January - March, 2008
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Ventura County Professional Women’s Network
.
VCPWN Focal Points
January - March, 2008
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources
CPWN
Meeting
Calendar
These dates are
closer than they
appear!
Location:
Wedgewood Banquet Center
5880 Olivas Park Dr. Ventura
Networking begins at 5:30 p.m.
Dinner, with networking
continuing at 6:30
Program begins 7:15, adjourn 8:45
Thursday, January 10
Speaker: Maura Raffensperger The Organizing Rx
Sponsor: Deborah Gallant - Web
Power Tools
Note: special date for February!
*** Thursday, February 7***
Speaker: Marilyn McGraw Viva DaVinci Design
Sponsor: Phyllis Brown Global Destination Travel
Silent Auction
Thursday, March 13
Speaker: Cindy Mulhollen Mulhollen Jewelry Design
Sponsor: Paula Crutchley Business Coach
Board of Directors
Meetings
Cypress Place Ind. Living
1200 Cypress Point Lane, Ventura
6:00 p.m. dinner and meeting
Tuesday, January 22
Tuesday, February 26
Tuesday, March 25
All members are welcome to attend
board meetings.
Meet Shirley Lorraine – Woman of
Many Talents.
Yes, that’s really what it says
on her business cards. Many
members know her as a Fashion
Coordinator for Weekenders. She
is that, and much more.
What you may not know about
Shirley is that she and her
husband, Jim Spencer, have an
entertainment services company
called SpencerLorraine (go
figure!). This company has been
providing entertainment services
for individuals and organizations
since 1988. Both Jim and Shirley
are magician members of
Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle, and Shirley has recently been seen doing her
stage magic act for the 2007 Making Magic show, which benefits the Salvation
Army’s Transitional Living Center.
One of Shirley’s other talents is entertaining with card readings, which is
especially popular during the holiday season. Shirley’s cards are called
Reflections and result in positive personality readings that are amazingly
accurate.
Also an accomplished writer, she and Jim penned a weekly column for the
Ventura County Reporter for 12 years, reviewing local theater stage productions.
They both currently contribute articles for the Central Coast Farm and Ranch
Magazine and have been published in international magazines for the magic
industry. Shirley also writes and performs cowboy poetry, a form of
light-hearted poems featuring western life. She is currently working on a book
of her poetry featuring cover art by local artist Chris Martinez.
Her background in fashion goes way back. For a number of years she had her
own company, “Show Clothes”, which provided both found and created
costumes for local theater companies. Her background is theater in all phases.
She has been a director, producer, choreographer, make-up artist or costumer
for several hundred productions. Over the past 30 years she’s worked with
most of the theater companies in Ventura County as well as several in the
Valley area.
Shirley joined VCPWN six years ago, thanks to attending a great Business
Conference. At that time she worked for a non-profit organization and wasn’t
sure that she “fit” as a professional, but everyone was so welcoming that she
says she’s never looked back. When she waffled about going into business for
herself, VCPWN members were instrumental in encouraging and supporting
Continued on page 5 ...
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VCPWN Focal Points
January - March, 2008
From the President Lisa Ross
Dear VCPWN Members and
Friends,
I hope you’ve had a wonderful
holiday season, abundant in all the
best ways. As always, after the
holidays, I’m ready to look forward to
other upcoming events.
Join us in 2008 as we prepare for
some very interesting and timely
programs, and our Women’s Business Conference in April.
January’s program, presented by our own Organizing RX
Maura Raffensperger, couldn’t be at a better time. From
what I’ve learned I’m not the only one in need of a little
“organizational tune-up” to lay the groundwork for an
even more peaceful New Year!
Happy New Year to you and your families… may it be
the best year ever. Lisa
Between the
Lines
Was it a wonderful,
peaceful and happy holiday
season, and are you ready to
zoom into 2008, prepared to
accept all the success,
prosperity, and contentment
you can hold? Those are my
New Year’s wishes for you.
2007 was very kind to me, not the least of which
being the absolute surprise at the last meeting when
Shirley Lorraine called me to the stage and presented
me with the Wind Beneath My Wings award.
I truly appreciated having had the opportunity to
write that essay about my one-and-only, Bill McElroy
(still together after two divorces from each other).
