West Des Moines Leadership Academy

Amy Seidelman
Vice-Chair, West Des Moines
Leadership Academy

I’ll start this post with a warning:

Readers, beware – my enthusiasm for the West Des Moines Leadership Academy might just jump off the page at you.

As a graduate of the inaugural 2009 class of the Academy and its current Vice-Chair, I am pleased to introduce our group to anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to participate in the academy, hasn’t attended one of the many events that evolved from our Academy class projects, or doesn’t know someone who comes to work the 4^th Friday of the month with a renewed sense of purpose in life and work (due to their attendance at class the day before, of course).

There are many great leadership organizations in the state and in cities around West Des Moines. As an alumni-driven group, the Board and Committees of the West Des Moines Leadership Academy strive to make our approach to improving leadership unique.

We touch on topics everyone can benefit from like team building, coaching, conflict management, and situational leadership, but we also focus on supporting individuals on their quest toward personal and professional development.  This year, that included a strategic approach to goal setting, tapping into creativity, and generating the “escape velocity” we need to make positive change in our lives.

We spend about a third of our time exposing the Academy class members to real community issues through experiential learning, simulations, and guest panelists. One of the most influential learning opportunities is the class project, which in the past has varied from focused youth-oriented mentoring work to more large-scale community events! If you’ve attended events like Putt Your Best Food Forward, the BoosterPak Bash, the Hy-Vee Stash Mob, or the 2012 Morsel Combat, you’ve attended a Leadership Academy sponsored or run event.

Taught by local leaders, this program was created to build leaders in the West Des Moines area and our surrounding communities. The program’s balance of leadership training, community experiences, and networking opportunities makes it one of a kind.

I’ve saved the best part for last – we are currently accepting applications for our 2013 -2014 class, which starts in September 2013 and ends with graduation in June 2014. We generally meet on the 4^th Thursday of the month with the exception of some dates we move for holidays, orientation, and graduation.

What we look for in ideal WDMLA candidates:

·         a commitment and motivation to serve West Des Moines;

·         leadership in employment and/or volunteer organizations that translates to influence on important issues; and

·         the ability to honor the time commitment required by the program.

Please take a moment to check out our website. Scan the Alumni and Current Class pages for anyone you might know and can ask about the class. Look at next year’s class dates to see if they’ll work for you. Most importantly, visit the online application and review what you’ll need in order to submit yours soon.

Whether you ask your employer to sponsor this great learning experience or decide to “put yourself through” the WDMLA, you’ll find great value in the leadership lessons and connection to our community you’ll develop. If you are considering asking your employer to sponsor you, you can share these employer testimonials with them as well.

As a potential applicant, you’re on the verge of some serious networking and the start of some amazing friendships. I, for one, can’t wait to meet you!

New View February After Hours

 Our mission at Glen Oaks is to create an exceptional experience for our members and guests by continuing our tradition as the finest country club in Iowa; providing an outstanding golf course/experience, preeminent dining and social activities, strong focus on families, premier venue for event and unparalleled service that is experienced daily.  Glen Oaks’ championship golf course was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1994.  Glen Oaks hosted the Principal Charity Classic, a Champions Tour event, for 11 years ending in 2012.  Our Junior Olympic pool and tennis courts complete our sporting activity facilities.  Glen Oaks offers four dining experiences to fit our members needs and the Glen Oaks culinary team has won numerous awards over the years.  Over the past two years we have completely renovated our 45,000 square foot clubhouse to assure we have best of class facilities for our members.  

Glen Oaks Country Club had an exciting 2012! We completed the clubhouse renovation, continued improvements to our outstanding golf course, while maintaining a strong focus on families, and improving our youth and social events. All of which have contributed to a 10% increase in membership, while the club industry as a whole grew on average of 1% to 2% in 2012.  We strongly believe we will reach our planned golf roster cap of 425 members by early spring! We believe this is due to not only to our outstanding golf course and golf experience, but also to the announcement of our scheduled pool renovations to begin fall of 2013 and completion for the 2014 season!

