wcswans.com Blog

WCSWANS Book Discussion: Eat, Pray, Love

Administrator — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:08:52 +0000

WCSWANS members and non-members met at Alcheldo’s in Tiverton, RI to discuss the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. What a great group of women who attended! As I indicated at the meeting, meetings like this are why I started WCSWANS. We had some great laughs and such insightful discussion! Discussions related to the book themes as well as the how the book related to our own lives. It seems that while many woman could not afford to travel around the world they could relate to Elizabeth’s inner journey. Many women can relate at some point in their life to Elizabeth’s feeling of being stuck and yet trying to meet the expectations of society. But as Elizabeth modeled, we realize we have a choice in our life in how we perceive it and how we live it. I couldn’t possibly be able to try to share the many insightful comments shared by each attendee. However, I would love for individuals to share comments about the book and/or the event in the comment section below.
Thank you to Alcheldo’s for the great food and space for the event. Thank you to all the ladies who attended who shared their thoughts and themselves at this event! Thank you also to the Providence Journal to for taking pictures and doing a story about our discussion event for the Sunday paper!

Upcoming: Members- See you for Movie night- We’ll see Eat, Pray, Love!

In September we have a wonderful event open to non-members- with speaker Lisa Tener who will talk about how to connect to your creative source!

Hope to see you at an upcoming event! Warmly, Maureen Umehara Director, WCSWANS

WCSWANS Sept 17, 2009 Follow-up- Network/Netplay With Diane Darling

Administrator — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:13 +0000

We had another wonderful event this September. As with previous Network/Netplay events, attendees enjoyed socializing and a great meal. Each person also had an opportunity to do an “intro” to the group. It’s so fun to get a chance to learn about each attendee in this way. Our speaker, Diane Darling, then spoke on the topic “Embracing Change in Challenging Times”. What a great topic for our current times. Diane, of Effective Networking Inc, is well known for her skills and great presentations on networking. For our event, however, Diane took a more personal direction. She was able to share about some of her difficulties before she became successful and how she overcame them (and in some cases is still overcoming them). Everyone enjoyed her presentation which was both authentic and inspiring. Several members of the audience who particulalry connected with her stories, were also able to share their own stories in the following discussion. Thank you to Diane for sharing your stories, strength, insights, and hope! It is easy to see from your presentation that you are successful in more ways than one.
Thank you to one of our Business Members, Patricia Cerchio-Vieira of United First Financial (UFirst), for helping to check-in and greet attendees. Thank you to McGovern’s on the Water for the great food and service. Thank you also to those members and non-members who attended. These wonderful events wouldn’t be possible without all of your support. Hope to see you soon at our next event!

Diane Darling of Effective Networking Inc

Here are two books Diane has written….
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WCSWANS Event Follow-up- Menopause the Musical

Administrator — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:04:14 +0000

WCSWANS and friends attended Menopause the Musical at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI on July 31st. I think attendees will agree the show was a lot of fun! A special thank you to Leann Heath the group sales rep from Trinity Rep who was super nice and helpful!

WCSWANS Meeting 6/14/09 Follow-up: Comedy Connections

Administrator — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:10:27 +0000

What a fun night! We had a great turnout and lots of laughs at the Comedy Connections Comedy Showcase. WCSWANS members and friends socialized, networked, enjoyed some yummy snacks and drinks and then enjoyed the show. This was definitely a different event from other events we’ve had for WCSWANS. Shall we simply say at times there were some rather colorful language and jokes in the mix of comedians? However, ladies can admit there were also some really good laughs. Of course our “women’s group” had a few jokes at our expense as well One comedian even took our swan! But you can relax, I got it back safe and sound

Thank you very much for the owner, Eric, for his generosity in giving us complimentary admission and great hospitality. The event was a lot of fun and the staff was great too! Several attendees told me after the show they had a great time and also enjoyed making some new connections. Anyone who attended please feel free to post a comment on the blog! We’d love to hear from you.

