Professional Women's Council: Pairing Wine for the Holidays

Do you feel like you're never quite sure what wine to serve with turkey, duck, salmon, beef or whatever else you're serving during the holiday season?

I'm never certain and always end up pouring exactly the same thing: a Chardonnay I like. It may or may not be the right wine to serve with Nana's Fruitcake, but I like it and so it must be okay, right? Maybe yes and maybe no.

Come to the Professional Women's Council on Wednesday, November 17th from 5-7pm* at Tuscan Market & Wine Shop in downtown Arlington Heights (141 W. Wing St.), where owner Amy Philpott will teach us all about wine pairing for the holidays. Of course, this will be experiential learning with lots of wine to taste and yummy appetizers!

Bring lots of business cards for networking with other members of PWC!

Register online at the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce's website.

When you attend this PWC, your holiday guests will surely rave all year about how you were the hostess with the mostest!

*Please note the time change. We chose to move the time for this month's PWC because we thought an after-work time was more appropriate for a wine tasting than the middle of the day.

Professional Women's Council Luncheon: Dress For Sucess - What Not To Wear

The Professional Women's Council's September luncheon is Wednesday, September 15th! This month, we are featuring Noelle Cellini, a personal stylist and owner of My Best Foot Forward.

Noelle will educate and entertain us with fashion guidelines concerning what to wear and, of course, what not to wear. She will discuss and show examples of the basic items everyone should have in their wardrobe.

Her company's focus is helping men and women put their best foot forward. Your individual sense of style should project your personality and attitude toward life. Ultimately Noelle's goal is to make your life easier and to show you that having great style isn't something only the stars get to enjoy!

Noelle believes...

• that looking fabulous does not have an age limit.
• in taking the frustration out of shopping and finding clothes that fit.
• the pocket square is highly underrated.
  
• in the power of high heels.
• clothes can transform the way you feel.
• in educating people to shop with a purpose and a list.

If you ever feel like you have a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear or wonder why some styles look great on you and others look the opposite, then this luncheon is for YOU.

Join the PWC on Wednesday, September 15th from 11:30-1:30 for outstanding networking and learn how to always put your best foot forward.

For all the details and to register online, visit the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce.

PWC: Elder Care Panel

Nana outside Crystal Beach Community Church. I'm not sure which family member of mine took this picture, but it's one of my favorites.

I can't believe it's once again time for the monthly luncheon of the Professional Women's Council! The months are flying by so quickly.

This month, we have assembled a panel of Chamber members who are experts in the field of elder care. I'll concede that this isn't the sexiest topic in the world, but the fact is that with more Baby Boomers turning 65 each day, each of us is either already caring for an elderly parent or grandparent or soon will. And, of course, we need to be preparing for our own Golden Years.

Personally, the topic of elder care is very near and dear to my heart. I have learned more in the 9 months since Nana passed away about the array of services that were available to us than I ever knew existed during the entire 7 1/2 years mom cared for her. If only we had known then what I know now, life would have been so much easier.

Knowing in advance what services are available to assist you during what can be (always is?) a very stressful time and advance planning can relieve stress, save money (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure) and allow us to focus on what's important: caring for and spending time with our loved ones, while also living our own lives.

I hope you'll join the Professional Women's Council tomorrow, Wednesday, April 21st at the Arlington Heights Senior Center for our Elder Care Panel. And bring your questions.

Elder Care Panel: Learn About the Services Available to Keep You Successful While Caring for an Elderly Relative
Click here to register
Wednesday, April 21st 11:30am - 1:30pm

Held at the Arlington Heights Senior Center
1801 W. Central Rd., Arlington Heights, 60005

For information, contact Mary Beisemann at 847-253-1703
$10 for PWC members; $25 for non-PWC members or non-Chamber members

Join us to learn about the services available for you and your loved ones as you navigate the aging process. Bring your questions about financial planning, Medicaid, when to obtain help, the different kinds of assistance available.

Panelists will include:
Samantha Breden from Lutheran Life Communities
Mary Kay Bochenek from The Moorings Health Center
Jo Segalla, Esq. from Drost Kivlahan McMahon & O'Connor
Ellen Vinzani from Silver Connections
Karie Van Grinsven from Arlington Heights Senior Center
Mary Jo Zeller from Gero Solutions Senior Relocation Specialists

If you have any special dietary needs, please contact the Chamber Office at 847-253-1703 no later than Tuesday, April 20th.

