Friday, August 5, 2011

Silicon Valley Women in HR… & Friends Mailing and Event Announcement

Dear Friends,

The first part of this email is dedicated to updates and musings, so if you want to skip to the invitation, discounts, and other information, please scroll down.

Our next event is August 17 and event details are on our website.  The event is open to the community, and if you’re bringing a friend, that person must register herself/himself.  Please follow directions for responding.  www.ourhrsite.com/hrw_RSVP.html 

This has been bothering me.  I’ve heard that a few people think I have singled them out, bounced them from the list and then added them again.  Our mailing list has over 1600 people.  Each mailing brings bounced emails, and when a person’s email bounces on two mailings, that email is removed from our list.  If the person writes to me, I add them again. 

Some webhosts have labeled me as a spammer due to our large mailings.  I had so many problems with AOL that I send those members a separate email.  I try to work things out with larger hosts, but I can’t work with all of them.  It’s too time consuming and I have other obligations.  If you’re not receiving emails, please bookmark our site and this blog and calendar a check-in.

On another topic: people and commitments.  This has been something I have seen over the years, people saying they would attend an event but not coming and not notifying me.  In some cases, it’s a small matter but really, it’s a professional courtesy.  Speakers often bring printed material and we have seating to consider, too.  Organizers of other events have seen the same problems.

The larger problem is with candidates.  I’ve been recruiting and have had a few people not call back when they’ve said they would or I’ve confirmed a time to interview and they fall off the earth.  We just had one candidate commit to an interview and he was a no-show.  I wrote to him, asked if he was okay, and he said he forgot the interview and also decided the city was too far for his commute.  Then he had the nerve to ask me if we had an opening somewhere closer to his home.  Do you think he’s on the top of my list?

Is it me or is there an issue?  Are you seeing this, too?  You can comment via this blog.

Now back to the mailing.
 
REMINDER ANNOUNCEMENT:  You can earn HRCI recertification points through blogging and I’ve set up a site so you can be an occasional blogger. http://ourhrsite.blogspot.com  You are responsible for adhering to their guidelines, and I cannot guarantee your points. 
·               Read the HRCI information:  www.hrci.org/Page.aspx?id=6442451796
·               If you’d like to post, write your piece to the HRCI specifications.  (My first post is opinion and does not meet their criteria.)  Email your post to mstein@ourhrsite.com and be sure to include the subject line, your bio and links to your LinkedIn page and/or website/s.  I will not edit posts but will review them quickly if I have time.  Otherwise, I’ll simply upload.
·               You can subscribe to the blog, share it on Facebook or Tweet it.  Let’s get this off the ground!

Join us on LinkedIn.

Discounts are on our website.

A few of our pages have a “ShareThis” buttons on the upper left side of the page. If you’d like to repost on some of the other sites, this is an easy way to do so.

We have a resource page with links and downloads for job seekers.

In addition to this volunteer work, I have to earn a living.  Unfortunately, I can’t mentor you, and please don’t send me unsolicited resumes.  I wish I had the time to individually mentor you, but I don’t.  With the time I take for this group, my work and my books, I don’t have time left over.  Come to an event and meet someone who can help.  I receive a lot of unsolicited resumes (from our group and strangers) and if I’m recruiting for a position or I’m paid to work on the resume, that’s one thing, but other than that, I’ve got other things on my plate.  I refer people to the forum at www.ourhrsite.com/forum.   See the blog: http://marciastein.blogspot.com/2009/02/setting-boundaries-and-professionalism.html

A list of speakers and their downloads is on our site.  www.ourhrsite.com/hrw_past_speakers.html

Thanks to Jenny Vonderwerth for planning last month’s movie night and providing a fun dining experience, too.   

1. HR Women & Friends Community Event:  Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 6:30-9:00 p.m. 
2. Discounts
3. Using our Bulletin Board (Forum)
4. Spam Filter Alert
5. To change you email address
6. Unsubscribe
7. Additional Links and Information

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1. HR Women & Friends Community Event:  Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 6:30-9:00 p.m. 

Gwyneth Anne Freedman, a long-time member of our group is a life and corporate coach.  Her business is Personal JourneyCoaching.  She’ll be presenting “An Introduction to Personalized Work – Life Balance Solutions:  simple steps towards less stress and more energy to enjoy your life.”  See details at www.ourhrsite.com/hrw_RSVP.html.

2. Discounts and Offers – view them at ourhrsite.com/hrw_discounts.html.
Please note: any discounts for health related products or services are solely used at your own discretion.  The group and I have no responsibility for these services or products.  Thanks for extending the discounts to our group!

3. Using our Bulletin Board (Forum)
When you contact me regarding jobs, events, and other issues, I refer to our Forum at www.ourhrsite.com/forum. 

You can view all messages without registering, but you must register to reply or post a message. You are not automatically registered because you receive this email – it is separate software. Please review the Terms and Conditions available under any topic on the forum.  It’s your responsibility to keep track of your user name and password, and if you change email addresses, please log in and update your profile.  If privacy is an issue, please be careful when you post anything: use a separate email if necessary and you can skip your street address if you’d like.

4. SPAM Filter Alert:  please add mstein@ourhrsite.com to your address book. 

5. To change your email address, send your old and new addresses to me at mstein@ourhrsite.com.

6. Unsubscribe
To discontinue mailings please respond with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. If you receive mail at more than one email address, please note all addresses to delete.

7. Additional Links and Information: 

Randy Pausch was dying of pancreatic cancer, and as is the tradition at many universities, he gave a “last lecture.”  His lecture was created for his young children but delivered to his class.  www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/   

Don’t have insurance?  Breast Cancer Connections in Palo Alto WILL HELP YOU!  www.bcconnections.org  They’re also great if you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, have questions and need support.
 
Click daily on The Breast Cancer Site at www.thebreastcancersite.com and help support people who don’t have insurance or money for mammograms.   You can send free postcards to a person serving our country.  www.letssaythanks.com  Build your vocabulary and send rice to hungry people through the United Nations!  http://freerice.com  If you want to donate to the community, many people need your help.  You can evaluate many organizations at Charity Navigator www.charitynavigator.org.  

Potential speakers/topics.  Our volunteers select speakers and topics in January.  You can still send ideas for speakers or topics with the understanding that this will be considered at the planning meeting next year.  If you want to publicize an event you can do so for free on our bulletin board. 
 
Notifying us of upcoming events and discounts.  If you email me right after I’ve sent a mailing, I can update the website, but I can’t send a separate mailing to the group.  It will be in the next mailing.  Please keep this in mind and plan ahead.
 
I hope to see you at an upcoming event.

All the best,
 
Marcia
Marcia Stein, PHR - www.linkedin.com/in/marciastein
Author:  Strained Relations: Help for Struggling Parents of Troubled Teens 
Blog:  http://strainedrelations.wordpress.com
Recruiters on Recruiting
www.tellmeaboutyourself.info
www.scribd.com/Marcia_Stein

Silicon Valley Women in Human Resources...and Friends
www.ourhrsite.com         
mstein@ourhrsite.com 

Stein Consulting
www.stein-consulting.com