Monday, November 24, 2014

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

Dear Friends,

I hope you're well and that you have a happy and fun holiday season.

If you strictly want information about our next event, please look at the links to the right and go to Event Registration.  Before you go, please check out the links at the bottom of this page.

Our last presentation was "Effective Leadership for a Thinking Environment" with Sara Hart. She made some great points about how we listen and how we lead conversation by our responses, and the exercises were very useful. Many thanks to Belina Pignataro for volunteering to plan this event.

Thanks to our friends at JDSU for hosting our group. We really appreciate your help and it was a great location and room. Thank you for treating us to some delicious pizza, too!

Our volunteers planned some great events this year, and there will be a separate note in a couple of weeks about volunteering. If you already know you'd like to help, please view details and respond here.

This time of year brings up all kinds of emotions for people. When I was looking for a job, the added pressures and concerns did not make for a happy season. If you know someone who is looking for work, helping them out would be a great kindness. You can change a life!

I enjoy holiday music but don't like feeling overwhelmed by choices of presents to buy, the pressure to do and get the right thing. I also find it challenging to feel great the whole time. The holidays can stir up sadness and loss for some people, and it's a time of reflecting on that, too. I used to get depressed at this time of year, longing for my mom and our family, and as time has gone by, I feel it a lot less but I have my moments.

Then we have the additional pressures of how to greet other people. I'm Jewish and I'm not upset if someone wishes me a "Merry Christmas" as I'm glad someone is thinking of me, but it's something to keep in mind in our diverse communities and work world. We can't know everyone's religion or preferences, and I also have no problem saying "Happy Holidays" or have a great "Holiday Season." It's all good!

This is a reminder that I am going to move us away from maintaining the Forum and encourage you to use our LinkedIn Group for posting.  This will be a gradual change on the technical side.  More people are using LinkedIn than the forum at this point, and it has been challenging to register people, help them through password problems and other maintenance issues.  It served a great purpose for a long time, and it was all my husband's idea.  Bill is an Electrical Engineer but he learned some code, set up our board, and taught me how to update and maintain it.  Many people have posted resumes, jobs and events over the years, and I know a lot of people found work as a result.  It honestly makes me very happy and proud to know it was so successful.  Thank you, Bill!



1. EVENTS
    a. HR Women and Friends Event 12/13/2014: Year-End Party at The Vonderwerth's Home!
    b. Volunteers' Meeting 1/14/15

2. Discounts
3. Using our Forum
4. Spam Filter Alert
5. To change you email address
6. Unsubscribe
7. Potential Speakers/Topics
8. Notifying us of upcoming events and discounts.

1. EVENTS
    a. HR Women and Friends Event 12/13/2014: Year-End Party at The Vonderwerth's Home! Please click on the registration tab for details and the RSVP.  I hope you're able to attend!
    b. Volunteers' Meeting 1/14/15: details to be posted soon but if you know you want to volunteer, please click on this link to RSVP.
2. Discounts and Offers – view them on our discount page. Thanks to everyone for extending the discounts to our group!
3. We have a Forum at www.ourhrsite.com/forumI am moving away from maintaining the Forum and encourage you to use our LinkedIn Group for posting.  On the Forum, you can view messages without registering. 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, click here and go to the correct form.
6. Unsubscribe: To discontinue mailings please respond with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line or go to the form. If you receive mail at more than one email address, please note all addresses to delete.
7. Potential Speakers/Topics. Please see http://ourhrsite.blogspot.com/p/potential-speakers.html for details and a form to submit your information.  This will be reviewed during the January 2015 meeting.

8. 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.Because of my commitments I can’t mentor you, and please don’t send me unsolicited resumes. Come to an event and meet someone who can help. I receive a lot of unsolicited resumes (from our group and strangers) and I refer people to our LinkedIn Group. See the blog post for more thoughts. http://marciastein.blogspot.com/2009/02/setting-boundaries-and-professionalism.html

We have a page on our site for advertising with links to Amazon products. Our site also has Google ads, and you're welcome to click on relevant links. These links provide a small amount of money to help pay for our domain.

I hope to see you soon.

All the best,

Marcia

Marcia Stein, PHR - www.linkedin.com/in/marciastein
Author: "Strained Relations: Help for Struggling Parents of Troubled Teens" and "Recruiters on Recruiting"
Blog: http://helpingparentsofteens.blogspot.com/ 

            

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

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

Dear Friends,

How are you?  Happy November! How did this year go by so quickly?

