Today was a very cool day. This morning I spent a couple of hours with the Kettering Executive Network, a group of around 500 C-level/VP-level executives here in the Atlanta area. I got a chance to network with some old friends, meet some kind new faces, and best of all, show off HiddenMarket as a platform for B2B social networking and market intelligence.

The discussion was lively, and carried over into lunch. The group really got into what we we’re doing at HiddenMarket, and where we’re going with it all. We got some good questions, too. Nothing beats getting out there in front of users and doing “show and tell.” If you want honest feedback, and suggestions from the trenches, you can’t get the full picture by sitting at your desk. Ya gotta get out there and beat the pavement a bit.

My big takeaways were:

1. Everyone agrees that there is a “dilution of trust” in many existing social networks.
2. Preservation of “trust” will be a critical area moving forward.
3. It is time for social networks to move beyond their current state if they are going to add real value in the business community.

Fortunately for us, they also were pleased with our approach to addressing these and other issues, which was both refreshing and validating. Especially coming from this group. The level of social capital in the room was simply enormous. We are definitely thrilled to have Kettering as one of our beta groups.

A quick shout out to Craig Larson, a brilliant man, a co-founder of VuBotics and a good friend. Craig was kind enough to record my presentation on his handheld digital video recorder (where I was able to snag a couple of stills for this post.)

I also want to thank Steve Walden and Armando Cuevas, two of our advisory board members, for attending and showing their support. Same for Gregg, Lee, and Josh from the Gang of 5, our entrepreneurial roundtable. Fun!

Cheers.