Membership Update
We have a new member, Janice Jaicks.  She has been in business over 20 years.  Her business has several locations in the Valley where they provide swimming lessons.  She also schedules private lessons.  She has a second business focused on fitness.  She puts together two conferences a year for fitness instructors.   She excited about the opportunities to network and share business information with other MABE members.

Herb Stokes came as a guest today.  He is co-owner of Southwest Photos which began 3 years ago.  He has been in the photography business over 20 years.  He worked for a former member, Portraits by Reg, for 12 years.  He is involved with other networking groups but is familiar with MABE and wanted to check us out.

Mark Menasci came as a guest of his uncle, Sandro Menasci.  He is a computer technician.  He has been in business for 6 years providing services to homes and businesses throughout the Valley.  Sandro has been telling him about MABE for some time.  He thought it sounded like a great idea to meet other business owners and network.

Leads & Introductions
Since we had a few new faces this morning, we went around the room and did leads and introductions.

Stuart Schindler brought in the new MABE leads cards.  Please use these cards to help streamline the process.

Networking Update
Dave Lathrop attended a seminar on how to use LinkedIn.  In that three hours he was able to double the number of connections he had and LinkedIn to several valuable groups.  He found out you can solicit referrals and make recommendations. 

MABE Homework
Dave has an request that MABE members spend 15 minutes this week focusing on a MABE item (setting up LinkedIn, thinking about meeting topics, etc.)

Another Lathrop Challenge...What are you putting 10 in and getting none out?  On the flip side, what are you putting none in and getting 10 out?

Financial Report
Barbara Kollman gave a financial report for MABE.  She passed around financial statements through June 30th.  The economy is down, membership is down...our reserve fund is down.  Our regular expenses are constant but we had some non-recurring expenses that affected the reserves (brochures, business cards).  The most important numbers to focus on are the annual recurring figures.  Barbara explained a few items in more detail including how the numbers affect future dues amounts.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask Barbara. 

Featured Program - Dave Crissman
Dave explained the anatomy of reverse osmosis (RO).  What he believes is a big problem is people with RO's that don't maintain them properly.  Most RO's are not monitored.  The more expensive ones signal you when maintenance is needed.  People that have unmonitored systems should pay careful attention to the maintenance schedules.  Also make sure the person providing your maintenance takes precautions to maintain a sanitary environment by, for example, wearing latex gloves.  If you have any questions or concerns about your water, give Dave a call.