Alliance for Affordable Services

Bay Area Business
Women News

Munday and Collins

Our membership is constantly seeking advice, support, training and information from service providers to help further their business practices. If you or someone you know would be interested in participating as a one-time sponsor at a WIC monthly meeting, held the third Thursday of each month, please contact us for more information.

As the year draws to a close and I reflect on everything we've accomplished this year, I am stunned by our extraordinary success.

We launched several new and very successful initiatives this year: A New Look: We launched our new WIC logo, re-launched our web site and enhanced our member database.
Regular Communication: We launched our bi-monthly member newsletter in the first-quarter and quarterly company-facing newsletters.
More Member Education: We held six workshops this year, a significant increase from the two we held last year, and offered significant discounts to WIC members.
Exceptional Meetings: Somehow they keep getting better. From the speakers to the hospitality, our programs were exceptional. As a result, the momentum for our meetings has increased significantly, and every month we are consistently at capacity.
Held Special Events: We held a wonderful panel on Philanthropy with FWE, and exhibited at an SVAMA event to promote WIC and our member database to local marketing executives.
New Sponsorship Revenue: We recruited meeting sponsors to generate additional operational revenue for WIC
Increased Public Awareness: We issued a press release for our 5-year anniversary and received coverage in local press articles.
Improved our Email Lists: We've continued to increase the business value of the WIC-Community email list by breaking it into two lists: one for business and one for off-topic. We also began moderating the business list to keep it on-topic.
Held a Successful Silent Auction: Our first silent auction went off without a hitch, with only ten weeks of planning, and generated twice the target revenue, with over $7,500 in incremental revenue for WIC to fund infrastructure initiatives and new member services.
Strengthened our Financial Position: With the Silent Auction revenue, we ended the year in a strong financial position, and now have a strong set of books and a replicable financial model for the years to come. Thank you Deb Miller for continuing on as Treasurer through the end of the year in spite of taking a new *real* job!
Launched a New Member Benefit: Offered members a significant discount on a Hoovers subscription for 2004.
Organizational Structure: This year ends with the first completed tenure of our "official" board, and our second year in operation as an official non-profit organization.
Volunteer Participation: This was a watershed year in terms of increased involvement of WIC member volunteers, with more than 50 volunteers contributing to our success.

Our accomplishments are numerous only because of the generosity and dedication of our volunteer board members, committee chairs and volunteers (too numerous to name - but you know who you are!) who made it all possible. Thank you all!

Board

Lisa Goldman - Vice President	Karilee Wirthlin - Secretary
Deb Miller - Treasurer	Jennifer Berkley - Membership
Laura Vavrunek - Marketing

Committee Chairs
Anne French - Member Education Co-Chair
Niqui Hunt - Member Education Co-Chair
Catherine Jaeger - Meeting Program Co-Chair
Marcia Canady - Meeting Program Co-Chair
Leslie Smith - Partnership Chair
Rosemary Brisco - Web Site Chair
Sherry Prescott-Willis - Member Communications Chair
Deb McClanahan - Sponsorship Chair
Deborah Siegle - Member Benefits Chair
Maribeth Lazich - Hospitality Chair
Deborah Henken Silent Auction, Special Events Chair
Lee Caraher - Public Relations Co-Chair
Alison Wellington-Toth- Public Relations Co-Chair
Dana Dowell - List Moderator
Angi Roberts - Executive Administrator

In the spirit of collaboration, a special thanks is in order for Lisa Goldman. Lisa's generous spirit made me a better leader, and her leadership and clarity made WIC a much more successful organization. I could not have done it without her.

Finally, I will retire as President in January, but remain on the board for one year as the Treasurer. Serving WIC for the past two years has been such a privilege and honor. It not only broadened and strengthened my own business skills, but also gave me an opportunity to collaborate with and build lifelong friendships with many exceptional women.

Deb Henken will take over as President in January. Deb is the perfect person to lead WIC next year. She is action-focused, professional and responsive, and thus just the person we need as we transition from foundation-building to awareness-building. Deb is an exceptional strategist and leader, and her exceptional skills will be invaluable to WIC in the coming years.

In addition, Karilee Wirthlin has stepped up to become Vice President where her tenure with the organization and strategic thinking will be invaluable. Sherry Prescott-Willis, whose organization, perseverance and attention to detail ensured regular member communications, will become the new Secretary, and Jennifer Berkley has generously agreed to extend her board tenure for one year to remain as Membership Director.

Please keep in mind that the Marketing Director slot is still available, so if you're interested please contact me or Deb Henken.

Kate Purmal
President, Women in Consulting

Best Gift Ideas

The holidays are a perfect time to show your appreciation for a client in a unique and thoughtful way. As you begin planning your consulting projects for 2004, make sure to remember those clients that have really helped you and your business in 2003! To give you some ideas, read "Best Gift Ideas."

Holiday Dining With Clients

Take the time to spread some cheer amongst your clients across a brunch, lunch, or dinner table. Learn some great client dining tips by reading Kathryn Smith's article on "Holiday Dining With Clients".

Keeping your business on one page was the theme of November's WIC meeting as members were led through a comprehensive demonstration of how to create a one page business plan by Jim Horan. Jim is the President and CEO of the One Page Business Plan Company and author of "The One Page Business Plan"... the best selling business planning book on Amazon.com. He is also the developer of The One Page Planning and Performance System. Jim founded his company in 1990 after nearly two decades in senior level financial positions with Shaklee Corporation and Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Over the past 12 years, his company has helped thousands of businesses achieve sustainable cash flow and profit growth.

For more information on Jim's One Page Business Plan Company, go to http://www.onepagebusinessplan.com.

WIC Fall Workshops were sell-outs!

By Kathryn Smith with Niquette Hunt

Results are in! The WIC Fall Workshops were a huge success! Three WIC sponsored workshops were created based on WIC survey results. The survey showed that the top two topics of interest were marketing the business and the consultant. Pricing of services and business planning were also of high importance.

A September workshop, "Value-Based Pricing: How to Get the Most For Your Services" created and presented by Lisa Goldman, was an extremely productive full day seminar. It sold out, with 25 consultants gaining valuable insight on maximizing the Sales Call and increasing revenue with project pricing. The interactive format enabled attendees to test their understanding of the principles as well as learn a great deal from one another.

October's workshop "How to Set Profitable Rates for Your Consulting Practice: A Seminar on Setting Rates and Creating Project Bids", created and presented by Debbie Lefkowitz was offered in the format of an impactful 2= hour breakfast seminar. Debbie provided insights into setting profitable and competitive rates, and important considerations for estimating project time and costs to 26 consultants. A key benefit was the comprehensive review of a Rate Calculation tool that was also included in the take-home materials. An abundance of valuable information was also shared between the attendees before, during, and after the event.