Kathy Walker, Jerie Green and Laura Freeman of Lakenetwork will be the featured speakers at the Lake Communicators’ Jan. 11 luncheon meeting. Walker, lead designer, will provide hints on hosting and designing an effective Web site.

Walker will discuss promoting your Web site by search engine optimization (SEO), the current hot button topic for leading people to click on your Web site. She will also talk about other Web site marketing techniques.

With a background in both engineering and art, Walker has designed more than 150 business Web sites. Some of her work is available online at www.lakenetwork.net.

Green and Freeman are also affiliated with the Lake County Business Journal, whose Web site Lakenetwork recently redesigned at www.lakebusinessjournal.com.

They bring their writing and marketing expertise to Lakenetwork, which was founded in May 2005.

Hope to see you all there. Reservations are required by Friday, Jan. 6 by calling Diana Lewis at 440-255-8932 or e-mailing Shirley Wolfe at wolfeshirley@yahoo.com.

Holiday after-hours even attendees rewarded
Lake Communicators members fought off the frigid temperatures at the holiday party at The Cabin on Lakeshore Boulevard in Willowick.
Attendees kept the winter chill at bay, spending the evening near the fireplace eating hot, delicious appetizers, including spicy shrimp cocktail, and basking in the warm company of fellow members.

Everyone received a gift passed out by Santa and his helper, aka Dick Fraser and Diana Lewis. Gifts ranged from a four-pack of tickets for box seats at an Indians baseball game to perfume or exclusive sets of 30th anniversary Laketran glasses.

The entry fee is $75. Participants will be provided with a 10 x 10 space in the mall to display their work. Registration forms are available at Van’s Photo and Video, Dodd Camera, Mentor Public Library and Ritz Camera at Great Lakes Mall.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Lake Communicators’ Scholarship Fund.

For more information about this event, contact Skip Trombetti at 440-974-6886 or Diana Lewis at 440-255-8932.

Committee Opportunities

Committees are forming for this year’s Lake Communicators. Many opportunities exist for you to get involved. Whether you are a longtime or brand-new member, we can use your talents and support for the following committees: membership, Program & Meeting Administration, Apex Awards, Internal Communications, Marketing & PR and Scholarship.

Board members will serve as the committee chairperson or liaison to the board. Committee responsibilities are as follows:

• Membership - Develop ways to increase membership, develop information packets, publish roster, maintain recruitment list, network with guests, and handle membership applications.
  
• Program & Meeting Demonstration - Develop topics of interest and schedule speakers, write monthly speaker articles for the newsletter, coordinate meeting sites and menus, e-mail meeting reminders, provide name tags for meetings, record attendees, distribute and collect evaluation forms for speaker/lunch critique.
  
• Apex Awards - Develop plan and budget for annual awards program, develop mailing list, produce and mail out Call for Entries, contact media, recruit judges, order awards, promote event, announce and publish winners.
  
• Internal Communications - Produce the Voice newsletter, develop miscellaneous communications materials for the Membership, Marketing & PR and Apex committees and special events.
  
• Marketing & PR - Establish brand-features and benefits. Promote events and organization benefits, develop promotional literature, update Web site, and develop workshops.

Contact Tom Ruffner at villaone@apk.net to sign up or contact any board member and help support your club.

Monthly Meetings
Membership meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the Comfort Inn & Conference Center, 7701 Reynolds Road, just south of Rt. 2. Lunch meetings are held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and include networking and a half hour program. Breakfast meetings are held from 7:45 to 9 a.m. Guests are always welcome.

Advance reservations are required by replying to Shirley Wolfe's e-mail at wolfeshirley@yahoo.com or by calling Diana Lewis at 440-255-8932 by the Friday prior to the meeting. You may send a substitute; no-shows will be billed. Members $10, guests $15.