Contents

From the Board

Holiday Luncheon

5k Walk/Run

Highlighted Business: Documents2Disc
Cannon Circle

Member Profile: Tara Horner

New Member:Liz Mendel

Grapevine: News and Notes about WEC Members

WEC Sets the Pace Center for Girls

Cultural Corner

Book Club

WEC Board of Directors

Luncheons and Board Meetings

From the Board

Where has this year gone??? HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone!!!

LUNCHEON
It was great to be together! It brought me a sense of normalcy. I hope it did the same for you. Sorry about the parking situation – approximately 100 spaces were eliminated because of damage to the building. Fortunately, though there was a gaping hole in the building, the Tower Club was left fully in tact.

Congratulations, Leigh Nickel! It was an honor to see Marilynn give you your 15 year anniversary pin. You’ve made an indelible contribution to the Club since you’ve been a member!

We will honor Linda Amorello with her ten year anniversary pin in December. She was unable to attend the luncheon in November, flying to New England to be with family for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Linda asked that I pass this along:

Please extend my heartfelt thank you to all those wonderful WEC ladies who called, emailed and sent me condolence cards with such thoughtful personal notations when my brother Robert died so tragically at the end of August. It means so much when others care and take the time to tell you. What a wonderful group of women!

You are a tribute to our mission which states: “… to further the interrelationships of such executives and to promote the general welfare of their businesses and community.”

We do a great job furthering the interrelationships; how about promoting the general welfare of the businesses? To do that, we need to know what your business can do for us… and we are providing a forum for you to do that. Melissa Rapkin was the first to showcase her company.
She set up a very professional trade show display complete with video presentation to demonstrate how Documents 2 Disc (www.documents2disc.com) can save you space and money for document storage, allow you to manage and retrieve stored information, prevent loss and provide business continuity during disaster, and much, much more.

The forum: display at the luncheon, 3 minute presentation, Q & A, and follow-up article in the newsletter. Fee: $125. If this resulted in one additional business opportunity, wouldn’t it be worth it?!

As the partnership with PACE grows we also witness the impact we have on our community! There will be a gift box set up at every luncheon so that you can donate items to stock the Girls’ Incentive Store. See the list below for preferred items.

Any time the Girls participate with our members we will present them with a WEC bead. If you go to the Center and volunteer time with the Girls, please let me know president@wecftl.com.

If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Melissa (954) 545-0123 or info@documents2disc.com.

The Community Outreach committee met and suggested to the board that WEC donate $1,000 to PACE at their fundraising luncheon on Dec. 1. The board approved the donation; the money will come from our scholarship fund. If you are interested in attending the luncheon, please contact me immediately!

What a great tie-in! Rev. Tita Calzeda truly spoke to the Girls’ #1 value: honoring the female spirit. She poignantly pointed out that although we spent the last couple of weeks without electricity, we were never without power. As a token of our appreciation, Kathryn Ryan and Kandrell presented a picture made by one of the Girls at the Center. WEC will make a $25 donation to PACE in the name of the Reverend. We will continue this custom for all our speakers, going forward.

Keep your calls 305-343-1691 and emails president@wecftl.com coming!!

Holiday Luncheon

We have arranged for a special rate of $3.00 for valet parking. Guest lunches $35.

Enter through the lounge where you can pick up a complimentary mimosa.
Start spreading holiday cheer!
There is a full bar so additional beverages are available for purchase.

Gift Exchange: Please bring a wrapped gift (spend up to $20) and attach your card so the recipient knows whom to thank!

As been tradition, we will collect women’s toiletries for Woodhouse and books, games and toys for children of all ages (no stuffed animals, please) for Family Central.

Inviting friends, family, co-workers and business associates

Cannon Circle

Tuesday, December 20th

Hosted by Betsy Grant
2612 Aurelia Place
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Please RSVP: 954-328-6337 or bentstems@aol.com

5K Walk/Run, Race for Pace

Rescheduled for Sunday, December 18th, 8:00 am Wilton Manors is hosting a
5K Walk/Run with all proceeds going to PACE. We’re dusting off our sneakers and bringing friends and family out to participate in the event. Walk, run or just cheer us on and you’ll receive a specially printed WEC T-shirt.
The Wilton Manors 5K Run/Walk will be held on Sunday, December 18, 2005 at 8:00 am.

The race starts and finishes on Wilton Drive and NE 6th Avenue in Wilton Manors. Pre-registration fees are $20 for adults and $15 for students 17 and under. All fees are $25 the day of the event.

