I get fulfillment from being a yenta. Aka a matchmaker. Or “a dot connector as I like to say” in my serendipity speak.😀
I’m the guy who throws parties and looks forward to his “worlds colliding.” I love introducing one friend from one circle to another friend from another circle who I know will hit it off.
Which is one reason why having a booth at Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS 2025) was so fulfilling and potentially profitable for our company Graff-Pinkert. A booth gives me a home base to throw my party and personally introduce people I know to each other.
Over the three days of the show in our booth, I must have introduced at least 15 people to each other—some of whom very likely are going to have a relationship independent of me.
I introduced my friends Jay Sauder and Salim Elías Awad (both past guests on Swarfcast!).
Jay loves running world class German CNC machines, Salim is President of SPINNER North America, which makes world class German CNC machines (a brand which Jay does not have yet).
They seemed to hit it off right away. There is a small chance that they do future business together. There is a great chance they could be beneficial business resources for each other and Graff-Pinkert.
Later that day, a customer came to the Graff-Pinkert booth asking for advice about how to promote his screw machine shop that he was fortifying with new Swiss machines. I told him about the most recent podcast I had put out with Damon Pistulka that discusses how to appeal to Gen Z buyers using YouTube and social media.
Another customer came to the booth who was debating whether his work required Swiss machines. He wasn’t ready to buy a used machine, so I introduced him to Marc Klecka, President of Concentric Corporation, the Ohio Citizen distributor at the show. Marc is always there when we need him for advice on Citizen machines, he is a huge fan of the blog/podcast too. But I think I would have taken the customer to him anyway.
Could these match-makings and others like it lead to prosperous dealings for Graff-Pinkert in the next two months? Probably not.
But down the line–definitely.
When you meet a new person try to think of another person you know who could benefit by knowing that person, and then make an introduction. Don’t think about if they will return the favor in the future.
Try to make giving to others your way of life. I admit it’s not always natural for me, so I’m trying to be mindful and create the habit.
The favor will come back to you. I know because I have experienced it.
Question: What’s the most unexpected business relationship that has developed from a chance introduction?
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I left work at 4pm in Fort Wayne IN and drove 3hrs to Dayton OH to attend their local PMPA meeting where Fred Indoe was introducing the Somma regrindable insert form tool system. Herman Somma then designed the first several families of datum tooling through which we began reducing setup times of our captive screw machining operation from 12hrs to 2hrs. That was about 20 yrs ago, and we’re still using that system across most of our screw machine work, because I saw an advertisement and Fred was out on the road.