BECO’s Summer Mixer on the Water Brings Business, Culture and Good Energy to Lake Washington

There are networking events, and then there are experiences that remind us why bringing people together matters in the first place.

On August 29, BECO welcomed members, entrepreneurs, professionals, business leaders, and friends aboard the Trek Ferry for our 2026 Summer Mixer on the Water, transforming an evening on Lake Washington into something distinctly BECO.

For three hours, the traditional networking room was replaced by open-air decks, waterfront views, food and drinks, cigars, music, games, laughter, and conversations that carried throughout the vessel.

The result was exactly what we hoped to create: networking with a better view.

Business Connections Without the Boardroom

From the moment guests began arriving, the energy felt less like a formal business function and more like a gathering of people who genuinely wanted to connect.

Throughout the evening, the decks filled with conversations. Guests moved between groups, introduced themselves to new faces, caught up with familiar ones, shared drinks, posed for photos, and enjoyed the scenery as the Trek Ferry made its way across Lake Washington.

The recap video captures those moments particularly well. There are handshakes and hugs, animated conversations between guests, groups gathered around tables, drinks being raised, and plenty of laughter.

There was business happening, certainly. But it wasn’t forced.

That distinction matters.

BECO has always believed that strengthening our business ecosystem requires more than putting people in a room and handing them name tags. Relationships are often built in the spaces between the formalities, when people have enough time and the right environment to discover who else is in the room and what they might be able to build together.

The Summer Mixer on the Water created plenty of room for that to happen.

The Smoke & Sip Experience

Our signature Smoke & Sip Experience also returned for the evening, bringing another dimension to the event through our collaboration with S Cigar Club and Emerald City Cigar Experience.

The dedicated cigar experience became a gathering place of its own.

The video captures guests selecting, lighting, and enjoying cigars while sitting together along the water, drinks in hand and conversations underway. Rather than functioning as a separate event within the event, Smoke & Sip naturally became another environment for people to slow down, talk, laugh, and connect.

It continues to demonstrate why shared experiences can be such powerful relationship builders.

A Little Competition on the Water

Not every connection required a business card.

One of the most enjoyable elements captured during the evening was guests gathering around the tables for games, adding a little friendly competition to the cruise. Those moments, mixed among the conversations, food, drinks, music, and cigar experience, helped create the relaxed atmosphere that defined the evening.

And sometimes that is precisely what a business community needs.

Entrepreneurs and professionals spend an enormous amount of time building, solving problems, meeting deadlines, managing teams, finding customers, and pursuing the next opportunity. Creating room to simply enjoy the company of other ambitious people has value too.

A Different Kind of BECO Experience

The Summer Mixer on the Water represents something we want to continue building within BECO: opportunities for our network to experience one another beyond strictly transactional business environments.

Our mission includes helping Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs gain access to resources, information, visibility, and opportunity. But a strong economic ecosystem also depends upon something much more fundamental: people knowing one another.

Who do you call when you need a service?

Who do you refer when someone asks for expertise?

Who becomes your next client, collaborator, advisor, vendor, mentor, or partner?

Often, those relationships begin with something as simple as a conversation.

On this particular evening, those conversations happened with Lake Washington as the backdrop.

Thank You to Our BECO Community

To everyone who came aboard and helped make the Summer Mixer on the Water what it was, thank you.

Thank you for bringing your energy. Thank you for introducing yourself to someone new. Thank you for supporting our partners. Thank you for laughing, connecting, sharing, and helping us create an experience that felt every bit as good as it looked.

We also extend our appreciation to S Cigar Club, Emerald City Cigar Experience, Trek Ferry, our participating partners, event team, and everyone behind the scenes who helped bring the evening together.

The cruise may have lasted three hours.

The real measure of its success will be what happens after everyone steps off the boat: the conversations that continue, the introductions that turn into meetings, the relationships that grow, and the opportunities that emerge from simply getting the right people together.

That is what building an ecosystem looks like.

And we’re just getting started.

Check out the official 2026 Summer Mixer on the Water video recap below and stay connected with BECO by signing up for our newsletter to get information on upcoming events, programs, resources, and opportunities.