For online registration, race results and photos, visit: www.splitsecondtiming.com
All proceeds will benefit PACE Center for Girls.

Highlighted Business

Documents2Disc provides an information management service to any company that wants to improve the way they do business. We scan documents and convert them to CD. This allows you to protect your information in case of a hurricane or fire. Our software is as easy to use as any search engine (such as Google), allowing you to find any piece of information, instantly.

We also provide this service to individuals who want to protect their information: tax returns, insurance papers, birth certificates, etc. Our price for scanning personal
documents -- 500 pages or less -- is $75.

Please go to our website: www.documents2disc.com. On the home page, click on
" Watch the Demo" to see how easy it can be to manage your information.

Melissa Rapkin, president, is very pleased to be a member of WEC, serving as
your vice president of Community Involvement.

Melissa Rapkin
Documents2Disc
1000 W. McNab Road Suite 206
Pompano Beach, FL 33069
954.545.0123
Fax 954.545.0922
www.documents2disc.com

Member Profile

NEW MEMBER Tara Horner, Private Event Director Tower Club writes:

Raised in a small town in Vermont, she moved to the Fort Lauderdale area 14 years ago and fell in love with the beautiful weather and surroundings; she then decided to make this her permanent home. Tara is the proud mother of 15-year-old daughter Ashley, her greatest accomplishment.

Employed at the Tower Club for the past 8 years. The club is a private business club and part of the ClubCorp family of clubs, based in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1974, in the first high-rise in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the Tower Club believes strongly in community involvement and in honor of the club's 25th anniversary the Board of Governors fulfilled their vision by establishing an ongoing means for the Tower Club to support a children's organization in the community. As an ongoing tradition, the club allocates twenty-five cents of each lunch and a la carte dinner entree to benefit a local children’s charity.

In 2004 – 2005 Tara was one of 13 women honored at the American Cancer Societies “Women of the Year” for her accomplishments to “S.P.A.R.K.”

S.P.A.R.K., an acronym for Science Patrons to Advance Research and Knowledge, was founded in the spring of 1988. It provided support to the former Discovery Center during its transition to the new Museum, and serves as on of the major support organizations for the Museum of Discovery and Science.

NEW MEMBER Liz Mendel

President of Dolphin Travel writes:

Liz says that she is one of the luckiest people she knows because she gets paid to do what she loves and her partner shares her dream and her life. Liz and her husband Alan have owned Dolphin Travel Inc. since 1989 and she jokes that it was a business they were going to “retire” into. Their agency has a following of loyal customers that they have cultivated through years of networking, marketing and working in the community.

“We sell everything from a weekend at Disney on the Florida Resident Special to an Around-The-World Cruise and almost everything in between, “explains Liz. They bring a wealth of personal travel experience, having visited many popular destinations around the country and the world. This allows them to share special insight with their customers.

Liz hopes to become active in WEC and bring her experience as long-time board member and chapter past president of Meeting Planners International, the Association of Professional Sales Women and the National Association of Women Business Owners to the service of the members. She believes that people get the most out of membership by being active in the groups they join.

On the personal side, she and her husband have three adult children from previous marriages and two fabulous grandchildren. Liz is happy to have one locally whom she sees frequently and one in Virginia whom she misses a lot. Liz has a bright and lively 90 year old mother with her who is her oldest best friend.

Liz says that she seems to have inherited her mother’s longevity gene and plans to be selling travel to friends and traveling herself for many years to come.

WEW Kim Stiles writes:

Kimberly Stiles-Pascia, together with a group of communication specialists, has formed a Florida based company, LEGACY TRAINING GROUP, which provides customized business training with a huge dose of razzle-dazzle.

Recognizing that one of the biggest challenges businesses face today is getting employees to use learned skills on the job, Legacy has designed a number of courses featuring high participant interactivity with lots of "bells and whistles." Each course is custom tailored and is designed to motivate and challenge all types of employees.

Has your sales force become a little stagnant? Is your customer service somewhat lacking? Does your organization have a morale problem? Let our highly trained professionals design a course for your particular needs. Let Legacy help build and strengthen the team effort that could become the driving force behind high profits for both you and your employees.
A sample of our courses include: Everyone’s a Customer: Service Excellence Across Your Organization: The Seven Skills for Communication Excellence Program, and Nuances: Mastering Communications with English as a Second Language.

