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ABWA Wine Country Chapter News

Volume 9, Issue 6
February 2010
The Mission of the American Business Women's Association:
To bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally, through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.
IN THIS ISSUE
Message from the President
This Month's Speaker & Topic
Next Meeting -- Feb 16
Inspiring Women Fundraiser
Member News
Calendar of Events

RSVP for our next meeting

February 16, 6:30 pm
Dinner Meeting
Charlie's, Windsor

March 16, 6:30 pm
Mentor Meeting
Charlie's, Windsor

April 20, 6:00 pm
Dinner Meeting & Raffle Drawing
Charlie's, Windsor

May 18, 6:30 pm
Dinner Meeting
Charlie's, Windsor

June 15, 6:30 pm
Awards Night & New Officer Induction Meeting
Charlie's, Windsor
Board of Directors

President:
Alicia Mutch

Vice President, Hospitality:
Judith Light

Vice President, Membership:
Diana Blakeley

Treasurer:
Debbie Wallace

Secretary:
Audrey Gondoli

Member Websites
Quick Links...
Message from the President
Alicia Mutch, ABWA Chapter PresidentInspiring Women
February is my favorite month in Sonoma County. It's wet, cold, overcast, and squishy outside, but the daffodils are blooming and spring is right around the corner. I feel the same way about our economy. It's slowly creeping back, and the signs look more and more positive that we're heading into growth again. The stock market is coming back to life, and people are getting more and more innovative in the way they reinvent themselves and their businesses to create success.

So, how are you going to continue to reinvent yourself and your business in the coming months? The internet is the perfect place to begin, and this month, we have two website designers who will give you ideas and advice for designing and marketing your web presence. We will also launch our Inspiring Women Scholarship Fundraiser this month. We have 500 raffle tickets to sell, and if we sell them all, we will be able to award $10,000 in scholarships to women who are inventing or reinventing themselves as successful businesswomen. Let's help give them a boost as we give ourselves a boost into business success.

See you soon!

-Alicia Mutch
Speaker and Topic of the Month
"I Want to Create a Website and Web Presence. Now What?"
Presented by Brian Kreck and Mark Gordon

For this month's dinner meeting presentation, we are bringing in two local web designers as a panel to answer all of your website design, development, and marketing questions. This panel discussion is appropriate for anyone who has been thinking they should put a website up for their business but don't know where to start as well as for anyone who already has a website and wants to make it even better, including ways to market it with social media and website optimization.

Brian Kreck is the founder and owner (with his wife Sandra Versteegh) of KRECK Designs, a design firm located in Healdsburg. KRECK Designs consists of six creative and talented individuals serving over 200 small to medium sized clients located throughout the United States. Together, they focus on excellence in all areas from the design to the technical foundation while maintaining a pragmatic approach that incorporates constraints such as limited resources.
email: brian@kreck.com | web: www.kreck.com

Mark Gordon has been involved in web production and development for 14 years. SonomaCreative, Mark's web development company, is currently focused on helping clients leverage the power of social media and social networking, and developing web-based software products. Recent projects include the re-launch of Shape.com, the development of an online diet and nutrition app for Shape called Virtual Trainer, and the world's first Twitter Management System, Tweetedia.com.
email: mark@sonomacreative.com | web: www.sonomacreative.com
Next Meeting -- February 16
Our next dinner meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 16 at Charlie's at the Windsor Golf Club. The address is 1320 19th Hole Drive, and it's located west off the Shiloh Road exit in Windsor.

We will be networking from 6:30 to 7:00, and our dinner meeting begins at 7:00. All members and guests are welcome.

If you would like, you may bring a bottle of wine with you to share with the group.

The price of the dinner meeting is $27 for members and $32 for guests. Dinner will be buffet style. To RSVP for the dinner meeting, please visit our website. RSVPs are due by noon, Friday, February 12th. You must make a reservation by the day before our meeting for us to guarantee you a meal. We love early RSVPs!

Inspiring Women Scholarship Fundraiser
This year's fundraiser aims to raise $10,000 for scholarships for women through the sale of 500 raffle tickets for the grand prize of a 100-bottle wine library and a 35-bottle refrigerated wine chiller. We will award runner-up prizes as well. In order to lighten the load of all members, we have opted against hosting a fundraising party this year. Jen Stark is collecting wine donations for the wine library. If you would like to donate wine, or know someone who does, please contact jen@starkwine.com. Tickets will be available at our February meeting. The more tickets we sell, the more money we can award to women at Sonoma State, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Empire College.

Jen Stark
Chair, Inspiring Women Fundraiser Committee
Member News and Announcements
Announcements from Judith Light:
I am being hauled of to jail for "good" on February 24th. I will be at the Cantina in horizontal stripes - Ugh! - for Jerry's Kids. Please go to the Muscular Dystrophy web site and help bail me out to benefit children afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy.
Thank you. Judith Light
Visit the Muscular Dystrophy Association Website for donation information.

Announcement from Audrey Gondoli:
FOR RENT: I have a fully furnished office in my office space in Rohnert Park that would be perfect for a service oriented business person who needs office space outside their home. $350.00 month, including utilities. If you or someone you know is looking to have a place to work and have client meetings but doesn't need or want to incur the expense of a leased office on their own this would be a perfect fit. Please contact Audrey Gondoli at 707-585-9426.

Announcement from Alicia Mutch:
Trying valiantly to keep your New Year's resolutions? Hypnotherapy is a fabulous way to help you keep all of your promises to yourself, from weight loss to regular exercise to habit control and beyond. ABWA members receive $10 off their hypnotherapy sessions from now until March 31. Visit my website at www.aliciamutch.com for more information.
ABWA Logo

Wine Country Chapter #6504

American Business Women's Association
P.O. Box 164, Healdsburg, CA 95448
www.wineabwa.org



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