Women Business Owners Idea Cafe
a different kind of networking group
Calendar
Now in our fifth year, the Women Business Owners Idea Cafe meets on the third Tuesday of every month from 5:30 - 7:30 PM in Skippack. Below is our calendar with details on our upcoming meetings. Check back frequently for updates!
- Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Topic: Get ready to kick off the WBO Idea Cafe 2011-2012 season with a topic that's sure to give you business a boost!
Social Media: The Next Level - Are you ready to take your social media presence to the next level? Come join us at the September meeting to learn how to attract more fans and followers, engage your potential customers, and run a contest on Facebook! Hannah Tighe from Chatterbox Social Media and Jessica Reilley from A Mix of Pixels will also touch on a few other critical topics, like SEO, text blasts, and QR codes. Not sure what all of these terms mean? We'll fill you in and you'll leave the meeting with a core understanding of how to kick up your social media presence and draw in more customers!
September is also bring-a-friend month! We encourage you to bring a friend to our meeting to take part in our engaging topics and lively discussions. Please note on your Evite response if you'll be bringing a friend.
Community Outreach: Please bring new, unopened canned goods that will be donated to a local food bank.
Food: Please bring "ready to eat" food and/or a favorite drink to share! Note: Please bring non-alcoholic beverages only.
- Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Topic: Join us for the WBO Idea Cafe's October meeting! We'll be joined by Image Consultant, Megan Kristel, of Kristel Closets as she presents "Dress for Success!". Megan's presentation will include discussion about the way we present ourselves and how that has an extraordinary impact on our success and confidence. Like it or not, we are judged first on our appearance, then by our quality of work. Knowing how to maintain a positive image gives us control over how we are perceived so our talent and skill set shine through.
About Megan Kristel: Megan Kristel, President of Kristel Closets, Inc., has spent years helping clients look and feel their best and discover their own unique style. As matter of fact, Megan's motto is simple: Look your best to be your best. With a background in corporate retail, Megan knows a thing or two about clothes, having spent time as a buyer for Charming Shoppes before becoming Women's Fashion Buyer and General Manager for the acclaimed Suzanne Roberts Boutique in Philadelphia. As a public speaker, Megan's sell-out workshops incorporate her trademark humor and disarming nature with real life advice and practical solutions.
Community Outreach: We'll be donating to Little Liberty Thrift Store, which collects gently used maternity clothes, as well as children's clothes and toys.
Food: Please bring "ready to eat" food and/or a favorite drink to share! Note: Please bring non-alcoholic beverages only.
- Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Topic: This month, Karen Jett of Jett Excellence will speak about how to improve focus and increase profitability in her presentation "Stop Chasing Shiny Baubles": Frequently distractions are easy to spot. But sometimes a distraction comes packaged looking like an opportunity. Do you know how to tell them apart?
Shiny baubles are those distractions that may appear to be opportunities. When we are unable to clearly distinguish between a real opportunity and a shiny bauble, we waste valuable time, money and energy on projects, ideas, and products that never provide the expected return on investment. Worse yet, we may neglect or overlook a true opportunity as we chase after those shiny baubles.
Join Karen as she provides tools that will help you to improve your focus, increase your profitability, and clearly identify shiny baubles before you invest in them.
Karen L. Jett, CMA works with small business owners who want a strategic advantage to grow their business or practice. With more than two decades of accounting and leadership experience, Karen brings a unique business perspective to her clients by understanding the operations and financial challenges faced by business owners on a daily basis.
Karen holds associates' and bachelor's degrees in accounting from Montgomery County Community College and Temple University, and is a Certified Management Accountant. She was inducted into MCCC's prestigious Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009. Karen has also developed an interactive ethics training system for small businesses, called "Questioning Ethics," and has published a book, Grow Your People, Grow Your Business.
Community Outreach: We'll be collecting toys for the Toys For Tots Foundation. Please bring new, unopened, unwrapped toys for our donation.
Food: We ask for volunteers to bring munchies for our meetings. We welcome anything that you would like to bring but, if you're feeling particularly inspired or have lots of extra time this month, we encourage you to bring a dish that contains traditional Thanksgiving ingredients with a new twist. (Some examples might include sweet potato pie, caramelized pear and cranberry salad, or pumpkin pie biscotti.)
- Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Topic:It's our annual holiday party! Come join us in a relaxed environment to meet new people, enjoy delicious food, and share some holiday cheer. We will also spend some time in small breakout groups to follow up on Karen Jett's advice about strategic planning for small businesses. It is not necessary for you to have been present at the November meeting in order to benefit from this follow-up session. Come join us and get your business ready for 2012 with a new strategy to help you improve focus and increase profitability!
Re-Gift-a-Palooza: We're going to have a Re-Gift-a-Palooza again this year, so please bring a funny or unwanted wrapped gift to re-gift to someone else!
Community Outreach: We will be collecting new, unwrapped warm SOCKS for men, women, or children to be donated to Operation Warm Feet.
Food: We ask for volunteers to bring food and drinks for our meetings. Because it's our Holiday Party, we'd love for everyone to bring their favorite holiday snack or drink to share with others. If you would like to bring something, please indicate this in your response and also list the food or drink item you will be bringing. (Only one rule - since our meetings are held at a place of business, we cannot allow alcohol to be served.) Thank you!
- UPDATED - Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Topic: Kick off 2012 by joining us for the WBO Idea Cafe's January meeting! If you've ever thought about holding your own networking event, but have no idea where to start, then this meeting is for you. Bringing like-minded people together to connect, learn and share creates an excellent opportunity for you to grow and deepen your own business relationships. Linda Bandura of L.B. Marketing will give tips on who to invite to your event, how to promote it, where to hold it, and what to do once everyone shows up. Then we'll break out into small groups to brainstorm ideas for your very own event. We look forward to seeing you there and we'll be looking for invitations to YOUR events in the near future!
Community Outreach: We'll be donating to Stray Cat Blues, which collects food, medicine, litter, and other pet supplies for stray and abandoned cats.
Food: We ask for volunteers to bring food and drinks for our meetings. If you would like to bring something, please indicate this in your response and also list the food or drink item you will be bringing. (Only one rule - since our meetings are held at a place of business, we cannot allow alcohol to be served.) Thank you!
- Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Topic: Our February meeting will feature speaker De Yarrison, of Essential Shift. De brings over 12 years of experience to her work in executive development, team building, and retreat facilitation, along with a lot of heart and passion. She creates impact with leaders and their teams in the business world as well as the leaders in life's other important arenas: pastors, teachers, mothers, fathers.
De will guide us in an exploration of work-life balance. We will:- Connect with our individual core values as a foundation for personal well-being
- Build our resiliency muscles through simple, yet powerful mindfulness practices
- Create a personal plan for experimenting with these practices as a means to greater inner peace while juggling life's priorities of work, family, friends, etc.
Check back periodically for more upcoming events for Women Business Owners! Got any ideas for a good topic or speaker? We'd love to hear from you!
latest news
February Meeting
Our February meeting will feature speaker De Yarrison, of Essential Shift, LLC. De will guide us in an exploration of work-life balance and help us conclude our last WBO Idea Cafe. Learn more...
New Meeting Location
We've moved! Our meetings are now held at Merle Norman in Skippack.
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