You are receiving this email either because the you are or have been a JWI member, or because your email address was submitted by a friend or colleague. Having trouble reading this email? View it on our website.

In this issue

Buy Your Tickets Now!

Have you purchased your tickets for the event? Why not take a moment at visit the tickets purchase page?

Pass it on

If you know someone who may be interested in attending the event, please feel free to pass this email along.

Letter from the President

Wow - I can't believe that it's not only next year already, but next month, too! As my Pastor says "Time's fun when you're having flies" (okay - I'm not too sure what that means, but it does sound funny).

2008 promises to be a great year for our industry. I had big plans of enjoying something of a respite after Christmas, since January and February are usually the slowest months of the year. While it has definitely been slow in terms of events, it has not been slow otherwise. Thankfully, we can continue to count on those guys who choose the Holidays as a time to propose to keep the phones ringing. (And then, too, those that didn't propose over the Holidays but wish they did, if you know what I mean - my niece just got engaged last weekend).

2008 promises to be a fabulous year for the JWI Dallas Chapter, as well. Before looking too far ahead, I'd like to look back for a moment and thank those who served on the 2007 Board for our wonderful organization. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed deepening our relationships and helping to better the Dallas wedding industry. For the 2008 board, I'm looking forward to a great year serving with you!! The 2007 and 2008 Boards enjoyed an awesome retreat together last month to Lantana Lodge at Pilot Point. During the retreat, we spent some time transitioning board positions , discussing goals for 2008, and having some fun and games as well.

I would also like to take a moment to publically thank our 2007 President, Dana Carroll, CWC for her tireless commitment to JWI last year. It was a blessing to get to know this extraordinary woman. Dana - thank you for your leadership and friendship last year. I'm just glad to know that you will be serving again as Past President this year. I have some grand shoes to fill!

Our February meeting will be hosted by Wendy Timson, CMP at the beautiful Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The speaker will be Jeff Crilley sharing how to get free publicity. I've seen Jeff speak a number of times, and his presentations are always educational as well as entertaining. This month's meeting will be on the THIRD Tuesday of the month (February 19th) due to Valentine's day. (Whatever you do, don't forget Valentine's Day!). I hope to see you there!

Take a moment to mark your calendar for the monthly meetings held every other month, starting in February. Except for this month and June (due to the social), the meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month at 11:30. We are also planning to bring back the "President's Cocktail Hour" during the off months. These will be held on the first Thursday evening every other month, starting in March - more details to follow. The June Social this year will be on Sunday, June 15th.

On another note, JWI will be revealing a new website in late spring / early summer. Matthew has been working hard to redesign the public face of JWI, which will also help the Board to stay in touch with the membership and to perform routine tasks such as renewal reminders.

JWI would not exist without our committed membership. As with any organization, there are plenty of opportunities to help and to serve. If you are interested in participating in any way, whether greeting guests at the meetings, serving on a committee, providing music or photography at the luncheons, please let us know. I'd also like to challenge everyone to invite at least one guest to each luncheon. This is a great way to show your commitment to our industry and to expose a colleague to this great organization.

I look forward to seeing you all on the 19th!
Tommy R. Evans
JWI 2008 President

February 2008 Event

Purchase Event Tickets
When: February 19, 2008
11:00 am
Where: Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
2821 Turtle Creek Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75219
Google Map

Rosewood Mansion On Turtle Creek

Once the palatial home of a Texas cotton magnate, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek has received such honors as the top U.S. hotel by Zagat and the top hotel for service in the world and top U.S. hotel restaurant by Travel + Leisure. In addition, the Mansion has been rated Mobil Five-Star since 1991 and AAA Five-Diamond since 1992. Situated in Dallas' most fashionable neighborhood, the Mansion retains the intimate ambience of a private residence while providing the highest levels of quality and service.

GuestSpeaker: Jeff Crilley

Free Publicity

Jeff Crilley is an Emmy Award winning TV reporter in Dallas. During his 23 years in television news he has made hundreds of national news appearances including CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, The Discovery Channel, Good Morning America and The CBS Early Show.

Jeff will share many ideas from his book and other experiences he has gained through working with the public and media.

Interesting thought from Jeff:
"Certain holidays are great times to try and get some media attention"

As explained in his book, there are predictable times of the year in which good stories are hard to find and this is one of those times.

The news business is a supply and demand business. The demand for news is constant. When was the last time you heard your favorite anchor announce that the newscast was canceled due to a lack of news? Never, right?

The whole country basically goes into vacation mode during holidays and leaves the news rooms struggling to find news.

So what are you waiting for? Come up with a good story and pitch it to the right reporter. They are great times for news stories that would never make air during normal news times.

When he is not covering the news as a reporter and anchor, he’s teaching people how to get covered in the news.

Please join Jeff and JWI for a fun and informative presentation on February 19, 2008

For more information, visit Jeff's website at: http://www.jeffcrilley.com/

A Note From Pamm Meyers

What a year we had in 2007 and we are off to a running start in 2008.

Everyone on the board was supposed to write an article about their experience with their first year on the JWI Board. Well reality is We All have Real day jobs and the majority spend our days racing the clock. In my experience it is usually the clock that wins the race!

I was actually nominated for the JWI board 4 times before I actually made it on! Having served on the 'WED Board' for 6 years, as well as the LGBT Film Festival Board gave me valuable experience, however, every board has it own personality. It can take a while to learn that personality and just when you think you have it, the year is over and a new one begins.

2007 was an exciting, busy and valuable lesson. We all know that being more involved in something will get you greater rewards. So here are my top 3 reasons for being more involved.

You will have a more rounded experience and benefit greatly from being on the board. Just going to the luncheons does not do it justice.
You build relationships with your board members. As in any situation it is a lot more fun once you get to know people better. Your entire working and social relationship structure with your group changes. This is invaluable.
I believe that JWI serves an important purpose in our industry. It is a unique organization. Yes we have ISES and NACE and AWP, and some of the members overlap; but, it is still a very different group of people. Many of us have been in the industry for years. I have been in business for over 17 years. Being on various boards has helped grow in ways I would not have had a chance to otherwise.
I have watched, over the years, JWI as a start up and now look how it has grown!
Additionally, I feel that it is important to give back, and in a way we are giving back to ourselves. Enriching our experiences as we go. Again, we are all busy people. But we can always find the time to devote to those causes and people in our lives that are important.

Remember it is not the goal to get to the end but rather to enjoy the journey on the way, then giving back and thus, getting more of a benefit is an investment I think worthy of our time and energy, it is mine anyway.

I wish everyone a prosperous, healthy and happy 2008 and encourage everyone to be more involved!

Pamm Meyers
JWI Treasurer

February 2008 Newsletter