NWA Startup Weekend Slated for June 10-11, 2011

Learn more, and buy tickets: http://nwarkansas.startupweekend.org/

Startup Weekend is an intense (and very kool) 48 - 54 hour event which focuses on building something from scratch which could form the basis of a credible business over the course of a single weekend. The event brings together people with different skill sets, i.e., developers, graphic designers, marketers, consultants, and business professionals in general to build websites, mobile applications or other new products and develop a commercial case around them.

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Event Schedule

Here is the schedule for the NWA Startup Weekend Event:

Friday:

• 6:00pm – Event begins / networking
• 6:30pm – Pizza & more networking
• 7:00pm – Welcome & Speakers
• 7:30pm – Pitches Start
• 8:30pm – Attendees vote for the top ideas
• 9:00pm - Teams start forming and discussing ideas
• 9:30pm – Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend.

Saturday

• 9:00am – Arrive, continental breakfast & coffee
• 9:30am – Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 1:00pm - Call for needs & skills
• 2:00pm – Mentors help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
• 6:30pm – Dinner
• 7:30pm – Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
• 9 – 10:00pm -Finish and wrap up for the day.

Sunday

• 9:00am – Arrive, continental breakfast & coffee
• 10:00am – Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 12:30pm – Mentors arrive… ASK QUESTIONS
• 1:30pm - Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
• 3:00pm - Afternoon snack
• 4:30pm - FINAL PRESENTATIONS
• 6:00pm – Judging & awards
• 7:00 pm – Wrap up & Go home!

Startup Weekend NWA overview

Startup Weekend is proud to announce Startup Weekend Northwest Arkansas! This is the FIRST Startup Weekend event in the state of Arkansas.

Entrepreneurs, developers, startup enthusiasts, marketers, graphic artists, legal minds, students, etc. are invited to attend the first Startup Weekend event to be hosted in the state of Arkansas at NorthWest Arkansas Community College from April 29 – May 1st at the new Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development.

This is a state-of-the art facility with plenty of space and high-speed internet access.

Tickets are $50 for students and $75 for non-students for the weekend, and give attendees access to networking, beta testing, co-founders, software, speakers, special offers, 7 meals, beverages, swag — you get the idea! Opportunities for companies desiring to meet and mingle with highly-motivated entrepreneurs in a dynamic, intimate setting are available through financial sponsorship and/ or meal donation. More details are at http://startupweekend.org/sponsors/

In addition to sponsors, we are seeking volunteers to help with conducting this event.

Here is a sample of local hotels – we’ll provide more hotel info soon:

Towne Place Suites marriott.com (479) 621-020

Aloft Rogers (www.aloftrogers.com / 479268-6799)

Embassy Suites (www.embassysuitesnwa.com / 479.254.8400

Holiday Inn & Suites (http://tinyurl.com/holidayinn-suites / 479-845-1300

Staybridge Suites (www.staybridge.com/rogers-ar / 479-845-5701

Click here for more Rogers hotel info: http://goo.gl/maps/rApI

Click here for more Bentonville hotel info: http://goo.gl/maps/OcRV

Voting Open for Northwest Arkansas Music Awards

Vote for your favorites:

https://rockitmusicweek.wufoo.com/forms/vote-nama-2011/

Free Rosen Movement Class by PWN Member Sally Wimberly Every Thursday Morning

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Parish Hall
Every Thursday
8:30-9:30 am

Facilitated by Sally Wimberly

About Rosen Method Movement

Rosen Method movement classes are fun and easy!

Set to music, these easy, unhurried movements are designed to improve alignment and flexibility. They also increase range of motion, ease of breathing, and deepen awareness of the body. These movements are done individually as well as in a circle or with partners.

Marion Rosen developed this form of exercise to prevent physical difficulties before they arise and to help her clients feel better and age gracefully. The Movement teacher takes the students in the class through a series of exercises designed to use all the joints, especially those not used in day-to-day life, to make sure the synovial fluid continues to lubricate them. These movements may be adapted to those who experience pain or have physical limitations.

Rosen movement offers a vision of health and well-being that enables us to live openly and fully. It has achieved international recognition for its demonstrated ability to alleviate muscular tension and pain, in addition to improving posture, flexibility and self-esteem. Rosen movement classes facilitate pleasure and ease in movement for people of all ages and walks of life. Classes are preventive as well as restorative. The movements open the chest and free the diaphragm so oxygen can circulate freely to all the tissues of the body. Circulation is increased in all joints through loosening the muscles as they are moved through their available range of motion. The addition of music makes the movements more like dancing, and thus more complex and fun, allowing the development of greater balance and coordination. Rosen Method movement creates the experience of relaxation and well-being in action. Participants find new vitality, joy, and ease in their bodies.

