Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Guerrilla Marketing Strategies


A program for the self-employed and for small businesses that don't have deep pockets…

Do you run a small business? Or, are you self-employed and looking to improve revenue and overall profitability without spending a bundle?  Learn how traditional marketing methods are taking a back seat to targeted, unconventional marketing methods known as "Guerrilla Marketing" at Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, May 22 at 6:30 pm.  Vicki Lynn Morgan, President of Califon Connection LLC and President of Somerset Hills Business Network, will be the guest speaker at this program presented in partnership with The Bernardsville Chamber of Commerce.

According to Ms. Morgan, instead of relying on big marketing and costly tactics, tomorrow’s success lies in a 360 approach using three critical elements, several critical foundations, and a "guerrilla state of mind."  This seminar is packed with clever and unconventional small-business marketing tips which can be used right away.  Topics include how to make the best marketing decisions, how to avoid mistakes, and how to out-distance the competition.  The program also offers a list of 200 marketing ‘weapons’ (half are free), a marketing IQ self-assessment, and a marketing plan template to jumpstart a new marketing program.

Ms. Morgan, a speaker and instructor, provides programs for trade and civic organizations, pet industry associations, American Small Business Development Center’s annual conference, and several New Jersey chambers of commerce.  Since 2001, she has been engaged by the New Jersey Small Business Develop Centers as well as continuing and professional education departments at several New Jersey colleges including William Paterson University, Raritan Valley Community College, The College of New Jersey, Kean University, County College of Morris, Brookdale College, Centenary College and Bergen Community College.  Her programs include guerrilla marketing, professional selling skills, customer experience management, and trade show/expo marketing.  At the SBDC at Raritan Valley Community College, she writes and conducts marketing and selling certification programs.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Craft Group to Meet @ Bernardsville Library


Saturday Crafters, a monthly craft group organized by Bernardsville Public Library, will meet on Saturday, May 18 at 3:00 pm.  Individuals are invited to bring their own handwork projects to the Library and work together in a comfortable, communal setting while enjoying the benefits of shared tips and conversation. They can also take advantage of the many books available at the library on different types of crafts.

There is no charge to attend the meeting, and no sign-up is needed.  For more information, call the library at 908-766-0118.

Learn How to Run an Effective Meeting


Learn how to run a productive meeting that will leave members with a sense of accomplishment.  Join us at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, May 15 at Bernardsville Public Library, when Michelle Bobrow and Dorothy Cohen, members of the National Association of Parliamentarians, will discuss Robert’s Rules of Order, meeting procedures, and bylaw and agenda formulation—all especially useful for anyone who conducts any type of organizational meeting and also for those about to take over a presiding role in the coming year.
There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Learn to Be an Educated Consumer of Health Insurance-Postponed


   
To understand Obamacare and the health care reform law, we first need to understand the system that is being reformed.  It's not that complicated if you follow the money, and with knowledge comes understanding about how to save money on your own health insurance premiums.  What is the single most important number in your health insurance?  How is Obamacare affecting you now and how might it affect you in 2014 and beyond?  What is Obamacare anyway?  Learn the answers to these questions and more at Bernardsville Public Library on Thursday, May 9 at 7:00 pm. New date to be announced.

Katherine Woodfield, a health care consumer advocate, educator, speaker and author of "Don't Buy That Health Insurance: Becoming an Educated Health Care Consumer," will discuss the current state and future of health care reform and terms like "MOOP," your maximum out of pocket expense.  Chances are you don't know your MOOP.  It's not your fault; it is a tough number to find in an insurance contract.  In this presentation, she will "follow the money" in health care and uncover the hidden costs that drive up premiums and the risk of financial disaster.  Join us for a fun evening of health insurance education: you will be surprised how much money you can save! 

Ms. Woodfield has twenty years of experience working in healthcare and medical oncology for pharmaceutical giants like Pharmacia, GlaxoWellcome and Sanofi-Aventis.  She is now a consumer educating health insurance broker. A two-time cancer survivor, she has been called "the Suzie Orman of health insurance."

This program is part of the library's CARES (Community Assistance Resource & Educational Services) series.  There is no charge to attend, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Homework: A Parent's Survival Guide

On Monday, May 6 at 7:00 pm, representatives from the Huntington Learning Center will present Homework:  a Parent’s Survival Guide at Bernardsville Public Library.  They will discuss the seven most prevalent problems facing parents when dealing with their child’s homework: their child does not do his best work; refuses to do homework assignments; fails to bring assignments home; takes all night to finish homework; will not do homework on his own; waits until the last minute to finish assignments; and will not do homework unless parents are home.