Along with our custom designed member facilities, Glen Oaks offers a unique venue for all of your private event needs. Our newly renovated banquet space offers gorgeous views, atmosphere and the amenities to accommodate any meeting or event. Our first-class culinary staff can offer meal options for every occasion and our event team can take care of all the “extras” to make your event a success!

The strength of a club is its membership and over the past two years Glen Oaks has added 118 new members.  We would like very much to introduce ourselves and provide you with a tour of the club with the hopes that you will become the newest member of our growing Glen Oaks family. We are excited to announce our 2013 Young Professional Membership Promotion and would love to tell you more about it!

The Civic Center’s “Blind Date”

Looking for a good laugh, fun night out, and reasonably-priced entertainment?  Well, the folks at Civic Center of Greater Des Moines have just what these cold Iowa nights need right now… a HILARIOUS, quirky, and talented woman, “Mimi” taking us through 90-minutes of a blind date, where you just never know what’s going to happen next!  Playing at the Temple Theater, Blind Date will be pleasing audiences of all ages through January 22nd.  It offers an improvised comedy show where Mimi and one other guest – plucked right from the audience – have everyone laughing and cheering them on as they get to know each other, “fall in love”, and even get into some mishaps along the way. 

I have attended this show twice; once on a weekday, when the audience member picked was a divorced 40-year old, and once during the weekend, when the audience member was a married 30-something (who just may have had a couple cocktails prior to his performance).  Both times, the Blind Date performer and her “date” had me, and my group, laughing so hard we cried.  Rebecca Northan, who plays Mimi, must have an incredible judge of character because the guys she “casted” (by mingling in the lobby beforehand) were perfect for the role.  Wednesday’s date was a little more shy and took a bit to open-up, but just watching her talk with him and get him comfortable was entertainment!  She wears a clown nose, has a French accent, and has a wonderful ability to make even deeper topics (on Wednesday, they talked about the recent death of her date’s mother) light-hearted and engaging.

This show is definitely one of Temple Theater’s best comedy acts and earns a great-big “MUST SEE”!  Once you go, you may even find yourself interested in going back… since the show changes every time.  Her “date” greatly influences the direction of the show, along with the audience, who she does talk with as the night goes on, getting feedback on what they’d like to see next.

Chamber members get a 15% discount, as part of the Civic Center Discount Program, so make sure to take advantage of that.  Click here to get started.  

Enter Pass Code: Chamber

Click on ‘Blind Date’ and then ‘Find Tickets’

Enter Special Offer Code: Best

Create an account to complete purchase

Check out this review for more great Blind Date commentary!

Leslie Jasper

Group Sales Manager

Civic Center of Greater Des Moines

515-246-2369

ljasper@civiccenter.org

New View partners with Des Moines Young Variety

New View Event – Benefitting Young Variety
Thursday, October 6^th

Cabaret West Glen
5-8pm

Young Variety is thrilled to partner with New View for this great event!

Not only because we really like the people.....but even more, we like what they stand for.  It’s a natural fit for us, as both groups are made up of motivated young professionals who are philanthropic-minded.  We’re all working to better the lives of community members and children in Iowa, and we have fun doing it!

It’s a true win-win.

From all of us at YV, we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this event, and look forward to working hand-in-hand with New View members to raise big bucks for Iowa’s children in need. We hope anyone and everyone can join us on Thursday, October 6th for cocktails, raffle items, and more!

Learn More About Des Moines Young Variety. (LINK: www.yviowa.org)

Susan R. Hatten
Young Variety President, 2011/2012Senior Business Development Executive
Sigler Companies | Innova :: Sigler :: Signify
A Global Approach to Marketing Communicationssusan.hatten@sigler.com

Do desk jobs equal weight gain?

Remember freshman year of college and the freshman-15?  We have a joke around my office about gaining 15 pounds after starting work here.  It’s a disastrous (yet delicious) combination of sitting at your desk the majority of the day and the enormous amounts of food we have catered on a regular basis.