If you strictly want information about our next event, please look at the links to the right and go to Event Registration.  Before you go, please check out the links at the bottom of this page.

Our last presentation was "Effectively Handling Workplace Conflict - through Mediation and Conciliation" with ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D. ArLyne is such an accomplished woman with a wide variety and depth of experiences, I could listen to her all day. Many thanks to Idit Stefanson for volunteering to plan this event.

Thanks to our friends at SETI Institute for hosting our group. We really appreciate your help and it was a great location and room.

This year brought some changes for me as I've left my last company and am contract recruiting and training. I enjoy this work and it's always interesting to see different organizations. At my last job, I created and delivered a 10-week, 1 hour per week management and leadership course for the management team. I had some great comments, and one of the most valuable things I observed and heard was that this course gave them the opportunity to be away from the phone, email and interruptions. In other words, it gave them a chance to think, and due to the topics, to think deeply. 

Reflecting on my work experiences, I can see this is an issue in many organizations, and not only there but in our personal lives, as well. Have you ever been unable to carry on a relaxing conversation because the other person picks up each text or call? Do we give ourselves time and permission to set other things aside and just think?

I have a personal request as I'm working on another book and would love your help.  I wrote two books: "Recruiters on Recruiting" and "Strained Relations: Help for Struggling Parents of Troubled Teens."  (Available on websites or in-person; I've always got books in the trunk.)

I'm starting to work on another book with the topic "you won't believe what happened at work."  These can be funny stories, the "OMG!" events, anything you think would be interesting, surprising and of value to others.  You can participate electronically or by personal interview, and you can use your own name or I can make up a name for you.  Please see my site for details; I hope to hear from you!

This is a reminder that I am going to move us away from maintaining the Forum and encourage you to use our LinkedIn Group for posting.  This will be a gradual change on the technical side.  More people are using LinkedIn than the forum at this point, and it has been challenging to register people, help them through password problems and other maintenance issues.  It served a great purpose for a long time, and it was all my husband's idea.  Bill is an Electrical Engineer but he learned some code, set up our board, and taught me how to update and maintain it.  Many people have posted resumes, jobs and events over the years, and I know a lot of people found work as a result.  It honestly makes me very happy and proud to know it was so successful.  Thank you, Bill!



1. HR Women and Friends Event 11/19/2014: Effective Leadership for a Thinking Environment with Sara Hart

2. Discounts
3. Using our Forum
4. Spam Filter Alert
5. To change you email address
6. Unsubscribe
7. Potential Speakers/Topics
8. Notifying us of upcoming events and discounts.

1. HR Women and Friends Event 11/19/2014: Effective Leadership for a Thinking Environment with Sara Hart. Please click on the registration tab for details and the RSVP.  I hope you're able to attend!
2. Discounts and Offers – view them on our discount page. Thanks to everyone for extending the discounts to our group!
3. We have a Forum at www.ourhrsite.com/forumI am moving away from maintaining the Forum and encourage you to use our LinkedIn Group for posting.  On the Forum, you can view messages without registering. 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, click here and go to the correct form.
6. Unsubscribe: To discontinue mailings please respond with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line or go to the form. If you receive mail at more than one email address, please note all addresses to delete.
7. Potential Speakers/Topics. Please see http://ourhrsite.blogspot.com/p/potential-speakers.html for details and a form to submit your information.  This will be reviewed during the January 2015 meeting.

8. 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.Because of my commitments I can’t mentor you, and please don’t send me unsolicited resumes. Come to an event and meet someone who can help. I receive a lot of unsolicited resumes (from our group and strangers) and I refer people to our LinkedIn Group. See the blog post for more thoughts. http://marciastein.blogspot.com/2009/02/setting-boundaries-and-professionalism.html

We have a page on our site for advertising with links to Amazon products. Our site also has Google ads, and you're welcome to click on relevant links. These links provide a small amount of money to help pay for our domain.

I hope to see you soon.

All the best,

Marcia

Marcia Stein, PHR - www.linkedin.com/in/marciastein
Author: "Strained Relations: Help for Struggling Parents of Troubled Teens" and "Recruiters on Recruiting"
Blog: http://helpingparentsofteens.blogspot.com/