August's President's Message

The heat is on!  Are your networking skills heating up as well?

A recent survey told us 80% of our members joined the network for the purpose of networking. I hope this year we are giving you, our members, what you are asking for--the power of networking possibilities. This is why relationships are so important in our personal and professional lives. We are always looking for ways to connect with one another. In doing so we get refreshed, we improve our selves, and we become more vibrant. I look forward to our monthly luncheons, all of our special events, mixers, and monthly Connect 4 get togethers. Joining a committee is a great way to contribute your skills to the network while building your relationships, and  developing skills for your personal and professional growth.

I am encouraged by all the relationship building I see and hear at these events. Developing these relationships takes time and they are the foundation for networking and mentoring. When we talk about networking and mentoring, we are describing the activities of individuals in a group: cooperating, connecting, coaching, and teaching each other - all the while having fun!

September is the month our Board Development Chair, Cathy Ferguson, will be taking nominations to fill positions for the 2014 FWN Board of Directors.  Please contact Cathy if you are interested in a board position or have any other questions about board service.

Remember this is your network and we want to provide you with a positive and memorable experience.  We welcome your suggestions for improvement.  Please fill out the evaluation slips at the luncheon.  If you want to get involved and don’t know where to start or have any suggestions for improvement you can always contact me by email or 559 307-9981.

We look forward to having you at the September luncheon. Remember to register online and ... save the date October 3, 2013 for Pasto & Vino! Our Special Events committee has been working hard to bring you this great event. This year there will be the addition of an art show! Check it out on our website and follow us on Facebook.

Outstanding Success for Net@Noon Mini Trade Show

Yesterday, August 13th the Fresno Women's Network held its annual Mini Trade Show which was attended by members and their guests. This event was organized by the Membership Committee under the leadership of the Committee Chair, Sandra Rodriguez. Congratulations to a job well done to Sandra and her Committee on organizing such a great event. 

Members and guests were welcomed by the smiling faces of two of our Executive Board Members, Cindy Merzon who is the Parliamentarian and Connie Smith who is 2nd Vice President.

There were lots of great vendor tables ranging from education, senior care, travel, jewelry, promotional items to medical and health. All the displays came from our membership and what an array of services our members offer each other. Have you checked out our Member Directory where you can find people who can offer you a great service? If you missed out on the event check out our photo gallery on Facebook.

The luncheon part of the event was a great success as we also had Members who sponsored and hosted tables. The table I was at was sponsored by Alison Haugan who has several businesses. I learned that it was OK to eat chocolate which I love because it is good for the brain and heart so guess I just have to change the brand of chocolate to the healthy product. I also found out that she has some great skin care for someone like me with a wrinkle here and there as she has products for the aging skin. 

We had some great people at our table, some I knew and some I met for the first time. We had two doctors, one a dentist (Dr Treva Lee) and one a naturopath (Dr Mikell Suzanne Parsons), Joyce from Evangel Home (our Community Connection), Ann Marie from AAA, Gail is a banker and Linda who had a display table and she writes and publishes children's books. Did you meet all the people at your table and find out what they do?

Following the eating part of lunch is where the real fun began with some of the best networking I have attended in a long time. An usual "scavenger hunt" was organized and we were all handed a paper with 20 questions and we had to find the answers! It was match a name to the questions which meant that everyone started talking to each other and moving around the room to fill in the sheet and in doing so met people they probably may not have known in the past. The sheet started out as "Find a member or guest who....." and some of the people you had to find were: 

• Has a Doctorate Degree ...........
• Was a cheerleader ....................
• Played a musical instrument .......
• Was in a swim team ..................
• Was in a debate team ...............

How did you go, did you get all the answers and fill in the blanks? I got stuck on number 17 and that was "Who went to an Ivy League School". I did hear some discussing the fact that Fresno State could be classed as Ivy League because they had ivy growing there but not sure that would pass for an answer. What do you think?

