Having served on several technology start-up and non-profit advisory boards over the years, as well as advised companies on how to create and engage effective advisory boards, I enjoyed most of the points made in the AlleyWatch article, “5 Minute Guide to Advisory Boards,” but I differ on the point about group meetings. The author stated “The reason that you will rarely, if ever, have a meeting of all the advisory board members is that typically their experience is so varied as to make such a meeting unproductive.”

With the risk of sounding “old school,” here are my thoughts:

– There is tremendous power in gathering people from different backgrounds. The opportunity for idea exchange is unlimited. With a robust, facilitated agenda, businesses can garner valuable insights and/or validation on connections and direction.

– Some advisors will be more engaged than others. Exposing the more latent advisors to the more active ones can help ignite passion and stimulate action. Passion can be contagious. And passion is good in business.

– Getting people together in the same room sparks bursts of action. The days following an advisory board meeting are when we see the most dramatic forward momentum with connections and inputs. When there is a lull in meetings, there is a lull in action. I want to move the ball forward faster and farther, and the face-to-face meetings inherently promote that.

-The power of treating the advisory board as a “team” adds value to the board and your business. Teamwork is beneficial to a business through the engagement, accountability and momentum that it creates. Framing your board as a team – which means gathering them in person from time to time – will make for a stronger result.

– Here’s my “old school” band wagon again: Nothing replaces the power of a face-to-face meeting. Nothing. Technology is a great facilitator and enabler but can never, ever replace the communications potential and benefits of in-person conversation.

A quarterly face-to-face meeting, interspersed with regular email updates and phone calls (group and individual), will be welcome with active advisors who care about your business and its success. Those who are inactive and not adding consistent value should simply not be on your board.

What are you doing to engage and activate your advisory board?