Skokie Voice's Community Forum on Economic Development Feb 22

This in from Skokie Voices...

Join Skokie Voice for its first community forum of 2012 as we explore
the prospects for economic development in Skokie.
• How will downtown Skokie be reinvented
• What impact will the new Skokie Swift station at Oakton Street have on that revitalization?
• How will new businesses on Dempster Street add to the mix?
• Who are the stakeholders guiding the process?

Join us and add your voice to the dialogue!

Confirmed panelists are:

Tom Thompson,  Economic Development Director, Village of Skokie
Ann Tennes,  Marketing/Communications Director, Village of Skokie
Howard S. Meyer,  Executive Director, Skokie Chamber of Commerce
Randy Miles, Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie (IMODS)
Shalom Klein, Dempster Street Merchants Association
Valerie Shuman, Skokie Downtown Alliance

An open-microphone Q&A session will follow the panel discussion.

Panel topics will be based on responses to the SV economic development survey.
The survey is up at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BH93686.

More about Skokie Voice at skokievoice.org.

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Train to be a Voters Registrar January 10

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This in from the League of Women Voters Evanston...

The Cook County Clerk's office will hold a training session for people who would like to be deputy registrars. The training should take about an hour.

Tuesday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m.
at
Skokie Public Library
5215 Oakton Street · Skokie 

Here's your opportunity to get involved in your community in an important way.

The clerk's office needs to have the names and addresses of people who are expected to attend ASAP. Please email your information to Mary Morris, 550morris@live.com.

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Ideas about spreading the word about community events

~ First posted January 20, 2010, updated November 20, 2011

We here in Skokie, as well our friends in our neighboring suburbs, sponsor some interesting and important events. When I'm in charge of helping spread the word about an event, depending on the kind of event it is, I might use the given organization's website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and this blog to help spread the word about events. I also might use a targeted press release for some events. Here's some additional online news outlets and listings with whom I occasionally share information. If there are others outlets I should add to my list, I'd love to hear about them.

To share stories and photos about upcoming or recent events, consider...

SkokieNet
Skokie's community-driven online portal is for people who care about Skokie. It offers news, opinions and information in a variety of media "for the people, by the people." SkokieNet also tweets about community happenings as @SkokieNet. Frances Roehm and a few staffers and volunteers work on the site.

Evanston Now
EN ia a news and information site for the Evanston community which aims to be a friendly place for everyone in town to post news items, create a unified community calendar and share photos and opinions. It is managed by editor and publisher Bill Smith. The site includes information about how to submit and a page of resources about being a citizen journalist.

Triblocal
Community members and public relations professionals contribute the much of the content to Triblocal's website and weekly newspaper serving many of the Chicago suburbs. Event information can be posted as a calendar item or story.  Including pictures will give you a better chance that your calendar item or story will make the print edition.

I've not used these sites in a couple years, so I am a little out of touch with them, but stories with possible interest beyond the Chicago area, Newsvine and NowPublic might be worth considering.

Here on Live From Skokie's blog, I occasionally accept guest submissions, but am more likely to tweet or retweet about your event and refer to your website. I'm best contacted via direct messages at @LiveFromSkokie on Twitter.

Event information can also be sent to WBEZ via psa@wbez.org.

For event listings see...

SkokieNet, Evanston Now, and Triblocal

Yelp - Start here.

CBS 2 - Submit here

ABC 7 - Submit here, where the site has been a bit glitchy.

WLS-AM - Submit here Northlight Theatre often posts here.

WDRV-FM - Submit here

WGN-AM - Submit here

WXRT - E-mail station at comments@wxrt.com for potential inclusion.

WMBI-FM - The station's community calendar aims highlight "family-friendly Christian events". Submit information at least one month before your event.

For entertaining events, you can get listed in Time Out Chicago, but you'll want know which section your listing belongs in before you submit.

Metromix Chicago features restaurants, bars, clubs, events, movies, theatre. Start here to submit information for potential inclusion.

For business events with broad appeal, consider Crain's Chicago Business. Submit information at least three weeks in advance to smallbizcalendar@gmail. Also, there's Garysguide. No, not a guide to Gary, IN, it offers listings to business events. I've not worked with it yet, but will as lots of nice things are being said about it.

For events of interest to the Jewish community in the Chicago area, submit to JUF/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago's calendar.

If you are interested in media coverage of the event...

Check out Community Media Workshop's latest Media Event Quick Contacts list for more contact information for news outlets.

Additional contact information not included on the Quick Contact sheet:
Chicago Tribune's photo assignment desk - ct-photoassign@tribune.com.
Sun-Times photo desk - stphoto@suntimes.com.

