Good morning! It’s suppose to be another hot one in the Willamette Valley …so here’s to hoping that everyone has a way to stay cool.

We started our meetings today with our 30 second commercials. As I mentioned last week the commercials we give each week are to simulate the “elevator speech” you would give if you had 15-30 seconds with someone to talk about your business. I {“mystery” blog author} have found this routine to be VERY valuable. When I first came to PEERS I was unsure about how to talk about my business, which screamed lack of confidence and commitment. A little more than a year later, I can introduce myself and my business easily and confidently. I would encourage anyone involved with a business {even if it isn’t yours} to develop and practice an “elevator speech”… then get ready for the flood-gates to open!

Shelley {Alta’s Antiques and Collectibles} started us off today with what sounded like a new line for her business “bringing vintage jewelry to your home {or business}.” Very catchy. Janelle represented the dental office of Drs. Bugni, Laster, & Jensen solo today, but had no trouble reminding us that their office is accepting new patients, performs oral surgery, and has excellent referrals for orthodontics. Peg O read a brief intro for Citizens Bank that was summarized with the end line of “…a breath of fresh banking.” Did you know that Ilene and her team at A&S Accounting will set up your Quickbooks? They’re a full service accounting firm that’s ready for whatever you need. Amanda {Amanda Photographic} is already taking reservations for 2013 weddings and dates are sure to fill up fast. Nadine {GF RN & RN On-Call} is now offering workshops for Corps. & businesses on the GF diet and the potential health benefits for them as a company. Lora {Initials Inc} brought goodies from her new fall/winter catalog. Oni {Balance Point Acupuncture} announced that she has office space for rent. It would be the perfect match for a massage therapist or other alternative healing profession. Joni {Essentially Healed} has focused her commercial to specialize in working with professional women in alternative healing through essential oils and energy body work. Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} is often asked by prospective clients what they will get from her graphic design services, and the answer is full release of EVERYTHING. Wow!
We had a guest visit us today: Jacquie Dunham from Jacquie Sews. Specializing in zipper replacement, alterations, and wedding dresses Jacquie said that she can’t turn down a bride 🙂 We’re excited to have her visit us!
Today we missed Anne, Amy, Lori, Karen, and the ladies from Valley Eye Care.

Our speakers today were Tara and Peg W.

Tara has recently rejoined the group through the State Farm office of Jeff Mills. Since the summer season is often packed with parties, weddings, and special events Tara gave an intro to extremely important coverage that a ‘special events endorsement’ provides. A special events endorsement extends your home/renters/condo insurance policy to a venue separate from your residence for a limited time period {usually 24 hrs-a few days}. This is valuable in the event that you or a guest causes damage to the venue property or someone gets hurt outside of the venue’s control. However most insurance providers do NOT cover liquor liability through the special events endorsement. This must be shopped for separately and can be quite costly. *A quick side-note: It is very very very important to have a licensed {OLCC for Oregon} person serving the alcohol at any event outside your residence.

Another summer topic Tara addressed is PIP {Personal Injury Protection}. While this, to me, seems more important than ever during the summer with road-trips etc it is important to have year-round. And in Oregon we are lucky in a way because it’s a required part of your auto insurance policy {Thanks for that info Tara}. PIP is the first and immediate coverage for medical bills when you’ve been in an auto-incident. Sometimes it can be difficult to establish fault, or perhaps the fault is shared by multiple parties, meanwhile you need medical treatment and the bills could start to pile up. PIP will begin covering those costs, as well as loss of income, until fault is established and a liability settlement is reached. I imagine this is especially critical when the motorist at fault is uninsured {yikes!}. You can reach Tara at the State Farm office of Jeff Mills on 9th Street in Corvallis. Visit the website here for contact info.

Peg W of Pathfinder Travel Inc is in the vacation and leisure travel business. Her 30 years of experience give her the skills to sort through all the material for critical and relevant information when arranging a client itinerary. 75 years of combined experience with her office partners allows them to manage one city office {by appointment} and three satellite/residence offices. Available nearly 24/7 Peg gives her cell number to every client before they depart… and it’s come in handy more than once.

Today Peg talked to us about Le Boat: A self-tour by boat company operating in the rivers and canals of Europe. …Do I really need to say more? Since this is a self-tour you may start and stop as you please taking in fishing, village shopping, sight-seeing, markets, swimming {but not in the busy canals}, history, and culture. You can rent bikes to explore river/canal side villages and cities as well as experience going through the locks.  Available as a one-way or round trip tour and with varying levels of luxury these boat tours are quite reasonably priced. Planning assistance is available as is pre-ordering your groceries… wow. A 7 night sample trip {during peak season at the top luxury level – 6 anchor 2012 rates} for a group of up-to 9 people goes for $6875.00 {$764/person}; while a 7 night sample trip {peak season – 3 anchor 2012 rates} for a group of up-to 12 people in France can go for $4155 {$346/person}. Give Peg a call for more awesome info on Le Boat.

Until next week…