Quota Quick Update – 5 February 2010

The QUOTA QUICK UPDATE is an occasional e-newsletter for members of Quota International .

IN THIS ISSUE:

1.  PIP Edith Scheutzow Passes Away

2.  Connect with Quota on Twitter and LinkedIn, TOO!

3.  Celebrate! Quota International Turns 91

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1. PIP Edith Scheutzow Passes Away

Quota International mourns the loss of Past International President Edith Scheutzow, 78, who died January 18, 2010. A member of the Canton Quota club in Ohio , U.S.A. , Edith served as International President in 1990-1991. Her presidential theme, Begin with Enthusiasm, reflected her belief that enthusiasm is key to fully embracing and enjoying life. “She was a grand and gracious lady with an infectiously positive attitude and love of life,” said Executive Director Kathleen Treiber . “She was the wind beneath the wings of so many people who were touched by her generosity and kindness.” A full obituary is located on www.quota.org. Click the “Quota Headlines” link.  http://www.quota.org/express/inmemoriam.cfm

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2. Connect with Quota on Twitter and LinkedIn, TOO!

Quota International has expanded its presence on global social networking sites. Last November we launched our QI Facebook page. Now you can connect with Quota on Twitter and LinkedIn, too! Follow our Quota tweets and join our LinkedIn discussion groups. Here is more information:

TWITTER

Twitter is an informal forum for communications, known for short bursts of information from organizations, corporations, politicians, celebrities, local businesses, friends, and family. Quota will “tweet” one sentence updates of Quota’s news on a frequent basis. To “follow” Quota’s tweets, go to http://twitter.com/QuotaIntl and login by entering your username and password.  Then click “Follow.”  If you are not a member of Twitter, you can join there, just click “Join.”

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn is a professional networking site with over 55 million members. Quota will be using our LinkedIn group as a way to post news, facilitate discussions, and advertise upcoming events such as area and district meetings and the 2010 convention.

To “follow” the Quota group, click on the link below, then on the yellow box that says “Join Group.” If you are not a member, you can join there by clicking “Joining LinkedIn.” http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2736623&trk=anetsrch_name&goback=%2Egdr_1265380844562_1

FACEBOOK

If you haven’t, become a member of our Quota International Facebook page. Facebook networking allows club members to make new friends from other clubs and countries, share success stories, and learn how other members define their Quota experience. To visit the official Quota International Facebook page, go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33799319632&ref=search&sid=1045549392.2616585551..1 .You must join Facebook in order to access this page.

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3. Celebrate! Quota International Turns 91

February 6 is Founder’s Day, the 91st anniversary of Quota International ’s founding by Wanda Frey Joiner! How are you celebrating? We hope you are planning the best Quota Cares Month project that you will carry out March 1-31. Quota Cares Month strengthens club recruitment, retention, fund-raising, service, and publicity and is a great gift to your club, your community, and Quota International . Read more about Quota Cares Month, official rules, and previous winners at http://www.wesharefoundation.org/quotacares.htm.

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Occasional QUOTA QUICK UPDATES are sent to members with e-mail addresses in the Quota International membership database. At no time is e-mail information sold or loaned to other organizations. To delete, change, or add an e-mail address in this database, please contact Membership Manager Alison Benefico at alison@quota.org.

This QUOTA QUICK UPDATE was written by Nancy Fitzpatrick ,

Deputy Executive Director / nancy@quota.org / 202.331.9694.

Getting to Know… Kath

Kath has been a member of Quota for 28 years! When asked what her favorite snack is she replied, “I never met a snack I didn’t like.” And we all know that her favorite movie is anything with Johnny Depp. Specifically she enjoys watching either “Last of the Mohican’s” or “Don Juan De Marco”, it’s a tie.

Has Kath ever been trapped in an elevator? No

Her favorite holidays are Christmas and the 4th of July. It’s another tie because both are spent with her family.

Kath was asked which would be worse? Dropping the three-tiered cake at a wedding or spilling all the soup at a shelter for the homeless? They would both be heartbreaking.

Kath was asked what if she could compete on any television game show?  She would!

What’s Kath’s favorite day of the week? Saturday

Thanks Kath for sharing a little bit about yourself!

The Cool Cats created a Power Point presentation that was seen at the Jan. 21st Membership Awareness Event. You missed it? No problem. The Cool Cats will be visiting Quota at our March 18th meeting. In the meantime, click on the link below to read a few special articles in the GROD newsletter.

Publication GROD Newsletter 2_10

Also, they have invited us back to visit the classroom now that Miss Cindy has recovered from her broken ankle. Two dates are available for these visits: Feb. 22nd or March 1st from 11:50am-2:30pm. You will get to see the Cool Cats in their learning environment. More dates will be available in April. Please let Emily know, if you are interested in a classroom visit, which day works for you.