If you want to check out this award winning comedy club and their upcoming line up go to…
http://www.ricomedyconnection.com/index.php

WCSWANS 5/21/09 Meeting Follow-Up, Topic: Making Connections On-line and Off-line

Administrator — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:51:42 +0000

WCSWANS and New Commons present: Network/Netplay Cafe

Well, we had another wonderful event! Each time we have an event it almost seems like I should think “How can we top this?” Then each following event has its own magic. The event topic was “Connecting on-line and Off-line” and we covered this topic well with a lot of fun added in!…

After enjoying socializing over a great meal, our attendees were treated to a presentation by our speaker. Michelle Girasole of The Sassy Ladies enlightened us around how to connect on line through Facebook and Twitter through her engaging PowerPoint presentation. Hopefully some of the women who met this evening who are on these social network sites will continue their connections on-line (and those who aren’t on yet will check them out!). In continuation of the theme of “connections” Michelle Girasole also had the great idea to do reverse-intros where attendees interviewed one another and introduced one another to the group. It is so fun to learn something about each attendee at these events! Hopefully, some new connections were also created through this fun exercise.

Michelle Gonzalez of New Commons had another great connecting exercise. Each attendee was asked to write a brief answer on a slip of paper in response to questions about her networks, passions and recreations. Michelle found themes and commonalities in these responses and then “clustered” them together to display on several boards. Attendees then had a chance to see who else in the room had the same interests and then had an opportunity to connect further on that topic. We would love to hear from attendees more about what you learned and experienced through the presentation, the activities and through the evening! Please share your comments in this blog.
If you want to follow any of us on Twitter. Here are our Twitter usernames…
Michelle Girisole is @SassyMichelle, Michelle Gonzalez is @MichGonzalez, Maureen Umehara is @WCSWANSLady. Our speaker, Michelle Girasole, also invites you to join the Sassy Ladies Facebook and Linkedin groups!

Thank You’s
I would be remiss if I did not thank all the people who helped to make this event possible. Thank you to Michelle Girasole of the Sassy Ladies for having a fun presentation on Twitter and Facebook and your great idea to do the reverse intros. If you are not aware, the Sassy Ladies have a new book to help women in business : The Sassy Ladies’ Toolkit for Start-Up Businesses (see link below). Thank you to Michelle Gonzalez of New Commons for her fun exercise to help us see our connections to other attendees that we may not have known otherwise. Thank you to McGoverns for the great food and service. A special thank you to Noreen Roosa of Premier Designs ( a WCSWANS Business member) for checking people in! And of course, thank you to all the wonderful women who attended! We’ve been complimented many times on the warm, welcoming and fun atmosphere at WCSWANS events. While that is what we strive for, we also need to acknowledge that this positive atmosphere is created with the help of each wonderful woman that attends!

As indicated that evening, some of the goals of WCSWANS are to help women have fun connecting with other women and learning new things. I hope the attendees agree that this was acheived at this event. Attendees please feel free to share your comments below in our blog. We would love to hear from you! I hope to see you at another upcoming event!

Did you know the Sassy Ladies have a new book for women in business?



WCSWANS: 3/25/09 Meeting Follow-up; Topic: Intuition
Administrator — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:13:48 +0000
What a wonderful event last night! … So many wonderful women to connect with.  In addition to women helping one another, WCSWANS was also able to donate $100 to help Starlight Children’s Foundation of New England. Thank you to Jonelle Prille-Tate for educating us about this wonderful organization.  If you are interested in learning more or are interested in volunteer opportunities please contact them. Thank you to Tara Crawford Roth for speaking to on the topic “Use your Intuition to Achieve your Goals (and also donating a cd as a doorprize)!  Michelle Gonzalez of New Commons, thank you as well for sharing with us a taste of your café style discussions!  A special thank to WCSWANS member, Deborah Fontana of Premier Design, for checking people in that evening. Thank also to McGovern’s for the great space, food and service.

