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FACES & PLACES 
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 At last month's West Area Council luncheon at Cendera Center, not only were speakers Councilman Zim Zimmerman from Fort Worth District 3 and Captain Gil Miller, commander of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base a huge hit, so were the dogs available for adoption from the Fort Worth Animal Control. We are happy to announce that two dogs (not pictured) were adopted as a result of our event. L to R: Brandon Bennett, City of Fort Worth with Henry; Nicole Miller and Ryan Woodard, Fort Worth Animal Control with Sabbath & Ms. Pepper. |
 Throwing a fit: The Prospective Ms. B wants out, or wants Mr. B out. Between March Madness/Final Four, the Texas Rangers' home and away openings, The Masters countdown, NFL Draft countdown, the Stars longing for a playoff spot, European soccer and WWE Raw 2763, the B Mansion has had two TVs doing front and back flips between channels for nearly three weeks with more to come. The Bs went for counseling, visiting Mary Ryglewicz, chief of mediation at Homewood Suites Fort Worth/Medical Center. Mary is the go-to person for Mr. B, who plans to live at the Homewood when he retires or, more likely, when he is bounced by the Prospective Ms. B. Mary suggested the Prospective mellow out by getting a one-night stay in a king suite with unlimited bubble baths and Downton, Scandal and Fifty Shades of OMG blu-rays. Mr. B was tempted hisownself. OMG2, he got a night in a king suite for two readers.
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Fit to a T: Men, are you struggling with low energy, fatigue, loss of muscle mass, low drive? T Off Men's Health Clinic can help, though Mr. B didn't realize those were problems. It was an ah!ha! moment -- so, THAT'S the problem! Hannah and Angela invited Mr. B in to discourse his decrepit-ness. One shot later, he Arnold Schwarzenegger-ed out of there feeling like a new man. (Mr. T?) T Off can assist men or women and anyone could benefit from getting the skinny of this weight-loss consultation and one lipotropic shot.
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Tee up as one of Lee's fleas: Two weeks ago, Mr. B was doing his summer fashion shopping at The Salvation Army Garage Sale on Felix Street and if you bought $35 worth of fantastic finds, then Lieutenant Vanessa Palmer would give you two tickets to the Doing the Most Good Annual Luncheon April 28 at the Hilton Hotel Fort Worth. OK, maybe that's not true. But Vanessa is true to her word and she has seats at the luncheon for two. Oh, and the luncheon features speaker Lee Trevino, only one of the greatest storytellers and names to ever appear in B2B Insider. He once played a mean round or two of golf. Honorary chairs are Sherri and Bobby Patton, which means his Los Angeles Dodgers must not be playing. And Pat Green is a non-honorary/ real chair. Maybe he'll sing. This sounds really star studded.
Quite a (snack) treat: Ron Parker is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council, which is the pre-eminent membership organization committed to increasing the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards and in global enterprises. He learned all that as a TCU graduate. OK, maybe he learned a little at PepsiCo in his nearly 30 years there. He also had a stint in the TCU athletics department. He will be coming in early from Plano April 16 to be interviewed by Neeley School of Business Dean He's A Homer Erekson during the Tandy Executive Speaker Series breakfast.
Congratulations to April 1 Prize Winners:
- Naomi Byrne, Fort Worth Housing Authority
- Alison Wise, Waterchase Golf Club
- Don Oxman, The Oxman Group
- Liesl Gray Manone, Don't Forget to Feed Me Food Bank
Winners will be announced weekly
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAID
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Eh! A little Main St. Arts Festival kickoff reminder from arty Linda Franko at Fairfield Inn & Suites
-- "EARTH without ART is just EH!"
 Diving for dollars: You know those golf balls retrieved from water hazards and re-sold? Titleists are worth a lot, its Pro V1s even more. The University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute (UTARI) is working on a vision scanner that automatically will read brand and model for a Houston company that collects, re-packages and sells the non-floatees.