Professional Women's Council Luncheon: Speak Up & Stand Out: How to Present Like a Pro!

Cyndi Maxey, CSP, from her website.

It's once again time for the Professional Women's Council! As a refresher, the PWC is a networking group in the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce. We meet monthly at business networking luncheons where we also bring in a speaker on topics that are important to women in business (and also often important to men as well).

This month's luncheon is another topic I'm personally excited about. It is said that public speaking is the #1 fear of most people. I believe that anyone wanting to enjoy success professionally needs to overcome this fear and master this skill. You may be thinking that not all jobs require public speaking, but I'd argue that all jobs do. Whether you're taking orders at McDonald's, answering phones at a large company, writing speeding tickets as a police officer, working in sales, or speaking to large groups Tony Robbins style, we all speak publicly. Our audiences may be audiences of one, but we still need to be able to speak from a position of authority and confidence.

Cyndi Maxey, Certified Speaking Professional, will be speaking to the PWC about overcoming this fear and presenting your best self when making presentations.

Speak Up and Stand Out: How to Present Like a Pro
Addressing an audience can be a daunting task. Whether conducting a team meeting, leading your Board, or presenting your annual budget to your department, you only have one chance to impress the audience and make a lasting impression. This session will provide you with practical skills and techniques to use when preparing and delivering a presentation for any group. You will learn the importance of up-front preparation and will discuss how to connect with your audience and involve them in your meeting or presentation. In addition, you learn how to handle those unexpected challenges that can arise whenever you speak in public.

Benefits:

• Conduct a more effective meeting utilizing time tested speaker techniques.
• Prepare an engaging presentation for any situation that will involve your audience.
• Overcome common speaker challenges when addressing an audience.
• Utilize time-tested tips from the pros that will empower you and boost your confidence when preparing and delivering a presentation.

Cyndi's Biography
With a unique background in performance and communication, Cyndi is a veteran speaker who develops customized learning solutions that are energetic, entertaining, and inventive. She is a skilled facilitator who gets people interacting while inspiring change. Her programs are immediately relevant to attendees because she makes them an integral part of the learning.

Cyndi practices what she preaches – communication that connects. A Certified Speaking Professional, the highest earned designation of National Speakers Association, she speaks on average 75-90 times a year (most often to healthcare, pharmaceutical, women’s, consumer, food service, insurance, and technical audiences) and is author of over 75 published articles and four books with major publishers.

Details:

Wednesday, March 17th
11:30-1:30
Click here to register online
DoubleTree Hotel - Arlington Heights
75 W. Algonquin Rd.
Call the AHCC for more information: 847-253-1703

Cost: $18 for PWC members; $25 all others

Professional Women's Council Luncheon: Double Your Business In 1 Year or Less!

Sarah Victory of The Victory Company (from The Victory Company website)

I mentioned this last month, but I'm the 2010 Chairperson of the Professional Women's Council in the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce. We meet monthly at business networking luncheons where we also bring in a speaker on topics that are important to women in business (and also often important to men as well).

One of my personal goals this year is to grow our membership and monthly attendance. In an effort to achieve this goal, I prepared a schedule for the year and have distributed it to all Chamber members. It's my belief that people will make the PWC a priority if they know the topics in advance and if the topics speak to them. I'm also using my blog to promote the PWC.

I'm very excited about our February luncheon. Sarah Victory of The Victory Company was referred to me by Melissa Heisler of It's My Life, Inc. and I simply adore Sarah. She's a professional in every sense of the word and she knows her stuff. Her track record for helping grow businesses is impressive.

I hope you'll join us and learn how to double your business this year!

How To Double Your Business in One Year or Less!
A Presentation by Sarah Victory, The Victory Company

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 from 11:30 AM to 01:30 PM
Held at Yanni's Greek Restaurant 10 E. Algonquin Rd
Arlington Heights, 60005 For further information, please contact
AHCC at 847-253-1703 The fee required for this event is $18.00
Non Member Fee is $18.00

Register online

Where do you start when you need to Double your business in one year or less? Sarah will give you both the motivation and how-to’s to go out and accomplish your entrepreneurial goals. You'll learn The 7 Secrets to Successfully Doubling Your Business Fast, how to say what you do so that people will buy it from you, how to position your company and have a brand like the big guys without a big budget, insider secrets to gaining visibility and recognition fast, how to get the attention of the media, and more! We limit ourselves and our businesses by fear of failure, fear of success, an unfocused vision, and marketing in outdated ways. Let Sarah Victory’s contagious enthusiasm change all that with this exciting, fast paced presentation that gives audiences a radical new path to success in both life and business.