Huntington Learning offers academic tutoring for students in all grades who need improvement in reading, writing, spelling, phonics, mathematics and study skills. They also offer preparation courses for most standardized and state exams, including the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, ACT, AP Exams, High School entrance exams, SSAT, ISEE, COOP, GED, and ASVAB. The library will host a program on test preparation on Monday, June 10 at 7:00 pm. Huntington Learning specializes in tutoring middle and high school students in math and science.  Since it was founded in 1977, Huntington Learning has provided instruction to hundreds of thousands of students through a network of franchised and company-owned centers. They have about 300 locations in 40 states, of which 90% are franchised and 10% are corporate owned, servicing both the private- and public-pay markets.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance registration is required.  Sign up on the library's website, at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/registration-youth/.

Monday, April 22, 2013

ACL Injury Prevention

If you participate in a sport which puts stress on your knees, come to Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00 pm when Angelo Scarpati and Zachary Barnard of Optimal Physical Therapy & Performance Institute will discuss the problem of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and how to prevent it.

Several factors place female athletes at greater risk than male athletes for knee injuries.  (Serious knee injuries actually occur two to ten times more frequently in female athletes than male athletes.)  During this program, listeners will find out how to reduce the incidence of these injuries through performance exercise training programs. 

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Saturday Samplers Book Group to Meet


Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, May 4 at 3:30 pm to discuss Driving with Dead People: A Memoir by Monica Holloway. [The author will not be present.] 

The book describes the author's dysfunctional, eccentric, and wholly unforgettable family.  As a child, she and her friend, whose father was the town mortician, preferred the casket showroom, where they took turns lying in their favorite coffins, to the parks and grassy backyards in her hometown of Elk Grove, Ohio.  Driving with Dead People is an extraordinary real-life tale with a wonderfully observant and resourceful heroine.  Ms. Holloway is an actress turned writer whose essay, "Red Boots and Cole Haans" was described by Newsday as "brilliant…grimly hilarious." Driving with Dead People is her first full-length book.

Led by Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Paintings & Sculptures by NY Academy Artists on Exhibition at Bernardsville Library



A New Day by Kathy  Buist, oil, 36" x 48"
Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to present an exhibition during the month of May of recent work by members of the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art (NYAA).  Fifty artists will be represented with over 125 works of art, both paintings and sculpture.  Part of the show will be on view at the library and part across the street at Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery located at 5 Morristown Road.  The public is invited to the opening reception during the May Bernardsville Art Walk on Friday, May 3 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the library and 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the gallery.  

The New York Academy of Art (NYAA) is a graduate school that combines intensive technical training in the fine arts with active critical discourse.  The school operates with the belief that rigorously trained artists are best able to realize their artistic vision. Therefore, Academy students are taught traditional methods and techniques and encouraged to use these skills to make vital contemporary art.  As such, the Academy serves as a creative and intellectual center for all artists dedicated to highly skilled, conceptually aware figurative and representational art.

The New York Academy of Art was founded in 1982 by artists, scholars and patrons of the arts, including Andy Warhol, to foster a resurgence in the training of figurative and representational art.  The Academy has since developed into a non-profit cultural institution housing the nation’s first graduate school of figurative art, a continuing education program, the region’s most in-depth figurative art library, an extensive exhibition and lecture series, and iconic New York City events such as Take Home a Nude and Tribeca Ball.  The Academy is located in the lower Manhattan historic district of TriBeCa, once a commercial area and the city's primary distribution center for textiles and dry goods.   

The library show will be on display in the Community Room during regular library hours unless a meeting is in progress.  For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.  


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Splendid Life Meditation @ Bernardsville Library


Basking Ridge resident Fauzia Burke will lead the next monthly guided meditation session at Bernardsville Public Library on Friday, May 3 at 10:00 am.  Ms. Burke’s style of meditation incorporates many cultural traditions and uses the power of word and imagery to facilitate a meditative experience. Each experience is honored as unique and can help reduce stress, generate creativity, and create positive energy. Free. No sign-up is needed.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jim Nuzzo to Perform @ Bernardsville Library


Jim Nuzzo, the singer/songwriter from Edison, NJ, will perform his original music in free concert at Bernardsville Public Library on Sunday, April 28 at 3:00 pm.  Part of the “Sundays at Three” series, this concert is funded by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library.  Doors open at 2:45 pm.  No sign-up is needed.

Mr. Nuzzo is best known for his baseball songs: "Subway," the official theme of the 2000 Subway Series between the Yankees and the Mets, and "The Game Is Over," a cynical look at professional sports.  Both songs are recognized as "cult baseball hits" and are featured in Baseball Almanac.  He also composed a song, "Comin' Home," in the 1989 comedy "Rude Awakening" recorded by Kim Carnes which was co-written by Academy Award winner Franke Previte. Mr. Nuzzo will perform some of his instrumental songs and themes and then will be joined on stage by saxophonist Dave Gonos, bassist Buddy Allen, and drummer Joe Bellia.

