E-Newsletter, Vol.2, No.3 Professional Women’s Network March 2000
Life is full of choices, but how do you know when you are making the right one? Thankfully, there are many right ones, and making a wrong choice is not necessarily going to wipe you out for the rest of time. You’ve heard it said that when opportunity knocks, you’d better open the door. What we’ve heard from our recent speakers is that opportunity knocks all the time; we’ve just got to recognize it and be ready to make the changes required. We need to get beyond our fears, our misguided loyalties, and sometimes, beyond the criticism and misunderstanding of others -- get beyond whatever it is that is keeping us from being the person we want to be, or accomplish that which we know is possible. What you can conceive, you can achieve. If you can dream it, it’s possible to reach towards it.
Take that dream and keep it alive. Keep it alive through challenges and disappointments and failures. You may not be facing anything big right now … just the same old humdrum career and lifestyle. Why aren’t things more exciting or challenging? Catching the excitement and successes of others and noting how each of us have traveled (and even travailed) our ‘Journey towards Fulfillment’ can be the motivation to keep us going when we’ve chugged to a slowdown.
Sometimes, even though we have a good game plan and have always been reasonably organized, we find ourselves overwhelmed with the complexities and choices that we now have. Again, the things we have learned from others that have helped them are key to our successes and enjoyment of the journey. We all need help rolling along into the high-tech society we find ourselves a part of, whether we welcome all the changes or resent them.
March is International Women’s Month. It’s a good time to take stock in where we, as professional women, find ourselves at this time in history, at this point in our lives. Last month, I talked about how I jumped into the home PC world just four years ago, to find I’ve only scratched the surface of what computing tools can do to help keep me organized and on top of my life. Many have graduated from their desktop computers to laptops and now are carrying something smaller that runs on batteries and goes wherever they go. PDA’s - Personal Digital Assistants are a growing market and a way to organize meeting schedules, to-dos and contact lists. You just plug them back into your computer when you come home or return to your office and everything is transferred and saved.
I must confess, I’m a little nervous about this next jump ahead; but after watching the tech recruiter in our office depending on his Palm Pilot for his professional enhancement, I’m ready to learn. I’ve even done my ‘due diligence’ again. I know the future has progressed to the point that 21st century business users in a content-driven world are provided this content and connectivity anywhere, any time. I’m scared to face these new handheld devices; but I’m daring to go, knowing that I’ll face it, just like I did when I was scared of PCs. Now I can’t survive without my computer.
Come join us at the March 29 luncheon, when we welcome Alan Lam of the Quorum. Alan will give us one more edge in surmounting the information overload we all find ourselves dealing with in our personal and business lives. We’ll have fun learning about PDAs and what they mean for the modern businesswoman. See you there!
Barbara Guss
President
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK
The Professional Women’s Network is dedicated to supporting professional and businesswomen in Hawaii, acting on the premise that mutual support is a necessary factor in bringing about personal growth and business success. The Network’s objectives are to promote the exchange of professional ideas and provide an opportunity to share experiences that will help women expand their business position in the Hawaii marketplace. We are committed to providing women in Hawaii with the opportunity to obtain support from other like-minded women in the pursuit of their professional and business goals. We are committed to challenging our members with new ideas and information that will help them attain their business and personal goals.
