Bristol Farms is serving a delicious Bavarian feast including; Grilled bratwurst, German potato salad, sauerkraut and red slaw.
It’s an authentic German atmosphere with a variety of famous German traditions including: Biergartens, German and Polka bands with dance floor, pretzels, gingerbread necklaces, chicken dance, carnival rides, carnival games and so much more.
Live Entertainment:

Friday, October 22^nd:   Frank Rote Orchestra - 5-11PM

Saturday October 23^rd   and Sunday October 24: The Bluebirds- 1-3PM, Frank Rote Orchestra, 4-7PM, and Roger Kenderes & The Villagers, 7-11PM.
(Closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday)

Thursday, October 28^th: To Be Announced, 5-11PM 

Friday, October 29^th: Frank Rote Orchestra, 5-11PM 

Saturday October 30^th and Sunday October 31^st: The Bluebirds- 1-3PM, Frank Rote Orchestra, 4-7PM, and Fred Mlakar & His Okerkrainer Band, 7-10PM.  Learn more about all confirmed musical acts: http://www.longbeachoktoberfest.com/entertainment.php

Festival also features: international food court, arts & crafts booths, delicious desserts, German Biergartens, and FREE Souvenir digital photos. Also, a Live Sports Tent courtesy of DirecTV.   Children will love the storytellers, magicians and UNLIMITED CARNIVAL RIDES.  Free Parking.

WHEN

October 22-24 and October 28-31, 2010

Friday, October 22nd — 5 PM - 11 PM
Saturday, October 23rd — 12 NOON - 11 PM
Sunday, October 24th — 12 NOON - 10 PM

CLOSED MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

Thursday, October 28th — 5 PM - 10 PM
Friday, October 29th — 5 PM - 11 PM
Saturday, October 30th — 12 NOON - 11 PM
Sunday, October 31st — 12 NOON - 10 PM

WHERE

El Dorado Park

7550 E. Spring Street
Long Beach, CA 90815

At San Gabriel Freeway (605) and Wardlow Road. No Park Entrance Fee. Once inside Park, follow directional signs to parking area. Parking is Free.

 TICKETS

1-DAY GENERAL ADMISSION
$13.00 per ticket
INCLUDES non-stop entertainment plus unlimited rides.
DOES NOT include Bavarian Feast Dinner.
SAVE $2 ($15 at the gate)
(excludes El Dorado Park Train Ride)

Children under 32" are FREE when accompanied by an adult.

REGULAR PRESALE ADMISSION
$30.00 per ticket
Special Offer Only Available for Purchase Online!
INCLUDES 1-Day General Admission, non-stop entertainment, unlimited carnival rides, AND Bavarian Feast Dinner WITH ONE BEER served by Bristol Farms.
SAVE $5 ($35 at the gate)
(excludes El Dorado Park Train Ride)

The purchase of a Presale Admission GUARANTEES you a Bavarian Feast.

BAVARIAN FEAST INCLUDES One large Bristol Farms grilled bratwurst, served with authentic German potato salad, sauerkraut and red slaw.

Bavarian Feast will be served until 9:00PM on Thursdays, 10:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9:00PM on Sundays.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, please click here:  http://www.longbeachoktoberfest.com/

Lately I've been volunteering, attending and covering numerous high-end, red carpet charity special events and realized it might be nice to showcase my blog coverage all in one place to make it easier to find.

So, without further ado, here's some of the charities I've supported in raising their profile through social media over the past couple of months (often resulting in placement in the Top Ten Searches of Google):

Here's an excerpt to whet your interest:

HAX is a great facility and I'm very impressed with their Foundation. "The HAX Foundation helps at-need children gain access to educational and athletic programs in the Los Angeles area."

I believe this awards ceremony was a fundraiser - I got invited kind of last minute and only knew it was Coach John Wooden's event which clinched the deal since I respect him so much having heard him speak on the difference between winning and success on TED.

As a result, I was rather bummed we didn't get to hear Coach Wooden speak, but at 99 years of age (if I heard them right) you can't expect him to be everywhere. The evening was wonderful regardless. I hope they raised a lot of money!