Members should also watch for a special opportunity to attend one of Legacy’s unique courses, Warrior Mind Set. This course examines ancient and modern warrior traditions, strategies, tactics, attitudes and unique philosophies to develop skills useful in the participant’s business and personal lives.

Legacy can provide customized training at your facility or at an outside location.

For more information or to schedule a consultation, please contact Kim at 954-254-1609

Increased profits, as well as happier employees, are waiting!

The Executive Grapevine: news and notes about WEC members. (send them email by clicking on their name)

Shana Munden writes: I just got back from Las Vegas to get out of the storm...and just got nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award from Remax International. I will receive the award in March in Vegas.

Leigh Nickel writes: My husband, Charles Harper and I recently became part owners of two Volvo Dealerships: one in Ocala and one in Gainesville. Charles is one of the acting managers and I, of course, handle the investments and benefits. No, we are not moving there and yes, my husband still has his "day job" with Warren Henry Automobiles!


Kim Stiles writes: I will be doing a celebrity bartending at Bonefish Mac's in Lighthouse Point with proceeds going to P.A.C.E. (in honor of WEC). Also I am performing in a dinner theatre "A Christmas Tale" Dec. 10 & 11 at Trinity Methodist Church-to benefit hurricane victims. I look forward to seeing you soon.

WEC sets the Pace Center for Girls

The PACE Mission

"PACE provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy."

*PACE Center for Girls Broward is an alternative educational and counseling program for at-risk girls ages 7– 17. For many of our girls, PACE is the last hope to avoid a life of conflict, despair and failure and instead embrace a life filled with achievement, dignity, serenity, and grace.
Two Fridays a month, the girls at PACE go “shopping” at the Incentive Store.
For currency they use points earned from completion of class work, good attendance and participation in special projects. Most of the 80 girls at PACE earn a trip to the store on Incentive Friday. In addition, girls with the highest points have their names entered into a special auction. The girls love Incentive Fridays and always know when there are new items on the shelves.

Thank you for believing in girls!
PACE GIRLS DESIGN SPECIAL GIFT FOR WEC LUNCHEON SPEAKERS

The WEC luncheons are exciting events for the girls from PACE Broward. Their visit to the Tower Club provides them the opportunity to meet WEC members, to enjoy a delicious meal and to hear an outstanding speaker.

When the girls return to PACE, they proudly display their WEC beads and are eager to tell the other girls about their experience.

In addition to hosting several student council girls from PACE at a bi-monthly luncheon, WEC makes a donation to PACE in honor of the luncheon speaker. As a way of saying “Thank You”, one of the PACE girls designs and prepares a framed memento for each speaker. This artwork is a special reminder to the speaker that her/his presentation to WEC will also benefit the girls at PACE.

Cultural Corner

In case you haven’t heard King Tut is visiting the Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale from December 15, 2005-April 23, 2006.
For the first time since The Treasures of Tutankhamun toured the United States in the 1970’s, an extensive selection of items associated with the Egyptian "boy king" is touring in four American cities.
Don’t miss 3,300 years of Bling!
Go to www.moafl.org for ticket information.

Thanks to Pam Dearden for keeping us abreast of cultural events.
Click on www.broward.org/arts for a complete listing.

BOOK CLUB

WEC Board of Directors
2005-2006

President Ronnie Karlin

Past President Dee Moustakas
Nominating Committee
Cannon Circles

President Elect Vivien Godfrey
Fun(d) Raising Committee

VP Finance Dorothy Eisenberg
Treasurer

VP Corporate Records Cynthia Hardy
Corporate Records
Historian
By-Laws Committee

VP Internal Involvement Nancy Fischer
Social Committee
Programs Committee
Greetings Committee
Newsletter

VP Community Involvement Melissa Rapkin
Mentorship (FX) Program
Women Empowering Women (WEW)
Community Outreach
Public Relations

VP Membership Marilynn Obrig
Membership Committee
Membership Luncheon
Directory
Webmaster

All contact information is available for WEC members on our Members Only website. If you are a member and you don't have a name and password, you can contact Chris Guld for more information.

Upcoming Events

Board Meetings

Friday, December 2
Friday, January 6
Friday, February 3
Friday, March 3
Friday, April 7
Friday, May 5
Friday, June 2

Membership Attendance:
The membership requirement is to attend a minimum of five (5) club events every year in order to maintain regular membership. This is calculated on a fiscal year basis (i.e. August-June, not calendar year).