Tri-Valley Regional Mixer Offers One-Stop Shopping for Business Community

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

The new year is nearly here and with it the 8th Annual Tri-Valley Regional Mixer. The mixer, sponsored by the Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau along with the Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and San Ramon chambers of commerce, the Livermore and Pleasanton downtown associations, the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, and the Tri-Valley Business Council, is the one event every year where these groups get together to mix, mingle, and do business.

“It’s the Tri-Valley’s biggest mixer of the year,” says Amy Blaschka, executive director of the Tri-Valley CVB. “You have access to all these people and organizations in one place. If you’re going to go to one mixer during the year, this is the one to attend.”

Blaschka notes that the event usually sells out, attracting upwards of 600 people. “Another plus is that it really kicks off the calendar year. After the holidays, people are recharged and ready to get back to business.”

While other events may have programs or speakers, the Tri-Valley Regional Mixer does away with those formalities and focuses on personal contact. “We don’t have any program, so it’s purely a networking event, which I think people appreciate. People also appreciate the Livermore Valley wines which are poured there and the great food that’s served.”

The only other activities at the event are a prize drawing and booths from as many as 20 CVB members. “The booths are available for CVB members only, as a benefit to our members,” says Blaschka.

Blaschka points out that there are other benefits to CVB membership as well, including the opportunity to distribute promotional materials through the organization’s offices in downtown Pleasanton; a listing in the annual visitor’s guide; advertising opportunities in other CVB publications; and the privilege of being represented by the CVB’s staff at the various trade shows that the organization attends.

“Membership is great for smaller businesses because they receive marketing and advertising opportunities that they couldn’t afford otherwise,” she says. “A small business like a florist gets represented at bridal shows and gets referrals all year round.”

It’s not necessary to be a CVB member to attend the mixer, however. “It’s a great event for everybody,” adds Blaschka. “If they’ve never been before, if they come to it once, they’ll come again – that’s what we hear over and over again.”

The 8th Annual Tri-Valley Regional Mixer takes place on Thursday, January 6 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the San Ramon Valley Conference Center, 3301 Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon. Tickets are $15 and must be reserved by January 4 at the Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, 260 Main Street in Pleasanton, or by calling (925) 846-8910.

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