What a Day!

Whew! What a great event we had here yesterday hosting our guests from the EWI Corporate office:

Lynne Shaffer – Executive Director from EWI Corporate Office, Salt Lake City, Utah

Louise Anderson – President, representing Maurice H. Joseph, Inc. from Jackson, Mississippi

Sharon Bennett – Vice President/President – Elect, representing Lifetouch from Cincinnati, Ohio

Peggy Quinn – Advisor (Past President)– representing the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee

Karen Skirten – Expansion Director, representing TierOne Travel, Calgary, Alberta Canada

Lunch at the Lethbridge Country Club was fabulous and we even had a bit of sunshine! Thank you to all who helped to organize the day... :-)

Colette

Just One More Sleep!!

Can you tell that I am excited about the visit from EWI Corporate to Lethbridge tomorrow? Our board has been working for months to organize the luncheon for our visitors and guests including Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck, Alberta MLA Bridget Pastoor and our keynote speaker Cheryl Dick from Economic Development Lethbridge. Thank you in particular to Leanna Lomanski and JoAnn Jurgens for providing the gorgeous gift items (still a surprise so details will have to wait) for the visiting EWI dignitaries.

I am particularly excited at the opportunity to host this visit having been completely blown away by the warmth and hospitality of EWI Kentuckiana and all the other Chapter representives I met at the conference in Louisville Kentucky last September. What a huge event over 5 days and they made it look flawlessly smooth! No pressure.... well, maybe a little as I am keeping fingers crossed for a little southern Alberta sunshine to welcome our guests.

Spring Is In The Air! And my hat....

I am really looking forward to our March EWI meeting, for a couple of reasons. Programming Chair Kelly Vander Hooft of Urban Studio Interior Design has been doing such an amazing job organizing our meeting venues and Paradise Canyon Country Club is another fabulous find. Having been to many functions there I anticipate the food will be yummy and the scenery is always spectacular.

Another reason our March meeting is so special is that it is our Membership Drive and a great opportunity to show off our organization. With that in mind, here are some of the benefits of EWI as suggested by our members:

• An opportunity to connect with like-minded peers
• Fun and impact-ful (is that a word?) volunteer involvement with local groups
• Exclusivity of business categories
• Being part of (and proud of!) the best fashion show this city has ever seen!
• Tapping into a supportive network of southern Alberta business women who've been there for advice or a listening ear
• Opportunities for networking both inside and outside EWI
• Great speakers
• Free professional development through top level presentations and webinars
• Showcasing your business with a Firm Night
• Opportunities to learn from the collective wisdom of our membership during our roundtable business focus question

These are just a few... what else could you add about what makes EWI such a great organization to be part of? Let's show off our group by each inviting one or more prospective members to join us March 17th, and I will donate a gift certificate to the member who brings the most guests! See you there...

Colette

Welcome to EWI Corporate!

Drawn from member firms all across North America, the Corporate Board of EWI is going to be in Alberta to support the launch of the Grande Prairie Chapter Charter. Congratulations to Grande Prairie, and to Calgary SpeedPro Signs owner Joanne Ruston for originally inspiring the Grande Prairie satellite chapter.   Our Corporate directors have decided to make the most of this rare opportunity and visit with as many Canadian Chapters as possible.

Our Chapter Board and Member Executives are organizing a luncheon presentation to honour the visiting delagates anticipated to include President Louise Anderson of Maurice H. Joseph Inc, Vice-President, Executive Director, Past President and Expansion Director of EWI.

To this point we have commitments to attend from City of Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck, Cheryl Dyck, CEO of Economic Development Lethbridge, and Alberta MLA Bridget Pastoor. A HUGE thank you to Karen Skirten from Tier One Travel and Corporate Expansion Director of the Calgary Chapter  for her suggestion that we be involved in this Alberta visit.

EWI good news tidbit: In a year when most business membership organizations are dealing with shrinking numbers Executive Women International membership is up up by 12%!!