 BRAND BUILDER
Congratulations to WLC advisory board member, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts for her stunning victory in last month’s civic elections. Her entire slate was re-elected—five of the eight councillors are women. Surrey is B.C.’s second largest city and Team Dianne has made Surrey the first city in B.C. to establish a Housing and Homeless Foundation with $10 million in funding to tackle homelessness. Their worker outreach program has helped over 500 homeless people find permanent housing. Vancouver Sun columnist Frances Bula described Dianne Watts as: “the new sheriff in town who has set off a quiet revolution, transforming Surrey’s unfair but pervasive stereotype as the bad suburb.” To learn more about what is happening in Surrey go to www.surrey.ca
On November 25, 2008, Women’s Executive Network (WXN)™ announced the 2008 winners of its Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards. Included on the list are these accomplished WLC advisory board members:
- Janet Austin, CEO, YWCA Vancouver
- Ida Goodreau, president & CEO, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
- Tamara Vrooman, CEO, Vancity
 THE PARADOX OF THRIFT
At November’s sold-out Dollars and Sense, Rex Murphy, one of the best commentators on the Canadian condition, moderated a blue-ribbon panel on Canadian’s economic condition.
One of the panelists, Dr. Maurice Levi, Bank of Montreal chair in International Finance, talked about the paradox of thrift. It is a theory propounded by British economist John Maynard Keynes during the Great Depression which states: if everyone saves more money during times of recession… there is a decrease in consumption which leads to a fall in aggregate demand and a fall in economic growth. The paradox of thrift.
It’s worth recognizing this paradox, particularly when thinking about cutting out visits to that local restaurant where everyone knows your name, the coffee bar where you buy your double-tall skinny-no-whip-half-sweet mocha on the way to work, or the little flower shop where you buy flowers for the weekend. Just as you don’t want your customers to abandon you, the same holds true for those who rely on your business. These are stressful times and everyone can use the support. Order a less expensive bottle of wine and no dessert, a morning coffee instead of a latte, and a smaller bunch of flowers.
HOLIDAY NETWORKING TIP
GO TO THE PARTY BECAUSE, ‘WHAT IF?’ Cuisine and Company caterer Marilyn Pearson didn’t really feel like going to a New Year’s party solo. But she bit the bullet, put a few business cards in her party purse, and called a cab. Two months later she ended up as celebrity chef on television. How did that happen? She met someone at the party, and because she had a card, that person was able to contact her.
 NETWORKING GIFTS FOR YOU
A GIFT TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE. Yes, it’s a card scanning device. Save time, find contacts quickly, organize them every which way by setting up different categories (by events, by industry, etc.). It will make the connecting a lot easier. Check out www.targus.com
THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE. Knowing how to start a conversation and keep it going is one of the biggest networking challenges. Here are a few ideas to expand your topics of discussion. Take a look at Kindle—Amazon’s latest wireless reading device. You buy a book online and it is auto-delivered wirelessly to your Kindle in less than one minute! Or download books to your iPod from audible.com or simplyaudiobooks.ca. Here are just a few books to inspire, educate and escape that aren’t on Oprah’s list: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen, The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.
Also, take a look at http://alltop.com, a free, cool new site which provides the latest articles on hundreds of topics from work to food to leadership, all in one spot.
 EVEN HAPPIER IN 2009?
One of the most interesting new organizations out there is the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). It’s a scholarly forum on happiness and its causes.
In the October IPPA members’ newsletter, Dr. Ed Denier writes this about Dr. Martin Seligman’s book, Authentic Happiness, “there is more to happiness than pleasure — that engagement and meaning are also components of the good life. What does this idea say about adapting to tough financial times? It says that people must look beyond those pleasures that might decrease in life, such as eating at expensive restaurants or foreign travel, and keep in mind the importance of meaning and engagement, which are much less likely to decline because of a bad economy. People’s meaningful goals for relationships, achievement and spirituality are likely to be left entirely intact despite the recession, and the same is true for many engaging and interesting activities.”
 KUDOS FROM MURPHY AND COVEY
Sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in to give us a new perspective on what the Board does. Rex Murphy, Stephen Covey, Sir Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics, and a host of other global leaders have commented that The Vancouver Board of Trade is one of the most impressive business organizations they’ve ever seen. Here’s the most amazing part: they say all this and they haven’t even seen the Women’s Leadership Circle!
WLC SURVEY: TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS
In the next few days we will be emailing you a brief WLC survey. It is completely anonymous. We really want your input so if you don’t receive it, please contact: info@wlcircle.com
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Jan 15, 2009 