Dick Vitale, honored with an Industriousness Award, sent a video acceptance speech due to family commitments, and was a lot of fun to watch even remotely. Baby! Never ever have I seen a man use his hands as much as he did in that short video!

I've never been into sports except for soccer and volleyball and never heard of Dick before that evening. Before each honoree they showcased video highlights of each person's career which was very helpful seeing as I didn't know anybody or anything. Wouldn't it be great if every person you met and knew nothing about came with a video highlight you could watch prior to meeting them too?:)

The big highlight of the evening for most of the male attendees was Captain, NBA Boston Celtics; President, The Truth Fund, Paul Pierce, recipient of the Competitive Greatness Award.

(Click here for the complete evening coverage. What a great man and what a legacy he's left behind.)

In any case, wanted to share the wonderful 25th Anniversary Surfrider Foundation fundraiser myself, and two of my friends, Angelique Chacon and Erica Forrette, volunteered for this past Friday evening.

We had the best time! Here's a little photo essay of our time there:

Always happy to find new gardens in Los Angeles and never knew this one existed until we showed up to volunteer at the California Science Center's Wallis Annenberg Building.

This is what it looked like when we arrived. There was a "blue" carpet in honor of the occasion.

We all were given assignments and wore t-shirts with this insignia on the front. They were rather cool as t-shirts go, but I just wish for once there were female style t-shirts since I hate how I look in men's t-shirts. Almost makes me not want to volunteer any more I hate them so much! LOL

We had a great time manning registration though. Got a chance to meet all the artist's whose work was on display and a lot of the VIP's in attendance too. Everyone was so nice and friendly it really made the night fly by.

I was able to meet Shaun Tomson which was fun since I had just read his book. We also met Erin McAlister of Tiny Seven Jewelry who was showcasing her necklaces she makes with sand from beaches all over the world. Her brother died of cancer and in his honor she and her family set up a scholarship for the New Jersey Surfrider chapter. Isn't that nice?

Click here for the entire blog story. It was a very fun event all the way through and even learned some things!

Here's another of my favorite events from this summer:

I'm looking forward to attending the Walk With Sally White Light, White Night Fundraiser tomorrow night and thought you might like to join me and other celebrities, South Bay socialites, philanthropists, and music lovers all dressed in white who are also supporting this worthy cause.
Doesn't it look amazing? There's still tickets left which you can buy here. All the money raised supports Walk With Sally which provides mentor support programs and services to children, parents or siblings with cancer.

The final wrap up blog post is entitled:

As promised, here's the final wrap up details of the wonderful Walk With Sally fundraiser featuring the music of Rocco Deluca, the tireless efforts of Founder Nick Arquette, with hosts KTLA Newscaster, Mary Beth McDade, South Bay BMW, Ryan Choura, and everyone involved who really created a wonderful experience for all who participated.

From left to right: Actor Scott Elrod, KTLA Newscaster, MaryBeth McDade, and Walk With Sally Founder, Nick Arquette

Click here for the complete story. You can also scroll through and find others at the top of each blog.

The following weekend I had the pleasure of volunteering with Feed My Starving Children and since were so busy preparing food packages, I wasn't able to shoot as many micro blogs out as I would have liked, but it felt good helping nonetheless.

Here's the first of three micro blogs on my experience entitled:

We just packed enough food bags to feed 39 children every day for a year. Very moving to be involved with this. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Feed My Starving Children's goal - 130,000 meals prepared in 2 days

Really great experience today @ #Phenomenex, the host co.

5.) My most recent experience was helping out with registration for P.S. I Love You Foundation. What a great charity and what a positive, loving experience for at-risk children. Loved my time at their Day at the Beach event.

Here's some highlights:

#Trans Am Champion, Tomy Drissi, is a Mentor today!

"Great being here, as usual Wells Fargo is doing something good for children, and I wanted to help my buddy, Mark Wilhelm," says Tomy. "I grew up an inner-city kid in the Crenshaw district and it's really great to be able to come back & help out as much as I can."

The latest movie sponsor on their car, "Wall Street - Money never sleeps" opens 9/24 world-wide only in theaters.

Mark, the Wells Fargo rep, is a Board Member of PS I Love You and they are one of the largest sponsors of charities in the community. The kids are eating this up! I can't take close-ups of the kids for their privacy.