Along with the beautiful bouquet of flowers, the
prize was an amazing meal at 71 Palm, downtown
Ventura (I’d always wanted to go there!), and a
rhinestone-studded fortune cookie that now has a place
of honor on my computer monitor stand. Since I sit
here day and night I have a constant reminder of the
good and dear friends I’ve made in this organization.
I’m very pleased to welcome back Carol Leish to the
Focal Points committee as meeting reviewer, as well as
having Tessa Weeks volunteer to compile and edit the
new member profiles, and Pam DuBiel as advertising
coordinator.
If you have ideas for new articles of features, or
you’d like to take photos, or have some talent to offer,
this is your newsletter. I’d love to hear from you.
Sheila Lowe, Editor (Handwriting Analyst/Expert)
Www.sheilalowe.com
The Board had fun at the Thanksgiving Silent Auction
basket fluffing party at Sue Gary’s house
January - March, 2008
Page 3
staff unwittingly play Russian Roulette
with their valuable, time-sensitive, and
labor-intensive computer-stored
information. According to the National
By Dan & Alison Balter
Computer Security Association, it can
It’s 11:34 pm on Sunday night and
take as long as 19 days and cost as
you promised your client that she’d
much as $17,000.00 to recreate just 20
have your proposal in her email on
megabytes of lost sales and marketing
Monday morning. You’re just about
done when the computer starts making data due to insufficient or non-existent
computer backups.
a weird noise…hummm. As you’re
putting the finishing touches onto your www.BostonComputing.net offers
these sobering insights:
masterpiece, all of a sudden, you get
• 60% of companies that lose their data
the dreaded “BSOD”, also known as
will shut down within 6 months of the
the “Blue Screen of Death”! OK, don’t
disaster.
panic (yet). Just power off the computer, wait a couple of minutes, then
• 93% of companies that lost (access to)
turn it back on. It should be okay,
their data… for 10 days or more due to
right? Maybe. Perhaps it will come
a disaster filed for bankruptcy within
back on just fine. It usually does. But
one year of the disaster.
not this time.
What does this all mean and how
Now panic begins to set in. What
can we use this information to our
the @#!^&*()~ is going on with the
advantage? Most small businesses do
computer? Why would this happen
not back up their own data because it’s
now, when of all the times that it could too cumbersome and time-consuming.
go bad, this is the worst!. Of course
So, the data backup process needs to be
you have a good, reliable, recent
automated and scheduled to ensure
backup, right? Are you kidding? Who that backups are performed regularly.
has time to back up her computer?
This first step is half the battle to
Even if you had the time, how would
securing your own computer data. The
you go about backing up your
second step is to store the backed up
important stuff anyway?
data offsite so that you will still have
This scenario plays itself out every
access to your valuable information if
day, all over the world. Individuals
you have the misfortune of
and small businesses who can’t afford encountering a fire, a theft, a flood, or
the luxury of their own in-house I.T.
some other disaster. An offsite backup
Back it Up!
UPCOMING
EVENTS
.
VCPWN Focal Points
service provides you with both parts of
this equation by automatically backing
up all the data on your computer that
you identify as important and valuable
based on a schedule that you assign.
An offsite backup service stores
your backed up data off-premises to
protect your data from physical
catastrophes. A good offsite backup
provider also stores multiple versions
of each data file so that you can restore
files from various points in time, such
as yesterday, last week, or last month.
A high-quality backup company
mirrors your data at more than one
data center, insuring that your data is
safe, even if the backup service incurs a
disaster of its own.
Alison and Dan Balter co-own
InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., a
Microsoft Certified Partner computer
consulting firm specializing in helping
small businesses take full advantage of
today’s vast array of computer
technology.
InfoTech offers computer and
network installation, support, and
maintenance, as well as monthly
service offerings for hosted Exchange
Server email, highly-effective spam
email filtering, offsite data backups,
and remote bank deposit scanning.
Alison and Dan can be reached at
1-877-644-TECH or at
[email protected].
Call to make reservations: 656-6011
January, 2008
February, 2008 (Silent Auction, too!)
Maura Raffensperger —
The Organizing Rx
Goal Setting is the first
step to getting - and
staying! - organized. Learn
how in this interactive
workshop presentation!
