About this Event
Most networking events sell you a crowd. Dinner and Dreams sells you a table — 32 seats, two hours, and a room of business owners who came to leave with a partner, not a pocket full of business cards.
This is Closer To Our Dreams' flagship evening, and it runs on one idea: the value of a room is decided by who is in it.
Bring one business-savvy friend. This part matters.
We are asking every single person who takes a seat to bring one other sharp business mind with them.
Not a plus-one. Not someone along for dinner. One person who owns something, runs something, or closes something — the friend you already call when you're working through a real decision.
Here's why we're serious about it: we are not screening this room, and we are not going to. You are. Every guest you bring raises the ceiling on what everyone at this table walks away with. The strongest rooms we've ever run were not built by a gatekeeper. They were built by 30 people who each brought one person worth meeting.
So when you grab your seat, grab a second one. There is a Partner Pair ticket on this page that covers both of you and costs less than two singles. Use it.
One seat is a good night. Two seats is a strategy.
This is for people building through partnership.
Everyone here is running something real and actively looking for the collaboration that moves it forward — a referral channel, a joint offer, a subcontract, a co-hosted event, a strategic introduction, a partner who serves the same client from a different angle.
You will not be pitched from a stage. You will not sit through a vendor parade. You will spend two hours in a room where the person across from you is building something too.
How the two hours work
6:00 PM — Arrival and seating. Seats are assigned. You are placed beside businesses that complement yours, not beside whoever arrived when you did.
6:15 PM — Welcome and the house rule. One rule: be useful before you ask to be useful to.
6:30 PM — The Table Round. Every guest gets 60 seconds. What you build. What you're looking for. What you can offer someone else in this room.
7:00 PM — Dinner and directed conversation. This is the work. Real conversation with the people your business actually connects to.
7:40 PM — The Ask. Open floor. Say the specific thing you need. The room answers.
7:55 PM — Close and commitments. Everyone leaves with named follow-ups, not a stack of cards.
8:00 PM — Bar stays open. Stay as long as the conversation is good.
This is what we call Foundational Networking — relationships built on purpose, in a room built on purpose.
Who belongs at this table
- Business owners and founders with active revenue
- Professionals with a book of business and a reason to build alliances
- Service providers looking for referral partners, not leads
- Operators ready to say out loud what they need and hear what others need
Who this is not for
- Anyone here to work the room and leave
- Multi-level marketing recruitment
- Anyone who came for the dinner and not the table
Please keep this in mind when you choose who to bring. We are trusting the room to protect the room.
Advance seats are the cheapest and they're limited. If any seats are still open on the night, we will sell them at the door at the door price — but we have never counted on that, and neither should you. When capacity is reached the tickets will close.
Buy early, bring a partner, and don't gamble on a walk-up.
Your seat includes
- Entry into the event
- Assigned seating matched to complementary businesses
- Your 60 seconds in front of the full room
- The post-event connection list — every attendee, what they do, what they're looking for, delivered within 72 hours
- Access to the guest list before you arrive
Sponsors: Spotlight seats per dinner
Two Spotlight Sponsor positions are available for this dinner and they are purchasable on this page. A Spotlight Sponsor gets three minutes from the front of the room and a post on LinkedIn with over 11K followers on Dovev Weaver's page.
Details
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Venue: Hotel Flor, 905 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33602
Parking: There is valet but also parking along the street (Paid)
Dress: Business casual to sharp. This is a hotel dining room.
At the door: Cash or card, subject to remaining seats. Advance pricing is lower.
Tickets are non-refundable and transferable up to 72 hours before the event.
About Closer To Our Dreams
Closer To Our Dreams builds rooms where entrepreneurs actually do business together. Since 2019 we have produced 300+ events across Tampa Bay, including intentionally curated experiences that have lead to leaders getting business.
This is where serious entrepreneurs come to build real opportunities.
Follow this page to stay ahead of what is coming.
Event venue & nearby stays
Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, 905 North Florida Avenue, Tampa, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.