Calendar of Events

Calendar of Events

May 8

It's Hurricane Season... Now What?: The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce will hold a disaster preparedness meeting with Steve Elliot, CEO of Elliot Consulting Services. The seminar will run from 7 to 10 a.m. at the chamber office, 615 Channelside Drive, Suite 108, Tampa. This educational seminar focuses on business disruptions, the resiliency planning process and simple strategies that can be employed by businesses to mitigate future incidents. Cost for $25 for members and $35 for non-members. For more information or reservations e-mail [email protected] or visit tampachamber.com and click on the events calendar.

May 13

How Fast Can We Diversify our Economy?: The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee's Institute for Public Policy & Leadership will hold a free roundtable discussion from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Selby Auditorium in the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Pavilion on the USF campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Panelists will include Kathleen Baylis, president/CEO of Sarasota County Economic Development Corp.; Richard Lutovsky, president/CEO of Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce; John Rhodes, president of Moran Stahl & Boyer; and Brenda Workman, director of business retention and life sciences for Enterprise Florida. Seating is limited. To reserve your space, visit sarasota.usf.edu/ippl or call the USF Event Hotline at (941) 359-4602.

Legislative look: Former state lawmaker Carole Green will present a legislative outlook to the Real Estate Investment Society at a lunch meeting. The lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Magnolia Room of Pelican Preserve. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for guests. To reserve, go to www.reis-swfl.org, email [email protected] or call 239-410-1253.

May 14:

TBTF and SRI Open House: The Tampa Bay Technology Forum and the Stanford Research Institute will host an open house with startup mentoring and a presentation by Jonathan Baer. The meeting will run from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The University of Tampa Vaughn Center, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Baer has been both a venture capitalist as well as the founder and CEO of two venture backed companies, eBoomerang, an enterprise software company, which was sold in 2006, and Artificial Muscle Inc., a spinout from Stanford Research Institute. Sartups or individuals wishing to apply for the one-on-one mentoring with the SRI & TBTF should send a one to two page executive summary to [email protected] no later than May 5th. Visit tbtf.org and click on the events calendar for more information.

May 20:

Proactive strategies for PR success: The Central West Coast of the Florida Public Relations Association will hold its 2008 Strategic Planning Seminar from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. The meeting will feature Cindy Rodriguez, who managed media during the Florida's largest vehicle accident in recent history; Mel Klein, whose 30-year career with FPL has included media and client communications during power outages and hurricanes and pressures of governmental regulation; Jill Saunders, director of relations for Build-A-Bear Workshop who helped position it for its recent global expansion into the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. Cost is $65 for members and $75 prior to May 9th and $85 for nonmembers; the event includes a full brunch. To register, visit cwcfpra.com or call (941) 953-3772.

Business Law: Ask The Attorney: The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce will hold a legal workshop and panel presentation from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the chamber offices, second floor, 2390 Tamiami Trail N., Naples. Cost is $20 for members and $30 for nonmembers prior to June 24. The workshop will feature Jeanne Seewald of Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP (Intellectual Property Law), Norma Henning of Henning Law (Immigration Law), and Amy Garrard of Roetzel & Andress LPA (Labor Law). For more information or to register visit napleschamber.org and click on the event calendar.

May 31:

Naples Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner: The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner will hold its annual black-tie event from 6 to midnight at The Naples Grande Resort, 475 Seagate Drive, Naples. Cost: $160 per person, $1,750 for a corporate table sponsor. The event will include presentation of the chamber's Volunteer of the Year and top Naples citizen. For more information e-mail [email protected] or visit napleschamber.org and click on the events calendar.

June 10: How to Effectively Market & Promote an Event: The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce will hold a free public relations and community relations event with Ann Hughes, president of Hughes McGrath Inc. The meeting will run from 10:45 a.m. to noon in the chamber offices, second floor conference room, 2390 Tamiami Trail N., Naples. The meeting will focus on combining planning, effective marketing techniques and proactive media relations for a special event. Hughes has handled the media relations and marketing for hundreds of events worldwide. For more information e-mail [email protected] or visit napleschamber.org and click on the events calendar.