I definitely wasn’t above it over 3 ½ years ago when I started and I gained immediately.  I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but brownies will be death of me.  (I suppose there are worse ways to go).  Then, 2 years ago, I got myself in check and lost the 20 pounds I’d gained.  Annnnd now those pounds are back…and then some.

I’m not one to work out.  I’ve always been better at managing what I eat more so than making time to work out.  It’s definitely something I’d like to get a handle on now, though.  I hear it only gets harder as you get older to shed pounds and get in shape.

Personally, for now, I just want my pants to fit better.  Is that so much to ask!?

Whatever you’re desk-job situation may be, I found the following articles on how to avoid the desk-job weight gain.  As young professionals, we should watch out for this now!

How to Avoid On-The-Job Weight Gain

Is Work Making You Fat?

Diet Solutions:  Desk Job

5 Ways to Prevent Weight Gain at Work

Lindsey Mathews
New View Board Member & Outreach Committee Chair
Project Delivery Coordinator
Shive-Hattery Inc.



Does Your Company Take Part in Social Networking?

It seems as though nearly every company out there either pioneered the usage of social networking for their business or is getting their proverbial toes wet (finally!).

I was recently asked to participate on a social networking TASK FORCE at work.  I capitalized TASK FORCE because it makes it sound much cooler.  It’s a FORCE!  We should probably work on saving the planet via amazing element-related rings once we’re done figuring out this whole social networking thing.

Since taking part in this TASK FORCE, I’ve become really interested in researching the topic.   Can you think of any industry that can’t use social networking to advance themselves in one way or another?  Can you?  No, seriously…can you?  I’m thinking really hard here and I’ve got nothing…and my hard-thinking face is not pretty, so I’m going to knock that off.  It’s why I gave up on being a Philosophy major in college.  Sorry, Dr. Pauley.  (If you know who Dr. Pauley is, you get eleventy-billion amazing points in my currently non-existent book).

Side-Bar – I’m considering auto-biography book titles, because it’s never too early to start...Right now I’m leaning toward “Trial & Error: The Lindsey Mathews Story.”  But I’m open to suggestions.  Feel free to comment.

Okay – back to professional social networking! 

I was recently sent the article below specific to using social networking in the architectural & engineering industry.  Those are hard to come by, so I found it particularly helpful in my TASK FORCE duties.  I thought I’d share it, because even though it is specific to my industry, it has some great universal information and tips for being professional while using social networks.

***FREE TIP FROM ME (Not the article): Don’t post photos of yourself doing regrettable things at regrettable places and then making them public.  It’s tacky. ***

You’re welcome.

http://xldp.com/dprcg/socialnetworking.html

Lindsey Mathews
New View Board Member & Outreach Committee Chair
Project Delivery Coordinator
Shive-Hattery Inc.

What are you doing this weekend?

Wondering what’s up this weekend? 

No giant art festival or cultural festival, but still plenty to do if you can stand being in this wonderful (note: sarcasm) July weather.  I do not enjoy sweating without moving, so I’ll be checking out indoor activities!

Today: 

1.  Check out Friday’s at the Fountain out at West Glen.  Toaster will be playing, and I’ve seen them before.  It’s definitely a good show – a great band to listen to while sipping your favorite summer beverage.

2.  Go see a movie!  I’ve heard amazing things about Horrible Bosses.  Can you go wrong with Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day? (It’s Always Sunny… fans, get excited!) I haven’t seen it yet, but I definitely plan to this weekend if at all possible.

Also – I went and saw the latest Harry Potter movie last weekend…at the IMAX.  Get there early so you can get good seats.  We got there right on time and were forced to watch the movie with our heads turned straight up – my neck hurt, but it was totally worth it.  I’m not the fan who stands in line at midnight to see it, but shelling out a few extra bucks to see it at the IMAX is a definite must-do!

Tomorrow: 

1.  West Glen Farmers Market!  9am-1pm.  It’s going to be hot, so go early.  Where else will you be able to buy 3 for $1 cucumbers?!?! 