Maura is the productivity
guru for entrepreneurs
with growing businesses.
Celebrating her 10th year in business, she
is a past president of both VCPWN and
the Santa Barbara/Ventura chapter of the
National Association of Professional
Organizers.
Marilyn McGraw - Viva DaVinci Design
An inventor, author and artist as well as
the owner of Viva DaVinci Design Center
in Santa Barbara, California, Marilyn
developed and patented a design system
based on Leonardo da Vinci’s universal
principles of human
structural proportion. The
system takes the client
step-by-step through the
development, design and
selection of hairstyle,
eyewear, jewelry and
clothing based on their
uniqueness.
Page 4
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VCPWN Focal Points
January - March, 2008
couple live on an
avocado and
lemon orchard.
Jean retired in
2004 after 25
years with Von’s
Market. She now
Caroline Corser
enjoys working
Cheerleader
out and going to
for Positive
the gym six days
Lifestyles
a week. She also
Caroline
enjoys spending
Corser has so
time with her
many reasons
husband, family,
to appreciate
and friends. Jean
living in
loves going to the
Ventura
Phyllis and granddaughters
beach at any time
County. She
of the year. She
grew up in
in the Oklahoma Oil business for many and Glenn have a small RV and enjoy
Michigan, and
years. She has been in Ventura County
camping and traveling all over the US
when she sees
for those 30 years.
and Canada for weeks and months at
their snowstorms on the Weather
Her daughters are all married, and
a time. Jean says, “Life is very good
Channel, she’s so grateful to be here.
After graduating from Michigan State, live and work here in Ventura County. for me right now.”
Tiffiney is with the Ventura County
There were several other members
Caroline lived in Florida for several
Sheriff’s
SVU
division.
Whitney
is
a
joining
recently, and we hope to hear
years—before hurricanes were so
Human
Resources
Analyst
for
the
City
from
them
in the next issue:
frequent. “Our occasional Santa Ana
of
Ventura.
Cheyney
is
the
Global
Lynn
Jones
winds are nothing by comparison,” she
Product Development Manager for
Fiona Spring/Lynda Ereshan
remarks.
Kristin Cahill
After earning MA degrees from the Avery Dennison Inc. Phyllis’s mom,
who is now 88 years young, lives with
Alison Fischer
University of Texas, Caroline and her
Susie Skillstad
new husband fled the Texas humidity her in their home in Port Hueneme
along with Sly and Patches their two
and monster bugs to the relief of hot,
wonderful cats.
Grateful thanks to Tessa Weeks of
dry Bakersfield. She taught at
Phyllis loves to travel, work in her
Make Every Word Count for gathering
Bakersfield College and raised two
garden, and also enjoys bead-work. She and editing the information for this
sons there, but she truly prefers the
column.
refreshing, cool breezes she found four has been single since 1974, and loves
that
too!
Phyllis
first
joined
VCPWN
in
years ago in Port Hueneme.
1979 having been invited to attend by
Caroline also loves this area for the
variety of places to enjoy her hobby of Sheila Cluff. She is thrilled to be back
birding. She also enjoys walking on the and is sorry to have missed so many
beach and relaxing to the sound of the years in-between.
surf that refreshes her like nothing else
Jean Larson
A quarterly publication of
can. And she’s now close enough to
Jean Larson
Ventura
County Professional
visit often with her sons and their
is a California
Women’s
Network
families, who live just east of
native. She
Pasadena. To top it all off, she’s met so
EDITOR
lived the first 40
many wonderful people in this
Sheila Lowe: 658-0109
years of her life
heavenly place. Caroline says that life
[email protected]
in Temple City
here on the California coast beats any
MEETING REVIEWER
(San Gabriel
of her past lives!
Carol Leish
Valley) and for
www.AwesomeAging.com
NEW
MEMBER
PROFILES
the past ten
Tessa
Weeks
years in the
Phyllis Kenton Brown
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Ventura area.
Phyllis Kenton Brown is originally
Pam DuBiel
For those ten
from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She and her
For
advertising
rates, see the web site:
years she has
three daughters moved to California in
www.VCPWN.org
1977 after her father, a third generation been happily married to Glenn. The
Welcome to
New Members
Californian, retired here after working
January - March, 2008
The Power of Gratitude
Meeting Review by Carol Leish
Our November speaker, Patricia Alexander, spoke about
having joy and balance in our holidays.
