1) It was suggested that we meet every other month instead of every month. That is something that I hadn’t considered but everyone present agreed it was a good idea. So from this month on, CARREIA will meet on the odd months of the year (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov).

2) The day of the month we meet was decided to be on the second Thursday of the month which keeps us from bumping into the holidays we inevitably do every year.

3) Don Hines was elected as Vice President. Kim Hawkinson was elected Treasurer. We still need a Secretary.

4) A new advisory board was put in place. This board will meet periodically to continue discussing the direction of the association.

5) The dues have been raised to $60/year. All dues will be due every year on the first meeting in January. If someone joins the association during the middle of the year, the dues will be prorated. $60/year was decided on because it is easily divided by 12 and 6 to make proration easier.

6) On the “off” months of meeting, social gatherings will be encouraged. Most of them will not be created/arranged by the board or the executive team, but by the members themselves.

If you have not paid your dues for 2011, they will be due in the next meeting, May 12.

I still highly encourage any and all of you to get more involved in the association. This is your group and it needs you. Help make it what you want it to be.

Also, as a reminder, the $50 yearly dues are due this Thursday. We will discuss changing our regular meeting times and I’d like to open up the floor as to suggestions on making the association better, more influential and more beneficial to you. We will also be voting on Kim Hawkinson as Treasurer and asking for nominations or volunteers for other positions.

I look forward to seeing all of you who can make it this Thursday. As a reminder, family (and friends) are certainly welcome. Bring anyone who you’d 1) like to have dinner with; and/or 2) think might benefit from being a part of the association.

After some deliberation, I have decided to postpone tonight’s meeting due to weather concerns. I now have sympathy for the people who have to make the calls on canceling schools! =)

So to play it safe, let’s postpone it. I’ve seen differing reports on timing of both precipitation and temperature drop: some saying it will be icing while we are meeting and another saying it won’t do anything until after we are done. And I’ve already had multiple members let me know that they won’t be attending because of their own concerns.

I will discuss with the officers about the possibility of rescheduling this meeting sometime in the next couple of months. I’d like to possibly do it in mid-February or early March. Regardless, we will make it up at some point.

Thanks for understanding. It’s a tough call.
-geoffrey

Join us at the Crye-Leike offices at 3400 JFK Blvd in North Little Rock. We start
arriving around 6:30 for some mingling and networking and the meeting itself kicks
off at 7:00.

Tonight our guest speaker will be my father, John Lessel. Mr. Lessel spoke to us a
few months back about entity formation (or how to legally form your business). I had
many members request that he come back and do another presentation on equity
protection. So he has agreed to speak to us about how to keep your money and stuff
yours once you get it and keep it out of the hands of lawyers and lawsuits.

We hope to see everyone there tonight!

Tonight, we will have Walter Malone, the Planning Manager for the city of Little Rock, come and speak to us about city planning, utilizing their office and some information about where he thinks things are headed in Little Rock.

We’ll see you there!

This month, we will have the Director of Account Management and Research for Stone|Ward, Emily Reeves, come speak to us about marketing. A good portion of you put down that you would like to learn more about marketing techniques and tips, so she is coming to give us a good overview of basic concepts and then go more in-depth about using social media and the importance of using it. It should be a very interesting talk and I’m very grateful that she has agreed to come speak to us.

Let’s show up in force next Thursday. Mark your calendars (they should already be marked) and let’s give her a great audience.

See you then!

Meet us at the JFK location of Coldwell Bankers in North Little Rock at 6:30pm. The street address is 5532 John F Kennedy Blvd.

We’ll see you there!