One degree of separation: Fort Worth attorney Melissa Kates with Underwood Law Firm is no slouch herownself. But...her husband is Ged Kates, football coach at Richland High School and mother is Deborah McCart, first female Mayor in Amarillo.
Shalom ya'll: You may remember that former Israel President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres was in Fort Worth last month to kick off Tarrant County College's 50th anniversary celebration. Did you hear that country western superstar Pat Green rocked out in HEBREW with Cantor Shoshana Abrams-Kaikov on Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah?"
Free speech not always free: Susan Smith, an attorney with Varghese, Summersett & Smith, was talking about the troubles you could get into on Facebook by baring your soul, such as criticizing your math teacher or mentioning how your cute puppy likes to nip at the legs of repairmen. If you can't face toning it down, Susan Shaw of herownself's insurance agency said you could book some personal injury coverage.
This steak is too salty: Bridget Shelton ( Embassy Suites), Marcelle LeBlanc ( The Velvet Box) and Greg Kalina (Del Frisco's) were panelists for a recent breakfast seminar on customer service produced by the BAC Education Foundation. Cobbling together their advice: - Customer service is not what you do, but how you make customers feel. They want to be heard. The owner/host doesn't gain anything being right if a customer leaves disgruntled.
- Training is crucial. Only about 50-60 percent of their potential employees make it through training.
- They acknowledged how difficult it is to make your pride and ego subservient to some customers' idiosyncrasies.
- Shelton says their goal is to "deliver wow with service."
- Respond to fans and detractors on social media. Kalina says you only have a 24-hour window to take care of a complaint. After that, you've lost the customer, who may be vocal with others about the episode.
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"If I could give you one thing to remember, it's all about relationships. I don't care what business you're in. It's what makes Fort Worth so unique."
-- Brad Barnes, President & GM Stock Show and Rodeo,
mentoring Vision FW members
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Tee-rrific: Michael Wheaton of Lucien Wright Insurance volunteers at First Tee of Fort Worth. "I'm a better instructor than golfer," he said. As a volunteer, he sees First Tee as 25 percent about golf and 75 percent about teaching core values.
Quicker than Jimmy Johns: Greg Hatch, GM at Mira Vista Country Club in southwest Fort Worth, says his newest best friend is the Chisholm Trail Parkway. "10 minutes to downtown," he said. "It's opened us up to downtown for memberships, events and catering opportunities."
Dating herself: Sara Waskow of FranNet says the franchise matchmaking company is being described as the eHarmony of business opportunities.  Can you hear me now? Precise Energy Products, a Chamber Small Business of the Year honoree, exports 90-95 percent of its work. (Nigeria is a biggie.) According to CFO Lisa Cobb, Precise is a big mobile marketer, including YouTube, and not so much a fan of PC or Mac. "Parts of Nigeria might only have six hours of power a day, but everyone has a mobile phone," Cobb said. She also explained that close relationships with the company's 160 local suppliers are key to Precise knowing market intelligence and accelerating production deadlines if need be. Credit check: Dane Young, the Credit Card Guy, has been in merchant services 30 years. He has made lots of connections and confidently offers $500 if he can't lower your rates. Says he never has had to pay the $500. Must be some big chimneys: BNSF Railway hauls 300 million tons (300,000,000 x 2,000) of coal a year, according to D'Andrae Larry, Director Marketing-Industrial Products. Santa must have some really bad kids on his route. Always say 'yes, we can do that': Kevin Henson, ServPro of Grapevine/NE Tarrant Co. disaster recovery franchisee, found a mini-niche for his business by accident. An auto mechanic asked him to get the odor out of a smoker's car. |
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
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NEW! 2015 BOOK OF LISTS
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Compiled and published annually by the Fort Worth Business Press, this directory includes lists of top companies in more than 60 industries in Tarrant and Denton counties. Purchase it today! Prices begin at $45.00*
Contact Christine Gores to purchase or for additional information. *Member price. Price excludes tax..
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