2012 has begun as a very interesting year for the Women in Business Network.

At our first Members meeting we had a very informative presentation by Nancy Swift preceded by the completion of our first survey.

Ray Dawn was introduced as new Secretary of the Board but unfortunately that was the shortest term ever as Ray Dawn had to resign due to her heavy workload. We thank Ray Dawn for the time she spent in assisting us and wish her great success in her growing business.

Our New Secretary of the Board is Marilyn Taylor. We all look forward serving with her on the Board and all the other meetings and organizational events we are scheduling to bring order to this wonderful organization.

The New Year Celebration was a great Success! I wish to thank Amore for helping me as much as she could during her busy schedule! A tremendous appreciation goes also to Jane Prestergard and Jane Seely, for washing the dishes, to Noorah Hansen, Alloou Guthmiller, Ray Dawn and her boy friend for helping set up and clean up, to Marguerite and John for the great pictures, to all of you who brought the wonderful food, wine and refreshments and to all who attended. We had great fun! Thank you Lesa for opening your Gallery to us as a free gift of love and for all your assistance in making this event so happy.

Once again I have to mention that we have a wonderful group of Women who are making a great difference in this community.

A warm Welcome goes to our newest members: Haruko Sasaki, Joie De Fond, Maryam Rumi and Wanda Welbourn.

As you read on today’s announcement, the Best Western has increased the fee for the buffet breakfast from $5.00 to $6.50. The good news is that now we are not obligated to pay for every person who sits in the room but only for those who eat breakfast. They have also included just drinks such as coffee, tea and juices for $2.50. Your presence at our meetings, your ideas, and comments are a very important contribution to the development of Women in Business Network and to your personal business.

Finally I wish to thank Danielle Signor for her commitment and professional behavior in her position as Web Chairwoman. We can all notice the difference and while I am retrieving all the information that has not been included on the Web for several months, she quickly helps me in improving it every day. She just gets it done. Great job Danielle!

I request that you notify me by e-mail if you see any discrepancy, if you are a paid member and your name is not on the directory, if you wish to post a special announcement for your business or if you have any questions about your business and WIBN.

Please make sure you read the minutes of our last meeting to be able to approve and discuss them. They are posted under Members Area. You can make a copy to bring to the meeting if you prefer.

I wish you Joy and Prosperity and look forward to seeing you at our breakfast meeting on February 1st .
Matilde

Dear members of the Women in Business Network,

I want to take this opportunity to wish you a Great Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year. 2011 has gone by us fast but there is a lot that has been accomplished.

In January I registered WIBN as an Un-incorporated Non Profit Association and started a bank account in WIBN name. Being a non-profit organization gave us the freedom to give back to the community and to the members without being taxed.

In May the first Grant was awarded to three members: Atara Melo who received $300.00 to help her pay some of her business expenses, Kelly Samuelson who received a membership to the Chambers of Commerce for$145.00 from WIBN and Sandy Patterson who also received a matching $145.00 membership to the Chamber by the Chamber.

A support meeting was started with the help of Marguerite Lorimer who accepted to be the chairwoman. It is a great success and members truly enjoy participating.

For the past six months we have been working on developing a more professional website and finally with the help of Danielle Signor we are reaching the goal of offering the membership a more professional website with valuable information you will enjoy. More changes are on the making and we will be discussing them at the next membership meeting in January.

With your support, professionalism and enthusiasm we plan to build a strong network of business women who achieve their business goals through support inspiration and mentoring, helping those women who are starting a business.

Following the tradition of the past few years in December we completed the Adopt A Family project. This year we were able to help two families thanks to your generosity. This gives me the opportunity to express my appreciation to Lesa Michel for chairing this committee and Connie Marmet for carrying through and finding the needy families.
We still have a lot to iron out before we can say that this network is well organized and running smoothly and again I am counting on your knowledge and cooperation to make this Siskiyou County Women in Business Network a great organization where women can shine and have real successful businesses.

Enjoy the Holidays and always remember to be happy and smile.
Matilde

This month’s message from Matilde:

Hello Ladies.
It has been a while since my last message.
We are now on course and even though it is still a work in progress, Danielle
Signor and Kelly Samuelson are working very hard at bringing us a professional,
beautiful site. The cost of this work to WINB is minimal and will be well worth it.
Last week I received an e-mail from the Resort management informing us that
they would not be able to accommodate us for our breakfast meetings as they
close the area from November to May and there would be no service. They
asked if we could change the meeting to a luncheon.
I personally went and asked some of you if you would consider that option
and the unanimous reply was that you like to keep the same time and the same
of the month. My next step was to find another location so I went to the
Tree House. The coordinator there was very accommodating and offered us
their large meeting room with a full buffet breakfast for $5.00/person. I
accepted, scheduled and e-mailed all of you individually to inform you of
the change.
On Monday, October 24th we received a Proclamation from the City of Mt.
Shasta. Proclaiming October 29th WOMEN IN BUSINESS DAY.
Those of you who could make it, came before the Council Meeting to have a
group picture taken. The newspaper was not there as previously agreed so
Marguerite’s husband John kindly responded to our request and came to take
pictures of the group. You should be able to see at least one of them on the
site soon.
For those who were not present we will have a chance to take more pictures
at our membership meeting and include all of you.
Due to the fact that we could not find a place for our annual Expo, we had
to cancel it. I was surprised on how many people, including the City Council
were looking forward to the event. Well, we will have to work harder and
make it happen again! With your cooperation I am sure we will have a great
Expo again!
So in order to celebrate all the Women in Business of this area I thought it
would be nice to organize a celebration by having a party and so with the
help of Marguerite we quickly put one together.
At this point I want to thank Marguerite Lorimer and Patricia Le Tallec for
setting the room up while I was preparing the food, picking up the cake etc.
They did a wonderful job! My deepest gratitude goes also to Nancy Swift from
Jedi for allowing us to use the space at no cost and especially to Paj who
stayed with us to the end and helped with clean up.
It was a fun event and I am looking forward to our Celebration for next
year.
While nobody has yet come forward to take the chair of the Programs and
Speakers committee, I have been doing that job and hope you have enjoyed the
presentations until now.
Please let me know if you wish to give a presentation or know of some one
else you would like to bring. In November our own Stephanie Hoffman will be
our guest speaker and we will also have a brief presentation on the
development of our annual “ADOPT A FAMILY” Project and donation.
For December Kelly Samuelson has arranged for Nikolas Allen of BAM Small Biz Consulting, who
proposed a speaking presentation, to inspire us to think deeper about our
company’s unique brand attributes and help us create meaningful marketing
messages the audience cares about.
Title of presentation “EMOTIONAL MARKETING: BUILDING SMALL BUSINESS BRANDS
THAT MATTER”.
I must go now and am truly looking forward to seeing all of you at the
meeting on Wednesday November 2nd at the TREE HOUSE.
Take care be well and SMILE.
Your Chairwoma/President
Matilde