Executive Club Newsletter

April 2008

What’s New at Executive Club?

Thursday April 17

Champaign Country Club
11:30 a.m.:  Registration and Networking
11:45 a.m.:  Buffet Opens
12:15 p.m.:  Mtg/Program

In this meeting we will explore things that have changed about ECCC and things that have stayed the same.

Notice anything different about the website or the newsletter?   Yes? Learn more about changes to the ECCC website from Gretchen Wieshuber, owner of Studio 2D.  In addition to hearing about the website learn more about opportunities to become part of a group in ECCC.   We will hear some reports from our current book clubs and find out how we might create a new book club or some other group that fits our interests.

Registrations are due by noon on Monday, April 14. Please indicate if you are bringing a guest. Contact the Treasurer with questions about registration.
Register online now!

Send a check for $15 to ECCC, P.O. Box 61, Champaign, IL 61824-0061 or pay on day of luncheon (if paying on day of luncheon you must still pre-register for the luncheon)

*Starting this month, there will be a $5 late fee for reservations received after the Monday Noon deadline. Attendees with late or no reservations will be permitted to attend as seating is available.

Thank you for your consideration in making the reservation/check-in process run as smoothly as possible!

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CREATE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

President’s Message

by Jayne DeLuce

Okay, it’s now April, so how are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like many folks, the list is filed and you’ll pull it out or create a new one in December. Many resolutions include something about losing weight, working out, something related to leading a healthier lifestyle.

If you have a special occasion coming up (wedding, graduation, class reunion), you’re more likely to keep working at your goal until that event. However, you don’t have to wait for a new year, a change in the seasons or a special event to take control of your life. This can be a daily celebration, a renewable resolution and as gradual as the change in the seasons.

By focusing on the goal, and not on the process, sometimes we try to do too much at once. You decide to work out every day (usually starting on a Monday following a calorie-filled weekend), then realize by Wednesday that this isn’t feasible. So you wait until the following Monday and start again. Or you lose a few pounds and decide to wing it, before you realize that you really didn’t change your lifestyle. This makes attaining and sustaining your goal more challenging.

Creating a healthy lifestyle means adjusting your daily routine. If you can repeat something for 30 days, it becomes part of your routine and part of your lifestyle. You can adjust your lifestyle gradually over time, achieving your goals in a manner that can be sustained and maintained.

Beyond working out and a change in diet, living a healthy lifestyle also goes into other areas of your life. Perhaps unhealthy relationships, work-related projects, volunteer commitments, living beyond your financial means are keeping you from leading a truly healthy lifestyle. Think about the bigger picture when it comes to truly being successful at leading a healthy lifestyle that works for you (which may be different than what works for your best friend!)

Begin by making a list of things that you want to do and any changes to be made. Don’t try to do everything at once. Choose one thing, figure out what’s reasonable, and do that for one month. Focus on your commitment, track, and keep your daily routine for one month. Then, continue to keep that routine while you begin to try a new thing from your list and so on.

It won’t happen overnight. By taking time to control your routines, change your habits and create a healthy lifestyle, think about how this improves your life. Rapid changes with overnight improvements can sometimes result in rapid changes back to where you started. However, if you can make a continuous commitment, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant at the time, maintaining long term changes can have long lasting results.

Now is the time to create your healthy lifestyle. You can start right away. It’s your life, and you have plenty of time to turn it into the lifestyle that you want to live.

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April Social Event

Japanese Tea & Asian Business Protocol

by Laura Frerichs

On April 24, 2008 3:00-5:00 p.m. come with us to the The Japan House on the University of Illinois campus, and experience Chado, a formal Japanese tea ceremony followed by a seminar on Asian business protocol and etiquette.

Chado is one of the most time honored Japanese traditional arts. It encompasses all of the different Japanese art forms, aesthetics, and philosophy. Codified almost four hundred years ago by Sen Rikyu, the greatest tea master, the four spirits of tea signify the highest ideals of the Way of Tea: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. The Way of Tea takes such ordinary everyday activities as arranging, cleaning, serving, drinking, and sharing by elevating them, through aesthetic ritualization, into a high art form that fosters spiritual enrichment, and forms the foundation of a way of life.

