I've been thinking recently about the appeal of Impact Denver. I've been doing this for several reasons: feeling out when to apply to Leadership Denver, who else I can connect with from my own ID class, and also my favorite aspects of ID. The thing that has stood out to me the most was the social / happy hour component of networking building within ID.
However, my life is drastically different than is was when I went through Impact Denver. I own my own consulting practice now, and have a much tighter work schedule. Additionally, I have a child, which of course changes my social scene somewhat. I recognize that not everyone in ID has children -- in my experience many of the participants tend to be younger and/or single. However, I wonder what benefit there would be to have family friend alumni events?
I recognize I'm opening up a can of worms by recommending this. There's the possibility of alienating anyone without children. There's the possibility of creating an event where no good networking or professional-relationship-building occurs. However, we could also open the alumni group up to an audience that has, thus far, not been able to attend or participate in anything meaningful. This would most likely be limited to 1, or maybe 2 events per year, but it has potential to expand our alumni reach.
I'm curious about others' thoughts.... Weigh in!