 This
Month's Issue:
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PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
Our Gala Ball was nothing but the greatest of successes. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Julia Connolly and Clare Bennett for their efforts to bring all the elements of the Ball together. Everyone was inspired by our speakers, and award recipients as well as the outstanding performances of the NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, and the student performers from the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped. Bravo to all for a job well done.
As I bid you all a fond farewell as your President, I leave with mixed emotions. The events and programs of the last three years have been great fun to have been involved with. But there is a tremendous amount of work to be done. Our membership base has eroded, and we must concentrate our efforts on rebuilding the appeal of the IBO. This will include a review of programming, benefits, and the timing, content and location of meetings. Your new Executive will have many challenges, and I can assure you that I and other "retirees" will be available to help. Together, we can only succeed.
James Doran
President, IBO
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IBO MONTHLY MEETINGS
November Meeting
Wednesday, November 10th - 6.30pm
** NOTE SPECIAL LOCATION AND START TIME **
Location: The Southgate Hotel, 7th Ave and 31st Street, New York, NY
Networking and Elections for the 2005 Executive Board
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IBO CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
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November
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Wednesday
Nov 10th
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October IBO NY Meeting
Note Special Location: The Southgate Hotel, 7th Ave and 31st Street, New York, NY
Also: Elections for the 2005 IBO Executive Board.
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6:30 PM
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Tuesday
Nov 16th
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NYC Breakfast Networking Meeting
Fitzpatrick's Grand Central Hotel, 44th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Contribution for light breakfast is $10.
Any questions, contact Tom Ward at TGWard718@aol.com or 718-565-0383.
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8:00 AM
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Tuesday
Nov 16th
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New Jersey Meeting
Presenter: Patrick McNamara Esq., of Scarinci & Hollenbeck to speak about land use issues and Highlands Preservation in New Jersey.
Networking 6:30pm
Introduction of Attendees and Presentation 7-8pm
Molly Maguire's in Clark, NJ. (website www.mollymaguires.com for directions). For further info, please contact Pat Sheridan (sheridan@fleetwoodonline.com)
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6:30 PM
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December
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December 7th
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New Jersey Holiday Meeting
Entertainment Seamus Kellaher
$25 per person for buffet dinner and cash bar. Payment can be made in advance by check or credit card by Friday, December 3rd. Cash only at the door.
Please RSVP.
Molly Maguire's in Clark, NJ. (website www.mollymaguires.com for directions). For further info, please contact Pat Sheridan (sheridan@fleetwoodonline.com)
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TIME TBA
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Wednesday
Dec 8th
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Christmas Party
Details will be announced shortly.
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TIME TBA
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SPECIAL OFFER
RENEW MEMBERSHIP BY DECEMBER 20TH AND RECEIVE 10% DISCOUNT
We are in the midst of preparing the membership invoices for 2005. The invoices will go out in the mail this week. As an early payment incentive, payments received no later than December 20, 2004 will be discounted 10%. If you do not receive a mailed invoice please call me at 212.750.8118 or email clareb@ibo-ny.com. I may need to update your contact information in our database. You may also submit payment by downloading the membership application from the IBO web site, completing the form with credit card information and faxing directly to me at 570.828.6907 - send before December 20th to receive the discount.
The IBO is planning ahead for an exciting 2005. We encourage you to renew your membership in support of the year ahead. Among plans for the year ahead we are pursuing a new meeting location, growing our Guest Speaker Program, planning more events such as “A Taste of Ireland” evening in February, the summer party, holiday party and other events. Our Mentoring Program is growing successfully and we are looking into implementing other membership opportunities. All this is near impossible without your support and help.
Members of the IBO are invited to serve on several committees, but this is not a requirement for those of you whose time does not allow. If you are an active member and would like to help out the IBO in any capacity growing membership, improving communications, social events, etc. we welcome your involvement.
Finally, please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries or comments you might have at any time.
Thank you,
Clare Bennett
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NOLAN'S NOTIONS
An occasional column penned by a former IBO President.
I write this column with mixed feelings. As some of you no doubt know, I am heading home to Ireland after a short stay here …like a round of golf I am walking up to the 19th for a farewell with friends, after 18 years in America!
On the one hand, I am sad to leave. My family, Mary, Heather, Niamh and David are truly grateful for everything America has given us, made us and taught us!
