yep! Gift Drive - December 10th

Since the inception of yep! - members have come together in December to help give back to the community during the holiday season. One way that we have done this in the past is by partnering with a local non-profit and purchasing gifts for the children and families that they serve.

In 2009, we are pleased to partner again with Safenet to provide gifts to children of families displaced by domestic violence. The gift drive is one of our most popular annual events and we are pleased that the Erie Chapter of PICPA and yep! have come together to make the 2009 event larger than last year.

We encourage all yep! members and non-members to attend the event and give back during this holiday season. To make it easy to select a gift, the list has been posted online at the link below and our goal is to exceed the number of gifts requested.

http://www.youngerieprofessionals.org/news/2009/11/save-the-date-yep-holiday-gift-drive

I hope to see you there!

yep! Gets Wired for Networking

This evening yep! hosted Bob Allen from Dale Carnegie Systems to talk to our organization about how individuals can improve their networking skills. The system is based off of the work and best selling book "How to win friends and influence people" - by Dale Carnegie. Bob's exercises on how to effectively communicate and present yourself in several business and networking forums provided attendees with a wealth of knowledge during the two hour session.

I would encourage any professional who is looking to improve their networking and sales skills to investigate the Dale Carnegie system.

A special thanks to Bob for providing the seminar to yep! and to Amanda Lasky and Phil Gallagher of the Professional Leadership and Development Committee for organizing the event.

As I have mentioned in other posts, we have been working to broaden the scope of our programming for 2009 and beyond. Working with other local groups, we are trying to create new events that will improve the ability of yep! members and young professionals to learn new skills. Bob shared an article from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle talk about how young professionals in Rochester are using networking methods to help move their careers forward in the current economic climate.

Once we have some additional details from other partnerships - I will post them on this site and our main website. If you have an idea of a seminar that you would like to see yep! sponsor - send me an e-mail.

Upcoming yep! Events

Representatives from our various committees have been busy planning several events for our members and individuals in the community. yep!'s monthly happy hour series continues this month at U Pick 6 - Erie's newest craft beer store and deli. The event starts at 5:30 PM on September 10th and is open to both members and non-members.

yep!'s happy hours are generally on the second Thursday of each month. October, November, and December's events have been scheduled and are listed below. Be sure to add them to your calendar and check our website for future updates.

October 8th - Safari Grille
November 12th - JR's Last Laugh
December 10th - Fox and Hound (yep! Holiday Gift Wrapping Event)

In addition to social networking, the Professional and Leadership Development committee has been working to promote a special networking event on Monday September 14th.

"Getting WIRED for Networking" is an exclusive Dale Carnegie seminar for yep!.

Dale Carnegie wrote the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Join us at the BrewErie on Monday, September 14th at 6:30 pm for a presentation from Bob Allen - A Dale Carnegie Certified Training Consultant. Learn how to present yourself professionally and make the most of a networking event.

Topics will include:

Present yourself professionally, learn a "Conversation Stack", gain credibility, create an effective business statement, and make the most of networking opportunities.

Learn more and register on our website or contact Phil Gallagher for more information.

Looking for leaders

As a volunteer organization, the leadership team of yep! changes each year as individuals take on new responsibilities or their terms expire within the organization. Although the terms of several of our steering committee members do not end until December, we are in the process of recruiting individuals to join yep!'s leadership team. The steering committee manages the day to day operations of the organization with oversight provided by the Board of Directors. Below is a general outline of roles and responsibilities of members of yep!'s steering committee.

yep! Steering Committee Roles and Responsibilities

As young professionals, all of us juggle multiple responsibilities and have several after work commitments. Before committing to being a member of the yep! leadership team, please review the following list of roles and responsibilities.

What we need:

• Two year term commitment with five to ten hours of time per week.
• Attendance at monthly yep! Steering Committee Meetings.
• Planning and Coordination of monthly or bi-monthly committee meetings.
• Management and recruitment of committee members.
• Execution of strategy for committee in conjunction with Executive Committee.
• Development of monthly reports and meeting notes for Steering Committee.
• Research and feedback from membership to ensure that Committee is meeting their needs.
  

What you will receive:

• Experience running and managing a committee.
• Opportunity for leadership advancement in yep! and other local organizations.
• Ability to apply your talents outside of work to make a difference.
• Meet new friends and network professionally.
  

I have been a member of yep! since 2006 and can attest to the value of becoming more involved in the organization. Although we are not compensated for our efforts, our leadership team is committed to making the Erie region a better place and providing our members with opportunities that would not be available otherwise. We rely on the commitment and dedication of our leaders to help improve the organization and I appreciate all of the work that the current and former leaders have done to ensure that there is a young professionals organization in Erie.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a member of the steering committee, please send me an e-mail.

yep! Summer Events - Kickball and More

Although the weather might not fully indicate that summer has arrived, we are in the final stages of planning several yep! events for the summer.

