A few of us created these “rules” to share with our JQ and Members as we work together.

1. Take a buddy with you! (Boys with boys, girls with girls.) No Quota member should ever find themselves alone with one of our JQ members and vice versa. No JQ should ever go anywhere during a Quota activity without taking a buddy and letting a Quota member know.
2. Ask before you hug/touch someone. Not everyone is a “touchy/feely” person so respect them by asking first and if they say no, understand that it is their prerogative (and nothing against you).
3. Try it first. Whether it’s a taste of something you have never tried before, or an activity, give it a try (a “no-thank you” bite) first.
4. Have fun.
5. Respect each other.

Click Here For Something Good !

SHOW ME THE MONEY

In case you missed Kim’s live interview on WGVU, click here to check it out.

Kim did a fantastic job sharing who we are! Share this with your friends and family before tomorrow for more book fair coverage!

5

 the number of competing

sounds it takes to

confuse the female ear.

Heard Mentality

You’re at a party when someone calls your name from across the room. You look around in confusion, trying to pinpoint the source. For help, try asking the guy next to you. A study in the journal Cortex found that women are less adept than men at zeroing in on discrete sounds in noisy environments. Next time you need to hear above the hubbub, tune in to these tips from Bruce Vircks, Au.D., President of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology:

• Stand close to a wall – the center of a room is generally the loudest spot.
• At seated functions, choose a high-back chair to block unwanted sounds from behind.
• In conversation, try positioning yourself next to the speaker so her voice goes directly to your ear. If that’s not possible, move to a well-lit area. Watching a speaker’s lips can provide clues to what she’s saying, even if the racket persists.

taken from BH&G, December 2011, pg. 190

We always hope for the best weather, and it doesn’t always cooperate. We’ll weed in rain or shine (just not downpours) and this year it was cloudy. The rain held off and while the ground was still wet from the rain overnight, that made our job easy! We pulled lots and lots of weeds and beautified the courtyard at Shawnee!

We had lots of help: Anna Moore, Cathy K, Kathy F, Maureen, Pam, Pat, Emily, Mary Kay (Principal at Shawnee) and her two grandkids. The kids brought laughter and joy to the task which motivated us.

Pam donated beautiful geraniums that we planted.

Some parents came in last fall and planted some beautiful tulip bulbs.

I promised no “butt” pictures; these made the cut.

SignTalk Joins Fundraiser for Marlee Matlin’s Cause

Has anyone been watching Celebrity Apprentice?  I thought this was interesting.  Kim

Thanks to Robin for sharing this article on a deaf lawyer! Click here to read the article.

Turn down the volume on your iPod while you read this:

One in five adolescents now suffers from hearing loss – a 30% jump from two decades ago. The loss is mild, but it means more teens are hearing only about as well as a typical 40- to 60- year old.

Playing music too loud is partly to blame, experts believe. To avoid damage to your hearing, keep these numbers in mind:

• 60 You can listen all day if you keep the volume at 60% of the max.
• 80 for 90 You can boost the volume to 80% for 90 minutes a day.
• 100 If you want to crank up the volume as high as it’ll go, keep it short – just five minutes a day.

If your ears ring or “feel full” after listening, the volume was too high

taken from Reader’s Digest, November 2010

127

The number of decibels produced by South Africa’s vuvuzela, the plastic trumpet that has become a fixture at World Cup matches and easily drowns out a chain saw (which produces 100 decibels). Remember: extended exposure to noises above 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing damage.

(source: Reuters)

I brought home a lot of ideas from Convention. I have discussed several at our recent Board meetings. I also promised to share that information on the blog for all of the leaders in our club (that includes everyone)! I hope you gain as much from the following as I did. (Please note: this is my interpretation of the “Charge Into the Future” training session from Convention, 2010. For more information please visit the website for Cynthia D’Amour, Leadership Strategist by clicking here.)

Be A Lazy Leader

I know some of you just gasped at reading that. What? A lazy leader? How will our club ever survive? Well it’s quite simple. Imagine having one person give 110% to Quota. They are busy taking care of all the details, overseeing many things at once, dipping their hands into everything that is going on within the club. Now picture one person who is only giving 60%. She is having fun, she is able to bring more people to the club because she has the time. Her friends and fellow club members see that she is getting things done and is delegating tasks. Each one of us has our own special talents. For instance: don’t ask me to take care of Treasurer’s Reports, that is NOT what I’m good at, but I can manage the blog. I digress, our 60% member has now brought in seven other people, each giving anywhere between 20-40%. Remember the Martyr Leader? She’s stressed out, burnt out and is headed toward a melt-down. She didn’t want to let Quota down and knew that if she didn’t do things, nothing would get done. Let’s look at those eight members whose total percent of “giving” equals 200% (estimated on the low side). See how more people are more effective at being lazy, than one person who is being a martyr?

Okay, now you know how to be lazy, the members will start pouring in right? They will if you know how to approach them. We have to paint a vivid picture of who Quota is. If you want someone to join Quota, do you tell them why you joined? That’s a great way to start the conversation, but even before you get to that point, you should start from the beginning. What are they looking for?

Hot Buttons

• Personal/Professional Development
• Contribution to a greater good
• Community

Let me start by explaining the Hot Buttons. When you’re talking to someone about Quota and you’re trying to get them as excited about it as you are, the best way to do that is to find their hot buttons. What are they interested in. What is important to them. If you are talking to them telling them how much you love Quota because it gives you the chance to serve others, but they are really looking for a social group, then you’ve not only missed their hot button, but you’ve lost their attention. If you start off by asking what they are interested in, then you can hit their hot button because Quota really does relate to all three. Let me explain how.

The first one in that list is Personal/Professional Development. Do you know some companies hold training sessions that cost their employees $200-$300/session? We offer the same development through our speaker’s for our one year’s dues. Did you ever think to look at it that way? I certainly had not. It can be one more persuasive tool when speaking to someone about Quota.

Next is Contribution to a greater good. In other words: Service. That’s what we do in Quota. We help those in need. We provide many service opportunities throughout the year.

Last is Community. Before each meeting we hold a social time. We catch up with each others latest news. We have fun, we laugh and we get together outside of Quota too. Perhaps the person you are talking to wants to meet more people or even network with other business women. That’s what we do and who we are!!!

Great! Now you can find out what the potential Quota member is looking for and tell her how Quota meets her needs. We need to remember to focus on what we are and who we are helping.

One good way to bring in outside people is through our service projects. We have a walk coming up. Have you asked everyone you know to join in a walk around the park? You don’t have to ask everyone for money, but if you ask them to walk then you’ve opened to door of Quota to them. By asking someone from the outside to join us for a service project, they’ll see how much fun we have and they’ll get to know Quota better.

I will leave you with this quote from Cynthia,

“If not you then who? If not now then when?