She was focusing on various traditions we
may have regarding Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year’s.
She also focused on holiday stress busters.
Patricia, who is co-author with her life
partner, Michael Burgos, MFT, wrote, The
Book of Comforts, Simple, Powerful Ways to
Comfort Your Spirit, Body and Soul. The
artwork and design was done by Dean
Andrews.
The audience laughed as Patricia told
the story of a young wife who always cut off the ends of
each roast when she made the family dinner on Sundays.
Curious, the husband asked his mother-in-law why she did
that. The mother-in-law laughed and said, “I did it because
my pan was too small!” This is the kind of tradition that we
continue to follow, according to Patricia, even though we
don’t know why we are doing it.
“You can give yourself permission to have more balance
during the holidays,” Patricia said. “By choosing to have an
attitude of gratitude, you can shift your focus from the
forgettable to the memorable.”
The audience answered the question Patricia asked: What
are some of the favorite things about the holidays? They said
family, buying gifts, and the nostalgia of the holidays.
Some of the least favorite things about the holidays
included, trying to control everything, and sending out
holiday cards.
Patricia focused on some ways of dealing with holiday
stress that included, exercise, vitamins and eating well.
“Remember,” she said, “we have the choice to adapt to
things during the holidays.”
Shirley Lorraine, Continued from Page 1…
her to make that choice. A former member, Ruth
Bishop, whom Shirley met at that first conference,
introduced her to Weekenders and got her started. Ruth
continues to support her today, though now from long
distance.
Shirley has always been one to jump in with both feet, and
she has found that being part of the Board of Directors of
VCPWN has helped her to understand the organization
better and how much fun it is to be actively involved.
It was an honor and a thrill for her to serve as President,
especially during the time of the 25th anniversary
celebration last year! Her goal for the future as Immediate
Past President is to bring back the business conference in
2008, and to help VCPWN rediscover its roots that have
kept it going strong all these years.
Of course, there is always more to learn about Shirley.
She is, after all, a Woman of Many Talents!
www.weekendersusa.com/shirleyscloset
Page 5
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VCPWN Focal Points
Winners!
Mary Gabriels, Sue Gary, and Anna Kittleson
were the winners in the I Give Thanks
Thanksgiving basket contest at the last meeting.
Their prize is a years-worth of insertions of
their business cards. You, too, can be a
winner--enter a basket in the Valentine’s Day
basket contest.
A new opportunity to win!
The February meeting will feature our next
Silent Auction, and we’re having a Romance
Basket contest. Be at your most creative and
romantic. Details at the January 2008 meeting,
or watch the VCPWN.org web site.
Page 6
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VCPWN Focal Points
Blow Your Horn!
• An independent travel agent for 16
•
years, Martha Jaffe of Travel Planners
International was voted #2 Travel
Agent in Ventura County for 2007 by
the Ventura County Reporter. She has a
full service travel business offering her
clients excellent service and product
knowledge from airline tickets to
cruises to complicated individual travel
and tours.
Carol Leish gave a talk at Port
Hueneme Naval Surface
Warfare Center to the Persons
with Disabilities Focus Group
during National Disability
Employment Awareness Month
(October). She discussed this year’s
theme: “Workers with Disabilities:
Talent for a Winning Team.” Carol
has been giving Disability
Awareness In-Services for the past ten
years, speaking about her own visual
and speech challenges that she’s had
since childhood with a focus on the
importance of having a positive attitude,
January - March, 2008
•
•
with humor, and improvising or
accommodating to various situations.
Sheila Lowe had double honors to
celebrate: She was given the Wind
Beneath My Wings award for her essay
celebrating her relationship with her
twice-ex-husband, Bill McElroy, and
her mystery novel, Poison Pen was a
Finalist in the Mystery/Suspense
category of the National Best Books
2007 Awards.
Www.usabooknews.com/bestbooksawa
rds2007.html
• Carol Powell spent two
weeks in New York
recently visiting her son
and family. Had fun in the
City. Central Park was
especially beautiful. She spent
several days in The
Hamptons. Carol also
attended a week of college at
Nouveau Riche University for
Real Estate investing education
recently in Scottsdale. Classes included
Creative Financing, Foreclosures, Short
Sales and Legal Strategies.