Other highlights include:

#PS I Love You's Day At The Beach - calm before the storm

#PS I Love You's Day at the Beach - let the mayhem begin!

Can you believe this isn't even all the kids?

#PS I Love You - Beach blanket bingo

Ice cream! Ice cream! We all scream for ice cream!

Good bye kids! We had a great time with you!

I'm looking forward to helping other charities and will be sure to tell you all about it. Thanks for reading these examples of my social media/blogging case studies. Please note, although not mentioned earlier, when I could I also tweeted this information out, posted it around the internet and encouraged people to participate.

I thought I'd aggregate (gather together) my own content here to showcase how I've utilized social media (blogging & other social networking sites in addition to the top three - Twitter, Facebook & Linkedin), Search Engine Optimized press releases, and event marketing to promote previous clients.

Here's one of my favorite client case studies: The Shore Restaurant and Lounge

We worked together for over a year in an effort to raise their visibility in the community as a nice place to dine and host events, build a positive reputation before their appearance in front of the Hermosa Beach City Council regarding the Shore's Conditional Use Permit, and increase business overall.

We accomplished all these goals and more using social media, event marketing and media outreach.

This is an example of one of the many blog posts I wrote of the marketing events I also created, produced and promoted for The Shore. This SEO press release was written to promote a fundraiser for Surfrider Foundation held at The Shore which also introduced the community to their acclaimed Chef David Linville's California comfort cuisine.

Here's the press release and blog post which was sent to all the local media with a request for coverage before the event happened: South Bay Professional Connection (SBPC) Announces June 25 Surfrider Benefit at The Shore with TVLand's She's Got the Look, Melissa Todd, hosting

Then, once the event was over, I wrote this SEO press release/blog to wrap up the event complete with photos and sent this out to the media and attendees as well: SBPC's Surfrider Benefit/Tasting Party at The Shore hosted by She's Got the Look Finalist, Melissa Todd

As a result of this promotion, we received a 1/2 page article in the Los Angeles Business Journal (valued at $8,000 in advertising) using pictures I took & submitted to them. The LABJ has a subscriber base of over 25,000 business professionals and is very popular.

We also received coverage in the Los Angeles Business Journal for another event I produced at The Shore for the hospitality industry. We called it the Hospitality Appreciation night highlighted here on my Fan Page which I hope you'll consider joining if you're interested in learning tips and tricks of social media strategy: Social Media Strategist, Joy A. Kennelly, small media sampling

This Hospitality Appreciation event was a lot of fun to create and produce. We had a great mix of Owners, General Managers, Sales Directors, Concierges, Catering Directors, Event Directors, Executive Assistants, and Airline personnel attend as a result of our extensive outreach. Everyone who came really connected on a personal, yet professional level and it helped build an audience that would send The Shore travel business too.

Here's the wrap-up blog coverage of that event: Recent South Bay Professional Connection Hospitality Appreciation Evening

One of our most successful fundraisers we hosted at The Shore was for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and was called an Executive Lock-up. The MDA organizers "kidnapped" influential people in the community and asked them to spend a day raising money for this wonderful cause. We donated the space and food to attendees for four hours while they called people for donations.

As a result of The Shore's great service & food the executives and local influential residents enjoyed during their time with us, we helped MDA raise over $50,000, the most they'd ever raised at any Lock-up event prior. For many attending, this was their first and only experience at The Shore and it was very positive on many levels.

For this event, I took the press release the MDA had written and sent it out to my media list and also blogged about the event which you can read here: Today was a great day! Over 30k raised for Jerry's Kids!  and also here: Muscular Dystrophy Association Fundraiser raised over 45k!

The value of blogging about the promotions you produce is you control the story, you are able to highlight more people, volunteers and organizations involved than the average newspaper story pictorially and in writing which is great customer relations because it promotes good will and satisfaction for weeks after.

And if done properly, whatever is written about remains in Google searches for months afterward, unlike print which is set aside once read and has a shorter shelf life whereas the internet lives on. 