Membership Information can be obtained by calling 533-4800
YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
Barbara
Guss |
President |
|
Rudi
Laarhoven |
Newsletter |
|
Elaine
Myers Hammond |
VP/Programs |
|
Pat
Shapiro/Louise Coward |
Special
Events |
|
Jeanette
Frahm |
Secretary/Historian |
|
Ute
Regan |
Scholarship |
|
Gail
Smith |
Treasurer |
|
Gloria
Affigne |
Past
Pres./Advisor |
|
Put
your name here |
Arrangements |
|
Beth
Busch |
Past
Pres./Advisor |
|
Jane
Brown |
Membership |
|
Carol
Williams |
Past Pres./Advisor |
|
Denise
Crosby |
Publicity |
|
Mary
Houghton |
Executive
Director |
2000 MEETING DATES
4th WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH
(3rd Wednesday, April & May)
Mar 29, Apr 19, May 24, Jun 28, Jul 26, Aug 30,
Sept 27, Oct 25, Nov 29, December Holiday Party TBA
by Rudi Laarhoven
FLORENCE KELLY (Hawai’i Baha’i Community) asks if you called your senator or representative asking them to support the Women’s Legislative Caucus (WLC) with their Year 2000 package entitled “Not for Ourselves Alone”. The title was taken from the film documentary depicting the lives of two famous women, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, pioneers in the women’s suffrage movement. The video is available from PBS Home Video or you can borrow it from Rudi Laarhoven. The only member who reported in on taking a trip this month is DR. SALLIE LAU (Herb Wise Inc.). Sallie is going to her sister’s daughter’s wedding and lo and behold (as she puts it), her husband is going with her. They will meet up with their son and his new bride. DR. LEI LAVARIAS (Serenity) offers PWN members a special deal for March by giving us 10% off the exclusive special in aromatherapy systems and/or candles. The aromatherapy system offers four basic items for $35 (incl. tax). The systems that Lei recommends are energizing, balancing, calming, and enticing. CAROL WILLIAMS (440 International Inc.) licensed an Internet feature she writes with her husband, “Those Were the Days”, to a company that has a web site called “Recommend-It.” They are using “Those Were the Days” in a daily e-newsletter. Subscriptions are free and you can subscribe by visiting http://www.strive.to/go.e?001130 and checking the ‘Know Your History’ newsletter box. This feature is similar to PBS Online’s “This Day in History” feature that Carol licensed to PBS last year. Any Taurians among us? Recently RUDI LAARHOVEN (Computer Training Academy) emailed Susan Aiu with a line from William Shakespeare, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” SUSAN AIU (Susan Aiu Astrology) replied that the fault lies “in how we react to what the stars are up to, over which we have no control. The more we know about the patterns, the easier it is to cope. Next April/May we will have SEVEN planets all lined up in Taurus. This gathering will act like an exclamation point for Taureans especially. “
Susan also had a gloomy observation. She said that she hoped that the earth doesn't do an out-of-balance washing machine trip and slip at this time because ... in watching the globe warming up it has been recorded that:
*Arctic ice is 4 feet thinner than 25 years ago.
*The Ross Ice Shelf is unstable.
*The ocean is less salty - it freezes & melts faster.
*Fish seek different breeding grounds.
*Pacific islands are disappearing due to rising water.
*Pilots in shipping lanes note the icebergs are melting.
*The paths of the last eclipse & the one on July 1 are above Antarctica, which trigger storms and quakes.
*The solar flare cycle is at its peak.
I guess we’ll have to just wait and see what’s in store for us.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
Laura Eszes, President, TwinWorlds, Inc.,
1720 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 805B
Honolulu, HI 96815
Phone 944-9496 Fax 944-9496 #99
email: info@twinworlds.com
Noreen Conlin, Director, PR & Development
Special Olympics Hawaii
P. O. Box 3295, Honolulu, HI 96801
Phone 531-1888 x 25 fax 528-0881
email: noreencon@aol.com
Jocelyn Pratt, Fashion Coordinator & Image Consultant
Elements of Style
44-138 Hako Street #1
Kaneohe, HI 96744
Phone 247-2318 fax 247-2318 residence 235-9922
email: vjpratt@juno.com
ALERT! Alex Memorial Scholarship Applications
Deadline for applications: Sunday, April 30, 2000.
PWN members and their children, both sons and daughters, are eligible and encouraged to apply! Information, fact sheet, and applications are available by calling 531-7656 emailing Scholarship Chair, Ute Regan. uregan@attglobal.net
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ACHIEVE THE AMERICAN DREAM
Surpass your current earning potential!
Call SERENITY at 531-6405 for more information.
THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Our GOAL for 2000 is "30" NEW members
Why is it so important to increase our membership?
