I recently joined a local group of small businesses, an informal spinoff of a BNI chapter focused less on the structure of meetings and referrals (and less still on exclusivity) and more on the mutual benefits of organic local-business support.
I'm grateful to have been invited to visit multiple business groups, several of whom were actively seeking a web/tech person. For me, the choice to join Lake Effect was natural - they meet just a short drive away from my home, I already knew several members, and most importantly to me, the emphasis is not on rigid agendas or referral quotas - it's on establishing and growing a reciprocal network.
Side note: My own website (which I often refer to as neglected, cobbler's-shoes style) uses the top-level domain ".net", on purpose. I started my own business not because I seek wealth and success in .com-merce, but because I have something valuable to offer my .net-work of fellow entrepreneurs. So when I talk about networking and community in a personal and/or business context, that's something which I value highly and consider seriously.
Immediately upon joining Lake Effect, I was hired to rework its website and migrate it away from pay-forever hosting. There were a few sections of the old site which had an abstract, animated blue background. It was the perfect opportunity for me to create an animated "Lake Effect lake effect", which is exactly the sort of thing my brain gets very happy about.
Lake Effect meets every Thursday at 8am, at the Wayzata Yacht Club. The word "Yacht" in our meeting place is easily the fanciest thing about us. If you're a small business in the area, stop by and introduce yourself!