What I've also found is once your press release is live whether it be on my blog, or sent out via the wire, many times a blogger will pick it up and use my info as I've written it with very minor changes as shown here on this blogger's site, Traveling Articles: Chef David Linville of The Shore Restaurant and Lounge in Hermosa Beach, CA begins Wine & Cheese Tastings

It's almost word-for-word what I originally wrote.:)

Here's my blog coverage of one of our more successful Wine & Cheese Tastings we did for UCLA Alumni Association combined with the story of Chef David Linville's appearance as a Celebrity Chef at the Los Angeles Magazine Food Event '08: UCLA Wine & Cheese & The Shore's Chef David Linville @ Los Angeles Magazine Food Event '08

I also used free press release distribution sites like Star Chefs as shown here during a promotion of Chef David Linville's involvement in the Grand Food & Wine Affair in Texas to further our reach in this market.

I worked with Chef David apart from The Shore and promoted him in numerous Food & Wine Festivals around the country to build a platform for his cookbook we were working on together. The Grand Food & Wine Affair was one of our favorites.

But I digress.

There are numerous other free and paid press release distribution sites which help you get the word out, but you need to be judicious in using them because you don't just want your press release to be the only thing coming up when people are searching on the web for you or your product.

It's best to have a variety of information and that's only achieved when it's picked up by other sources. That said, if your client, your company or your product isn't especially newsworthy, or you don't feel you'll receive much press, a blog is an absolutely wonderful way to promote yourself and raise your visibility if done properly.

Another social media tool I have used frequently with clients is the social networking site, Meetup, which according to their official site, "helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world."

Or as I know it, it's a social networking site for adults seeking fun things to do together and runs the gambit. I've been involved in this site professionally and personally for many years quite successfully.

We built the Elite Singles by The Sea Meetup group for The Shore to highlight events and music we were offering as a way to reach singles in and outside the South Bay. Although not always reflected in the attendance numbers you'll see on events listed there since many people don't rsvp, just show up, this was a very successful way to brand The Shore as a place for singles to enjoy spending time dining and socializing in Hermosa Beach.

Here's the link with all the activities which they continue to utilize to this day: Elite Singles by The Shore

What I like about Meetup is that there's a low monthly entry fee to become an organizer, you're instantly connected to an entire demographic interested in what you're promoting, and it's a way to have an interactive, visible presence outside the normal social media, web site, trade or organization channel people might normally use to promote something.

You can also cross-promote events with other Meetup organizers which I did very successfully on numerous occasions. As in all social media environments, you must have a name, a quality reputation, and not spam people you're trying to reach. Quality, not quantity in  your outreach is key. Then you can share whatever you want because people will trust you and what you have to offer.

Because I was part of Meetup for so long prior to promoting The Shore I had relationships I was able to bring to the table that other restaurants who tried to emulate what we were doing failed to do because they didn't understand Meetup's social culture or have relationships already established.

We gained 100 members within five months and as I mentioned, this group continues to this day even though we're no longer working together.

I have other social media examples on my Facebook Fan Page which I will attempt to highlight later on. That's all for now. I think I've given you enough to read and learn from my Shore case study for today.

Enjoy!

Thanks!

Here's a sampling of some of the testimonials I have received from entertainment clients, colleagues, former bosses & peers over the years (this is also posted on my new Facebook Fan Pagealong with other examples from my portfolio):

TESTIMONIALS

“Having worked with Joy Kennelly on numerous projects, I find her work habits and ethics to be of the highest quality. She is personable, thorough and I consider her to be one of the pioneers in internet marketing and promotion.”
Owner, Entertainment Enterprises Pr & Marketing Firm, Marcia N. Groff

“Ms. Kennelly worked as a freelance publicist for Kahn & Jacobs Public Relations and Marketing. Though the company, of which I was Co-President, is now closed, it was ranked as one of New York’s top entertainment PR agencies.

During her time with us, Ms. Kennelly worked on a variety of projects, most notably the broadcast of a trilogy of HBO documentaries, the Human Rights International Film Festival, and the music for the hit film “The Red Violin.” The work required her to deal with a wide range of press outlets – from the national political press, to classical music critics, and national and regional news reporters in print, television, radio and online media.