Tea Silvestre was a guest of Kat and
Curtis Knecht on their Partners in
Table Hostessing
101
Director of Hospitality, Laura
Parson
What does it take to be a good
Table Hostess or Host? It’s really
easy! All it takes is a willingness to get
involved and help guide the
conversation. Here are a few tips to
help you get started:
1) Take charge! It is the Hostesses’
responsibility to keep the conversation
moving and to give everyone at the
table a chance to speak.
2) Start the evening by distributing
any materials the Director of
Hospitality has included in the Hostess
notebook. Mention the forms available
for those who want to be a sponsor or
speaker at future meetings. Most
importantly, tell everyone at the table
how great it is to be a hostess and
encourage them to sign up.
3) Distribute the meeting agenda to
everyone at the table.
4) Begin the networking by going
around the table and having each
person give a 30 second commercial on
their business. Ask them to distribute
their business cards to everyone at the
table. If a “side conversation” starts up
between two individuals at the table,
encourage them to get together for
some one-to-one networking, perhaps
after the meeting.
5) After the introductions, go around
the table again and ask everyone to
answer the Sponsor and Speaker
questions provided by the Director of
Hospitality. You may want to start each
Paradise radio show on KKZZ
1590AM, Ventura. The theme was
Gratitude, and the discussion centered
around how to deal with sudden and
unexpected changes that happen within
a business, such as how to stay focused,
positive, in integrity; how to
communicate well with clients; keep a
cool head; keep the big picture in mind,
etc.
• Pam Vos has moved her Forever Fit For
Women studio to a new location in
Oxnard. Stop by and see her at 3810 W.
Channel Islands Blvd., Suite G.
__________________________________
Do you have something you’d like to
share with your fellow VCPWN
members? Send “Blow Your Horn”
announcements to Sheila Lowe at
[email protected]
Items are for interest only, not advertising.
If you are interested in purchasing an
advertisement to publicize your business
or an event or place a classified ad, please
let us know. It will benefit you and help
support Focal Points. Contact Advertising
Coordinator, Pam DuBiel at
[email protected]
round with a different person – I
usually pick the person who has just
taken a big bite of their dinner!
6) If you run out of questions and
still have time, have a round where
each person asks someone else at the
table a question about their business.
The most important thing to
remember is, this is supposed to be an
enjoyable time for all, including the
Hostess! If everyone at the table is
having an interesting conversation,
don’t feel that you need to interrupt
just to ask another question (as long as
everyone is involved in the
conversation).
Being a Table Hostess is a great
opportunity for members who want to
be involved, but are not ready to make
the longer-term commitment of being
on the Board of Directors. And there’s
a bonus – your name and business are
announced at the end of the meeting.
If you are interested in being a
Table Hostess or Host, or if you have
any questions, please contact Laura
Parson. [email protected]
January - March, 2008
Page 7
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VCPWN Focal Points
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!
Ventura County Professional Women’s Network
Post Office Box 6329
Oxnard, California 93031
(866)-275-4134 www.vcpwn.org
.
VCPWN 2007-2008 Board of Directors
President
Lisa Ross
805-650-8000
[email protected]
Executive Secretary
Denise Lawrence
805-984-5142
[email protected]
Member-at-Large
Laureen Lazzaro
805-477-0441
[email protected]
Immediate Past President
Shirley Lorraine
805-659-5580
[email protected]
Director of Hospitality
Laura Parson
805-642-8890
[email protected]
Focal Points Editor
Sheila Lowe
805-658-0109
[email protected]
President-Elect
Carol Powell
805-443-5900
[email protected]
Director of Public Relations
Barbara Marquis
805-796-1946
[email protected]
Director of Special Events
Open Position
Director of Membership
Jim Nicoll
805-642-1775
[email protected]
Director of Mentoring
Pam Vos
805-382-4444
[email protected]
Recording Secretary
Open position
Director of Finance
Mary Sullivan
805-642-9706
[email protected]
Director of Networking
Alison Balter
805-491-0111
[email protected]