Dear SME Members,

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one of the things that helps people to successfully manage stress, coach teams, deliver feedback and collaborate with others. It is also one of the most sought-after interpersonal skills in the workplace. SME’s November dinner meeting speaker, Heather Berckefeldt has prepared a fascinating presentation about EI and how a concept of curiosity can help us to develop greater EI. Her message will be valuable to all. Please plan to join us and let us know if you can bring a prospective member with you by clicking here to RSVP.

Boost your knowledge and skills by attending the first High Performance Seminar of this year. Jeremy Poling will present on the ‘Reverse Funnel’ a simple strategy you can use today to boost sales. RSVP’s are due Thursday October 19 to attend the Tuesday, October 24th seminar. Come enjoy the seminar and a free BBQ lunch provided by your fellow SME member, Scott Van Genderen. Thanks Scott! Thanks also to Chris St. John of Lawyer’s Title for hosting us in his conference room.

It is exciting to see SME growing with new members stepping forward every month. In many ways we are rebuilding a path back to healthy pre-pandemic times. The overall wellbeing of this 65-year-old organization is enhanced by rising membership levels. SME has a proud history of meaningful service to those in the sales and marketing professions. SME is pleased to offer our newer members the opportunity to attend a new member orientation session before the dinner meeting this month. Come and learn about all things SME if you are one our ‘new-ish’ members. You will discover all the benefits of your SME membership and may learn remarkable facts about SME. Membership orientations will be offered two or three times over the year.

It is fun to share that Richard Kelly was named Executive of the Month for November. He has been instrumental in helping to shape nearly every aspect of SME towards a successful year, most recently organizing a raffle spectacular for the golf tournament. We suspect that last month he must have somehow cloned himself. Amazingly he handled almost every aspect of SME’s dinner meeting hospitality needs greeting people, working the registration table, selling scholarship raffle tickets, and served as photographer to boot and he was also called to the podium to speak. I’m telling you; it was a circus act and he juggled it all!

This brings me to offer special thanks to Chase Copeland for stepping forward to form and chair a much-needed SME Hospitality Committee. New committees, like the Hospitality Committee, are forming in support of ongoing needs and upcoming events all the time and we invite you to be a part of them. SME Live Committee chaired by Mike Eichten and Marketing Committee chaired by Jared Hitchens are also beginning to meet. Raise your hand if you want to join the fun. We strengthen our SME organization by serving one another in this way. Let us know if you have an interest in serving in this way. We would love to have you!

I’m curious, will I see you at the High Performance Seminar or one of the newly formed committee meetings before our next dinner meeting? Either way, my best regards to everyone.

Jeannie