WICT Membership is a great
investment
in yourself and your career! We have had a great lineup of educational
programs in 2009 to help you realize the value and benefits of your
WICT New England
membership. |
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I
would like to thank everyone who participated in the 2009 Mentor
Program. I would like to give a special shout out to my two
volunteers Jen Duquette and Ramanpreet Singh. They were a tremendous
help, I couldn't have done it without their ideas and support. In
2009 we had a record year with 35 matches, looking to grow that to 40
or more matches in 2010.
I recently sent out a Zoomerang Survey to
all participants in the hopes of finding out what worked, what may not
have worked so well and more specifically what are people looking for
from the program. We had a moderate return with 33 responses out
of 70 invited to participate, almost 50%. 18 Protégés and 15
Mentors responded. We will get the results out to you very soon.
For those that responded, thank you for taking the time.
I look forward to working with you next year.
Happy Holiday's
Regina |
Did you know that 80% of all jobs are found through a professional network?
Count on WICT to keep you connected and involved
in the industry while you're unemployed. WICT can help you
continue your career journey during your transition.
Call WICT at 703.234.9817 or 703.234.9811 to take advantage of $100 off executive or regular membership dues. |
| How to Handle Holiday Stress: |
'Tis the season to be jolly, so why do I feel so stressed out?
By Karen Susman<mailto:%20karen@karensusman.com>
Having
just put the Thanksgiving turkey carcass into a trash bag - I know I
could have made soup if I weren't too tired to chop an onion - I've
already experienced holiday stress. I wanted everything to be perfect.
It wasn't. I wanted everyone to get along. They didn't. I wanted my
silver to gleam. It didn't. I wanted my centerpiece to show off my
creativity. What centerpiece? Now comes the slew of parties, cookies,
gifts, bills, and greeting cards that weigh us down and stress us out
until mid-January.
Here's what to do:
1.
Lower expectations. Have a realistic view of what is really important.
Your kids want your time. They are not going to remember the Martha
Stewart decorations - unless you involve them in the making of the
decorations.
2. Don't over schedule yourself or your family. Pick and choose the holiday functions.
3.
Take care of yourself. You can't give what you don't have. So, eat
healthfully, avoid the sweets as much as possible. Exercise routines
are sacrificed when we're overwhelmed, but exercise is the best
investment of your time.
4. Get plenty of
sleep. Most of us are suffering from sleep deprivation as it is.
Nothing is worth your getting sick.
5. Ask for help. Involve your kids, spouse, family and friends .
6. Ask yourself, "If I only had half the time, what would I do?" This will help you prioritize.
7. Pick names for gifts instead of buying a gift for everyone. This will save you money and time.
8. Shop online or from catalogues.
9. Buy stamps online. Why stand in line at the post office?
10.
Read holiday stories to your children. This allows you to sit down,
relax and connect. (We had a holiday tradition of everyone climbing on
to the big bed and reading together.) 11. Start new holiday
traditions that are less stressful for you but just as meaningful.
12.
Look at your list of stressors and determine which ones you have no
control over. Your parents are aging. The economy is like sludge. If
you live in Minnesota, it will snow.
13. Do a mental makeover.
Reframe what the holidays are all about for you. Is this a religious
holiday? Then forget the fluff and focus
on the real meaning. If your kids are pressuring you to buy, buy, buy,
this is a wonderful opportunity to help them learn the value of giving
to others. Have them go through their toys and pick some to take to a
homeless shelter.
14.
Remember how you felt on December 26 or January 2 last go 'round. What
did you say you'd never do again? What did your kids enjoy most? How
would you like to feel this year after the holidays? How can you
achieve this?
15. When a "should" runs through your mind, you don't have to act on it.
16.
Embrace your imperfection. It's one of the nicest things you can do for
your kids and your mate. Being imperfect takes the pressure off of you
and off of them.
17. Limit your TV watching - especially the news.
18. Don't do anything in December you're going to regret in January. Why be stuck with huge bills and 10 extra pounds?
One last de-stresser: the holidays will pass and you'll survive. You always do. Happy holidays to you and yours.
Karen
Susman, Speaker/Author/Coach, works with organizations and individuals
that want to maximize their performance and quality of life. Check out
her free tips and articles at www.karensusman.com. |
|
WICT Rising Leaders Program |
The 2010 Program
WICT's
Rising Leaders Program (RLP) seeks industry professionals who are ready
to challenge their skills and take the next step towards designing
their individual leadership blueprint. During an intensive
week-long immersion program, participants will take part in leadership
analysis, case study work, cable business acumen and tactical personal
leadership skill development. This program is limited to two classes of
30 women. WICT
is excited to announce that due to the continued and overwhelming
interest in this program and the number of qualified applicants we have
received in the past years that there will be two Rising Leaders
classes in 2010, which will run concurrently from May 24-28, 2010.
Click Here for more information and for the application for 2010. |
| Executive Development Seminar |
Designed
for post-Rising Leaders Program and pre-Betsy Magness Leadership
Institute women, the Executive Development Seminar focuses on aligning
personal leadership styles and strengths with performance in the work
environment.