On August 22nd, yep! will host our sixth annual Kickball Tournament. If you have not played Kickball since grade school - the tournament is a great way to have fun and help yep! raise funds for two local charities.(Erie Arts Museum Youth Art Fund and KaleidAScope) The event will take place on August 22nd at the Harborcreek Community Park and will start at 8:00 AM. Each team - of 12 to 16 players - will play in a minimum of three games during the tournament. In the past, teams have developed creative names and outfits to show their spirit and determination to win the title of kickball champions.

Registration is $40.00 per person ($35.00 for yep! members) and can be completed online at www.yepkickball.org. The cost includes breakfast, lunch, and an afterparty Downtown once the tournament is completed. If you have any addtional questions, please e-mail Steve Reichard or visit www.yepkickball.org. Sponsorships are still available for corporations and organizations that would like to participate.

Yep! is also coordinating volunteers to staff the Children's Area during Discover Presque Isle. Volunteers are asked to work one hour (or more) shifts during the July 25th and 26th event. (From 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM) For more information on how you can help, contact Molly Reichard.

Finally, we are hosting a First Time Home Buyer seminar on July 20th. The event will be held at BrewErie at 6:00 PM and is open to yep! members and the general public. Local housing experts will discuss the impact of the first time home buyer credit and other strategies to purchase a home.

RSVPs are required and can be made by completing the form located here.

We are working on several events for the Fall and 2010 and I will post more information about them as it becomes availalable.

See you at the next event!

First 100 Days

Over the next few days, we are going to hear a lot about the first 100 days of the new Obama presidency. Although I am a few weeks late, (since the 2009 yep! Leadership Team started January 1st) I would like to take a few minutes to update everyone on our progress since the beginning of the year. (118 days to be exact)

In my first post to this blog, I outlined some of our goals for 2009. Using that list as a benchmark, we have made substantial progress since the beginning of the year.

Successes
1. Generation E Leadership awards was held on April 24th and over 300 individuals attended. Even during a recession, the local community embraced the event and it was an overwhelming success.
2. New Events. Our goal was to increase the frequency and diversity of yep! events. We held a financial planning seminar and will be launching the yep! Dinner Series next week. In addition, the Membership Meeting, HR Seminar, and a Summer Adventure are planned for May and June.
3. Generate member value. A preferred vendor / membership card will be distributed to the membership in May. We also have created events that are discounted for members and employed new communications techniques to reach a larger audience.
4. Growing membership base. The list of paid yep! members is increasng and we are working to continue that trend for the remainder of the year. (Thanks to everyone who has joined or renewed their membership this year)

Items we are working on
1. Finalizing some internal structure. The longevity of the organization will depend on our ability to manage transitions between leadership teams. We are in the process of creating additional policies and procedures to ensure that the organization can provide for the membership.
2. New partnerships. The leadership has been working on a few new partnerships and collaborative projects to help fulfill some needs of the organization. One is between the Non-Profit Partnership - Earthforce - and yep! to develop green teams to make a greater inpact in the local community. More information can be found here.

Thanks to our leadership team and our members for the work that they do to make the organization what it is today.

yep! @ You Lead

Since yep!'s inception, we have worked to become more active in the local and statewide communities by working to create a better environment for young professionals to thrive in Pennsylvania. In the past, our Civic Engagement Committee has worked on the local level to organize political debates and forums to educate our members - and the community at large - about issues that impact our age demographic.

yep! -like many young professionals organizations from across the Commonwealth - can help politicians connect to younger voters in many different ways. In addition, each organization can provide the perspective of their membership to help create better legislation and overall impact in Pennsylvania.

A few days ago I received a e-mail from Erin Molchany at PUMP - Pittsburgh Urban Magnate Project - about an initiative she is working on with Pennsylvania State Senator Rob Wonderling.

The initiative is called You Lead and to quote their press release is " a statewide effort to engage citizens age 21 – 34 in policy with the goal of the program to make Pennsylvania a premier state for young adults to live, work, and start a business. By providing a forum that welcomes discussion about issues and public policy throughout the state, and by working together with individuals from all regions, young people will be empowered to advance a legislative agenda that brings a fresh perspectives and creative solutions to Pennsylvania’s challenge of attracting and retaining new generations of residents and business owners.

On November 19, 2008, YouLead hosted a conference in Harrisburg with young people, entrepreneurs, educators, and legislators to discuss the issues important to Pennsylvania’s youth. The result was a number of proposals centered around three areas: Entrepreneurship; Education; and Empowerment. This winter, we have been working on legislation to address these issues, along with organizing a statewide young person’s network, and developing a platform for the younger adult population of the state to have their voice heard in Harrisburg."

I will be traveling to Harrisburg next for the kickoff of the YouLead initiative and look forward to working with the yep! leadership team to help us make a larger impact.