Come Celebrate the Holidays with RPCN on December 3
Join RPCN as we celebrate the holiday season with our annual Holiday Party! Each year we get together to network and have some fun. This year our Holiday Party will be held on Tuesday, December 9, 2019, at Valicia’s Ristorante, 2155 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, 14606.
We start at 6:00 p.m. with cocktails (cash bar) and a delicious buffet dinner at 6:30 p.m. Our buffet consists of Prime Rib, Chicken French, Seafood Alfredo, Roasted Potatoes, Fresh Salad Greens, Rolls & Butter, and Coffee & Tea.
The event costs $25 for RPCN members and $30 for non-members. Register here by Monday, December 2, 2019.
Member News
Bob Whipple participated in an interview on the Connections Program on WXXI on October 15. The topic was the recent ETHIE Awards, and the two recipients of the top-level award were on the interview as well. Click here to listen.
From Carla Vazquez: After 10 years working with small businesses at the NY Small Business Development Center at SUNY The College at Brockport, I have a new position. I will be working as a Relationship Manager in the Business Banking area of ESL Federal Credit Union. In this role, I will be helping small businesses with lending needs of $100,000 and more ($50,000 and more for business mortgages. I’ll also work with the bank’s branches’ clients who have smaller lending needs including helping those businesses find alternative financial solutions.
On November 19 our own Laurie Enos, of Blue Lilac Marketing, will present on “When in Crisis: PR and Your Corporate Image” at the Gates-Chili Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting.
The event will be held at 585 Rockin Burger Bar, 250 Pixley Road, Rochester, and the program will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There is a $25.00 charge for non-members of the Chamber ($20.00 for members). Reservations and information on any dietary restrictions should be sent to secretary@gcchamber.com.
RPCN’s Blogging Program with Eastman Business Park (EBP)
RPCN could still use more blogs, and potential blogging topics, for our monthly submissions to our EBPalliance partners.
Do you have some knowledge that you would like to share with the close to 100 tenants on EBP’s 1200 acre site on the west side of Rochester, NY? Their tenants cover a range of businesses that includes “manufacturers in the chemical processing, biopharma, food and beverage processing, plastics, photonics, and energy storage spaces.” 1
The diversity of the EBP tenants is one of the reasons why RPCN is the preferred provider of EBP’s monthly blogging program since RPCN is composed of a diverse group of consultants.
If you are a member of RPCN, log in to the RPCN website, go to the Members tab and scroll down to “RPCN Member Blogs for EBP” (https://www.rochesterconsultants.org/Blogging-Opportunity/) for the rules and submission process. The link will also show you the subjects and titles of the blogs submitted between October 2019 and September 2016 and the blogs planned for the next couple of months.
Here are some of the titles and authors of the most recent blogs:
1. October 16, 2019, “Creating an Engaging LinkedIn Business Page” by Laurie Enos
2. September 23, 2019, “Creating a Work Breakdown Structure” by Sandy Glanton
3. August 5, 2019, “7 Traits of Super Teams” by Bob Whipple
4. July 8, 2019, “3 More Ways to Keep Your Invention Patentable,” by Dave Bassett
5. June 5, 2019, “The Features Trap – What Sells Better, Features or Benefits?” by Bob Lurz
6. May 6, 2019, “5 Phases of Project Management,” by Sandy Glanton
7. April 3, 2019, “3 Actions That Help to Create a Winning Product,” by Mark Fling
8. March 3, 2019, “The Answer is in the Room – Peer Learning Approach,” by David Powe
9. February 5, 2019, “5 Tips to Improve Your DIY Graphic Design from a professional graphic designer,” by Melanie Watson
10. January 8, 2019, “Consultants Don’t Have the Answers; They Have the Questions,” by Bob Lurz
11. December 3, 2018, “How to Drive Traffic to Your Website,” by Laurie Enos
12. November 5, 2018, “Utility Patents & Design Patents,” by Dave Bassett
13. October 1, 2018, “Introduction to Risk-Based Thinking,” by Lori Cohen
If you would like to read any of the RPCN blogs on the EBP public website, please click here. You may also access individual completed RPCN blogs here.
If you are an RPCN member, please consider submitting a blog for EBP. We are always looking for new blogs to assist our EBP alliance partners. For more information, please send questions to me at bloggingwithebp@rochesterconsultants.org.
1. Nicholas Rangel, Director of Communications, Eastman Kodak Company, October 4, 2018, “Eastman Business Park leadership transitions to David Bullwinkle with Dolores Kruchten’s retirement”
Simon Vision Consulting Program Looking for Clients Needing Consulting Help
Due to the success of prior Simon Vision Consulting programs, the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business (Simon) and RPCN plan to continue the program this coming spring and fall and we will not only be looking for RPCN members to mentor student project teams but are also looking for clients with projects for the student teams to provide assistance.
I have written of this ongoing program before, but to update you, RPCN has been supplying mentors to Simon Vision Consulting teams at the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business (Simon) for the past 4 semesters. This program is an effort to increase experiential learning opportunities for Simon’s MBA and MS students. It is a student-run program that usually has 4-5 student members per team. Each team provides consulting to (typically) a local small business for 6 - 12 weeks, i.e. one semester. (In the semester that follows, Simon sometimes has another student consulting team take over another project for the same company.)
Participation in the program is voluntary for the students and is not part of the regular Simon curriculum. In addition to the RPCN mentors, there are a couple of faculty advisers who help the students run the program.
