The origins

19 years ago, our Practice Leader, Peter Maguire, invited a few local business owners to lunch to catch up and get to know each other better. They enjoyed it and decided to make it a monthly event

Someone invited someone and the group grew to the point where Peter decided that there was an opportunity to do something good that’s different from any other business  group going around. And so Our Local FIRM was born. .

Our Name

Peter came up with the “Our Local FIRM” name which means:

• Our = a community
• Local = centred on Croydon in Melbourne’s outer east
• FIRM represents the group’s values
  • F = Fun
  • I = Inspiration
  • R = Relationships
  • M = Meaning

These are the focus for the group which also has a few simple rules :

1. No selling allowed
2. Respect everyone
3. No category limitations 

How it works

Every month, the group meets for lunch at the Dorset Gardens Hotel in Croydon.

We facilitate the group as a free service to the local business community. Attendees pay for their own meals and drinks and there is no other charge. 

There is a feature conversation led by a subject matter expert with everyone there having the opportunity to participate and learn. Most of the time is just spent in casual conversation between people while waiting for and then having a meal. No promotions, no pointless process, no KPIs, no pitches – just open, casual and unscripted conversation.

Plus one special activity. Each lunch has one of the values designated as the lunch theme ie Fun, Inspiration, Relationships and Meaning. Attendees nominate a song that has significance for them in the context of the designated theme and we then add them to Our Local FIRM Playlists on YouTube music to be shared with everyone.

Why music?

There are lots of good reasons. For example:

• Scientific research tells us that music is good for us  because it reduces blood pressure and anxiety and boost sleep, mood and memory
• It is about Fun: sharing songs stimulates conversation, memories and positive interactions
• It is about Inspiration: the songs that we remember and nominate are ones that have impacted on us in some way so they generate optimism and hope
• It is about Relationships: when we share a song , we share something of ourselves and when others share, we see something about them  (and sometimes something that we didn’t expect)
• It is about MEANING: because song choices are aligned with one of the Values, participants reflect on what that song means to them and or sometimes the cause or message that the song was created to give