Publishing online and in print, news tips and press releases for Pioneer Press' Skokie Review should go to Mike Isaacs at misaacs@pioneerlocal.com.  If your event will be photogenic, contact Pioneer Press' staff photographer Joel Lerner (yeah, my husband) at jlerner@pioneerlocal.com or 847-414-5566.

Story ideas for Triblocal's Skokie/Evanston edition, or their Des Plaines, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge papers, should go to community manager Elizabeth Vassolo at 312-731-9567 or EVassolo@tribune.com. Evanston has it's own reporter, Jonathan Bullington at 866-373-8271. Many Triblocal reporters, editors and community managers are on Twitter.

The newer online player in town is Skokie Patch. You can send news tips and press releases to George Slefo at georges@patch.com.

Buy CMW's Gettting on the Air, Online and Into Print media guide to be really thorough.

Mass communication is helpful, but...

Sharing information via the news outlets will help an organization reach external audiences, people you don't know yet and who may or may not know you. These suggestions can be a fine supplement, but not a substitute, for getting in touch with your internal audience, people who know you and have opted-in, signed up for your news.

For certain kinds of events, ask your board or committee to help spread the word via their own communication and social media networks.

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Fundraiser for Niles Township Food Pantry November 11

This in from Elaine Monterola and Friends of the Niles Township Food Pantry...

I'd like to invite you to a fundraising benefit supporting the Niles Township Food Pantry Foundation.

Friday, November 11, 6 - 9 p.m.
at
Hackney's on Lake
1514 E. Lake Ave
Glenview

There will be passed hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks, as well as a silent auction.
Auction items include Chicago Wolves tickets, spa visits, wine, Museum of Science and Industry passes, yoga, jewelry and more.

There is a $10 suggested donation at the door, enough to provide meals for an individual for approximately one week.

The food pantry is facing the highest demands in the 5 years.

To RSVP or ask questions, such as where to send a check if you can't make it to party, contact Christine Render at christinebrender@hotmail.com or 847-924-3634.

All donations are tax deductible. 
Checks may be written to "Niles Township Food Pantry Foundation."

Monetary donations raised at this event will go a long way. 100% of your contribution will support the purchase of food and food packaging supplies.

The Niles Township Food Pantry Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization helping feed 3,500 men, women and children per month in the villages of Skokie, Lincolnwood, Golf and sections of Morton Grove, Niles and Glenview. During these difficult times, providing food to our struggling neighbors helps tide them over and allows them to pay other bills, like rent, utilities and medication. One of the 650 Greater Chicago Food Depository members, the Niles Township Food Pantry Foundation relies on other organizations and donations to meet the needs of the township. 

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Having a good portrait of yourself makes good business sense

~ First posted June 25, 2011, updated October 3, 2011.

Having a good, up-to-date portrait of yourself is important no matter what profession you are in or ambitions you have.

First, you never know when the media might come a-calling wanting to feature you in an article. You’re doing yourself a favor, and the media outlet, by having a photo on hand. Because deadlines and budgets are tight, editors and producers don’t always have the resources for getting an image made for their stories quickly. Then if by chance they are able to assign a photographer to make a picture of you, there’s no guarantee you’ll like the image.

Second, as you probably already know, to help maintain your professional reputation, having a strong, smart online presence is crucial. If you are using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites, you’re expected to include a picture of yourself. If you're ever asked to speak at a conference, someone will ask you for a picture for their website and materials.

You’ll want to use an image that communicates the qualities you want the public to know about you. Depending on the nature of your work, you might want to have more than one portrait so that each can be in sync with a different aspect of who you are and what you do. How to keep your identities from sending conflicting messages is a conversation for another time.

And third, as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but who's got time to read a thousand words? Reading a picture is faster. Portraits communicate in seconds qualities of a person words can't. They transcend language. Images are more show and less tell, which is what effective communication is about.

Hmm. Yes. While this is all true, what about cost? Getting a portrait made that works can be pricey. If you're needing one and cost is a concern, consider coming to my next BizPics shoot Sunday, November 20.  The shoot will include a variety of images being made, the services of a stylist and a bit of fun. Providing good portraits at a good price is just one way that Kring Lerner Group is working with individuals, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized business and non-profits to be successful. We're currently in touch with some social service agencies who assist job-seekers to see if we can devise a plan for offering their clients' headshots at an even lower rate. Stay tuned for more on that.

Above, from left to right: Holly Rotman-Zaid (upper left) Catherine Johns, David Lindgren and Sally Chapralis (lower right) participated in the April and June shoots.

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