Leaf Peepers Unite!

"Leaf peeping" is a rather strange name for a very popular past time... enjoying the seasonal color changes of fall leaves.

Some places in the East, leaf peeping is a tourist industry with hotels and entire towns prepared for the hordes of tourists that show up in October. There are places out east where entire valleys change color as the countryside prepares for winter.

In Washington, we don't get quite the same effect (too many evergreens), but, it's still the season to draw, sketch, paint and point cameras at the changing leaves.

If you're looking for stunning color, take a stroll through the Whatcom Community College campus as our trees are in full change. For bigger trees and scenic shots, check out Hovander Park in Ferndale or Berthusen Park in Lynden. For the more adventerous, you might try heading out the gravel road by Bagley Creek near the end of the Mount Baker Highway.

Don't let the artistic skills you learned in our workshops go to waste!

image by Grant MacDonald (flikr)

Leave (Leaf!?) your favorite sites in the comments below.

Seth Godin: Totally Get's It

Seth Godin is one of the top Bloggers in the web universe. He blogs about business, personal productivity, and entrepreneurship. His half page blog entry today was titled Looking for a Reason to Hide discussing how people are frightened and slowing their business growth even if the financial situation is not hitting their business.

His assessment... growth is scary and for growth adverse people, there's a darn good reason for shutting down right now. In Seth's words "What a shame."

Read his article to learn more.

Business: Don't Be Scared... Hire a Boomer

I talk to lots of business people. I also talk to lots of people transitioning from their first career into there retirement/2nd career/new phase, etc of their life. Let me tell you, there is a real disconnect between the two groups.

The problem is businesses feel that hiring retired boomers will be very expensive. There sick more, they want more money, there won't be a return on the training investment... the list goes on and on.

The reality is very different. The "retired"Boomer can bring a lot of energy and experience to a small business. Boomers may only want to work part-time, but, as a group Boomers are reliable and dependable. Yes, training is an investment but lets get real. In today's job market, you are rarely going to find someone who stays ten years. You can not base your training investment on ten year outlook especially if it means over looking a huge pool of skilled employees.

If you have questions about hiring older workers, checkout our exciting Encore! class Hiring a "Boomer and Beyond" Workforce and learn the hows and why of hiring from this excellent pool of employees.
Picture by flickr

Click here for class information

Social Media Conference - Amazing Event For Whatcom County

Last week, Whatcom Community College co-sponsored the Social Media Conference on the Whatcom Campus. This sold-out conference featured speakers from around the region discussing how social media can be used to promote your business or group.

Attendees came from five states and from as far away as New Hampshire to attend this very unique conference experience.

Aaron Booker, a member of Whatcom's foundation, taped part of the show and interviews with participants. Checkout his website at www.socialpastures.com to see the highlights from the conference.

Social Media Conference: A Huge Success So Far

Our Social Media Conference started on Wednesday and has been an amazing adventure. The conference and dinner both sold out, the speakers have been awesome, and the crowd is wired and engaged.

If your not at the conference, you can get video highlights and updates by visiting our friends at Social Pastures. There you will find video interviews with some of the speakers discussing social media, pictures of activities, and posts from guest commentators who are writing from the conference floor. Pretty darn cool!

Money Wi$e Women Conference: A Safe Place to Learn About Money

Whatcom Community College is co-hosting this very exciting conference September 13th from 9-5:30 here on campus.  

Designed to take the mystery out of money, it features nationally recognized money-expert Marcia Brixey along with several other speakers.  The conference will include  three keynote addresses and at least ten breakout sessions.  For the registration cost of $39 (before 9/5 and $49 thereafter), it creates an opportunity for anyone in the community to learn about money in a safe place.  The registration fee includes lunch and a copy of Marcia's book.  

picture by Tracy O (flikr)

Click here for more information and registration.

Digital Life: A New Toy From Google

I am having a little kid moment.  Google just released its much anticipated new browser today. The Chrome browser is set to compete head to head with Internet Explorer from Microsoft.

My first impression?  Pretty darn cool.  The interface is very clean, devoid of lots of buttons, borders and stuff you find on most browsers.  It's has that signature Google look to it.  the browser opens quickly and is easy to use.  It features tabbed browsing and a great incognito mode that lets you surf without leaving tracks on your computer.

From a computer geek point of view I really like it.  It's "open" allowing the guru's of code to check for holes and fix it.  For the home user it's simple and clean, making for a better surfing experience.

Check it out at www.google.com/chrome