Executive Girlfriends Group Fall Retreat

Join us in Orlando for the first annual EGG Fall Retreat.

www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com/specialevents.html

Executive Girlfriends Group Fall Retreat

Register soon for the EGG Event - a percentage of all ticket sales go to Wings To Fly.

Bootstrap Business is ready to ship!

September 3, 2009 SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE — In the summer of 2008, Chicke Fitzgerald, consultant, keynote speaker and author, was selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Bootstrap Business; a highly successful book series from Tennessee based Insight Publishing. The book is now available for sale (http://www.solutionz.com/publications.asp).

The book features best-selling authors Tom Hopkins (How to Master the Art of Selling), Jack Canfield (One Minute Manager), and John Christensen (FISH!). Chicke Fitzgerald, Hopkins, Canfield, and Christensen are joined by other well known authors and speakers, each offering time-tested strategies for success in frank and intimate interviews.

As the founder and CEO of Tampa-based Solutionz Group, Chicke Fitzgerald has spent the last 13 years solving business growth challenges for corporations, nurturing early-stage companies and coaching top executives and entrepreneurs around the globe.

With 30+ years in the travel industry, Chicke is a recognized authority on distributions models, whose expert perspective is frequently sought by the investment community and media. Fitzgerald is currently affiliated with the Gerson Lehman Group and has been among the top investment advisors for the internationally renowned GLG Expert Network™.

She is also passionate about helping others master the use of technology and social media to foster growth through her Solutionz Media division. Since January of 2009 she has interviewed more than 150 authors and experts on her Solutionz Live! show on BlogTalkRadio.com and on the Executive Girlfriends' Group (http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com).

When she is not coaching, speaking or consulting, Chicke enjoys spending time with her family in Tampa, Florida. She also dedicates time, energy and resources to a local organization known as Real Estate Lives, mentoring displaced employees hard hit by the mortgage banking crisis and working with the organization’s leadership to build a similar model for other industries and communities to replicate.

To discuss speaking opportunities with Chicke Fitzgerald and to order your copy of Bootstrap Business, contact:

Chicke Fitzgerald | 813-925-0789 | chicke@solutionz.com or visit www.solutionz.com

Libby Gill to conduct free workshop “Is Your Personal Brand Providing You Career Protection?”

This past Monday, EGG Board member and coach Libby Gill gave a one hour complementary workshop on personal branding to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

Next Tuesday, she is tweaking that message and retuning the one hour workshop for corporate executives.
The message is about how you create your personal brand in the corporate arena. You can’t afford to miss what she’s got to say – especially in this economy.
This one hour workshop is complementary for EGG members.
Whether or not your job is in jeopardy right now, you need a powerful personal brand to help you stand out in your organization and your industry. On Tuesday, September 8th our very own EGG coach Libby Gill is going to answer the question “Is Your Personal Brand Providing You Career Protection?”

Having been a senior communications exec and spokesperson for Sony, Universal and Turner Broadcasting, Libby understands what it takes to survive and thrive in a corporation – especially in today’s world. And she’s personally coached hundreds of executives to create paths to success, so you won’t want to miss what she’s got to say.

As Dr. Phil said, “Libby Gill is one of those people who gets it.” Now, you can get it, too. Join us on September 8th at 11 am PST / 2 pm EST.

REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE

LIBBY GILL BIO

An entertainment industry veteran, Libby Gill spent fifteen years heading public relations and corporate communications at Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting. She was also the branding brain behind the launch of the Dr. Phil Show.

Libby is now an internationally respected executive coach, speaker and bestselling author. She has shared her success strategies on the Today Show, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN, NPR, Oprah & Friends Radio Network, Fox News, CBS Early Show, and in Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Self and many more.

September 2009 Lineup - Vignette Speakers

09-0828 Erika Andersen - Author of Being Strategic

Join us tomorrow, Friday August 28th for Erika Andersen, the author of Being Strategic.

She will be talking about how to plan for success, how to out-think your competitors and how to stay ahead of the game.

Since 1980 Erika Andersen has become known for promoting learning and change in ways uniquely tailored to her clients' challenges, goals, and culture. She focuses on thoroughly understanding each organization and on collaborating with her clients in ways that are engaging, direct, and "learner-friendly."

Peter Block has said of her work, "You have a wonderful gift and talent for taking the essence of things and expressing them in a simple, yet powerful way." Erika uses metaphor and models to help people learn about themselves and their organizations, and then to decide how to move toward the future they envision. While she encourages clients to think deeply and to examine their assumptions and patterns of behavior, she also offers practical methods and skills for individuals, teams, and companies to achieve their hoped-for-future.

Much of Erika's recent work has focused on organizational visioning and development, executive coaching, and collaborative change and learning. In these capacities she has served as consultant and advisor to the CEOs and top executives of a number of corporations, including MTV Networks, Hewitt Associates, Turner Broadcasting, MillerCoors, NBC Universal, Union Square Hospitality Group, CBS, Madison Square Garden, and Comcast Corporation.

