To provide leadership development and establish stakeholders as equal voices in dialogue, consensus, and action...resulting in community improvement and stewardship in the Seminole County region.
To be the leading community resource developing, inspiring, and engaging community leaders to improve the quality of life in the Seminole County region.
Create a program that brings present and future community leaders together for the sharing of knowledge that will inspire them to step forward and make a difference in our community. Strengthen the professional community by offering a curriculum that challenges the minds of its participants toward a shared goal of community trusteeship. Develop the basic element of strong leadership in participants as they become the force of change within our community by empowering others.
Leadership Seminole is a ten month program beginning each August with a two-day orientation followed by monthly one-day sessions focusing on timely issues within the following areas: government, arts, culture, infrastructure, public safety, human services, healthcare, education, economic development, environmental preservation, simulated society (SIMSOC), and concluding in May with law and justice and a sold out graduation ceremony with 400 people in attendance.
Participation is highly interactive and experiential, with opportunities for networking and team building throughout. The sessions are an opportunity for participants to develop lifelong relationships with their classmates, community leaders serving as facilitators and subject experts. Class members build vast background knowledge on important issues that impact them on a daily basis for the betterment of themselves, their company and their community. Click here to view the Class 28 photo roster.
That is the question asked of every person the first day of class. In discovering passions and developing talents, each class is inspired to step forward and make a difference in the community. Leadership Seminole classes have raised and invested $1,104,298 and contributed 16,000 volunteer hours to non-profit organizations.
We are accepting applications for Class 29 which starts August 2019. Participants must submit a completed two-page application in order to be considered for enrollment. The application is presented to the Leadership Seminole Executive Council for review. Classes are limited to 53 participants. Tuition is $2,995. Class Tuition includes one year $60 Basic Alumni Association membership upon graduation. Click here to apply now.
This is the second article from the E-Commerce series (the first one is here). Today you will learn why it could be vital to your business to have both physical location and an online e-shop, what you should know before you plan your launch and what’s next.
VELLA NERO is a business founded and run by three women – three sisters to boot! It is an award-winning boutique coffee brand with a beautiful flagship retail store, café and the only on-site coffee roastery located in the heart of the Sydney CBD. The ‘one stop shop for all things coffee’ is also available for delivery nationwide through their sleek website www.vellanero.com.au.
A physical bricks and mortar location was an ideal way to “showcase” the range of coffee and get word of mouth activity started. The café, although reputable in its own right, also serves as a sampling mechanism for increasing retail sales.
The simultaneous launch of a website and e-shop is a strategic way to reach a broader audience and expand your customer base without the same investment of multiple physical locations.
An integrated communication strategy helps to build brand awareness and strengthen your core message. VELLA NERO’s marketing strategy includes involvement in industry and consumer events, print advertising, PR, online activity, social media… focused exposure that helps to elevate the credibility of a small start-up business.
“Don’t divert too much from what you already know”. The website and e-shop was a project largely managed by business partner, Aileen Young – who has a corporate background in Marketing / Brand Management for premium products including L’Oreal cosmetics and Elle Macpherson Intimates lingerie. Coffee, although a very different and unique industry can still draw parallels from the lessons learnt on managing premium fashion-driven products. Ideas such as “quality is an indicator of price” is transferable across industries.
Aileen’s advice here is “don’t divert too much from what you already know. If you are entering a new enterprise, try to focus on your strengths but in the same token you need to be flexible and open to watch and learn from industry best practices. The secret to success is a balance of both – using existing knowledge (particularly if it differentiates you) whilst having the ability to adapt to the current environment. Always be open to learning more”.
“Move with the times and technology“. The current website is the second version since their launch in 2007 and is an improvement on what they learnt the first time around. Aileen recalls, “It was a significant investment to relaunch the website two years in, but we discovered there was a more effective way to present the range (such as introducing sub-categories), and areas to make shopping more user friendly – conclusions from listening to customer feedback. We had to move with the times and technology and be able to provide customers with a better experience. Never be afraid of improvement – there is always room for it!”
The entrepreneurial sisters, Gina, Vicky and Aileen Young, pride themselves on the product range they developed together from scratch. A range of artisan roasted coffees that boast titles including “Sydney’s Best Coffee” (SMH, Good Living) and “Champion Espresso” (Sydney Royal Fine Food Show).
If you have any questions to Gina, Vicky or Aileen or would like to suggest new topics please drop us your thoughts below.
A Bison ranch right off the frontage road has a large herd of Buffalo and their calves. This girl was having a blast rolling around in the dirt.
You all are so good to me and I enjoy each and every one of your comments. Thank you for your encouragement and inspiration. You guys knock me off my feet! Have a great holiday weekend my friends.
It’s hard to be outside in the middle of the day because the heat is high and the air is so dry. But I do enjoy a good hike while the sun goes down. Here are some captures of my wanders.
We don’t have as many sunflowers this summer like we usually do but a couple have popped up along the road.
