Operators - Is Vistage worthwhile?

^Searchfunder member‌I was a member of both EO and Vistage. I had a great experience with EO and a not so great one with Vistage. As ^Searchfunder member‌ accurately captured the EO experience, I'll share that I wished for the same for Vistage. I really wanted to like it, as I typically find value in all business interactions. However, I found it to be a waste of time/resources (The money I can recoup, the time none of us can!) The person who led the meetings (The "Chair") needs to be someone that is well vetted, meaning they have to know something about your particular business issues not just the high-level MBA or "I read it in a book" type. After talking a great game, the Chair that I aligned with couldn't deliver. My group members were similarly "in it for themselves" and while they'd tip a glass at the drop of a hat, there was always an underlying lack of trust issue that permeated the group dynamic. I outreached to the Vistage corporate offices to inquire about switching groups (this wasn't the only group in my city), but was politely provided no assistance. If you believe in getting value for what you pay for like I do, I wouldn't have done anything with Vistage. I'm happy to further discuss offline if you'd like. Sam

I was a Vistage member for several years. Typically they broke down our monthly meetings into 2 halves. First half of day was guest speaker. They brought excellent speakers on a variety of topics (leadership, culture, marketing, HR, etc) and I always found them full of great info. Second half of day was issue processing with group. I didn't not find value in those sessions. Happy to go into more detail if you like. Overall I would say if you want meet some great people and hear from some excellent speakers, it's worth joining. If you're looking for solutions to your business challenges, not sure you're going to find anything substantial.