On Saturday morning at Chadia’s business meeting room, we had 9 WEC members who came to learn how to Blog.  Chris Guld, and her husband Jim were there to teach the class.  Lenore Alpert and Lyn Sheft created brand new blogs during the class.  Emily Rushin, Joyce Shore, Chadia Meroueh and Jenette Mathai learned a little more about their existing blogs.  Lynda Amorello, Carol Metevier and Liz Mendel got ideas!

Chris enjoyed having the opportunity to teach this class because it is one of her ‘Geeks on Tour’ new offerings.  You can download a copy of the class handout if you’re interested in learning about blogging with Wordpress.

Congratulations and huzzah to Maggie Smith, Diane Hickey and Cynthia Hardy for being the first 3 WEC members to leave comments on the blog per Chris Guld’s ‘Treasure Hunt’ game.

They received a free 1 year credit to list their business websites on the sidebar of the WEC website.  That’s a $25 value! 

For more information about $25 for a link:

http://www.wecftl.com/wordpress/2010/01/link-your-business-to-wecs-website/

Next month, Chris Guld will tell you more about the website at the meeting – and have another ‘Treasure Hunt’ for our WEC members, with more opportunities to win!

All you other WECers are MISSING OUT

No Chadia, Susan won’t give you a class

Here we are studying hard:

Volunteers: what an essential component of our club. We thank all of you who have helped our organization…whether it’s serving on the board, helping on a committee, we appreciate everyone’s time and talent.

We had a wonderful October, starting with the Cannon Circle at Trina London’s. We enjoyed each other’s company and were treated to delicious food, and how about that view? At our October luncheon, we welcomed new member Ronnie Halpern, Beth Tobin of Starpack presented a business showcase, and Kim Stone, our speaker from the Miami Heat/American Airlines Arena, mesmerized us with her story.

We had a wonderful time at the Stranahan House Halloween tour. Several members were dressed in costume so please look for pictures on the website. Thanks to Carol Metevier, Susan Kingsley and her committee for organizing this event.

We have several events in November to look forward to: the luncheon on the 18^th, and a Cannon Circle at Barbara Moorman’s lovely store, Carroll’s Jewelers, on the 19th. At the luncheon, please don’t forget to bring food or cash for our annual food drive.

Somi Ali of No More Tears will be our speaker, discussing domestic violence. You won’t want to miss Linda Linder’s business showcase.

Two other big events on our calendar are the catamaran cruise on December 3^rd and the following day is the Pace Believing in Girls luncheon. WEC is an event sponsor of the Pace event so please attend if you can and show your support. You can rsvp to Melissa Rapkin or Chadia Meroueh.

There has been much discussion regarding our new website/blog (wecftl.com). The new format allows much more member interaction and we’ll be able to post articles at any time. If you have any questions regarding the new site, feel free to contact Chris Guld, our wonderful webmaster. Please continue to send in your news to Jenette Mathai.

As many of you know, attendance at our luncheons has grown tremendously, thanks to Jan Bullard and all of you who have invited guests. In order to have time for self introductions, the speaker and business showcase, we must start on time. I will be calling the meeting to order at noon sharp. If you would like to network, please feel free to come at 11:30 am. Also, be courteous during self introductions and limit your comments. Instead, please send them to Jenette Mathai to be included in the Grapevine. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Chris’s (aka Mrs. Geek) dreams have come true!  Google is flying her and her husband, Jim, out to their headquarters in Mountain View, California – better known as The Googleplex!  She will be speaking on a panel for an internal meeting of Google Support Services.  She will also be co-hosting a Webinar (seminar delivered over the Web) on using Picasa.  Picasa is a free program from Google for managing all your digital photo needs.  Chris has been teaching this program for many years and has video tutorials on her website: www.geeksontour.com

If you take digital photos, you really should take advantage of this free webinar and see our very own webmaster, Chris Guld, playing in the big league!  Here’s the link to register for the November 12 webinar.

“Explore”… So far this year I think we have done an excellent job of exploring our friendships, our business relationships and new events. For some, it might mean exploring a new committee or helping with our new blog. Wherever your interest lies please join us in exploration this year.

We had a busy month of September…we started off with Game Night at Carol Metevier’s home. We enjoyed each other’s company along with delicious food and of course the view was stunning. Somewhere along the way we did play a few games.

At our September meeting we were treated to a business showcase by Carol McKeever and watched an amazing video that she produced. Carol welcomed all of us to visit Lighthouse of Broward and tour the facility. Our speaker was our Jeryl Madfis’s husband, Michael. He talked about Smart Growth in our community and generated much discussion and questions from our members.

We had a Cannon Circle in September at Linda Linder’s home and had fun trying on her exclusive fashions. We marveled at her husband’s woodworking. Cannon Circles present a great opportunity to get to know your fellow members in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.

Events in October include a Cannon Circle October 6^th hosted by Trina London and our Stranahan House Wine & Cheese reception and haunted house tour. I’ve been told by one of our members who was a docent there for many years that it really is haunted. Guess we’ll have to go and see for ourselves!

At our luncheon we look forward to a business showcase by Beth Tobin and our speaker is Kim Stone, EVP/GM of the Miami Heat.

Many of you have had questions about navigating the website. Our webmaster Chris Guld will be back in town for the November meeting and will be updating us at that time.

In the meantime, you can access the current newsletter by clicking on “current newsletter” at the top of the page; no need to log into the old website. The old website does contain members’ contact information including address, email and phone numbers. We have several members working behind the scenes on our blog. We will still have a newsletter but to see up to the minute new information without having to wait until the monthly newsletter arrives, click on “blog” at the top of our website (wecftl.com).

Jenny Kelly