She is the author of Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers (Portfolio, December 2006) and Being Strategic: Plan for Success; Out-think Your Competitors; Stay Ahead of Change (St. Martin's Press, May 2009).

09-0821 Pam Danziger - Author of Let Them Eat Cake

We had a great program last Friday, with Pam Danziger talking about how to survive the luxury drought. If you missed the call with Pam, the audio is now available for download.

Click on the image to link to the download site. Files are free to Charter and Premium EGG members and $10 to all others.

09_0814 Heidi Richards Mooney

Heidi Richards Mooney was a big hit with the Executive Girlfriends' Group on August 14th.

The audio is now available for download. Audio files are free for all Charter and Premium EGG members and $10 for basic members.

CLICK HERE

August 2009 Schedule for our Vignette Speakers

09_0807 Syble Solomon - Creator of Money Habitudes

Syble is a speaker and consultant with LifeWise and the creator of Money Habitudes.

She is also an Executive Coach. Syble is an adjunct professor with the Center for Creative Leadership, a recognized world leader of executive leadership training, and the National Leadership Institute, University of Maryland. Clients include executives and leaders in the public and private sectors. (Selected list: Whirlpool, Xerox, Prudential, Sanofi Pasteur, Glaxo Smith Kline, De Lage Landen, Bayer, Xerox, US Air Force and US Navy, Small Business Association and Red Cross.)

She is also a part of the Adjunct Faculty, Gerontology Program, University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Developed and taught Life Planning for the Third Age, a graduate course to prepare students for a future of successful aging for themselves, their employees and their clients.

She is a Child Development Specialist: 25 years of working with families, organizations and school systems to create programs and systems to serve the needs of young children with special needs through facilitation, training and consultation

Denny Kercher rescheduled to September 18th

For those that wanted to hear Denny Kercher speak in July, we have rescheduled her to September 18th. Denny is the author of I'm Juggling As Fast As I Can.

2009-2010 Executive Girlfriends' Group Board announced

I am pleased to announce the board of directors for the Executive Girlfriends Group for the coming year.

Beginning on the top left:

Annette Hogan - Head of Sales and Marketing for Kennedy Space Center (Delaware North). Annette was a founding board member with EGG.

Beckie Watson - Vice President New Business Development with Travelport. Beckie was a founding board member with EGG.

Carolyn Cauceglia - Vice President of Strategic Sales and Account Management with Amadeus. Carolyn is new to the EGG board this year and is also the head of our EGG Local chapter in Miami.

Chris Brosnahan - Vice President Distribution and Reservation Services for Carlson Hospitality. Chris is a founding board member with EGG.

Flo Lugli - Executive Vice President Marketing with Wyndham Worldwide. Flo is a founding board member with the EGG board and the head of our NY/NJ/CT EGG Local chapter.

2nd row, beginning on the left

Chris Bradshaw - Co-host of Solutionz Live! and early stage business expert currently on contract with a startup in Dallas. Chris is a founding member with the EGG board and the head of our Dallas EGG Local chapter.

Krista Pappas - Head of Business Development - Bing Travel Microsoft. Krista is a founding board member of EGG.

Libby Gill - Author, Speaker and Branding Expert LibbyGill.com. Libby is a new member of the EGG board for 2009-2010.

Peggy Lee - Early stage business expert (PPL Consulting) currently on contract with Expert Flyer as the head of business development. Peggy is a founding member of the EGG Board.

Tiffany Topcik - Entrepreneur, co-host of Solutionz Live! and former President of HEDNA. Tiffany is new to the EGG board for 2009-2010.

Thank you to the board for your contributions of time and support. We are looking forward to a great 2nd year for the Executive Girlfriends' Group!

Chicke Fitzgerald - Founder, Executive Girlfriends' Group

09_0731 Frances Cole Jones - Author of How to Wow

For those of you that missed Frances Cole Jones yesterday on our EGG call, she delivered incredibly practical tips for communicating at every level.

You can order her book on the EGG Bookstore and download the audio on our Audio site.

Prior to founding Cole Media Management, Frances worked at St. Martin's Press, Viking Penguin, Doubleday and Broadway Books as an editor of commercial nonfiction.

The experience of helping authors translate their ideas into books that retained their unique voice is what makes her valuable to her clients.

"There's no point in my writing a perfectly crafted sound bite that you have to strain to remember," Frances says. "You have to sound like you -- you on your best day".

Frances has also written for Centurion and Executive Travel.

The Noticer - Quietly changing lives with a little "perspective", July 26, 2009

Every once in awhile, you come across a book so special that you can't help but buy them in quantity to give away to friends and colleagues. The Noticer is one of those books.

Andy Andrews has crafted a story about an enigmatic man named Jones [just Jones] who appears in a beach town and touches a number of lives, in a very unusual way.

Jones uses history and literature and even the Bible to show various people why it is important to notice what is around you and especially to notice those things that others often overlook.

I found myself making a "reading" list as I was reading the book, wanting to take in Jones' wisdom by first hand experience with the characters that he would talk about. I have always loved biographies, but I tend to forget how powerful a force they can be.