Block Street Block Party Vendor Booth Apps Due April 30th

Block Street Business Association is ready to party! Get more details in this article on The Fayetteville Flyer. We want to celebrate everything that makes Block Street so funky and diverse. On May 22, 2011, we’re throwing a big block party, featuring local art, three music stages, a mobile bug unit, prayer flag making, beer gardens (ABC approval pending), fun activities like tie-dying, mustache painting and tutu making, a hot dog eating competition, friendly waiting race and SO MUCH MORE. We want you to be part of the fun. Remember, bring the weird!

Food Vendor Application Form – $75 application fee (PDF)

Booth Exhibitor Application Form – $40 application fee (PDF)

Please return your form(s) to Jessy
 Lang,
 Good
 Things
 Boutique,
 at 
108
 N. 
Block 
Ave., 
Fayetteville, 
AR 
72701, no later than April 30, 2011 for consideration for approval.

Beginning Meditation Class May 2011

Hey ladies! This is a program being offered by one of my dearest friends (we've known one another since 2nd grade). I'm planning on being part of the virtual class and wanted to share the opportunity with the rest of the Professional Women's Network. If you'd like to participate, email me, and I'll give you the details on sending in your $20 payment for the month-long commitment.

Welcome to Beginning Meditation.
Program Dates: May 1st- May 29th, 2011

Why Meditate and Why This Program?
Scenario 1: The phone is incessantly ringing, you have 83 unanswered emails in your Outlook box, you worked 60 hours this week and it's only Wednesday, although you are 34, if someone just saw your blood pressure results, they'd think you were 72...

Scenario 2: Life is fun and busy, and you've tried to make time for meditation a few times a week, but the laundry needs to get done, the trash needs to go out, Modern Family is coming on shortly--all of which pushes out the time for meditation...

Scenario 3: You've heard about this meditation thing, you've tried closing your eyes once, but that didn't go well. You feel inspired, but are not sure how to start....

Whether you need to figure out how to deal with stress, you need help with a disciplined practice and/or you are just curious, the focus of this program is to help you with all of these things through beginning a meditation practice. Starting and sustaining a meditation practice is a difficult thing when there are a lot of competing messages and activities for our attention: think Times Square in our minds. The four weeks will be about developing awareness and consciousness by creating a meditative practice that helps you see/ manage what's going on inside and out.

Science, Spirituality and Meditation
If you need hard proof, there is a pool of scientific evidence demonstrating the outcomes of meditation. Science says that a few minutes a day has profound impacts on participants' states of mind. Meditation reduces the experience of pain in novice meditators. Meditation helps improve cognitive skills in beginning meditators. Click on the hyperlink for the articles. While there are spiritual aims of meditation, our focus is to simply quiet the mind. However, I will incorporate both spiritual and secular philosophers to illustrate points along the way.

Practice Makes Perfect
As with anything, sitting takes practice. Practice take time. Time is precious thing. Meditation/mindfulness, while important to sit for a few minutes, can take place out in the world when we are doing mundane things like walking to the grocery store. Even if you work 80 hours a week, there's room for practice, I promise.

What's Involved?
The commitment would involve the following:

• Sitting 3-5 minutes everyday on your own (during the program, I'll direct you to an online guided meditation or send you music to help with your practice);
  
• Engaging in one exercise per week;
• Responding once a week to an email to me as a reflection exercise (how many times you meditated, the quality of the meditation, reflection on the exercise, etc.) It can be as involved or brief as works for you.;
  
• $20 one time charge; and,
  
• Filling out an anonymous survey at the end of the program.
  

The Details
Every Sunday, starting May 1st, I'll send an email with helpful instruction, a short reading and an exercise. During the week, you will meditate for 3-5 minutes a day and would work on the exercise when out and about in the world with the idea to bring a state of mindfulness to your everyday experiences and respond to an email I'll send out on Friday.

What's Next?
Please send your address and $20 (cash or check is fine) to Jess Geevarghese. Email Jeannette Balleza for full mailing address and additional details. The first programmatic activity will be on May 1st.

About Jess
I've been meditating off and on for about 10 years (mostly off), but as of year ago, I've committed to a practice that ranges from thirty minutes to two hours daily. I've seen tremendous changes in my internal world and believe this is accessible to anyone who commits to a practice, whether 5 minutes or 25 minutes.

If there are people you think maybe interested in participating, please share the link to this post.

Let me know if you have any questions!