Monthly Meetings We meet on the third Tuesday of the month at the conveniently located downtown hotel, DoubleTree Hotel, Meetings start at 5:30 with an informal networking reception. Dinner is served at 6:00 pm with an introduction and welcome by the president. The monthly speaker begins at 6:45 and our program is adjourned by 7:45 pm. Pre-registration for members is $20 before the deadline ($22 post-deadline). The cost for non-members is $25. We strive for variety with our programs and to provide an educational (and fun) environment. Past speakers have included local luminaries speaking about business networking, public relations, building sales leads, health, legal and personal development. Upcoming Meetings September 16, 2008 BPW Vision and Strategy Session More information coming soon... Click here for our on-line registration! Past Meetings June 17, 2008 Website Legal Issues: Tips and Best Practices Attorney Beth Russell will survey the many legal issues associated with building and maintaining a business website. In conversational “plain English,” Beth will raise awareness on key points, such as: Is it important to have a written agreement with your web developer and your hosting company? Do you need permission to use content on your site that you (or your employees) did not create? Can you be held liable if a user of your site posts (or links to) infringing material? What steps can you take to protect your business from such liability? Why is protecting your trademark more important now than it was in the pre-internet days? Is it a really bad idea to copy your website terms of use from another website? Are you thinking about sponsoring an online contest? Think twice. What are your obligations to maintain the privacy and integrity of data you collect online? Do you follow best practices for maintaining your domain portfolio? The objective of this presentation is to help business people be proactive (rather than reactive) by spotting the issues and knowing when to seek counsel before legal problems arise. You don’t have to be the expert, but you do have to know what questions to ask, and when to ask them. May 20, 2008 Month of Celebration We celebrate the members who have contributed to our Madison BPW through their work on our Board and various committees. It is also the beginning of a new year with the installation of our new Board for 2008-2009. To assist with this special night as our guest speaker will be BPW/WI President-elect Pat Barton. By the time of our meeting on May 20, Pat will officially be our BPW/WI President! We are honored to have her join us here in Madison. April 15, 2008 Some Changes May Be Necessary Life often forces us to make unwelcome changes: to where and how we live, to what we do for work, and to how we play. What allows us to adjust and get through it all? How different is it when the changes we make are welcomed, or even relished? When, if ever, does the process of change become easier? In March of 1998, while on a business trip to Wisconsin, Jacqui Sakowski met her husband. Within eight months she had moved here. Despite being blessed with the belief that life is truly one long adventure, and even though she approached her transition with energy, passion and boldness, Jacqui was still stunned by her own reactions to the many unexpected changes she faced as she strove to adapt. In relation to her emigration from Derbyshire, England to Iowa County, Wisconsin Jacqui will discuss the four stages of change that she experienced. Through amusing anecdotes she will share the joy, the frustrations, and the many lessons she learned while making the biggest transition of her life. In her first sales position, selling power tools for Black & Decker, Jacqui was one of just six women in a sales force of 120 representatives. In 1987, she moved into sales management with Alfred Marks, the worlds first staffing agency, and in 1992, became General Manager of a small, electronic security distribution company, where she quadrupled sales in two years. In 1996 she launched Pelco UK, which turned sales of $1million in ten months. Then in 2001, she launched Sakowski Consulting, LLC to provide sales improvement consulting, training and coaching services to small businesses in North America. Jacqui became an American Citizen in 2004. Come, bring a guest, and join this rescheduled presentation about how to welcome change, seize opportunities, and understand your own reactions to the unexpected. March 18, 2008 1 in 3: Quilting and Heart Disease Awareness What is the leading cause of death in the United States? Heart disease. It kills more people than the next five causes of death combined, yet only 13 percent of women believe that it is a threat to their personal health. How many women die from heart disease every year? Get this: one in three. UW Hospital and Clinics Nurse Helen Martin knows the numbers and has decided to do something about them. Martin combined her nursing experience with her love of quilting, and developed materials to teach women about heart health while they sew. Quilters tend to be sedentary, making them a group that absolutely needs to know the facts and risks of heart disease. Martin is in a unique position: she knows and loves quilting, and quilters are receptive to her message. February 19, 2008 3 Minutes of Fame Got a new business you’re excited about? Are you involved in a special project that needs more support? Want to let people know what you do? Now’s your chance! Take three minutes to present your own work to a devoted audience at our February meeting. Energize your fellow members! Rally contributors to your cause! Sign up new participants! January 15, 2008 Seeing a Need and Filling It: Reduce, Reuse, ReStore! You’ve seen the ads, they feed the fantasy of not only owning a home, but fixing it up: the sunlit kitchen, the designer paint, the bay windows and landscaped yards. Who doesn’t want a House Beautiful home? But buying a home is still out of reach for many people. If you are lucky enough to purchase a home, how can you afford to maintain it or make improvements? Are there any alternatives to getting deeper in debt at one of the big box home improvement stores? Can the American dream be made affordable? November 13, 2007 Marketing on a Shoestring Tell people that what they want is what you're selling. Vicky Jones is a marketing consultant who works with organizations that want to build bridges between their products and their customers. Vicky built her skills in product management at Pope & Talbot, American Cyanamid/Shulton USA, Mayfair Games, and Quaker Oats, and sharpened her focus on marketing communications as Director of Marketing Services for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, where, for ten years, she developed marketing communications programs for Wisconsin cheese and dairy products across consumer retail, foodservice, and food processing channels. October 16, 2007 All About Chocolate: Terroir, Truffles, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Passions are incredibly motivating. They inspire and challenge us to create beautiful things, fight for what we believe, and make our lives full and meaningful. Artists, revolutionaries, and leaders of all kinds regularly tap into their passions to find direction and focus. Learn about chocolate-making with local chocolatier Gail Ambrosius (www.gailambrosius.com). From her childhood on a Wisconsin dairy farm to a chance to study with renowned French chocolate-makers, Ambrosius changed a job layoff into an opportunity to pursue a passion, creating a Madison-based chocolate business in the process. September 18, 2007 Title IX at 35: Has Gender Equity in Education Been Reached? Join in a discussion with Terry Gawlik of the UW-Madison Athletics Department about women in sports, Title IX, and the impact of the law on the lives young women. August 21, 2007 It Takes More Than a Vote: Electing Women to Office Join in a discussion with State Representative Barbara Toles, a member of the Women Legislators' Lobby (WiLL) and state director of Women in Government, a national bipartisan, nonprofit organization representing women state legislators (www.womeningovernment.org). Offering inspiration, education, and networking opportunities, these groups aim to empower and mobilize women legislators to effect sound policy on the state and federal levels. Come, bring a guest, and learn what you can do to hear those words you know you long for: “Madame President.” July 17, 2007 Reaching Out: Inspiration, Action, and Community-building After a Disaster Community is important whether you live in Asia, the American South, or the Upper Midwest. Following a disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, or emergency response meltdown, community takes on added relevance. When the tools for everyday living are torn away, who replaces them? How are lives mended? How can people who have lost everything not only start over, but be able to take an active role in the rebuilding of their community? Learn how one local woman, Margaret Jankowski of the Sewing Machine Project has sent hundreds of sewing machines to women across the globe where people are using them not only to rebuild their lives but also to start small sewing-related businesses.