We were very pleased with her. She was extremely diligent, reliable, responsible, well organized, and unfailingly pleasant with clients, co-workers and the press. But, most importantly, she achieved excellent results, amassing impressive national and regional press coverage on difficult projects. It is also worth noting that she was thrown into this work during a very busy time for us, and handled a pressured situation with grace, humor and equanimity.”
Former Co-President, Kahn & Jacobs Public Relations & Marketing, Sharon Kahn

“(Joy Kennelly) is an extremely intelligent, media savvy marketing talent who I would highly recommend for any project. She brings her expertise of producing large events, public relations skills, and new media knowledge to each project with humor and grace.”
Festival Chairman, World Animation Celebration and former CEO, Klasky Csupo (RUGRATS, WILD THORNBERRYS), Terry Thoren

“Joy Kennelly is an extremely talented writer and publicist. Highly energetic and personable, she is able to cut to the heart of any matter with her wit and strong sense of intuition. Her sensitivity and intelligence and kindness are a rare combination to beat.”
President, Noble House Entertainment, Inc. & Ceo, The Script Broker, Devorah Cutler-Rubenstein

“Joy's talent is one of unrivaled expertise and passion for her field. She not only coordinates the seemingly impossible, but she does it with a smile on her face.”
Director and Star of My Date With Drew, Brian Herzlinger

“I'd like to recommend Joy Kennelly as a publicist primarily because she really believes in what she does. For Joy the job is just not work, it is the mission. If she believes in you, she will find the way to get you going; sometimes she will find a way to motivate yourself as an artist too!

She is not only a hard worker, she is a believer. I have achieved so many goals while working with Ms. Kennelly: she repositioned my image, updated my networks, helped me sign with new representation, created my personal website, and got me press in the Los Angeles Business Journal and LA Confidential, among other things.

I would say she is a great publicist, but she might as well be an impresario. She helps her clients because she cares and understands that if they become big stars, she will be working with big stars, which is where she belongs.”
Actor, Domiziano Arcangeli

“I have worked with Joy for almost a year, and am impressed with her enthusiasm, her knowledge, her ability to strategize, her original ideas, and her ability to make contacts for me.”
Author/Script Consultant, Dr. Linda Seger, Advanced Screenwriting: Raising Your Script to the Academy Award Level

“(Joy) successfully oversaw the media blitz and represented Penton Media at Sundance and NATPE. We were very happy with Joy’s performance. We would recommend her for similar assignments where passion, creativity and professionalism are valued.”
Former Vice President, Internet World Events, Penton Media, Courtney C. Muller

“When it comes to public relations, Joy, quite simply, makes it happen. She was a master of online marketing before most people even realized what a major tool it would become. That’s not surprising, because she’s always making every aspect of the media work to her client’s advantage. But just as often, it’s her 6th sense about just the right phone call here, or detail there, that makes everything she does for her client extra special.

And the most amazing thing? She maintains her warmth, smile, and enthusiastic presence through it all. You’d never know she’s the most result-oriented PR person in L.A. Anyone who’s lucky enough to be represented by Joy is, quite, simply, very lucky indeed.”
David Tandet

“Joy, I enjoy attending your events... you're a charming and savvy hostess... keep up the good work!”
Producer, Daniel L. Paulson Productions (Saving Jessica Lynch), Dan Paulson

I finally found my Inauguration blog posts of my experience during that time and thought I'd post them in order of appearance. Enjoy the read - some of you will be very surprised.:)

Inauguration highlights of my experience in DC this week

Highlights from DC Trip for the Inauguration - in no particular order

DC "We are One" Concert pictures - in no particular order again

Pre-Inaugural Brunch w/Congresswoman Jane Harmon & Civil Rights Legend, John Lewis

Finally! Inauguration Day pix and stories from my DC Trip

After the Inauguration - jubilant chaos...

You can read my review of Penny C. Sansevieri's book, Red Hot Internet Publicity on Blogger's Bulletin. Love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for popping by.

I'll have more later. Lots of good stuff going on.

The start of this year has been rather busy which has precluded my blogging. As I look back at 2009 and forward to 2010 I realize it is going to be vastly different.