I am humbled by all the good times and occasions we have enjoyed in the past 18 years in the USA! The many friends we made, the many kindnesses shown us and especially the extraordinary welcome shown to us by Americans and Irish of all walks of life, at times unsolicited, when in reality I never expected any such reciciprocal. You see, I had been used to shoveling out the Irish welcome for years before I came here, in my capacity as an Irish Tourist Board employee and as an Irish happy-go-lucky guy, constantly making up for my lack of wealth with an over-abundance of joy and banter. Such was my currency, and I never expected an even or better exchange for it!
Of course, mentioning currency, I am sad too that I will have a very disadvantageous exchange rate going back to Ireland this time, as he Euro has soared as the dollar’s fortunes (a true oxymoron) have plummeted! Still I gained on the roundabouts too while the swings were idle!
I am sorry too for not having done more while I was here. More for my family and more for others. Yes there were places and events we should have gone to, or not. People I ought to have spent more time with, and certainly others I should have avoided. There were many times when I ought to have spent more time with my family, or at work, or helping others. Regrets, “Je ne regret rien” …(ok so I still like the French…George may have won the battle, but without the Bastile very few of us would have a pot to piss in!)
I am on the other hand happy to be leaving! (Liar)…I am looking forward to the challenge of moving to another country.. yes Ireland has changed that much in the past two decades that it truly is another country! But The US has also changed and while change is a good thing, one must be careful to balance the pace of it, and the intent of it, lest one tosses out the baby with the bath-water.
I read somewhere that a society is in jeopardy when it loses it’s tradition, dropping all it’s ritual, without due regard for the role such ritual has played in reinforcing the fabric of its daily life!
I fear for both our societies. I know that Ireland has leaped forward economically in the past 20 years, but it has left a pallid wake behind it, indicative of the inequitable distribution of the benefits of progress. Suicide is up, drug use is ubiquitous, poorer folk are irrelevant, religion has lost its context and money has replaced deeds as the currency of humility and commitment!
The US has equally become less liveable! Our very precious individual freedoms have been annexed by an over-zealous administration driven by the catalyst of fear and retribution! Our less fortunate have not been lifted by the tsunami of Wall Street or the rhetoric of politics!
But hope springs eternal. People generally are inherently good, and out for the good of others and the safe future of the world. Sacrifice is necessary sometimes, indeed often, to set things right again. Like a dose of the flu, this is serious but unlikely to kill us! How we conduct our lives in the future and what we leave to our children is up to all of us!
Mary and I would like to thank all our friends, here and in Ireland who have encouraged us, supported us, held our hands and loved us. You know who you are, and we are truly in your debt! Our new home in Salthill, Galway, while not ready for visitors yet, will be a beacon in Ireland, a haven for all lost sailors and landlubbers alike. Come see us, stop a while and share your lives with us, whenever you can. We owe you that and you owe it to us too!
I take a moment here to say a posthumous farewell to some friends whose spirits live with me each day, wherever I am, Pat, Harry, Martin and the others, too numerous to mention who share my day, and many of yours. Their good humour, wisdom and humanity are girded to mine each and every day! While any of us live our lives well, they will never be forgotten and will live in our hearts forever!
Brian Nolan
Celtic Solutions - Outstanding sales, marketing, management consultancy and solutions for your business.
PO Box 513, Oradell NJ, 07649,
201 280 5022
Coming soon to 65 Ocean Wave, Salthill, Galway, Ireland.
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IBO GALA BALL
2004
The IBO’s 2004 Gala Ball held at the New York Hilton on October 15th was a very successful evening. The sold-out event entertained over 400 guests with music provided by the band, Summer Wind, with very special, memorable, performances provided by students from the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped and 30 members of the Pipes and Drums of the New York City Police Department Emerald Society. Harpist, Emily John, provided entertainment during the cocktail reception.
Our honorees were presented with beautiful Irish cut crystal. We were very pleased to honor Brother Rick Curry of the NTWH with the Humanitarian Award, the Pipes and Drums of the NYC Emerald Society with our Celtic Spirit Award, Frank Dwyer and Peter Fitzpatrick received the Corporate Member of the Year Award and we presented Michael Doherty of Building Maintenance Service Corporation with the Business Person of the Year Award.
