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Member News & Events |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
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First Friday Forum
Upcoming
Friday, April 9, 2010
Think You Are Internet Secure? THINK AGAIN
Your employees are the weakest link:
- 80% of your employees may be using their business password on untrusted websites.
- 71% of malware that's distributed via the web is via compromised, legitimate websites.
Online banking fraud:
- Banking trojans are bankrupting businesses by wiping out their bank accounts.
- 16% of infected computers are infected with password stealing trojans.
Website security:
- 64% of websites have at least 1 serious vulnerability.
- Think your website traffic is protected against interception because you use SSL? Think again.
Come and meet Steve Werby, Information Security Officer, Technology Services, Virginia Commonwealth University. He will be sharing some examples of current security breaches and some of his expertise and perspective that will help keep your information safe. Small business managers, owners, and anyone who participates on e-mail, in social media, or who oversees websites or other internet activity, will hear useful security information to implement NOW.
Steve Werby is the Information Security Officer at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where he leads the university's information security management program. His responsibilities include information security policy, governance, risk management, security awareness and threat management. Steve became involved in Internet development and security during the Dot-com bubble, with the founding of the first of his two Internet consultancies providing services to small and medium businesses worldwide. In addition to his role at VCU, he's active in the security research community and is heavily involved in user awareness efforts through social media and his blog, Justifiable Paranoia.
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Help feed the kids! Puritan Cleaners is once again sponsoring 100K Meals for Kids in April.
Join us by bringing food and funds to this First Friday Forum! Visit puritancleaners.com for more information or to donate online. Also, be sure to join Puritan Cleaners on April 21st for free hot dogs and hamburgers at their location at 1807 Staples Mill Road. Matt Dinardo of WRIC-8 will be televising live all day. Bring a donation of food or funds from your business and get mentioned on-air and/or online! Click her for more information.
April 9, 2010
7:45–9:15 a.m.
Location: Westin Richmond Hotel
6631 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23230
804-282-8444
Directions >>
Cost: Members, $25; Non-members, $30
Highlights
Friday, March 5, 2010
Building a Brand from the Inside Out
Lisa Moroni-Hall and Cathy McPherson from Brandevotion discussed how distinctive brands are built both behaviorally and visually, and provided essential steps to developing a memorable brand.
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Click any of the photos above to visit the photo gallery.
 Click here to view video footage from the event. |
On Point Freebie
Upcoming
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Dollars and Sense . . . Two free concurrent seminars for RMA members
Session A: 5 Quick & Easy Ways to Cut Inventory Costs
Nicole Thompson, Purchasing Agent/Owner, Ripe, LLC
The ultimate goal = zero owned inventory. Getting creative with your suppliers could mean greatly reduced inventory costs for you. Hear about how to negotiate terms, slotting fees, and how to concentrate on the commodities. Find out how the economy has turned some things in your favor for lowering your costs. See how ‘shopping local’ can make you more special and more fluid
Session B: Why You Should Consider Business Continuation Planning
Rudy Garcia, Rivanna Woods Financial Services
Without advance planning, your business may be forced to liquidate or sell at a reduced value. In planning to preserve the value of your business at your death or disability, learn about three options to evaluate:
- Should the business be retained for the family?
- Should the business be sold to a co-owner, an employee or an outsider?
- Should the business be liquidated?
Designing a business continuation plan is a crucial step to help ensure your business remains intact at your retirement, death or other triggering event. Create a business continuation plan that suits all of your business planning needs.
No cost for members to attend—Registration is required.
Come to one or both!7:30–7:45 a.m.: Coffee and Danish
7:45–8:45 a.m.: Both seminars simultaneously
8:45–9:00 a.m.: Break
9:00–10:00 a.m.: Both seminars simultaneously
Location: Retail Merchants Association
5101 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 662-5500
Directions >>
Cost: Members, free (registration required); Non-members, $20
Contact: If you have questions, please contact Len East at (804) 662-5500 or len@retailmerchants.com.