1. We will have a greater opportunity for a more diversified network of resources.
2. We will be able to keep or even lower our costs for lunches and social activities.
3. PWN will have the opportunity to bring in prominent speakers from the Mainland.
How can we reach and EXCEED our GOAL?
1. Each current member of PWN can bring in one (1) new member.
2. Members are encouraged to email Jane Brown, Membership Chair (please no phone calls) with Name, Company Name, Phone number of anyone they think would like to be invited to our lunch meetings. These can be friends, work associates, or names of women from the newspaper who have recently been promoted, etc. Please, always include the prospective member’s phone number or email address, not just her name.
What will we do to help you?
1. The membership committee will call and introduce our organization to these women and send (or email) info on the next luncheon.
2. The membership committee will then email Denise Crosby, our Publicity Chairperson who will add the new names to our Potential/Guest email list so they will always be informed and invited to upcoming lunches and events.
WIN – WIN for everyone!!
If a member sponsors 4 new members between January 1 and April 1, 2000, you will be qualified to win your choice of the following:
1) Sit at the head table for a year next to the guest speaker…. or
2) Free membership dues in 2001.
Names will go into a bowl and the winner will be drawn at the April 19th meeting.
TWO winners will be picked. 1st name drawn gets first choice of prize.
SUPPORT PWN---SPONSOR NEW MEMBERS!!
WHAT’S COOKING?
We’re reviving a project that was started … but never completed … several years ago. It’s the PWN Cookbook. Not everyone is aware that we have been collecting recipes from members. The recipes will eventually be published in our very own cookbook. The goal is to have recipes from at least 50% of our members. 100% participation would be ideal. We are about 1/3 of the way there. The completed cookbooks can serve as mementos for members, a fund-raiser, thank you presents to speakers et al.
Here’s how it works:
You send your favorite recipe or recipes … any category … to Carol Williams. Email them to her: carol@440.com or fax: 234-5599.
You don’t even have to be a cook. Send a recipe that is a family favorite, handed down from your mother or aunt. Maybe your significant other is the better cook. Send your roommate’s best recipe. Have an interesting story that goes with the recipe? Send it along. Maybe your recipe is one that tells how to save time and uses only prepared items. That’s ok, too! Or maybe it’s a special drink or simple salad or pupu or a sauce to go with something else. We’ll find a category for it.
For those of you who think cookbooks are unprofessional … not fitting for a network of professional women: Take a look at the shelves of your favorite bookstore or on Amazon.com and see how many cookbooks there are, and watch the FoodNetwork and see how popular cooking is and how much fun it can be. Who do you think buys all these books and watches the shows. We do. We all have to eat and there is nothing unprofessional about women cooking or sharing recipes. Men do it all the time and many companies and organizations that are mostly male also have cookbooks.
FEBRUARY LUNCHEON SPEAKER RECAP
by Sue Tetmeyer
In 1998, Small Business Hawaii honored Karen Huffman as Small Businessperson of the Year. Pacific Business News cited her as Women Entrepreneur of the Year. The first female-owned McDonald’s franchisee in Hawaii, Karen owned three successful restaurants; the first purchased in 1987 in Aina Haina. Successive purchases were located in Kahala and Koko Marina (Hawaii Kai). In 1999 Karen sold all three restaurants. This February she started a new job as Senior Vice President of Marketing for E-Commerce Pacific, a new company launched by Kitty Lagareta, President of Communications Pacific.
With this track record, who could be better suited than Karen Huffman to speak on February’s luncheon topic,” Life Changes – When Is the Right Time to Make Them?” In her talk, Karen cited three questions that helped her decide on change: Do I truly enjoy my work? Am I truly good at what I do? Am I constantly learning new things?
If you answer ‘no’ to more than one of these questions, Karen’s advice is to start thinking about change. Take the initiative. Don’t wait for change to be forced on you.