Last year started with 1. Attending President Obama's Inauguration back in DC (I can't find my inauguration blog posts to share with you -when/if I do, I'll let you know.) Attending 2. Congresswoman Jane Harmon's private, Pre-Inaugural Brunch with Special Guests, Civil Rights Legend John Lewis, Astronaut Buzz Aldren, and numerous South Bay City Officials; then 3. Worked the Oscars as a Press Agent (don't be too impressed - more like a glorified PA which is why it's not listed anywhere and why I won't be doing it again. lol); attended Food & Wine Festivals around the country representing Chef David Linville at such events as the 4. 31st Annual Scottsdale Culinary Festival and the 5. Grand Food & Wine Affair (wonderful experiences which I do hope to repeat with or without a Chef this year to enjoy more mind-blowing cuisine); 6.Attended BizBash Expo on VOX DJs behalf; (I would list all the events I attended on their behalf and the corresponding blogs, but last time I checked it was up to 17 blogs and counting. I'm going to spare you.:) 7. Attended the SES SJC Conference and numerous tech and other industries networking events (again, too many to list); 8. Produced a few networking events myself (Social Network Live) including one at my favorite new LA restaurant, EVA, with Chef Mark Gold and Producer Dan Paulson;  9. Attended LA Fashion Week Fashion Shows for my favorite Designers, Louis Verdad, and 10. Kevan Hall who was featured at the amazing Rusnak Night of Luxury event and new favorite, 11. Philip Rodriguez at Passion Revealed; 12. Attended the election celebrations for new Hermosa Beach City Council Members, Jeff Duclos

and Howard Fishman, (who I did social media marketing for successfully against an incumbent who lost - which I like to think was partly due to my efforts. Read it and see for yourself. Some of my posts are missing from my blog which I'm going to check on and post later.);
13. Attending my final client's VOX DJ's 25th Year Anniversary, and the grand finale, the 14. Lexus LFA Preview at a private Beverly Hills Estate.

I'm sure there were other events I'm not listing here, but if you search through previous blog posts you'll find them. I just need to wrap this up otherwise I could be here all night!

On a personal basis had a few wonderful private holiday events with friends too.

And the biggest news of 2009? I closed my award-winning PR & Marketing Firm, The Joy Writer PR & Marketing  once and for all which I haven't regretted. It feels real good to simplify my professional responsibilities to the aspects of PR & Marketing which I enjoy (blogging, social media marketing, and speaking) and leave behind all the others.

Just took a Franklin-Covey Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great ResultsTM Training seminar (as a follow-up to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Training) through my wonderful part-time gig and am looking forward to taking many more classes in a wide variety of subjects because I love to learn.

Thanks for checking in.

And if you happen to find my lost Inauguration and Howard Fishman blog posts, let me know. If I find 'em, I'll let you know.:)

Now I leave you with a video of the LFA unveiling in Beverly Hills. Enjoy!

I've decided it's time to expand my horizons and begin writing for other sites too. I'm so impressed with Chris Franklin who runs The Blogger's Bulletin I decided to start there.

Just posted some of my blogging/marketing secrets in my first post entitled: Local News Coverage – an excellent way to draw readers

Let me know what you think! Also, if you have a blog, consider joining The Blogger's Bulletin. I'm very impressed and I don't impress easily.:)

I am very grateful to have recently taken Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People training because it's really helping me get better organized in all areas of my life.

If you're not familiar with his 7 Habits, here's a quick overview: 

Habit 1 : Be Proactive

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Habit 6: Synergize

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

If you click on each of the links above you will be able to read what each Habit means in greater detail. I read this book right after college.

My Dad is a big believer in goal setting which is why he had suggested I read it. He would also pay me for each book report I would write of every motivational book he suggested I read. Being eager for money while in college - I read a lot!

My Dad has been a big influence in my life on so many levels. He's extremely entrepreneurial and is very involved in real estate. We three girls grew up taking care of all his rental properties - painting, cleaning, laying bricks, etc. You name it - we did it.

Needless to say, not a typical female upbringing, but a good childhood nonetheless. My mom taught us to cook and sew and have nice manners which balanced things out.:)

My Dad also got us involved in sports at an early age. Because my birthday falls in the middle of the school year I was always the youngest on any soccer team. I'll never forget him pushing me to join a very skilled soccer team after the season had started and enduring their kicks to my shins during practice because they didn't want me there since I wasn't as good a player.

