Back to Virtual Meetings STARTING NOW

Dear Monica, Well, as you have probably heard by now that WA State will be going into a modified stay at home order. This is the main reason we will now go back to 100% virtual meetings. Our event calendar should now be updated to reflect this. You will get the link to the Zoom meeting once you RSVP. The Happy Hours will continue as scheduled. Nov 23rd Virtual Meeting - 4th Monday Dec 14th Virtual Meeting - 2nd Monday I was working on moving back to virtual only meetings before the news hit today. I have been discussing this with the Admin Team as several people were not comfortable with the social distancing and mask wearing practices that were happening (or not happening) at our last in person meeting. I am guilty of these complaints as well so don't feel like I am singling out one or two people. We, as a group, need to do better if we are going to go back to in person meetings. I am responsible for everyone in that room and it will come back on me if anyone get sick from COVID-19. Plus, I will feel extremely guilty if that ever happens.  Personally, my family will be video calling our family during Thanksgiving in lieu of gathering in person. I bought my Thanksgiving dinner from Dream Dinners so check them out as an option. Or, order dinner from Shawn O'Donnell's this year! I feel terrible not being able to support them by hosting our meetings. I will continue to order take out food from them in the meantime. Let's do our part by staying at home. There is an end in sight. We just have to do our part until we get there.  ~Monica~

IMPORTANT RSVP Updates Based on Last Night's Meeting

Dear Monica, Thank you to everyone who came to our meeting last night! You ladies sure threw me for a loop. :) I had 3 people show up without the correct RSVP. I also had two ladies RSVP late for a total of 5 people extra to juggle. I didn't have my usual helper to check in people so I was all on my own to do everything. Since I was only expecting 7, I didn't think I needed help but boy did I! There will be changes again to how you RSVP to our meetings... I tried to set up a virtual zoom at the same time as our in person meeting and it didn't go as well as I hoped. It also made it confusing for the people who thought they were rsvp'ing to the in person meeting when they in fact RSVPd for the zoom meeting. So, thank you to those people who helped with this experiment but going forward, the only virtual meetings will be our happy hours. I apologize for not explaining this better at the meeting but when you pay me $5-10 to attend, it includes a beverage like Coke, lemonade, tea or coffee. You must ask for your beverage at the bar and our server will bring it to you. If you want wine or beer, please pay the venue directly for this option. I am also going to change the beverage RSVP to needing it 24 hrs in advance as well. If you RSVP late or show up at the door, it will now become $10. Once I give my headcount to the venue, it becomes more work for me to update them later to add more seats. Usually, the venue sets extra places for us but since the last two meetings had less people than we expected, the venue didn't add extra seats this time. I will be padding our headcount in the future so we have more room. We have few enough people to maintain 6' away from each other but when we have to add 5 extra seats at the last minute, it means that everyone who is already seated needs to move a little. However, their previous spot has been contaminated and the safety protocols are now compromised. This is just not ideal. Also, the venue handed out meals without checking with me first. Again, since we only expected 7 people and 6 meals, it was supposed to be an easy distribution. All the things that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong last night. Thank you to those people who helped me!! We made it work and PLEASE don't feel like you can't come to our meetings or that you will need to eat upstairs if you arrive without an RSVP. I am sharing this information with you so there can be a better understanding about the extra work involved and why I need to charge more if you cannot RSVP more than 24 hrs in advance. Let me know if you have any questions!  ~Monica~

Nov H2H Newsletter - IMPORTANT UPDATES!

Heart to Heart Meeting Reminders for the month of November HEART TO HEART MONTHLY NEWSLETTER For November 2020 Hi Mieko,  Are you reading my newsletters? It seems that people have missed the fact that we are now meeting IN PERSON at Shawn O'Donnell's again! We started this in Oct and the attendance has been low (less than 10) so there has been plenty of space for social distancing. We can have a max of 26 people so if that ever happens, we will sit a little closer but still safely.  Another experiment we are doing this month is the option of doing a VIRTUAL meeting along with the IN PERSON meeting. We are still working out the best way to handle this and enable you to participate. Your feedback is hugely helpful.  In order to do the IN PERSON meetings, we absolutely MUST HAVE YOUR RSVP at least 24 hours in advance. If you RSVP with less notice than that, the only option for you is to order a beverage. Dinners must be prepared ahead of time so if you don't RSVP and PAY in advance, we cannot provide dinner for you.  If you show up without RSVP'ing in advance, you MUST still purchase a beverage option but instead of $5, it will now cost you $10.  Right now, there are TWO DIFFERENT EVENTS to RSVP for. The first is the IN PERSON event where you can purchase a Spotlight Table if you are a paid member and they aren't already sold out. The second event is the VIRTUAL event and you must RSVP if you want to get the Zoom link emailed to you. I have had to change how the events are set up as there are challenges with having only a certain number of Spotlight Tables sold and also to make sure we do not go over our maximum capacity at the venue.  I had to make the Spotlight Table option only available with a purchase of a dinner. If you don't or can't eat the dinner, please message me and I can refund you the difference.  The free Virtual Happy Hours continue for now. In Nov, these are happening on a Monday evening when we don't have a regular meeting. In Dec, they will be on Tuesday evening. I presume these will continue on Tuesday evenings after the new year.  I am sending out text reminders to our paid membership database. You can opt out but make sure your cell phone is entered correctly in your profile on our website. You can edit your profile on the website or through the Wild Apricot Member app.  Stay in touch by using our Facebook Group. It is the quickest way for me to communicate things to you and for you to stay in touch with each other.  ~Monica~ Learn More: Member Dues Learn More: Member Perks