    Michelle indicated that usually after her events she tries to share a summary of some of the themes, topics, insights etc that arose.  What I will do is list some of the topics I can pull from the papers and my memory. But I also invite attendees to share their experience in the comments section of this blog. Please feel free to correct me or fill in any information I may have missed!  Also, use your intuition as to what else you want to share…Did you enjoy the event? What are some insights you gained? Did you meet some fascinating woman? You can also share about other resources and upcoming events that you think could be helpful to attendees etc. Even if you weren’t able to attend but want to share some insights regarding topic…we welcome your input! 
Speech Topic: Use your Intuition to Achieve you Goals

A few things that Tara talked about: What intuition was; The different types of intuition (claircognizant, clairvoyant, clairsentient, clairaudient) and some techniques and exercises to help you more easily access your intuition.  
Break Out Discussion Topics:

1)How do you tell the difference between the feeling of fear and intuition?

  Intuition is empowering, positive and expansive; Intuition is a positive feeling and feels expansive where as fear is a negative feeling and restrictive; Intuition tells you to do something, not to not do something; Intuition is loving; Intuition is the answer that lights you up;  Is fear a valuable emotion?  Yes, all emotions are valuable. The mistake is getting caught up in them instead of listening to their message, letting go and deciding whether and how to take action.  No, or at least it is the least valuable emotion in that it makes people feel small and limited. 
2)How do you marry the idea of creating intentions to get what you want vs being lead by your intuition?

Control vs destiny; Are you being lead by your intentions or is it divine destiny?; Intuition (passive) vs intention (foundation/control); Can’t know how until you know what; Follow your heart; Intention can be in alignment with divine will; Set the intention to accomplish the vision; Get out of monkey mind; You can gain control when you let go of intention; follow what feels good;



3)How do you incorporate intuition in your daily life?

Dreams- remember and journal dreams, not being afraid to listen to intuition- dreams, signs, journal; Make a gratitude list- focus on good things and not always on the bad; Stay focused, Stay in the  moment; Set intentions- listen- picture, voices, feelings; Nurture intuition; Have faith in your life; It’s harder when times are unstable – focus and grounding leads to better trust. 
4) Wild Card: Whatever that table wanted to discuss

    Spend time with beautiful things; Trust; throw pots; pray; scrapbook; take drawing class; stay in the moment; acknowledging what’s great; asking/listening to questions; pay attention; repetition and success; How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. 
I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at an upcoming event!

Warmly,

Maureen Umehara

www.wcswans.com

wcswans@wcswans.com



February Members Event: Happy Birthday!
Administrator — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:59:53 +0000
Thank you to all the members who were able to attend the WCSWANS birthday party this month!  I can’t believe we are 2 years old!  At the event we enjoyed food and friendship as well as a fun presentation on numerology by one of our business members Chris McCullough.   I loved the fact that as we talked about her presentation we got to know a little more about each other. One of the other parts of the night I really enjoyed was the “Three things about me” game.  We shared two things that were true and one thing that was something we would like to see happen in the future. This was another fun way to get to know one another better.  Everytime we meet I enjoy the fact that we have so many interesting and inspiring members!   Happy Birthday WCSWANS! A special “Thank you” to our member, Terry Wildemann, for hosting the event at Winds of Change Leadership and Wellness Center. We always enjoy the warm and welcoming environment at her center!
Door prizes also added a lot of fun to the night! Thank you to Sandy Montour, Barbara Picard and Caryl Sickul (yoga instructor) for donating great door prizes to the event! Thank you also to Eileen Santos (of Snappy Chamelion) and Wendy Andrews (of Pampered Chef) for contributing some food and drinks to the night. 
I also wanted to shout out a special thank you to some of my helpers from last year: Erin Bednarczyk, Particia Cerchio-Vieira (Ufirst), Carolyn Duby, Deborah Fontana (Premier Designs), Noreen  Roosa (Premier Designs), Eileen Santos (Snappy Chamelion) and Terry Wildemann (Winds of Change Professional Development and Wellness Center). You can see more info about some of these lovely ladies on our Business Member Directory  I also wanted to send a special thank you to Barbara Picard for being a great resource and support in starting this club.  
I’m soooo looking forward to our next event! 
Warm Wishes,