We ended the event with a presentation to the winners of all the great prizes offered by the vendors and we thank you all for your great contribution and enabling the Net@Noon Mini Trade Show to be such a success and hope you will return next year. For those who were not in attendance we missed you and hope you can come in August 2014!

(Don't forget to leave us a comment below as we love to hear what you have to say about FWN events.)

Network at Noon Display Tables are going fast!

Here are a few of the businesses represented by Fresno Women's Network members that will be showcased at our "Network at Noon" Mini-Trade Show & luncheon on August 13th:
 

Saint Agnes Medical Center, Ava Marie's, North American Title, Orchard Park Assisted Living, NWPC-Fresno, Katydid Publishing, Girl Scouts Central CA South, Simply Inspired Healing, Travel Express an ALTOUR company (Keiko Hatakeda), Fresno Memorial Gardens, Jack Nadel International (Kitty McManus),  Javeda Coffee, It Works!, Marketing Plus, Hinds Hospice, and HandsOn Central California, and Heald College. There are a limited number of display tables available, so you'll want to act quickly if you want to reserve one. Click HERE for more information. 

June's President Message

We are thankful...we are listening

The heat is on and summer is finally here! I hope you are staying cool and your summer includes vacation plans.

June is the month when we honor those chosen to receive scholarships from our organization. Thanks to our scholarship committee (chaired by Jennifer Wojtas) that reviewed the applicants.  As it is every year, they had a hard decision selecting the recipients and we are excited to get to know the students at the luncheon.

A big thank you goes to all of the generous donations of raffle prizes and to all of you who bought tickets!  Tuesday, you will be able to see how your generosity benefits others.  Please join us in celebrating our 2013 scholarship honorees; they are amazing ladies and an inspiration to all of us.

The Fresno Women’s Network has been conducting a telephone survey of our current members to see how we are doing and how we can improve. We have a committed group of board members and committee chairs who are working hard for you and want to hear what you have to say. Thanks to all who have participated in this survey.  I challenge you to take the steps you can to make your membership and this organization a better one.

Be sure to check out our online calendar. There are so many exciting networking opportunities coming up that you don’t want to miss!Do you have a story about how your FWN membership has benefited you? Please contact me at president@fresnowomensnetwork.org or call me at 559-307-9981. I would love to share your story.

Be sure to register for the June luncheon on our website - you are running out of time!  Registration #25 wins a Starbucks card and #68 receives raffle tickets.

May's Annual Nonprofit Showcase Luncheon

It is always exciting to hear about what is going on with our nonprofits in the network. Last Tuesday at our monthly luncheon we were able to hear from Patty Craven, Director of Membership and Information Technology of Girl Scouts of Central California South; Jill McCartney, Community Development Coordinator with Hinds Hospice; Gerre Brenneman, Executive Director of Evangel Home; and Kathleen Smith, Investor Relations Manager of the Economic Development Corporation.

 

We are glad these ladies took the time to share about their organizations and their current and upcoming needs. Luncheon attendees were then able to go to the organization's booths to ask more questions or find out how they could get involved.

Jayne, our 2013 President,  announced a couple of prize winners at the luncheon. In her April President's Message she mentioned giving out 5 raffle tickets for the 57th person who registered online for the luncheon and a Starbucks card for the 39th person who registered online. The winner of the raffle tickets was Margarie Donavon with MedID559 and the winner of the Starbucks card was Doreen Dunn with Volt Workplace Solutions. It pays to register for your lunch and to keep your eyes out for special little incentives!

 

A big thank you to our luncheon and gift sponsors. So many of the following names are people/companies that continue to give every luncheon.