It’s that time already. Time for you to nominate the best Quotarian. Who do you think deserves the award?

Click the following link to see this year’s letter and form. Print it out from here or check your email. We will also have hard copies available at the February and March meetings.

Q of Y 2010

Living in Michigan, especially during the winter months, always enhances thoughts of those less fortunate.  Going without food, clothing or shelter in February is hard to fathom.

How appropriate that February 15-21 is “Random Acts of Kindness” week.

During that week, we all have an opportunity to perform an act of kindness by bringing a bag of can goods to our February 18 meeting. The food will be donated to Access of West Michigan to aid them in pantry assistance and emergency meals.

Should you choose to continue your acts of kindness throughout the month or longer, the following are just a few ideas. They may even stimulate ideas of your own.

• Select some people in your life who you feel need a special lift and send them a gift: flowers,  a gift certificate or even a card.
• Leave enough money in the vending machine for the next person to get a free treat.
• Call or write or e-mail to someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time, just to say you are thinking of them.
• Donate flowers to a senior center, nursing home, police station, hospital.
• Smile and say “hello” to someone you do not know.
• When you are waiting for service at a counter, trade places with someone in a hurry.
• Put a flower on a neighbor’s porch ( great spring time idea).
• Compliment a stranger about something they are wearing.
• Write something nice about your waitperson on the back of the bill.
• Let someone merge into traffic during rush hour.
• Collect goods for a food bank.

After doing a random act of kindness, you may get a surprise look at first but the smile afterward will make your day!

“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted”

Aesop

-Jan

This year Delta Zetas and the Cool Cats joined Quota to hand out earplugs.

This was the second year Quota participated in the parade. The weather could not have been better.

With so many helpers to hand out earplugs, we quickly ran out! The rest of the parade was spent waving, smiling and chanting “Quota Cares! Save your Hearing!”

Look for us next year! Ho ho ho!

Getting to know Elaine.

Elaine has been in Quota for seven years. Her favorite snack is Kettlecorn popcorn and she enjoys eating it while watching her favorite movie “Pretty Woman”.

Elaine was asked if she has ever gotten so angry she has screamed? She says she used to get in her car and go for a ride and SCREAM when she was going through her divorce. The scream was directed at my ex-husband.

Finish the sentence: People might be surprised to find out that I… was born and raised in Reno, NV

Elaine was asked which would be better? Walking a mile on level ground or a mile over hills and through valleys? She answered she would be better walking over a hill and down through valleys, although it would be much easier to walk on flat ground.  She asks, “Why would I want to do anything easy?”

What if Elaine were the tallest person alive? She said she would be so sad to be the tallest person, because she needs to look people in the eye when she speaks to them.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel that she was connecting.

Elaine’s last question is, what is your favorite big city? Her favorite big city is San Francisco which is why she likes the hills and winding streets. What a city to explore!

My favorite city is San Francisco which is why I like the hills and winding streets.  What a city to explore!

Thanks Elaine for sharing a few things about you!

For our February 18, 2010 meeting, our guest speaker will be Marsha DeHollander, Program Director of Access of West Michigan. Access is a network of congregations, individuals, and the community at large working together to meet needs in Kent County. They want to partner with everyone in Kent County to help eliminate hunger and poverty in our community.

We are asking members to bring a bag of can goods or whatever you can do for aiding them in pantry assistance, emergency meals and development programs for both the Grand Rapids and international communities.

Thank you and looking forward to a wonderful, great year!

There is nothing new to report for this month.

“Blog”ress to Date

As we convert our communications from newsletter to the blog, we are happy to report the following progress:

• Each member with a current email address is signed up as a “Contributor”.  This means you can log in and it makes it easy for you to write new posts or to leave comments.
• All of us are learning new vocabulary!  “Posts” are new entries on a particular topic, and responses to posts are called “Comments”.
• At least 8 members have successfully written posts, maybe even more by the time you read this!
• 12 of our members participated in “Treasure Hunt 2009″ in October and November, which took them to the far reaches of the new blog.  Treasure Hunt winners will be receiving their “fabulous prizes” at an upcoming meeting.
• And at least 14 members and 3 Shawnee Park friends have left comments.
• And we express the Club’s  grateful appreciation to Emily, who “Publishes” the blog.  She fights off Spam with her sword.  She reviews all posts and comments and publishes it for our information.

This is all so important in making the transition from the newsletter — we want this to be a useful communication tool for all members, and we need to hear from you how it’s going.  Use the tools, see how they work for you.

Comments are the way we measure who’s reading.  So leave us a trail of breadcrumbs, eh?

But in all, we think we’ve got a good start.  Let us know where the snags are, what’s useful, what’s easy, what’s still a puzzle.  Call or email Maureen for assistance, better yet, leave a comment if you’re reading this on the blog!!