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» The Wellness Challenge: We Dare You to Clobber Us
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The Wellness Challenge: We Dare You to Clobber Us
The Fairfield Wellness Revolution rolls on — and it's looking at you, pal.
Hot on the heels of last year's Health Fair comes the Wellness Revolution 6-week Challenge.
It works like this. Procure two like-bodied individuals for your team and compete against family, neighbors, co-workers and complete strangers. Earn points for activities in three categories — Physical Improvement, Dietary/Nutritional Changes and Health Education. Rack up those points and you could win prizes.
It's $20 per person, three people per team. Complete rules are posted on the Wellness Revolution web site.
The challenge begins April 25 with an opening ceremony at the YMCA and winds up June 6 with a prize ceremony (location to be announced).
For those of you who need a good motivator, the Chamber is fielding a team of its own. Think of this as your golden opportunity to clobber us in public — if you can.
So if you're ready to accept The Challenge, head on over to www.ffldwellness.com to register your team now. Linda, Patricia and Anna will be waiting there for ya … daring you to clobber them.
Networking is the Word for March
With two primo networking events coming up next month — the Regional Business Networking Expo Mar. 18 and our own Business After Hours Mar. 25 — now is a great time to avail yourself of a refresher course on the subject. Our Mar. 9 networking seminar is just what you need to practice your business-card skills.
Debbie Fay of Bespeak Presentations Solutions is your source for the keys to networking success, and let's face it, we could all use the help. The "elevator" speech (no word on whether an actual elevator will be involved), working the room, the art of the followup — you'll get all the tools you need to market your business face to face.
Call us at 255-1011 or sign yourself up online. You'll only regret it if you're not there.
Fast Networking in the Shrimpiest Month of the Year
February would not be complete without a Business After Hours. It may be two days short of a National Whatever Month,* frigidly cold and spelled wrong, not to mention that what few days we have are too short, and Valentine's Day is the holiday that bites innocent people with sharp, pointy teeth … OK, so there's not much to be said for the month of February.
But as I was saying, February deserves to have a Business After Hours, and have one it did at Associated Community Brokers on the 11th.
Our hosts greeted the 75-odd attendees with a nice presentation of flowers, shrimp, sushi, veggies and other foodstuffs (no, the flowers were not part of the food), plus a mini wine tasting performed by neighboring business Black Rock Vintners and even more wines provided by Mo's Wine & Spirits.
It wasn't exactly going to upstage our huge food and wine event, An Evening in Tuscany, which we held Feb. 26 to rave reviews (yes, that's two Chamber events in one tiny little month), but it … where was I going with this?
There was food and wine. And flowers. And Patricia burned her mouth on the wasabi sauce.
Networking, of course, is the primary activity at these events. Our people were well aware that February is a short, scrawny midget of a month [all right, we get it already! — Ed.] and wasted no time in wringing as much networking out of it as they possibly could.
Regina Madwed was there to capture all of the action, which you can see for yourself in her dotPhoto slide show. She even caught our own Linda Matthews with a plate of food in her hands, a rare sight at these occasions.
Our next Business After Hours is Mar. 25 at The Bank of Fairfield's Post Road location. And before that, we have the Regional Business Networking Expo, Mar. 18 in Norwalk. And before that, we have a seminar devoted to Networking That Works, Mar. 9 at the Fairfield Police Department … so March is going to be the Mother of all Networking Months.
Heh. You can do that when you have 31 days.
* Except for National Poetry Month, which we all want to get over with as quickly as possible.
CBIA Wants YOU for CT Business Day
As the CBIA web site says, "It is about the economy!"
But you know that already — it was hard not to notice when last year's budget surplus evaporated into a $1.1 billion deficit ("Oh God, we're all gonna die!"). And Gov. Rell's call for a smaller, cheaper, faster state government has reverberated statewide (here's CBIA's Pete Gioia with his take on the governor's proposals).
What you may not know: some observers are worried that business owners will be overlooked in the chaos as the state legislature swings into action — some kind of action, anyway — and that the CBIA is taking steps to make sure our voices are heard.
This year's edition of Connecticut Business Day, Mar. 4 at the State Legislative Office Building in Hartford, is designed for employers to "make the connection with state lawmakers, to help them make the right decisions for the state's economy." Economist Rae Rosen of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the featured speaker, followed by a panel session with state business leaders and breakout sessions on Budget and Taxes, Labor, and Transportation.
"Connecticut Business Day is the most important day for employers and lawmakers to come together and start to build consensus for how to restore Connecticut's economy," the CBIA says — with a dour warning that "lots of harmful things to your business and the state's economy could happen if business leaders like you don't get involved."
The program schedule run roughly 8:30 am to noon. Register online (it's free) or contact Adam Ney in the CBIA's Public Affairs Department at 860-244-1933.
Kiwanis Club Citrus Sale Turns on the Juice
Those who placed orders with the Kiwanis Club of Fairfield during their 2009 citrus sale should plan on picking up their pulpy fruits at 425 Kings Highway East (adjacent to Kobi's Steak House) on Friday, Mar. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm, and Saturday, Mar. 7 from 9 am to noon.
As with the Kiwanis Club's other fundraising projects, every citrus-scented penny they raise will find its way back to Fairfield — directly or through important Kiwanis International projects. Last year the organization donated over $33,000 to the community, including $12,000 in scholarships for high school students.
Contact Tom Maniscalco at 257-6167.
Now, will someone explain to me why grapefruit aren't grape-colored? When we talk about oranges, lemons and limes, we know what color we're dealing with. The fruit defines the color. Blueberries and blackberries leave no room for ambiguity. But grapefruit are yellow on the outside and various non-grape colors on the inside, not to mention too big to be confused for an actual grape of any color. A grape by any other name is still a grape, but a grapefruit is just a poseur. I don't care what they look like growing on "grapefruit" trees — grapes grow on vines, dude.
"Tuscany" Volunteers Needed
Brooke Aymar of Private Parties has designed one heck of an event for Feb. 26.
An Evening in Tuscany will be the best-looking Chamber fundraiser ever, but we need a cast of thousands to put it together (and to take it apart afterwards).
There are materials to be delivered at 5:30 pm the night before (that would be Wednesday the 25th). Lots of materials.
Then we have to put those materials to work on the day of the event, starting at 8 am. Furniture needs moving, stuff needs hanging, and then there are tables to be assembled. Don't even get us started about the trees in the foyer.
The complete lists of tasks is three pages long, so we won't spell it out here. Suffice to say that we need people to give us a couple hours of their time — the night before, the morning of, the afternoon of. Plus some time that evening to start disassembling, and then finish the job starting at 9 am the next morning.
Contact us at the Chamber office at 255-1011 to sign up. It's a lot of work, but man, it's gonna be worth it when Italy sprouts from the grounds of the Scandinavian Club.