WashingtonExec Hosts Sidney Fuchs’ Business Book Reception : Get Off the Bench

Monday night seems to be an atypical “get out there and go at it” time of the week for networking, but as some of us have learned early on in the events world, there is little to no competition if you want to host a function.  Couple that with an easy central location for your invitees, complimentary F&B, and a darn good reason to skip the gym/weekly grocery shopping/catching up on “Game of Thrones” and boom! You have a full house.  Oh, and this time, the darn good reason was a favorite local executive’s book reception.

Sidney “Sid” Fuchs, CEO & President of MacAulay Brown, Inc., a big time defense and technology company, has a background filled with prestige and power (CIA, CEO of four companies, two political appointments before the age of 50), so he kinda knows what he’s talking about.  Plus, he’s like a big affable teddy bear, or so it seems at a friendly cocktail party in his honor, but let’s be real. You don’t get to where he’s been by smiling and nodding patiently all day long.

Jason Kampf (VP of CoVant), Shiv Krishnan (CEO of INDUS) and Greg Baroni (Chairman and CEO, Attain LLC)

And so, Monday evening, his friends, his family, no seriously, his wife and three boys were there and called up to the podium, his neighbors, his colleagues, his never-met-before’s, like me, all gathered at The Tower Club in Tysons Corner for some good cheer, networking, and light chuckles.  Considering this event was put on by JD Kathuria’s WashingtonExec and the world in which Sid resides, the majority of the space was filled with those in defense contracting, and public and private technology.

Since Sid’s book (all guests received a signed paperback copy upon their exit) “Get Off the Bench” is about the power and impact of networking, it was only natural that we all mix and mingle first.  Later, a representative from Deltek, an event sponsor spoke, followed by the comedic talent of John Hillen, CEO of Sotera Defense, whose comments and introduction were filled with respect and affection for Sid, but with humor.  Since when did defense contracting execs add such levity?  It was brilliant.

Sid Fuchs at WashingtonExec's Launch for his business book "Get Off the Bench"

Sid followed up with remarks, introduced his family (two sons with concentrations in engineering, like himself), and added his deep gratitude to the attendees, sponsors (Benchmark Executive Search, UpsonVito, KippsDeSanto, Unissant and INDUS), his publisher Advantage (who was also in the room), and the WashingtonExec team.  As he admitted, he’s a man of little patience (see, I told you he wasn’t just a teddy bear) so he truly appreciated the staff working with him so well.

Now, I have not read the book yet, but I did promise that I would and as Sid asked of the room, to please read and review on Amazon.  So check out the book and learn a bit yourself on how to create value through relationships with “Get Off the Bench”.