Over
this three-day program, participants learn and practice strategies to
build relationships in business, recognition and management of
differences among peers, critical time management strategies and
techniques for dissecting complicated work situations. This seminar is
limited to 30 women in each session.
Save the date for the 2010 programs:
April 28-30, 2010 in Cary, NC - registration now open! Click here
September 22-24, 2010 in Rancho Santa Fe, CA | |
A Letter From The President
|
 Seasons Greetings!
Thank
you for your participation and continued support of WICT. It has
been an honor serving as President of the WICT New England Chapter in
2008 and 2009. I have grown both professionally and personally, and
have had the opportunity to build new relationships with many of you.
I am very excited about all that we have
accomplished this year. I wanted to thank the 2009 WICT New England
Board, Executive Champions, Advisor, Sponsors and Volunteers for their
dedication, support, and service to the Chapter. A special thanks
to Jennifer Kirkwood (VP of WICT NE and Sr. Director of Production
Operations at ESPN), who took the reigns of the chapter as I traveled
extensively the past few months. You've done a fabulous job!
Due
to everyone's combined efforts, I am also very pleased to announce,
WICT New England has won three awards on the National Level.
WICT Inspire Award
Best Programming (2nd place)
Chapter of the Year Award
The
"WICT Inspire" Award was given to all the chapters that received 85
points or more on their Model Chapter Business Plan. This included
meeting the Inspire criteria in 5 areas: 1) Membership, 2) Programming,
3) Financial, 4) Governance, 5) Participation, and 6) Branding.
There were 15 chapters to receive this award.
The
"Best Chapter Programming of the Year" was recognized at three levels:
first, second and third place. The requirements included the Chapter's
achievements in the areas of: Creativity, Innovation, Program
attendance, Diversity - both in topic and content and Support of the
WICT mission. WICT New England received 2nd place.
The
"Chapter of the Year" award was presented to the TOP performing Chapter
that accumulated the highest number of points possible as determined by
the 2009 WICT Model Chapter Business Plan. Our chapter earned 100
points on all of our activities this year! That is a perfect
score.
All recognition of the above is a clear result of
our collective participation, dedication and engagement in all that
took place this year. Thank you-and congratulations to everyone
for a banner year!
As we look to 2010, please join me in
congratulating Jennifer Kirkwood, incoming WICT NE President and our
2010 Board of Directors. I know they will do an excellent job in moving
the chapter forward and developing woman leaders who transform our
industry! If you would like to see the chapter leadership for
next year, please visit our website at www.wictnewengland.org.
In
closing, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and outstanding New
Year! I look forward to seeing you in 2010.
Regards,
Lata Chawla
2009 WICT NE President |
| Thank you to our Volunteers |
|
During
2009, despite challenging economic conditions, the WICT NE Chapter
hosted 13 quality programs throughout its footprint. Due to the
thoughtful planning of the program directors, relevant selection of
content and the stellar talent of the program facilitators, all of the
events were successfully executed.
The WICT New England Board of
Directors would like to extend this sincere thank you to all of the
chapter members who contributed their valuable time and effort to make
the 2009 program year tremendously successful. Please join us in
congratulating each and every one of the 2009 WICT NE Chapter member
volunteers. It is through their volunteerism, support and
advocacy that our chapter continues to thrive.
2009 WICT New England Program Volunteers
Jo-Anne
Adrian-Drummey Abraham
Kyele
Andrea
Johnson Sharon
Jones
Heather
King
Fatima Lopes
Catherine
Maloney
Tonya MacDonald
Donna
Newell
Beth O'Brien
Tracy
Ouelette
Kathi Paiva
Sue
Palmieri
Amy Pavao
Krisan
Pope
Ariana Rawls
Steven
Schofield
Margaret Thomspson-Levy
Lisa
Walsh Christine
Ward
Marci
Zajack
Jennifer Altarriba
Amy
Antonangeli
Cory Beaulieu
Elena
Bell Jen
Bianco
BethAnn
Brooks
Lucy Cabral
Tanya
Caiano
Rosemary Centola
Alecia
Coffin Lisa
Clark
Bruce
Cleveland
Shanna Dandy
Dorothy
Disler
Audra Ekmalian
Lisa
Finelli
Jodee Fridrich
Brian
Gallagher
Maureen Geller
Kathi
George Nancy
Hager
Tamika Jones
Thank
you everyone for your selfless contributions during 2009. We wish you
health, happiness, and continued success in the coming year. May 2010
be even more successful with your continued support
The 2009 WICT New England Chapter Board of Directors
Steve
Anderson
Caroline
Bilodeau
Holly Burgess
Nicole
Chapais Lata
Chawla Camela
St. Gelais
Meg
Green Jackie
Boudreau
Karen Campbell Lisa
Clark
Kathy
Gillis Laurie
Cote Doug
Guthrie Kara
Hughs Rachana
Katkar
Jenn
Kirkwood Miranda
LaPierre Joan
Lawlor
Kimberly
O'Keefe Melinda
Poore Brenda
Shanley
Shaelagh
Florence Carolyn
Slocombe
Caryn Sullivan
David
Rader Ros
Thornton Kirsten
Raybould
Deena Vandeberghe Joy Williams
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Thank
you all for making the 2009 WICT New England Awards Gala a wonderful
success! Our emcee for the evening, Latoyia Edwards from New England
Cable News, brought beautiful energy to the night as she shared how her
dream became her reality. A huge thank you to Latoyia!