2.   If you feel like getting all hopped up and jittery about your Saturday, you could stop by Mars Café for a coffee tasting.  Personally, I’m more of a wine taster, but whatever floats your boat!

3.  Iowa Barnstormers game.  It looks like they’re playing the Georgia Force.  Force versus Barnstormers.  I feel like making a lame tornado joke…but I won’t.

4.  Shakesperience Fest 2011.  I don’t know exactly what it is, but it ends in “Fest.”    Never underestimate a good “fest.”  Begins at 6pm at Simon Estes Amphitheatre.

5.  If you enjoy a good jam band, Mooseknuckle will be playing at Star Bar on Ingersoll!

6.  If you’re thinking of going out to eat, here are some of my picks:

·         Samurai – sushi always sounds good to me.

·         Felix & Oscar’s for the pizza, duh.

·         Plaza Mexico on 86^th in Johnston – sort of a drive and hidden behind a Kum & Go…but you’re missing out if you write it off because of that.  Great food and good drinks and fast service!

·         Trostel’s Dish – Yum.  Enough said.

What are some of your favorite local restaurants?   I love to try new places, so suggestions are welcome!

Sunday:

1.  You should definitely check out Final Mix playing at the Jordan Creek Town Center Amphitheater. 

It will be a great way to rest a bit before beginning another work-week!

Lindsey Mathews
New View Board Member & Outreach Committee Chair
Project Delivery Coordinator
Shive-Hattery Inc.

The only networking tip you really need...

I know this a lofty statement, but I really believe it.  It relates back to any and every tip you’ve ever read, heard or practiced:

***BE MEMORABLE***

If I could emphasize that more, I would (but I’m limited in print). It stifles me.

Honestly, I feel being memorable is more a piece of life advice than specific to networking (But let’s make this work for the blog, eh?) (I’m not Canadian whatsoever, but my old roommate swears I had the accent sometimes).

Many articles and professionals talk about the importance of having a great handshake.  I don’t really have one of those – I won’t go into the analysis I’ve done on my own handshake, but let’s just say it’s not great.  However, you can bounce back from a less than impressive handshake.

Of course the first step is to go to networking events.  That’s a given.  But say it’s an event with a speaker and/or presentation and not a lot of actual networking.  In that case, think of questions during the presentation.  I’ve never been to a presentation that didn’t end with the speaker asking if there are any questions.  Be one of those people who gets involved and wants to know more (or the only one – that sort of depends on how awesome the audience is).  Asking a question, even if you might not think it’s a great question, is making yourself stick out.  Don’t just go to the events, really participate during them.

If you’re not really the public speaking type and can’t fathom raising your hand and asking a question in front of a room of other audience members, then maybe seek out one of the presenters before she/he leaves.  Practice your handshake first, then introduce yourself –– and then ask your question.   In fact, that speaker may remember you even more since you took the time to come up to him/her after the presentation.

If even that is too much, or the opportunity just didn’t arise to walk up to the presenter…then do some stalking.  Yep, stalking.  Nothing dangerous or illegal, don’t get too nutty.  I mean stalking in the least inappropriate way. (Don’t use me as an excuse for harassment).  I’m just encouraging you to find out who organized the event or go home and Google the speaker. 

Thanks to Google, you can pretty much find anyone’s email address.  So shoot the speaker an email with a nice comment about their performance and your question.  It’s definitely a start and maybe it can help motivate you to raise your hand next time.  People generally love feedback – especially when it’s positive or inquisitive.

If the event is casual networking, don’t be afraid to just hop into a conversation.  Chances are the people chatting are there for the same reason you are and would have no problem including you.   Be excited or show some passion about something:  ideally your work, but anything will do for a start.  That’s what will truly make you memorable.  Get in on the conversation and then really contribute to it.  Don’t be the weird wo/man who stood quietly (read: creepy!) outside of a circle of people the whole night.  It will make you memorable, but for all of the wrong reasons.

Moral of the story:  Be memorable (but not creepy)

Lindsey Mathews
New View Board Member & Outreach Committee Chair
Project Delivery Coordinator
Shive-Hattery Inc.