Andy's writing style in this allegorical treat is easy and engaging. He pulls you into the lives of his characters and as it says on the fly of the book, gives you through the Noticer "your chance to regroup, take a breath, and begin your life again".

I loved the use of analogy in the story telling throughout the book and the obvious parallel to the Holy Spirit's influence on our lives, planting seed after seed and ensuring that it gets watered along the way, even in unexpected ways.

Bravo Andy Andrews for this masterful and highly impactful work. This isn't just fun reading. It will change lives.

Social Proof - Simon U Ford beats Google at their own game on YouTube

It is one thing to talk about word of mouth media theory. It is quite another to prove it. That today is called Social Proof. This video shows social proof in spades. I've tried this same technique in owning the term "word of mouth media" on YouTube and it works.



Beating Google Friend Connect is a real testament to what can be done when you get a group of advocates together to make a point. Simon U Ford and his Social Traffic VIP team set out to "own" the term Google Friend Connect on YouTube and have successfully outpaced Google's own developers. Word of mouth media is the most powerful when you use the right tools. Simon has cracked the code on this one.



The Social Traffic course that I've taken is not open right now, but if you are interested, leave a comment here and when it opens up again, I will let you know. If you are interested in reselling the course, the revenue potential is substantial.

Leveraging Google Friend Connect

Are you trying to figure out all of this Social Media "stuff"? I've been working for the last 6 months on understanding the social graph and the real power of Word of Mouth Media™.

Watch this video and learn about how the Google Friend Connect feature can help you grow your social graph. Simon U Ford gives a very succinct view of GFC and how it fits into your use of word of mouth media.



If you want more information about really mastering your own social graph, let me know.

09_0724 - July 24th – Denny Kercher, author of “I'm Juggling As Fast As I Can

Join us at 4pm ET for "Am I having any fun yet? Finding meaning at work."

Denny is an expert in the area of stress and burnout management. She has given her dynamic presentations for hundreds of audiences and has written a book entitled: I'm Juggling As Fast As I Can: Managing Stress, Avoiding Burnout, and Achieving Balance.

Denny Kercher has been actively involved in research in the area of understanding the attributes of excellence in leadership and organizations. She brings her years of skills, experience and expertise to the arena of teaching managers the meaning of excellence in practical and usable ways that can be immediately implemented in the work place. Denny has also been involved in developing training curriculum in the areas of leadership and
management training, as well as developing customized courses and presentations in communication, conflict resolution, teambuilding, and managing stress and burnout to achieve balance.

Denny combines her clinical psychology and business background to quickly understand and evaluate the requirements of any group or individual situation. She is able to take complex ideas of the dynamics of employee behavior and business practices to practical understanding, application and implementation.

Additionally, Denny teaches graduate courses and shares her knowledge in facilitating the teambuilding process, conducts training seminars and delivers speeches for companies and groups nationwide. She has over 20 years experience in working with diverse groups in the public and private sector and a vast degree of knowledge and experience in consensus building, dealing with difficult situations, conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation. She has advanced degrees in Psychology, Business and Theology.

09_0717 Thanks to Kathy Condon, author "It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: It's all about Communication"

Kathy did a superb job walking us through some of the minefields that can sabotage communications.

Kathy can be reached at www.kathycondon.info
She is the author of "It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: It's all about Communication".

The audio of her call is now available on www.eggaudio.blogspot.com

EGG Vignette Speaker - Michelle Renee, author Held Hostage

Join us at 4pm ET for Michelle Renee, author of Held Hostage. If you are not a member of EGG, please contact egg@solutionz.com.

EGG Engagement Contest Winners announced

Thank you so much to our first place winner Carolyn Cauceglia for the amazing number of nominations to the Executive Girlfriends Group, plus her efforts to get the Miami group organized for our first event, which will be Monday night. Carolyn won a new Amazon Kindle for her efforts!

The next 4 winners were all very, very close to one another. Rebecca McGoye was 2nd, Joni Newkirk was 3rd, Tiffany Topcik was 4th and Chris Bradshaw was 5th. They will each receive an American Express gift certificate and an autographed copy of a book from one of our Vignette speakers.

The balance of the top 10 include Flo Lugli, Christine DeZarn, Cheryl Weldon, Marcia Gipson and George Ann Dingus. They will each receive an autographed copy of a book from one of our Vignette speakers.

We have grown from just 100 members in January to over 420! Thanks to all who contributed to this growth and for your participation in the Executive Girlfriends Group, both on our calls and in EGG Local.

Chicke Fitzgerald | founder

Vignette Speaker - Friday, July 3rd Leanne Hoagland-Smith, author The Keys to Becoming the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits

Hoagland-Smith, who has written more than 1000 articles on sales, is a Chicago based sales and business coach focused on helping individuals and businesses make dramatic changes that move them quickly to the top of their professions and industries. In her practice she teaches her clients how standing out from their competitors, increases sales and impacts the bottom line.

If you haven't yet joined us for a call, we'd love to have you! If it has been awhile, please put it on your calendar. We miss you.

Chicke Fitzgerald | founder EGG | 813-925-0789