If you or a client or associate have a well-defined project that could be outsourced, the Simon Vision Consulting Program could be a great source to get your project completed. Projects are typically staffed with four to five Vision consultants and a project manager. Ideally, projects last 6-8 weeks, longer projects are also viable. The leadership of the Simon Vision Consulting Program will work with you to define a project that can be successfully completed within these constraints
The project can be any business problem and Simon Vision Consulting teams have successfully completed projects focused on marketing, business strategy, financial planning, operations, competitive analysis and the like. Examples of completed projects include reviewing ways to decrease seasonal fluctuations in sales, developing a financial plan to solicit funding, and exploring new marketing channels. So, you can see that the projects can take on a wide variety of topics. And did we mention that the student teams work for FREE!
Projects are vetted by the Simon Vision Consulting student governing board and typically 6 – 15 projects are chosen each semester.
If you are interested in having a Simon Vision Consulting Project Team perform work for you, or would simply like more information about the program, (or even if you’d like to volunteer to be an RPCN member mentor to a student team) please contact Dave Bassett at dbassett@basstat.com.
Have You Heard an Inspiring Speaker?
Consider RPCN!
Since 2013 RPCN has been on a quest to “Learn from the Best”. We have brought in speakers who have made their mark in various aspects of business. We find many presenters through networking and at conferences, workshops, trade shows, universities, and professional organizations. Through these resources, we have engaged some very stimulating, insightful and inspiring speakers. Members have suggested a topic of interest or a speaker that turned out to be a real inspiration. Presenters have mentioned that speaking at RPCN is so interactive, they actually learned from the group.
In the recent few years, we have had some marvelous presenters on a variety of topical areas.
Business – of– Business
Marketing & Sales
Economic Opportunity
Consulting Fundamentals
Computer & Software Skills
We have been inviting members to participate more broadly in the programs.
Have you identified a topic that we seem to have missed in our offerings?
Have you been to a presentation or a conference where a presenter did such a good job, that you believe RPCN should hear him or her?
Have you been so inspired by a topic but you thought you could better?
Would you like to cover a topic of your own?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, as a member, RPCN may be the place to make your suggestion, recommend a speaker or a topic, or try out your material to hone your speaking skills.
We’ll even give you feedback as you compose your presentation, slides, and speech.
Not an RPCN member? You can join RPCN now to receive great benefits, including free admission to RPCN presentations, a listing in the RPCN Member Directory, and discounts to RPCN events. Click here for more information on joining RPCN.
News from the Enhancing Human Capital team:
Please join us for the next installment of RPCN’s EHC Lunch -n- Learn on Thursday, December 5 at 11:30 AM at Giuseppe’s (50 Spencerport Rd in Gates). We will discuss “Building Trust” with Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits, with a special focus on his 4th Habit – “Think Win Win.” We all know that trust is critical in well-functioning teams, (whether the teams be internal within a company or external including clients, suppliers, and partners), and we will discuss how using Covey’s “Think Win Win” can help build and maintain that trust.
In September, at our monthly Lunch-n-Learn, the EHC team explored Virginia Satir’s “Change Model.” Change is an essential activity of successful businesses, teams, and consultants. Understanding the basic stages of change can help to make the process less painful and more productive. We discussed Satir’s background, the stages of the model, and their application, with many examples from our own experiences.
To get more information about EHC, please contact the EHC team at EHC@rochesterconsultants.org or join us on December 5 at 11:30 at Giuseppe’s. The luncheon is open to members and non-members alike, but please register as space is limited.
The RPCN Website:
DID YOU KNOW?
Who are the RPCN Board Members and Committee Managers?
(aka Why RPCN Works)
Have you ever thought about how a successful organization such as RPCN can provide its members with so many opportunities, such as speaker presentations, business, and technical forums, a newsletter, blogging opportunities, a library, a discussion area, etc.? It surely does not happen by itself. Behind the scenes, there are many dedicated members who voluntarily work tirelessly to provide the best possible and smoothest running experience for its members.
RPCN has a Board of Directors and numerous Committee Managers who work together to make it all happen. These people not only assist the organization, but benefit from becoming friends, learning about each other’s fields, often do business with each other, feel good about what part they play, and have a lot of fun in the process.
To find out who these important people are and what role they play is easy. Just go to rochesterconsultants.org, click on About, and then scroll down to Officers and Committees. You will probably see some familiar names. You can be on the list, too! Just tell any Board member that you are interested in participating.
At every RPCN meeting, and at our events and tradeshow booths, RPCN distributes the Program Ad sheets.
Ads are inexpensive and support RPCN. The cost for members to advertise is $20 for 2 months. For non-members, the cost is $40 for 2 months. The deadline to get your ad included in the January/February 2020 calendar ad sheet is December 13, 2019. Sign up for your ad here.
A note from our copyeditor:
Good day, RPCN members:
As you know, I “pre-edit” the RPCN before sending it on to Melanie, who puts the newsletter together. This note is just to help us keep things in order because the system sometimes becomes rather more complicated than it sounds here.
In order to help me to retain my sanity, and to avoid my stretching Melanie’s to its limits as well, would you please, if possible:
1. Get your copy of the newsletter to us as close to the 21st of the month as is possible. (It is much more efficient if I can edit them all over a short period.)
2. Put your name and “RPCN newsletter” in the subject line.
3. Make sure that the piece you have just finished writing IS the piece that you actually send us.
The RPCN newsletter welcomes news, success stories, tips, resources, events and other items that would be of broad interest to consultants. Submit a newsletter item to newsletter@rochesterconsultants.org for inclusion.
Due to the success of prior Simon Vision Consulting programs, the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business (Simon) and RPCN plan to continue the program this coming spring and fall and we will not only be looking for RPCN members to mentor student project teams but are also looking for clients with projects for the student teams to provide assistance.