Following the tea ceremony Carolyn Pribble, International Education Consultant, and Virginia Waaler, Executive Director of the China Executive Leadership Program will discuss proper International business protocol and etiquette with a focus on Asian business.

Japan House is located at 2000 South Lincoln Avenue in the University Arboretum by the President’s house, flanked by two beautiful Japanese gardens. It offers a serene and peaceful atmosphere. Parking is available in the north lot and on Lincoln Avenue (just south of Florida/Kirby).

Register online now!
The cost is $5 and you may bring prospective Executive Club members for free. Please contact Laura Frerichs at lauraf@fox-companies.com or (217) 493-8007 with questions.

Participants are asked to bring white socks to wear at the tea ceremony.

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ECCC Board of Directors Slate for 2008 - 2009

by Hope Wheeler

The ECCC Nominating Committee met and agreed to propose the following slate of the ECCC Board of Directors for the 2008-2009 year:

President: Hope Wheeler (new)

Vice President: Jeannette Beck (new)

Secretary: Julie Roth (new)

Treasurer: Deb Reardanz

Membership: Jackie Phillips

Programs: Ellen Schmidt (new)

Social Events & Networking: Kathy Reeves (new)

Newsletter: Jody Littleton

Outreach: Andra Bez (new)

Operations/Logistics: Sandy Cirillo-Barnes (new)

Ex-Officio: Jayne DeLuce

The recommended slate of Directors will be presented to the general membership at the June 19, 2008 ECCC meeting. Additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. The 2008-2009 Board of Directors will be elected by a majority and by those voting by absentee ballot. If you need to vote by absentee ballot, please contact any of the current Board members for information. Please note, absentee ballots must be received by the ECCC Board prior to the June general meeting to be counted in the voting.
Thank you to the nominating committee: Hope Wheeler (chair), Janey Adams, Jan Kiley, and Beth Katsinas.

In addition, thank you to all of the members that expressed interest in a Board position. We had more volunteers than we had positions available, so please also consider volunteering for a committee.

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Member Profile

Hope Wheeler, Vice President of ECCC

We are bringing back our member profile section in the newsletter and decided to start with some of our current board.

Hope Wheeler is our current Vice President and proposed President for the upcoming year.

Here are some things you may or may not know about Hope. She is a partner at Clifton Gunderson LLP. Her hometown is Mahomet, IL. Activities include being a mom, rotary, church finance committee, baseball coach, and doing aerobics. She enjoys scrapbooking and watching movies.   Her favorite movie is Dirty Dancing and she can’t wait to see the musical in Chicago this fall! Her favorite tv show is American Idol and she loves Nora Roberts books or any romance that requires little thought:-)

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Member Profile

Jackie Phillips, Membership

Jackie Phillips is our membership coordinator.
I am sure you might have heard from her if you didn’t pay your dues on time this year:-) Jackie works as a Billings and Collections Administrator at HDC Engineering. Her hometown is Decatur, IL. Her interests include reading, singing, piano, exercise, sewing, and dancing. Musical interests favor anything relaxing but she especially favors Josh Groban. She watches CSI and CSI Miami and loves the movies French Kiss and American President. Her favorite books include Secret Garden, Peter Pan, and anything by Patricia Cornwell. Her quote to live by is "Don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin.’"

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Membership Profile

Jeannette Beck, Programs

Jeannette Garinger Beck is our programs coordinator and proposed vice president for ECCC.

Jeannette is a UIUC Administrator in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. Her hometown is Elgin, Illinois. She is active as a Volunteer Coordinator for Faith Church’s Appalachia Service Project high school youth mission, and ECCC Book Club and she enjoys cooking, gardening, and spending time with her children. Her musical interests are varied including jazz, classical and rock. I don’t think she watches much television because she says the “The last show I made a point to watch regularly was X-Files!”. Her favorite movies are It’s a Wonderful Life, and North by Northwest. Books she recommends are Phillipa Gregory’s books about the wives of Henry VIII, and The Far Pavilions by Mary Margaret Kaye. Her favorite quote is “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Helen Keller