Prior to buying her first franchise, Karen worked for a marketing firm where she handled the McDonald’s account. She always wanted to be in business for herself. Owning her own restaurant was the perfect opportunity. At first, everything was a challenge and a learning experience. She succeeded because she was willing to take risks. Gradually, repetition set in and brought with it boredom. Instead of growing, Karen felt she was being “depleted”. The “energy” was gone. She wasn’t having fun anymore. Karen warned us that if you feel “depleted” in your career, you can’t do your best.
When she started thinking about selling her restaurants, Karen confronted the classic reasons for not making a change - loyalty, money, and disruption in personal life. She realized they would all still be around five years from now, so why wait? Employers fret about what will happen to their employees. Employees worry about the inconvenience they will cause their employers and coworkers. The fact, as Karen reminded us, is that the world will always go on. The people who are “left behind” often end up better off than they were before.
Money is always a tough issue. Karen struggled with the dilemma of Hawaii’s economy. She figured she could probably get more for her restaurants if she waited out the slump, but was it worth the wait? Fortunately, Karen has a supportive husband who did not try to influence her and was happy with her decision to sell. Karen pointed out, if you put off a decision because of money, you may find yourself forced into a less favorable financial deal later on. It’s better to initiate the move yourself.
Any change will cause some disruption to personal life. This can usually be managed, as long as you do not choose to make a career change when your personal life is in an uproar.
Karen’s most difficult decision was what to do next. She was fortunate to be able to take time off to explore the options. For those of us who do not have that luxury she suggested avoiding “gridlock” by taking interim steps. Keep the old job while saving money or qualifying for the new one. Take a job that is less than what you ultimately desire … if it will put you in a better position to get what you really want.
Karen is excited about her new job because it satisfies her big priority - learning something new. E-Commerce is a new field where opportunities are unlimited. Communications Pacific has a record of successfully marketing traditional clients. Web sites are being developed every day. They may be great, but they won’t be successful if no one knows they are there. E-Commerce Pacific will market web sites. Karen Huffman is looking forward to being in the forefront of this effort. Her talk was a great inspiration to PWN members and we wish her much success!
MARCH 2000 LUNCHEON SPEAKER
by Elaine Myers Hammond
Our Speaker this month is Alan H. Lam, a partner in The Quorum. For the last four years The Quorum has been publishing a monthly newsletter tracking the changes in the information technology industry, and more importantly, what the changes mean to their clients. Information Technology consultants and System Integrators, The Quorum brings to the table a wide range of skills to address the various needs of businesses.
Alan's topic will be "Smaller Box, Bigger Potential-- 3Com Palm Pilot and Palm OS." Can you do it? Can you really give up your paper planner? How can you use the Palm Pilot effectively and what paradigm shift will you have to make. How do you use the Palm Pilot in collaboration with other users on your team? Why does the 3Com Palm Pilot outsell all others and have the majority PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) market share over all other PDAs (including Windows CE) combined?
Back in the early eighties, Alan was the Computer Manager of the King Street Radio Shack and guided the store into being one of the top ten Computer Centers in the nation. Over the last two decades he has worked with various computers starting with IBM 370s, the first micro-computers running TRSDOS and MSDOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, to the current Windows 98, NT platforms, and now Windows 2000. Through his experience in Information Technology from sales, and support to the end user, he brings an expert understanding of his clients needs to the table. And, he is looking forward to helping us understand more about the new technology available to us and how it can help us in our professional (and personal) lives.
Location: Hale Koa Hotel
Date/Time: March 29, 2000 (bring your business cards)
Registration and Networking @ 11:30 am
Reservations: Telephone 533-4800 by noon Friday, March 24th. Reservations are required for confirmed seating. No shows are billed. Doors close promptly at noon and reservations may be forfeited if not claimed then.
Menu: Soup: Thai Lemon Chicken.
Entrée: Classic Caesar Salad (with grilled savory chicken breast)
Dessert: Cool fruit sherbet on a Meringue nest raspberry coulis
Coffee and Tea is served
Vegetarian: Vegetable Fettuccine
Cost: Members: $18 Guests: $25 Validated parking: $2
