IF YOU COULDN'T MAKE OUR SEPTEMBER MEETING, HERE'S WHAT YOU MISSED!

It already feels so long ago since our last networking evening as winter seems to have suddenly arrived. The summer evening that we enjoyed last week is but a distant memory!

Another amazing evening, with over 70 women enjoying the surroundings of The Embassy Club - thank you once again to everyone who came along and made it such a wonderful evening.

Sarah Pennells from SavvyWoman, a well known personal finance journalist and broadcaster who is regularly seen on the BBC was our guest speaker for the evening. Sarah made what can be either a daunting or boring subject sound interesting! Finance for women was the topic , and through asking several questions it appears that the London Women Mean Business guests are above the national average and are indeed financially savvy! Always more to learn though, so look out for Sarah's post on this blog coming soon with notes of her talk, or indeed visit her website.

We then had our 5 minute slots for guests attending the meetings, and this month's speakers were:

Angela Coulson from London Brokerage talking about the opportunities available to small businesses in terms of business support and training. Do contact Angela for further details as this is a valuable free service.

Jenny Lamski of JRL Coaching who spoke about the importance of time management, something that we all need to exercise when running our own businesses. For more information about Jenny, take a look here at her website.

And finally, the lovely double act of Natalie & Hayley Bystram from Bowes-Lyon Partnership. Bowes-Lyon is an exclusive introduction agency specialising in matching high calibre individuals that just don't have the time to find that special person. Bowes-Lyon are offering a free consultation so if you are alone and don't want to be, why not contact them - more information available here.

So, September is almost over and hopefully business is going well, you are well and truly back in business mode following the summer break, and we hope our meeting was one of many networking events you attended throughout the month to help promote and grow your business.

Your feedback and comments are always very much appreciated, so if you have anything you'd like to tell us, what you'd like to see happen at the LWMB meetings, who you've met at the meetings and perhaps worked with or have built an alliance with - anything at all, then just let us know. You can post a comment on this blog, or send us an email.

See you next month!

A CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY

Tomorrow's Generation invites you to a celebration of diversity on Saturday 30th October 2010 at Wandsworth Civic Centre.

The event begins at 5pm, running through until 1am as in addition to hearing some great speakers (some of you may remember Usha Penumuchi and the very engaging talk she gave at LWMB a few months ago) and the opportunity to network, there will also be a collection of drama and dance performances plus a dining experience with cultural food tasting.

If you have a product or service to promote, tables can be booked but be quick as the booking deadline is 30th September.

Below is the line-up of guest speakers and drama & dance performances you can enjoy on the evening:

Speakers

• Genny Jones (Confident Queen) has been selected as one of the top 100 businesses by the Barclays Bank Trading Places award
• Usha Penumuchi, Commercial Services Directorate, Houses of Parliament
• Diane West- Management Consultancy / Training (specialising in the voluntary & community sector)
• Conrad Sackey (Chief Operational Manager, Windsor Fellowship)

Drama & Performances

• Daintynik South Africa and Uganda group
• Kabaslot EN Kotoku) – From Freetown, Sierra Leone (West Africa)
• De Champ & His Dance Group
  

For more information or to book a stall, click to contact Ellen Davies via email and she will be happy to assist with any questions you may have.

A DATE TO REMEMBER!

21st-28th October - the dates to remember!

Jamaica - the place to be!

The Caribbean Personal Development Retreat is taking place at Pimento Lodge Hideaway Hotel in Jamaica.

• Do you dream of having more time?


• Do you want to redress your work/life balance?


• Reduce stress?


• Gain clarity of thought?


• Or do you need time to identify and plan your next steps, define your goals in terms of career and personal life?

Then why not devote a week just to you?

Take your own Personal Development Retreat with personalised 1-2-1 coaching, massage, daily personal fitness training and much much more!

Run by Personal Development Coach, Dionne Edwards, for full details, click here or call Dionne on 07899 801118.

We promise you will return feeling more focused, energised, fitter in mind and body!

RE-SCHEDULED SEPTEMBER NETWORKING

We decided that the tube strike won't beat us and we are still going to hold a networking evening in September. We've now re-scheduled the event from earlier this week to Tuesday 21st September.