• How to position your business so you are your customer first choice.
• Use time instead of money to market through a new intensive form of networking
• Develop effective, dynamic speaking skills to create instant credibility.
• How publishing can make you the expert in your industry.
• Create titles and one-sentence hooks that sell your services or products.
• How to find the magic in your life. Tap into your real desires, identify what satisfies you most, and focus on moving your life or business to a different level.

Sarah Victory is the author of numerous books and audio programs including How to Double Your Business in One Year or Less! , How to Double Your Sales! and the forthcoming book, Life Victories.

Professional Women's Council 2010 Schedule

Among the many things I have my hand in, I'm the chairwoman of the Professional Women's Council of the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce (where I also serve on the Board of Directors). When I first joined the Chamber, I immediately got involved with the PWC because I believed that it would be great for my business. Professional women are my target market after all. What I didn't realize then was just how much I would get out of the group personally, as well as professionally, and the many opportunities I would have to give back to these amazing women. I'm really proud of my affiliation with this group of professional women (and some men too!) and was so honored about 14 months ago when I was asked to be the co-chair for 2009 and then the chair for 2010.

Each month our group meets at different restaurants in Arlington Heights for a two-hour networking and business building meeting. We often have speakers who educate us on different ways to build our businesses, ways to improve our lives, or topics of general interest. Past topics have included a panel on how to survive the economic recession, goal setting workshops, and speed networking along with more fun things like a fashion show. Life coach (and fellow Lake Forest College alum!) Shawna Myers helped us find our core values. Sports columnist Christine Brennan came to speak a couple of years ago about life as the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins and her life in the sports industry.

As I was beginning to prepare for my year as chairwoman, I knew there were some topics I would find of interest, but the PWC isn't about me. It's about the 40-60 women who take two hours of their day to attend our monthly luncheons and it was important to me to give them exactly what they wanted. Additionally, I wanted to know what motivated them to participate in the PWC and conversely what kept them from attending. In a nutshell, I wanted to know why PWC was important to them and what could be done to make it a "not-to-be-missed" event each month.

I also faced one large challenge: my budget for the year was one-quarter what it had been in previous years, so I had to create an outstanding year with almost no budget. Viewing this hurdle as an opportunity, I decided to get creative. So I prepared a 9-question multiple choice (with room for longer answers) survey that went out to all Chamber members and received a 10% response rate (which I learned is an excellent response rate). Questions included:

1. How many PWC luncheons have you attended in 2009?
2. Why do you attend PWC?
3. Why don't you attend PWC?
4. Is the $18 cost of lunch about right, too high or two low?
5. What is a better price?
6. Would you be interested in having PWC meet as a brown bag lunch event with a nominal $5 fee for room cost rather than having it at a restaurant?
7. Would you be interested in having PWC meet either before work (7:30-9 or 8-9:30) or after work (4-6 or 5-7)?
8. What kinds of topics and speakers would you be interested in for 2010? (choose as many as you want)
   - progressive networking lunch without a speaker;
   - pros and cons of Social Networking;
   - social PWC event;
   - women in government;
   - local author doing a book reading from his book about growing up in Arlington Heights;
   - nationally known business coach speaking on how to double your business;
   - protecting yourself from identity theft;
   - laughter is the best medicine/stress relief workshop;
   - dress for success fashion show;
   - creating new holiday traditions and reducing holiday stress;
   - volunteer opportunities in Arlington Heights;
   - volunteer outing with a local non-profit;
   - caring for elderly parents and services available;
   - retirement planning seminar; or
   - history of Arlington Heights
   
9. Would you be interested in speaking or do you know of a potential speaker in 2010?

Based on the survey feedback, I decided that the theme for 2010 would be "It's All About You!" because I learned that members want more value from their membership including more exposure for their businesses, more networking and business building opportunities, more business education, and speakers from within the group, whenever possible. They also told me exactly what types of programming they wanted for the year. I'm really proud that the 2010 PWC schedule meets each of the members' desires.

(Click on the picture to read all the exciting PWC events for 2010)

You don't have to be a member of the PWC or of the Chamber to attend our luncheons, although being a PWC member gives you a monthly discount on the cost of the luncheon. If you're not a member, but are interested in visiting our group to learn more about us or about the Chamber, we'd love to meet you!