Luncheon Sponsor
Katie Avila, New York Life

The Buddy Bag Sponsor

Judy Strickland, Juice Plus

Scholarship Raffle

Sandra Rodriguez-Lucero, The Perfect 10 Nails by Sandra

Girl Scouts of Central California South

Pamela Alexander, Stephens & Bean Funeral Chapel

Lisa Rinehart, Principal Financial Group

Alicia Hinton, Lavender's Light

Jayne McCallister, Fresno Women's Network 

Kelly Fitzgerald, Sequoia Sandwich Shop

Michelle Peacock, Heald College

Shellie Green, Fresno State University

Kitty McManus, Jack Nadal International

Debbie Milla, Milla Vineyards

Karen Bowser, Creative Memories

Shelie Green, Hampton Inn & Suites

Lisa Serman, Fresno Memorial Gardens

April Luncheon

Our luncheon speaker for April was Larry Powell, Superintendent for the Fresno County Schools. Mr. Powell was an engaging speaker and encouraged all of us to inspire kids to be positive about education. He stated that if parents feel good about school then their children are more likely to have a positive experience in school. He also talked about the mentoring programs in court and community schools in Fresno County and stressed that education doesn't just happen in school it happens throughout life and how one great adult or mentor in a child's life can make a huge difference in their future.

Although Larry Powell was discouraging about the focus that has been put on high test scores in our national schools; he also pointed out what we are doing well in the United States as far as education. We have done a great job in fostering creativity in our schools and mentioned that the United States is number 1 in exporting patents as opposed to China that is number 1 in exporting toys. He also pointed out that 90% of all engineers in the world are educated here in the United States. We are honored that Superintendent Powell was able to fit us into his busy schedule so that we could have a peek into education in Fresno and nationwide.

Luncheon Sponsor
Fresno Pacific University

The Buddy Bag Sponsor

 Sandra Rodriguez-Lucero, Gold Canyon and The Perfect 10

Scholarship Raffle

Karen Bowser, Creative Memories

Shelie Green, Hampton Inn & Suites

Pamela Alexander, Stephens & Bean

Debbie Milla, Milla Vineyards

Kellie Fitzpatrick, Sequoia Sandwich

 Jayne McAllister, London Properties

 Jennifer Wojtas, Orchard Park Assisted Living

Carole Laval, Laval & Associates

Sandra Rodriguez-Lucero, The Perfect 10

 Carolyn Pierce, Facelogic

Kitty McManus, Jack Nadal, Inc.

February Luncheon - Dr. Golden on Obesity

The Fresno women at February's luncheon were probably wondering how a doctor talking about obesity would apply to their lives. Our February speaker, *Dr. Patrick Golden, didn't waste time showing us how obesity isn't something we can ignore.

Many of us were shocked to hear that obesity in the United States has now become a national security threat because of the rise in obesity among the youth of our nation and our ability to fill an army. It was also alarming to hear that a woman who is 20-30% overweight has an 83% increase in endometrium cancer.

Some of the information was simply helpful like guiding us towards the healthy fats like nuts, fish, olives, and, thankfully, dark chocolate. Then there was the information we didn't want to hear like how a healthy portion of cheese  is about the size of a dice - yes, that little square with dots on it that you toss in the air.

Dr. Golden took questions after his presentation and the majority of the questions were concerning women's weight gain in regards to hormone changes and menopause. Of course, that would be expected in a room full of women.

We want to give a thank you to Dr. Golden for taking time out of his busy practice to speak to our network and thank our wonderful sponsors and all the other people that gave to make this luncheon great.

Luncheon Sponsor:

Connie Smith, Smith Financial & Insurance Solutions

Buddy Bag Sponsor:

Joan Meyers, Guarantee Real Estate

Scholarship Raffle Prize Donors:

Joanie Joy, Fresno Pacific University

Karen Bowser, Creative Memories

Nykole Sullivan, Dinner My Way

Keiko Hatakeda, Travel Express, An Altour Company

Alicia Hinton, Lavender’s Light

Sandra Rodriguez-Lucero, The Perfect 10

Debbie Milla, Milla Vineyards

Michelle Peacock, Heald College

Jayne MacAlister, London Properties

Judy Strickler, Juice Plus  

*Dr. Golden received his medical degree from the University of Colorado in 1982. Following his graduation from medical school he moved to Fresno and completed his internship and a fellowship in cardiology. He is currently Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Bariatrics and Obesity Medicine. His sub-specialty is cardiology.