Details as before - see earlier post.

Please email londonwmb@googlemail.com if you'd like to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there!

CALLING ALL CHOCOHOLICS!

Did you know that it's National Chocolate Week from 11-17 October? An excuse to eat chocolate, yippee!!

To celebrate, why not come along to Chocolate & Booze - The Rivals. For those chocolate lovers amongst us who also enjoy a glass of wine (or beer!), this is an evening of fun and learning not to be missed!

Taking place on 15th October in central London, School of Booze will be hosting an entertaining tasting session where you will sample different beers and wines chosen to be a perfect match for chocolate. Taste why the wine or beer complement the chocolate and then cast your vote - which will triumph, wine or beer, in the battle of the bottle?

What better way to round off National Chocolate Week?

Tickets are £25 and it's easy to book, just click here.

WOULD YOUR COMPANY BENEFIT FROM COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING?

If so, Knowledge Transfer may be able to help with some free training with the Central School of Speech & Drama. They have just 3 places available, so if you're interested please email londonwmb@googlemail.com and we will put you in touch with them. There is some qualifying criteria, for example you need to employ 4 or more people, but if you're unsure if your business will qualify and are interested, then do get in touch as you never know!

INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN? OH YES SHE IS!

We are absolutely delighted that one of our LWMB attendees, Sue Scott-Horne of EGAR, has been nominated for not just one, but two business awards.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure yet of meeting Sue, she is the founder of EGAR, a company offering educational games & resources to help get teenagers talking about their lives. Becoming increasingly concerned by the rise in youth on youth murders, Sue designed the Let's Get Talking card sets which are now used by schools, youth clubs, parents, Barnado's and the NSPCC.

In the Inspiration Awards for Women, Sue is nominated in the Most Inspirational category, an award for the "individual who has conducted themselves in such a manner that has inspired others and has had a creative influence on others". The awards take place on 6th October 2010, and you can vote for Sue here. But hurry, as the voting closes on Wednesday 22nd September.

Sue has also been nominated for a Barclays Business Award, so again fingers crossed that she is triumphant.

Well done Sue!

BUILD A BUSINESS THAT WORKS WITHOUT YOU

If that sounds appealing, the idea of building a business that will run without your constant attention, then this free seminar could be exactly what you need.

The Infinite Group have teamed up with Regus to provide a series of monthly talks from industry experts on key aspects of business success.

Business Success talks are designed for directors of established businesses who are ambitious to take their business to the next level. Each event will tackle a different aspect of business and provide food for thought to help you take the right actions to accelerate the growth of your business.

The London launch event takes place on Wednesday 15th September with registration from 8am and ending at 9.30am, leaving the day free for you to focus on your business and perhaps implement some of the ideas learned from the session.

To learn more or to book your place, just go to http://bit.ly/cUtbIl

CANCELLED - COME & JOIN US ON 7TH SEPTEMBER

We have taken a decision to cancel this meeting due to the tube strike. We hope to re-schedule during September, so please watch this space as we will post the new date here.

Having taken a break over the summer, hopefully you are feeling refreshed and ready to go! The "term" begins again, with our next networking event taking place on Tuesday 7th September.

We will be back at our favourite venue, The Embassy Club in central London. Details below:

Venue The Embassy Club, 29 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AN

Time 6-9pm

Cost Free, guests just pay for their own drinks

Tube Green Park or Piccadilly Circus

Car Parking Car park on Old Burlington Street, or free street parking at 6.30pm

Map http://bit.ly/9QwR3C

Our guest speaker this month will be Sarah Pennells, a personal finance journalist and author and the founder SavvyWoman.co.uk which is aimed at women who want more from their money. Sarah will be speaking about "Why finance doesn't have to be frightening", talking of the different attitudes that women and men have to money, why women can be great at managing money (it's all about not making reckless decisions) and sharing some money saving tips. Sarah is an expert in her field and is often interviewed by BBC Breakfast TV and radio.

In addition to Sarah, we will also have our 5 minute guest speaker slots, and there will be the opportunity for you to be picked to speak at our next meeting.

If you'd like to join us on the 7th, please RSVP to londonwmb@googlemail.com to confirm your attendance.

We look forward to welcoming you on the 7th.