There is no charge to attend the concert and no sign-up is needed.  For further information, call the library at 908-766-0118.


Monday, April 8, 2013

University of Can-Do Master's Program @ Bernardsville Library

The next session of the "University of Can-Do Master's Program" will meet on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:00 pm at Bernardsville Public Library. "Do you have a goal that you think you can't make happen?" asks Andrea Mastrobattista who leads the group, "Well, you can, because you have what it takes to accomplish it."

This workshop runs throughout the year, and each month participants discover more skills for cultivating and maintaining the "can-do" determination to make a dream come true.  In this installment of the Can-Do Master’s program, they will master the art of having a positive attitude.   "On the journey toward achieving your goal, you will meet your share of naysayers.  Learn how to deal with the negativity and maintain your positive outlook," says Ms. Mastrobattista.

There is no charge to attend the library workshop, but advance registration is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org, and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Does Your Business Plan Make Sense?

If you are thinking of starting a new business or interested in updating your existing business plan, come to this program presented by SCORE®, Counselors to America’s Small Business, on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:00 pm at Bernardsville Public Library.  Jack Boylan and a panel of SCORE experts will walk listeners through the steps involved in developing a successful business plan, including the most important parts of the plan—the marketing component and the finance component.  Whether you need it to approach a financial institution for financing or simply to strengthen your own vision, the business plan is as essential as a roadmap for a traveler planning a major trip.

Mr. Boylan has expertise in domestic and international financial management as well as business startups and turn-arounds.  This workshop is one of many that SCORE® offers on a variety of topics.  Led by a seasoned group of entrepreneurs with over 1,000 person years of experience, the workshops are designed to offer information on identifying needed skills as well as elements in the business environment that are necessary for a business to thrive whether in the first stages of development or in an expansion phase.  Seminar participants have future access to individual free face-to-face counseling with qualified SCORE counselors to follow-up on any questions specific to their particular business.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested.  Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Memoirs & Coffee Book Group to Meet


The next meeting of Bernardsville Public Library’s book discussion group, Memoirs and Coffee, will be held on Tuesday, April 23 at 10:30 am in the library’s Community Room.  Pat Kennedy-Grant, Readers’ Services Manager for the library, will lead the discussion of "The Cost of Hope” (2012) by Pulitzer Prize winning author Amanda Bennett.  [The author will not be present.]

The book recalls how when Wall Street Journal reporter Amanda Bennett meets the eccentric, infuriating, yet somehow irresistible Terence Bryan Foley while on assignment in China, the last thing she expects is to marry him. They are so different—classic and bohemian, bow ties and batik, quirky and sensible. But Terence is persistent. “You are going to be somebody,” he tells her. “You’re going to need somebody to take care of you.” Though initially as combative as their courtship, their marriage brings with it stormy passion, deep love and respect, two beloved children, and a life together over two decades. Then comes illness, and the fight to win a longer life for Terence.

The Cost of Hope chronicles the extraordinary measures Amanda and Terence take to preserve not only Terence’s life but also the life of their family. After his death, Bennett uses her skills as a veteran investigative reporter to determine the cost of their mission of hope. What she discovers raises important questions many people face, and vital issues about the intricacies of America’s healthcare system.

There is no charge and no sign-up is needed to join the discussion.  Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Monday, April 1, 2013

National Library Week Celebrations @ Bernardsville Library


National Library Week runs from April 14 to April 20 this year, and Bernardsville Public Library is beginning the week with a brief opening reception on Saturday, April 14 from 5:00-6:00 pm.  The theme is 'Communities matter @ your library' which highlights the active role libraries take in supporting their communities.

At the reception, where light refreshments will be served, new READ posters will be unveiled with some surprisingly familiar faces and some great reading suggestions.  During National Library Week, anyone with a library card who says "Communities matter" at check-out will get one free DVD rental.

Bernardsville Library's role in our community has expanded over the last several years.  Core services, such as providing quality literature, popular titles, cultural programs, and supporting children and parents in an appreciation of reading and learning, are still widely used by our community, and the focus on unique collections to preserve the area history and culture continues.  But at the same time, to meet the changing needs of the people in our community, the library is also expanding its services from providing information to guided exploration of knowledge and new technology offering programs on topics such as eBooks and iPads, Internet navigation skills, and resources for job seekers. The goal is to connect with library users and to enrich the community where they live. 

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.  

The reception is free and open to the general public.  No sign-up is needed to attend.  For further information, call the library at 908-766-0118.