Nancy Valent

At long last the Lake County Apex awards are just a few days away--the awards presentation will be held during a noon luncheon Nov. 8 at LaMalfa Centre. All Lake Communicator members should have received invitations bynow. RSVP deadline is Oct. 30.

If you have not or know of someone wishing to attend, visit www.lakecommunicators.com to order tickets online. This annual event, sponsored by Lake Communicators, is a contest involving competition amongst graphic designers, writers, photographers, videographers and other communicators affiliated with Lake Communicators or Lake County in general.

Awards will be presented to professionals and high school and college students. Student categories include copywriting, graphic design, illustration, photography and video. Professional categories include collateral material, commercial photography, direct marketing, mixed-media/ advertising, online media, print advertising, printing, publications, public relations, radio, sales promotion and video production. Lake Communicator member Ray Somich will emcee the event.

A record number of entries were received this year. Winning entries will receive awards as follows: Gold, Silver and Award of Excellence. Best of Show awards will be presented to the top winning entries for professional, high school and college categories. For the first time, high school and college students will receive cash

scholarships for winning Best of Show.

The featured speaker will be Nancy M. Valent, president of NMV, LLC Strategies. Her talk is titled “Protecting Your Image and Your Brand.” The Lake County Apex Awards competition has expanded its program to include partnering with the Lake County Business Expo where the winning entries will be on display during the business show Nov. 8. Visit the Expo before or after the awards ceremony.

Winning pieces will also be displayed at Lakeland Community College’s art gallery from Nov. 12–Dec. 9. A reception will be held at Lakeland’s gallery to recognize the winners at 7 p.m. Nov. 15.

Invitations for all club members and participants will be mailed courtesy of Lakeland. The Lake Communicators are proud to promote both professional and student work. It is our hope that this competition will allow them to be recognized for their talents, creativity and dedication to their craft.

I would like to thank the Lake County Apex Committee for their commitment to this year’s project. They include: Laura Fredrick, Dave Saifman, Dick Fraser, Jerie Green, Joe Smith, Jan Pemberton, Laura Freeman and Liana Turi. Also assisting with his photography skills was Bob Zyromski. The Call for Entries was donated by the Lubrizol Corp., last year’s Best of Show winner. Designer was Bill Reid.

In addition, I’d like to thank our sponsors, Consolidated Graphics Group, Jones Printing Services, Lake Metroparks, Lakeland Community College, McKinney Advertising & Public Relations, Van’s Photo and Xpedex.

-Tom Ruffner, Lake County Apex chair

Not to worry. There’s no shopping needed for the Holiday Networking/Social. Get out your PDAs and Franklin Planners and circle Dec. 12! That’s the day Lake Communicators are hosting the annual event at Sawyer House in Mentor from 6 to 8 p.m.

Members are encouraged to bring guests. Members are free, and guests are only $10 each. There will be loads and loads of food and a cash bar.

Appetizers include shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, rumaki, beef Wellington, sweet and sour meatballs, and chicken phyllo triangles.

Sawyer House is located at 9470 Mentor Ave.

just east of Heisley Road on the south side of the street. Phone number is 440-358-0100. Sawyer House was selected for the warm ambiance it provides.

Upon entering you will notice the elevated bar directly across from a fantastic wine shop lined with reds and whites from every winery imaginable. Yes, the wine shop will be open in case you want to purchase a few bottles for holiday gift-giving.

This evening event will take place of the regular lunch meeting. Guests can pay at the door. Please RSVP to Barbara Snow at bsnow@neighboring.org.

Lake Communicators will have a booth at the Lake County Business Expo this year. Sign up to man (or woman) the booth for an hour or more and promote your business while networking with other area business people.

This is Lake Communicators’ chance to remind people who we are and what we’re all about. The more members we have, the more people with whom we can network at monthly meetings.

Brochures designed by McKinney Advertising will be available. S. Trombetti will print posters, complete with photos of Lake Communicators learning and having fun, to display on easels behind the table to show some of the benefits of membership in the club.

Learn strategies that will help you re-energize your marketing communications program and connect with a wealth of world-class marketing knowledge at the Lake Communicators second annual Marketing Workshop.

Get fresh perspectives and practical advice on how to increase your company’s bottom line through proven marketing techniques and insidetrack strategies.

This is your opportunity to network and benchmark with other professionals on the journey to marketing success.

Learn strategies for a sustainable competitive advantage from nationally renowned keynote speakers:

Kordell Norton, author, speaker & consultant, Synergy Solutions

Marvin Mongomery, author, speaker, & trainer

Judee Nerren, publisher & editor, The Women’s Journal (Ashtabula, Lake & Geauga counties)

The workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 12 at Renaissance Quail Hollow Resort, 11080 Concord-Hambden Road, Concord Township, just off I-90 at Route 44. Tickets are $40 and include breakfast and lunch.

For more information, or to make advance reservations, call Judy Cerne at 216- 621-5133 or visit the Lake Communicators Web site at www.lakecommunicators.com.

Gladys Reilly

Gladys Benitez-Reilly was born of first generation Latin American parents; her mother from Paraguay, South America, and her father from Venezuela, South America.

Being raised with Spanish spoken in the home, Gladys took advantage of the opportunity to study in Vera Cruz, Mexico, in the winter of 1979 through Kent State University where she developed a deep interest in the language and culture.

With a bachelor degree in speech and language and a master’s in education from Kent State, she currently enjoys using her passions to promote Spanish instructional programs to kids and adults through Amigos & More, a company she has co-owned since 1996.

Gladys’ primary focus within the company is on business development, marketing, PR and sales.
Amigos & More® was established in 1996 from a perceived need for Spanish language instruction at the elementary school level.

Initially offered as an after school program, we quickly expanded to serve many schools with in school curriculum Spanish programs.

Additionally, the after-school programming expanded to include art, hand-sewing and clay play as well as Spanish. A program for

November 8
Join Lake Communicators for the Apex Awards luncheon held in conjunction with the Lake County Business Expo at LaMalfa Centre.

EARLY RSVP Deadline: October 30