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Member News & EventsSeventeenth Annual James River Film Festival in RichmondMarch 19-25 The Richmond Moving Image Co-op presents the seventeenth annual James River Film Festival running at various venues in the Richmond metro area. The James River Film Festival is a celebration of independent film, video and animation. Each Spring the festival brings nationally and internationally-known independent filmmakers to Richmond to screen and discuss their work.. Some of the highlights of this year’s festival include Screening of the JRFF Juried Competition finalists on Friday, March 19th 6:30pm, Plant Zero Art Center, the event is free to attend. For a complete schedule of films and more information about the festival, visit the James River Film Festival website http://www.rmicweb.org/jrff/index.html. Need Help with College Finances?March 18, 9:00 am A presentation on College Financial Planning by Equity Concepts, LLC will provide you with information such as:
Seminar location: Retail Merchants Association, 5101 Monument Ave, Richmond. To RSVP please call 804-285-4463—Ask for Bill Medlin or Richard Simmons I Know Richmond: The Bus TourSaturday, March 20 Meet at the Valentine Richmond History Center, 1015 E. Clay Street, $23, 1-4pm An overview of the history of the city of Richmond, including Court End, the James River and the Fall Line, Church Hill, Jackson Ward, the Fan and Monument Avenue. Tour drives by St. John's Church, Hollywood Cemetery, Main Street Station, the Jefferson Hotel and the Museum and White House of the Confederacy. The group also will have the opportunity to tour the Capitol, walk Capitol Square and see the recently dedicated Civil Rights Memorial. Reservations required by calling 804-649-0711 x301 PR & Party with Puritan for the Foodbank!April 21 Join Puritan Cleaners for free hot dogs and hamburgers at their location at 1807 Staples Mill Road, Richmond. Matt Dinardo of WRIC-8 will be televising live all day. Bring a donation of food or funds from your business and get mentioned on-air and/or online! More information: http://www.puritancleaners.com/pcl08100000meals.html  The Cinderella Dreams ProjectThe Cinderella Dreams Project is accepting donations of new and gently used gowns in current styles. On March 19th and March 20th, girls can come and select a gown for free. If you or your business would like to help with any aspect of the project, please contact the 2010 Cinderella Dreams Project Chair at info@cinderelladreams.net. Supported by RMA members Puritan Cleaners, Lex’s of Carytown and others. http://www.cinderelladreams.net In the 2000 Census, Several Thousand Elementary School Children Were NOT CountedBeing counted (correctly) directly impacts the amount of funding that gets earmarked for our region, as well as how businesses ultimately look at census information numbers to determine if a region has the necessary assets in terms of size and funding to be a good place to grow a business. The Mayor is heavily involved in the initiative and explained to our team that in the 2000 census, several thousand elementary school children were unaccounted for, which ultimately impacted our funding to the degree of funding several new schools... Please consider printing out the flyer (download here) and posting it in your window or in your business for your staff and customers. IRS Embraces New Applications to Make Tax Information More Accessible to Small Businesses and the Self-employedMaximizing the Web’s convenience, accuracy and speed, IRS.gov, IRS’s web site, now assists millions of individual taxpayers, tax professionals, and small business owners to better understand and meet their tax responsibilities. Updated Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop The IRS’s Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is an interactive resource to help small business owners learn about their federal tax rights and responsibilities. This dynamic educational product, available online and on CD 24/7 from your computer, consists of nine stand-alone lessons that can be selected and viewed in any sequence. A bookmark feature makes it possible to leave and return to a specific point within the lesson. Users also have access to a list of useful online references that enhance the learning experience by allowing them to view references and the video lessons simultaneously. The Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is the first of a series of video products designed exclusively for small business taxpayers. A new companion series called, “Your Guide to an IRS Audit” is in development with plans for a summer 2010 launch. IRS.gov now features audio and videoIRS is augmenting its curriculum of online learning and educational products for the small business community by developing new live broadcasting, phone forums and webinars, and offering audio and video presentations. Testing social mediaThe IRS is testing social media. We have launched a YouTube video site at YouTube - irsvideos's Channel and an iTunes podcast to help taxpayers take full advantage of the 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The IRS YouTube channel debuted with seven Recovery videos in English and American Sign Language and eight in Spanish plus other languages. People without an iTunes account can hear those same podcasts, in English and Spanish, on IRS.gov’s Multimedia Center. People can also visit the audio site at iTunes to listen to IRS podcasts about ARRA tax credits. To get the most timely IRS news and information about products and services for small businesses and the self-employed, subscribe to e-News at IRS.gov, click “Subscribe Now” at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address. Advertise in E-blasts and/or Retail Partners NewslettersRetail Partners newsletters have ads starting at $65…or starting at just $45, select the weeks or months you want to appear in weekly e-mail blasts! For more information, contact Pat Vitsky, patricia@retailmerchants.com or 804-837-5221. Discounts & preference to RMA members. |
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