Sept. 19, 2013, Vol. 11, Issue 19

This is such a busy time of year for you — and me — that I’m going to make this issue short and sweet.  Last time, I gave you some tips for drawing a crowd, including the allure of bright, shiny objects.

We have a different take on that idea in this issue. I wanted you to see these colorful promotion pieces, and also talk a bit about the power of engagement.  Plus I have a fantastic recipe for your home entertaining pleasure.

 

Attract and Engage

I love to see how different clients take a speaker’s theme and run with it in their own way. As we reported in our last issue, our speaker Heidi Marble offers a unique program called Donate & Create, where clients are encouraged to collect discarded baubles and beads to make something new.

Covenant Cancer Center, in Saginaw, Michigan, took off on that idea, with the theme, “Life is a mosaic of experiences,” for their annual women’s cancer survivor event on Oct. 2, and they created these attractive, colorful promotional pieces.

They’re going to do their collection and creation a little bit differently than Heidi has done it in the past. They’re asking their attendees to bring their cast-offs to the actual event to decorate a large pink ribbon. They will have a collection basket as well as a hot glue gun available so attendees may take part in making the ribbon sparkle. I think that engagement by the participants, like this, can be another key to the success of your events. There is so much isolation in our culture today that women are hungry to connect and be a part of something bigger.  Creating something together brings a sense of community, accomplishment, and fun. I think it also makes the event more memorable. And, in this age of social media, it creates an interesting focal point for taking pictures and sharing. I’m looking forward to seeing the end result.

Guest speakers, Heidi Marble, and her sister, Jen Curfman will be there to participate, in addition to presenting their program, “Skin Tight Genes” — their sisters story. Both are carriers of the BRCA-2 gene, that predisposes them to breast cancer, and both are survivors; on stage they weave their parallel stories together to take guests on an extraordinary roller coaster ride of laughter, tears and celebration. For a complete description, go here.

 

BAKED SALMON  – Fit for Company

We eat a lot of wild salmon here in the Northwest. In fact, my husband and I like to buy whole salmon fresh from the Native American fishermen at Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge. This recipe, however, came from California, via Ohio. My friend and speaker, Holly Stiel, served this baked salmon when we visited her in California in April. Credit goes to her sister, Audee Isonp, in Cleveland (and we don’t know where she got it) but I’m sharing it with you for the same reasons Holly served it.

It’s an elegant dish fit for company, and is especially good for entertaining because preparation is easy and you do it ahead of time, allowing you to enjoy your guests. That, and their compliments.  My guests last weekend exclaimed, “Oh, that is gorgeous,” and when they dug their forks into it, “Delicious! Wow . . . a flavor explosion.” The compliments kept coming.

If you happen to have fresh basil needing to be harvested at this time of year, like we did, here’s your chance to make good use of it.

Ingredients

Salmon – fillets (When we filleted our whole sockeye salmon, it divided easily into six nice chunks that fit the 13” x 9”oblong dish exactly).

Lemon — 1/2 fresh to squeeze on the fillets

Basil — 2 handfuls

Cherry tomatoes – 1 pint or a 10 oz. carton

Nicoise olives pitted — Or Kalamatas, drained. 1/2 large jar

Green beans– about a pound

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 475 degrees (Yes, 475… really!)

Blanch the green beans. Drain.

Mix the blanched beans in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, olives and basil, and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Skin the salmon, on both sides, and rub in olive oil, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

Put the fish in a Pyrex baking dish and pour the vegetable mix on top.

Bake at 475 degrees for exactly ten minutes.

It was a summer weekend, so we served it with corn on the cob, and a brown rice and quinoa blend mix. Or you could serve it with a simple salad and bread. Sit back and enjoy the compliments.

Until next time, enjoy and take care of yourself for your well being and those you love.

Yours truly,

Barbara

For Your Well Being is published bi-weekly. We bring you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!

The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on speakers for hospital-sponsored community events, healthcare organizations, nurses, conferences and women’s groups. Our speakers are hand-selected. They are not only experts in their fields, they connect with their audiences while bringing them life-changing information, smiles of recognition and ultimately a sense of well being and hope.

Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me great joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.