Maureen Umehara

Founder/Director

WCSWANS

www.wcswans.com



WCSWANS 1/29/09 Meet and Greet Follow-up
Administrator — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:25:03 +0000
What a great event we had!  Jan Girouard of ALL ABOUT ReDECORATING had an excellent presentation. She not only shared some tips on “One Day Redecorating” but also showed us pictures of these tips from homes of previous homeowners she’s helped! Her room paint changing examples were especially fun for me. What a difference the right color can make!  I hope everyone went home with some new ideas. Thank you Jan!  We’re happy to have you as a new member as well. I am excited to say there we also several other attendees who decided to join our club this evening.  We’re happy to have you! I wanted to send a special thank you also to WCSWANS member Patricia Cerchio-Viera for being the greeter at the event and helping attendees feel welcome!
Not only did we have a great speaker, but also such diverse and interesting attendees. I feel so lucky to have the opportunityto meet so many wonderful women at these events. What was your experience? What did you learn from the event either from our speaker or through networking? 
I want to also do a special thank you to WCSWANS member, Terry Wildemann.  She is the owner of Winds of Change where the event was held.  I think attendees will agree she has a very warm and inviting environment for meetings and presentations!  If anyone is looking for a meeting place or wants to learn about some of the great programs at Winds of Change please check out her website  
Want to share about your experience from the event?  Share some other tips to attendees? We invite you to to post on our blog!  Feel free to include your name and if you have a business you are welcome to indicate it and a link as well. Part of the fun of these events for me is to see what interesting careers/businesses are out there! 
Warm Wishes,

Maureen Umehara

www.wcswans.com

Check out our other upcoming events!



WCSWANS 11/20 Meeting Follow-up and Tips on Procrastination
Administrator — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:03:53 +0000
THANK YOU’S AND FOLLOW-UPS

Thank you to those who were able to come to our November Network/Netplay event! Thank you also to our fun speaker, Mary Ellen Rinaldi. She was both humorous and educational! I hope you also enjoyed the brief explanation of Toastmasters by Tom Nyzio, president of Providence Toastmasters.  A special thank you to Eileen Santos of Snappy Chameleon for doing the greeting/check-in at the event. If you wanted to contact someone from the event or wanted more info about any of the business members selling items,  feel free to let me know.  The people who were selling items: Noreen Roosa of Premier Design; Eileen Santos of Snappy Chameleon, Patricia Cerchio-Viera of United First Financial (UFirst) and I have the new Dinner for Two books available as well.  
LETS SHARE IDEAS AND RESOURCES!

I hope everyone had fun and got a chance to chat with many of the wonderful women who attended.  As someone indicated to me, it is so great to hear all the diverse backgrounds and skills everyone has. It is also so wonderful how everyone is so willing to help one another. I know several women, including myself, were able to swap resource and brainstorm with one another. Let’s continue the discussion and sharing of info! Our speaker, Mary Ellen, suggested I start a blog on our website. After hearing her speech on procrastination I was inspired to start one right away. Horray!  One thing that won’t end up on my never ending “To Do” list. Is there something on your “To Do” list that you are inspired to start?
I would love to hear from you whether you attended the meeting or not! Please share your thoughts on these or other ideas…..What did you get from the meeting?… A tip from the speaker? A new idea? A new contact? A fun ladies night out?  Mary Ellen’s topic was on procrastination. Whether you were at the event or not can anyone else relate to procrastination? One suggestion she had was rather than think of the entire task, focus on one baby step. What are other suggestions?

 For those new to this, it’s easy to comment. Just fill in the blank box below this post. [If the comment box isn't showing, then just click on the word "comment" which is after the date and time at the top middle of the page and then ....fill in the blanks.]  Then just click “submit comment” and your done…quick and easy. Be sure to include you name (and if you have a business feel free to include that too!)
Hope to connect with you again soon… online or off!

Warmly,

Maureen Umehara

Director, WCSWANS

www.wcswans.com