Patrick is now riding Crazy Alice. After working with her in the round pen during his down time, putting shoes on her fresh hooves, and working her a little around cows and other horses, we feel she’s coming along quite well.
Notice the rain in the left of the image and a partial rainbow, we call a sundog, in the right of the image. But because we are in such a drought, the rain evaporates before making it to down to the ground.
I hope you have a great week. My thoughts today are with the folks along the gulf coast. If I could, I’d take all that rain from you in a heartbeat.
Tagged with: horses, landscapes, leahyetterphotographer, nature, photoblog, photography, sunflowers, sunset, wyoming
The Monarch butterfly is known as the milkweed butterfly because she lays her eggs on various milkweeds for the caterpillar to feed on.
We worked cattle on the Plains the other day. Every time we make the drive up there our eyes are peeled and our necks are bent looking for sheep on the hillsides. We haven’t seen any in a while but this particular day, we got an up close sighting of two ewes and their lambs.
Through the windshield we saw a little white butt and I said “what is tha…” , at the same time Patrick was whisperyelling “big horn sheep big horn sheep!”
Watching them climb the rocky mountainside with such grace and agility is truely magical. It’s like watching synchronized swimming or something.
We stayed for about 3 or 4 minutes for pictures and then we left them alone. They were on a mission and we interrupted them. But how can you not stop and take it all in. They are really beautiful creatures.
Tagged with: big horn sheep, cute, ewes, lambs, leahyetterphotographer, mountains, nature, photoblog, photography, westernlandscapes, wyoming
Earlier this summer, I took a trip to Colorado for business and was fortunate enough to have to drive through the Colorado National Monument to get to where I needed to be.
From Wikipedia: Colorado National Monument (locally referred to as The Monument) is a part of the National Park Service near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado. Spectacular canyons cut deep into sandstone and even granite–gneiss–schist rock formations, in some areas. This is an area of desert land high on the Colorado Plateau, with pinion and juniper forests on the plateau.
This was the Serpent Trail. Because I had a limited amount of time, I couldn’t put my backpack on and hike it. But I do look forward to making the trip back to spend more time exploring.
When the road leveled out, I knew I had reached Glade Park, my final destination. The elevation of Glade Park is approx. 7,000 feet. I went to visit the folks I drove up to see and had a great morning. However, this trip ended up being not about the destination, but all about the journey.
Finch or sparrow? Or something else? I’m not the best at naming birds but I thought this was a pretty scene.
They were distracted by something else and didn’t pay much attention to us. We kept our distance anyhow.
We drove off, made our way around the corner and there was another one all brushed up in the willows.
This was my first sighting of a moose and it was super cool to watch them move so gracefully around the land and in the tall brush.
Thunder shook the house last night during supper so we hopped in the truck and went to the top of the hill with binoculars and a camera. A cloud to ground lightning show during sunset went on for about 30 minutes until we got a call to head to a fire. We drove back down to the house get Patrick into his fire gear and he headed out with the crew. The chase was on. They put out one fire near the Cooney Hills and went to another one on Black Mountain. He’s been Black Mountain all night and hasn’t made it home yet this morning. The helicopters are tackling this one with the ground crew this morning.
Tagged with: landscapes, leahyetterphotographer, life, mountains, nature, photoblog, photography, storms, sunset, wyoming
The New Hampshire House today rejected HB 471, on abortion statistics. The bill would have put New Hampshire in line with the Centers for Disease Control, which has collected statistics for abortion surveillance for many years.
Two hundred legislators voted like people who are afraid of evidence-based public health policy and afraid of political retribution from abortion providers.
How many children are terminated annually? It doesn’t matter, was the unspoken message in Representatives Hall. How many adolescents are aborting their pregnancies? We don’t care. How many late-term abortions? How many repeat abortions? Where are most abortions being done? We don’t want to know.
The bill had stringent provisions to protect the anonymity of patients. Data would have been provided to the CDC in aggregated form. That wasn’t enough for the fearful reps.
Already, in the name of compromise and cooperation, the bill had protected provider anonymity. It thus would have prevented the state from identifying abortion providers with a pattern of leaving patients injured or worse. Even that was not enough to win over abortion apologists.
Of the 154 representatives who voted against killing the bill, two are Democrats: Barbara Shaw of Manchester and James MacKay of Concord.
Of the 200 who voted kill the bill, 41 are Republicans. One of them, James McConnell of Swanzey, gave a speech before the vote encouraging his colleagues to kill the bill.
Credit where it’s due: Reps. Jess Edwards (R-Auburn) and Kathleen Souza (R-Manchester) spoke in support of the bill before the vote, stressing its importance to public health and women’s health. Rep. Larry Gagne (R-Manchester) made sure the ITL motion got a roll call vote.
The ITL motion was preceded by a motion of “ought to pass as amended,” which failed 165-189. Rep. Jeanine Notter (R-Merrimack) gets the credit for asking for a roll call on that one.
Author Ellen KolbPosted on January 3, 2018 Categories New Hampshire legislatureTags abortion, abortion statistics, public health, women's health