 'sell' during the presentation. After you are completed at 8 AM, we continue with our internal meeting and our speakers can return to work. In general, most of our speakers focus on topics of interest either to CEOs who are actively running companies, or to CEOs who are looking for new companies to run. We do not pay fees to our speakers.
22. I need a CEO for my company. How do I find one?
Go to our career website, www.ceos4hire.com, and fill out the form provided, or send us an email from that site. The minimum information we need is the market space of the company and type of product or service, the city and state of the company, the title you are trying to fill (CEO, President, COO, General Manager, Chairman, Board member, Advisory Board member), and a contact person and phone, email, or fax. Additional information such as company name, website, and detailed job spec are always welcome but not necessary. We will post this position to the Career subgroup of The CEO Place™, and those CEOs who are interested will contact the person indicated directly. Please note this facility is provided as a service to our members.
23. I have a CEO or Board level job I want to post. What do I do and what does it cost?
At the moment there is no charge. Go to our career Web site, www.ceos4hire.com, and either send an email or fill out the form on the site. Be sure to include contact information, the type of position, and type of company or market. Our members who are looking for new opportunities will be automatically advised of your position, and will self-select and contact the person indicated if they are interested.
24. I would like to look through the membership list and see if there are any CEOs that are in my area and in my industry that I could hire, or network with.
As a members-only professional organization of experienced CEOs, we cannot make our membership list available to non-members. If you post what you are looking for through our website as indicated in the question above, interested members will contact you directly.
25. Is the CEO Place™ a recruiter organization? Do you take a fee for placing your CEOs?
We are not a recruiter or outplacement firm, but a professional CEO networking organization. As such, our main focus is assisting CEOs in running their organizations more efficiently and also in their personal careers. One aspect of that is we help to match members who are in career transition and looking for a new company to run. In that capacity, we provide access to CEO oriented career resources including CEO positions. Recruiters provide many services that we do not, including resume screening, initial interviews, testing, reference checking, assistance in making the offer, etc. We provide none of these services, and suggest you go to one of our partner recruiter firms listed on our web site www.ceos4hire.com if you require such services, which most companies do when hiring at this level. At this time we take no fees for the members who are placed through us.
26. I need a consultant to help us in sales.
We are a CEO group, and do not have sales (or marketing, or CFOs, or whatever) in our group. Some of our CEOs consult with companies in a variety of areas, and if you are searching for a CEO consultant who also has sales experience, post your opportunity to our website as indicated in question #22.
27. I need a Board member or Advisory Board member.
Same answer as question #22.
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