I learned early on to be tough and hold my own then. My Dad was constantly pushing me into things I didn't want to do like attend events alone, travel alone, and just be very independent from a very young age. Looking back now, I know it's made me a much stronger person as a result.

It's also allowed me to enjoy more activities because I'm not afraid to go alone anywhere (for the most part.) I have learned over the years it's usually going to work out ok and just go because you never know who you'll meet and how they'll positively add and/or change your life.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about Stephen Covey.:)

When you complete the Stephen Covey training you can sign up online to complete the 7 week follow up contract which I did. As a result, I've been planning my weeks in advance and actually writing down what I need to do all in one place which has been very helpful.

Just finished plotting next week and I have a lot to do! I like being proactive and planning ahead which is why this first habit is a fun one for me. The 2nd and 3rd Habits - Begin with the End in Mind and First Things First, are also habits I have followed for a long time and enjoy doing.

It's the 4th Habit Think Win-Win which I have been really working on since it doesn't come as naturally. I was raised to be very competitive and as a result often think in Win-Lose terms, especially in politics (which apparently is one instance where it's ok.)

However, when you apply the 5th Habit - Seek First to Understand, Then be Understood to the 4th Habit, it has really helped (as does prayer!) By staying focused on what I personally have control over and not allowing the crisis of the moment to sway me has also really helped.

I believe it is helping with my current part-time gig too which makes me happy to be effecting a small change there too. It's fun to see people begin to think ahead on what they want and need to be successful.

I'm beginning to experience the 6th Habit Synergize a little more, but am still edging up to that one. The last habit - Sharpen the Saw, is something I love. I love learning, reading, taking classes, and gaining knowledge and wisdom. I'm very excited to be taking the Stephen Covey Leadership Training early January now too.

What's been fun about learning these principles in greater detail at this past seminar, in addition to all the classes and seminars I've taken over the years and books I've read, is that I've been able to share my knowledge with friends and various groups I've started over the years.

Back when I was working for Sony Pictures Imageworks, I ran numerous concurrent "Goal Groups"  of 8-10 people on a bi-monthly basis. We would commit to meeting every other week for three months and set goals we wanted to accomplish by the end of that time. I was always amazed at what people were able to accomplish once they had the tools, knowledge and accountability.

I remember one friend ended up moving to Hawaii and I NEVER in a million years thought she had the guts to leave the comfort of her family and home town. She was thrilled too because she didn't think she would do it either, but she did!

Another woman was getting ready to retire and needed to get her finances in order. Something I wasn't trained in, but because she was held accountable by our group she set appointments with those who were and was very happy to achieve her goal. It gave her a sense of accomplishment and peace of mind which I find happens over and over again.

One of my close friends, as a result of participating in another of my Goal Girl Groups, ended up moving into a fitness career after many years of being a stay-at-home mom with no outside career aspirations since leaving law.

Now you can catch my Personal Pilates Trainer/Friend, Shana Stark, taking privates and teaching at Easton Gym in Hollywood!

One of the activities I like to incorporate into my groups is creating a Vision Board. (Click on the link for a full description and how to create one of your own by one of my favorite motivational and creative Singer/Songwriters I know, Christine Kane. Make sure to listen to her music for an added treat.)

I've also read other books on Vision Boarding or Treasure Mapping which it's also called, lead Vision Workshops, and taught people how to create their own Vision Board which is always fun. My friends used to laugh at me because I plaster my entire apartment with my vision boards, but hey, if it worked for Motivational Speaker, Chris Howard, it's good enough for me! Plus, it does help me achieve my own goals.:)

That's why when the topic turned to vision boarding at my latest Christmas Cookie Exchange party we all decided to create a Vision Board for 2010.
Pretty soon all of the details fell into place - now we're meeting January 7 at 7pm at a home in MB and having a potluck dinner while we create!

I am very excited to create my new 2010 vision and will keep you posted.

In the meantime, enjoy the rain! May be a good time to read Stephen Covey's book or listen to Christine Kane's music if you haven't already.:)