Monthly Minutes – 2007 Archive
Meeting: 8th of May 2008
Present
- Ron Harrington; President
- Judy Stem; Vice President
- Denise Beaver; Secretary
- Jeannine Morber; Director
- Dee Raley
- Cher Hunter
- Scot Adelman
- Jay LaPointe
- Mark Ripper
- Nancy Zorich Lulay
- Ken Harris
- Jeff Selby
- Sylvia Haines
- Tom Canon
- Tammi Ledley
- Kevin Brown
- Mike Butterfield
- Josh Posner
- Mike Shelah
- Carol Lee Putman
- Marion Ware
- Bob Dorr
- Karen Delahanty
- Bobby Keller
- Mark Reed
- Craig Blake
- Robert Cage
- David Hodgdon
- Fran Hanyok
- Scott Fischer
- Kim Devkota
- Douglas Heck
General Announcements
- Introductions
-
Members introduced themselves.
Program
Jay LaPointe of DP Solutions presented "How to ask tough questions - and get the information you need in sales and business situations". A key point was that you must get to know your customer and develop a partnership with them to truly serve them.
Jay discussed how to position important questions?
- You can say - help me to understand your need or business
- State - what is really important is for me to know more about your company
- Ease into the conversation by listening, then probe with follow-up questions
- Let them know that you are really concerned for their business
- Ask about and understand their business goals
- What goals would they like you to help them with this year?
- What is it that they like about doing business with you?
- What other vendors are being considered
- What happens if they don't do the project?
- Find out the decision making process
- What are they going to do to make next year more successful; what are they going to do differently to improve?
- How you can best communicate with the company?
Other business tidbits that were shared: Be aware of the tone of the conversation and the phrasing. Be firm and hold your value. Jay said that you can choose your customers.
Committee Reports
- Ambassador
- Mike Shelah recognized Nancy, Mike, Josh and Kim from IT Solutions. They offer video, data storage, scanners, etc. Mike is still looking for members to join the committee.
- CompuKids
- The next CompuKids Work Day is May 30th with a donation day on May 31st. 40 families are scheduled to receive computers. To date 400 machines have been distributed to families.
- Golf
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Ron reminded everyone about the CTC golf and fundraising event at Challedon on May 15th. Tee time is set for 8:30 am with an after golf barbeque for non-members and non-golfers. The golf fee includes the barbeque.
Sponsorships are available with a Hole Signage sponsorship at $125.
Raffle tickets are now being sold for a Wyndham Vacation Resorts 4 day/3 night vacation get away along with $250 cash. Every member is asked to sell 5 tickets @ $10 each. The raffle will help to raise additional event income. The raffle winner will be announced at the barbeque and the winner does not need to be present to win.
The After Golf Barbeque is from 12-4 pm and the cost is $25.00 per ticket. All event registration is available on the CTC website. Volunteers are needed for the event and will receive CTC shirts. - Education
- Denise announced that the Adobe Photoshop course is currently being held. If you have any ideas on courses of interest for fall 2008 let Denise know.
- Technology Advisory Committee
- The next seminar twill be held June 12th and will focus on Disaster Planning and Disaster Recovery. Copies of the presentation are available and the program is being aired on CMC. Air times are listed on the CTC website.
- Website
- Please send company news and announcements to Fran.
- Westminster City Advisory
- Tom said the City is putting together a comprehensive budget with the new software program.
- Tech Council Trivia Contest Winner
-
Trivia question: Who is the speaker for the June meeting?
Answer: Deanna Figiel of eCybermissions
The winner of the one hour massage gift certificate from Cher Hunter of Pain Relief Therapies is Bob Cage. - CTC Networking Group
- Scott Adelman, NL Tech presented an idea for a CTC professional support and networking group that will meet twice a month with the goal of providing business advice.
- Group information:
- Must be CTC member to join
- Nominal fee of $125.00 year
- It is a multi-pronged relationship building group that will offer business advice and support
- Each member will be in a distinct business or specialty
- Anyone interested in joining the group should contact Scott Adelman at 410-453-5500 or sadelman@nlgroup.com
- Tech Council Cookout
-
The summer event will be held on August 20th at Westminster Island Green from 4-8 pm. Activities will include miniature golf, driving range, and a picnic.
Cost for members is $ 10.00; non-members $20.00.
Member Announcements
- Douglas Heck announced wildlife painter John Taylor is still showing his art at the Taneytown History Museum.
- Bob Cage said his church, Calvary United Methodist Church, is taking their 3rd mission trip to Mississippi on May 19th.They still have openings if anyone is interested in attending.
- Tom announced City of Westminster i holding the Westminster Jazz Festival on Saturday.
- Tom Canon announced an event - Picnic in the Woods hosted by Sylvia Haines, et al, to raise money for Sylvia's Acorn fund to provide for unmet needs and services for community residents.
- Karen Delahanty of Computer Explorers is continuing to grow and they are hiring teachers for the summer. You do not need to have teacher's credentials.
- Cher Hunter announced Artomatic event being held May 9th - June 15th. See www.artomatic.org.
- Judy Stem is now offering organized wellness workshops for area employers.
- The first Sustainable Living Fair will be held at the Farm Museum on May 24th. 35 companies will be featured.
- Ron acknowledged new members who joined this last month: Craig Blake and Mark Reed of Compass Point Technologies, Scott Fischer, Future Security and Bill Murphy United First Financial.
- CTC held the new member orientation session on May 1st and now have 4-5 potential new members. Ron restated that the membership goal for 2008 is 100 members (net of attrition) and challenged the membership to be proactive in achieving this goal by bringing in new members.
- Ron announced that the CTC will be commemorating its 5th Anniversary in 2009 and that plans are in the works for properly celebrating this special occasion.
Next Meeting - June 12, 2008
Minutes submitted by CTC Secretary Denise Beaver.