Our
distinguished guest for the night was Maria Brennan, new WICT President
and CEO. Maria was the perfect fit! She provided insight from a new
comer as we celebrated 30 years of WICT. This special anniversary
carried over into our theme "Dream, Learn, Become...Three Unforgettable
Decades".
Congratulations to all the evening's award winners! Here's to your success, may it bring you to great places.
The
evening would not be possible without the help from the Gala committee
and presenters. Thank you so much for everything, especially your
valuable time! A special thank you to CTAM for partnering with us, this
partnership created an industry day packed with learning &
networking. Look for more partnerships from WICT (and hopefully CTAM)
in the future.
Lastly, as I move onto my new role of VP
in 2010 I am thrilled to announce that Deb Daly will be stepping into
the role of Gala program director. Deb, a Gala committee volunteer for
three years has the experience and enthusiasm to ensure the fine
tradition of our signature event.
Nichole Chapais
Pictures from the Gala as you can see a fun time was had by all:
 
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I'm
often asked this time of the year for my opinion on what is the best
laptop or pc to purchase for home use. Often it's followed by the
statement "one that won't be outdated in three to four
years". Well, no one can predict exactly what pc technology
will look like three to four years from now, though it's safe to assume
that whatever you buy today will most likely need to be at least
upgraded at that time.
The answer to what to
purchase now depends in large part what the machine will be utilized
for. If your primary use of the machine is for business or
gaming, the requirements will be different (more memory, fastest
processing speed, different graphic cards for gaming). The following
recommendations will assume that the machine will be used for basic
home use and you're not interested in an Apple Mac. (Note: This
article refers to Windows computing only)
If you're
interested in portable computing, you can choose a Netbook, a Notebook
or a Laptop. There's very little difference between a Notebook and a
Laptop, so this article will refer to Netbooks and Laptops.
Netbooks
are scaled down versions of laptops, used primarily for accessing the
web, email and basic Office applications. This is not the right
machine for you if you'll be typing for long periods of time, since the
keyboards are small. Netbooks are smaller and lighter than a
laptop. They usually have no more than 1 gig or RAM, a 7 to 12" screen,
and a single core processor. They generally range in price from
$200.00 to $500.00. If the primary use of the machine you need is
to access the web and emails, this is the machine for you.
Laptops
generally have screen sizes 12" or larger, dual core processors, better
graphic card and will weigh more than Netbooks. Memory ranges
from 1 to 4 gig. I'm a firm believer that you can never have too
much memory and would advise at least 2 gigs of RAM, though 1 gig is
adequate. If you're using the machine for gaming, I would
recommend at least 3 gig. Most laptops have cd/dvd burners and
wireless capabilities. If the machine will be utilized for long periods
of typing, watching movies or gaming, the laptop would be a better
choice than a Netbook.
There are many choices for those
interested in a desktop computer. Again, what you need depends on
what you'll be using the machine for. If you want to setup a home
office or use the machine for home theater, the requirements will be
different than what you'll need for average home use. Prices for
desktop computers range from $500 to $1500, depending on what you're
looking for. You should have at least 1 gig of ram and a dual
core processor for average home use (at least 2-4 gig ram and
quad processor for gamers). If you're using Windows 7, I
would recommend at least 2 gig. These machines normally come with
a 17" or greater monitor, 250 to 500 gig hard drive, dvd burner, and
speakers.
I've also received questions on Office
applications. Office Professional 2007, which includes Access,
Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Publisher and Word generally runs between
$450.00 and $500.00 (less expensive if you're upgrading from a previous
version). Most users can utilize Office Home and Student 2007,
which includes Excel, OneNote, Powerpoint and Word. This package
ranges from $100 to $150.00. I also recommend Openoffice, which
is free software that includes word processor, spreadsheet,
presentation, diagrams and database applications. This software
will usually read files created in MS Office, but there are converters
available on the web if you need them. It's well worth checking
out at www.openoffice.org. Another alternative to Microsoft
Office are Google applications. Enter the term google apps into
your search engine to research these products.
I'm also
asked which brand computer should be purchased. In my
opinion, the hardware in the machines are the same or similar for all
brands. The brand name you choose should be based on the warranty
and service that the manufacturer offers. You should look for a
company that has been in business for a while and gather opinions on
service from people you know and reveiws from customers and technical
writers on the web.
Enjoy your new computing equipment and have a great holiday season!
Brenda Shanley | |
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Happy Holidays from