We sincerely express our grateful appreciation to all our generous raffle and silent auction contributors. Their donations helped us raise substantial funds that will enable us to provide charitable contributions to both the NTWH and the NYPD Emerald Society.
Corporate sponsorships provided to the IBO in support of the Gala Ball Event will ensure that the IBO will continue to thrive for the year ahead. We thank those corporations for their support.
The success of the night was completed at the after-party at Playwrights, hosted by Frank Dwyer and Peter Fitzpatrick. We discovered that there is a great deal of hidden talent in the IBO!
We would be remiss if we did not thank the following members for their hard work in helping us make the night so successful: Pat Foley of Celtic Crossroads, Allan Cullen of Steven’s Printing and Eugene Flanagan of Corporate Reproductions.
Photos of the night will be on our website. Click Here
Julia Connolly & Clare Bennett
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HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS HURTING PROFITABILITY?
Health insurance provides a key benefit to keep and attract good employees. However, with costs rising an average of about 15% a year, how do you manage to provide this benefit?
The answer is to look at your current insurance carrier, and to look at your plan design. The insurance carriers have developed innovative plan designs that allow you to get a program that makes sense for your business. These plans vary by:
- Doctor/hospital network
- Deductibles
- Co-insurance
- Maximum out of pocket (MOOP) expense
- With or without a prescription card
- With or without a hospital copay rider
- Copayment options
- Laboratory/Radiology/Therapy
- Alternative medicine
More employers are now sharing the costs with employees, so employees are
also more interested in plan designs that are known as “consumer driven
health plans”.
In addition, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) now have competition from
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) which do not have the “use it or lose” issue.
The HSAs provide for pre-tax contributions that grow tax-deferred, and
save the employer the 7.65 FICA expense. It is like a medical IRA that can
be used for a variety of medical expenses.
Jim Faulkner
VP- Operations
Coastal Financial Group
1-800-952-4584
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IBO
MENTOR PROGRAM
If you have a career that you would like to develop further, run an enterprise that you would like guidance on, or simply would like a wise and unbiased head to turn to - the IBO Mentoring Program could be the answer. We have access to experienced individuals both within and outside the IBO who have offered to act as Mentors to our members.
The Program is free to IBO members and is totally confidential.
If you would like to learn more, email Simon Pereira Shorey at simonps@ibo-ny.com or call Simon on (212) 208 2526.
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NOTICEBOARD
- IBO Website Members Forum
Just a reminder that once you have logged into the Members Forum (left hand side of the IBO Home Page at www.ibo-ny.com) if you click on to ‘Members Forum’ you will have access to pages for:
- Job Opportunities
- Members seeking positions
- For Sale/For Rent
- Misc. Event Announcements
- IBO Suggestion Box
You can post your own items and read those posted by other members. This is a new area so initially there will be only a few items there. However, the more you use it, the more useful it will become! So please post about any non-IBO events that you wish to publicize, post job opportunities that you hear about, and indeed anything else pertinent. This is YOUR area. Please use it and read it every time you come to the website.
- Success Stories
One hears of many success stories of how membership of the IBO has led to new business, a new job, etc. We are seeking to collect these so that they can be used as ‘sales points’ to attract and retain members. If you have one (or many) of these stories to tell, please email us now at success@ibo-ny.com and let us know.
- Membership Renewal
If you have not already done so, please take the opportunity to contact Clare Bennett, our IBO Administrator, to renew your 2004 Membership. Your financial support of the organization is vital to its existence and growth. If you have paid we would appreciate it if you could verify that your payment transaction was completed as we have discovered that due to technical errors several member payment transactions were incomplete and therefore, not validated into the IBO database. Clare is streamlining the database, printing new badges for 2004 members, and will be updating the on-line directory shortly, removing inactive members. Clare can be contacted at 212.750.8118 or email at clareb@ibo-ny.com and she is available to answer any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions you may have. She welcomes your calls and shares all feedback she receives with the Executive Committee.
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About The IBO:
The Irish Business Organization of New York, Inc. is an non-profit,
non-denominational organization, which seeks to promote, foster, and
advance the business interests of Irish and Irish American business
people in the tri-state area.
The IBO News
is the official newsletter of the Irish Business Organization of New
York, Inc. It is published 10 times per year. This newsletter is distributed
to members of the IBO, guests from recent IBO meetings, and other individuals
from the NY-NJ-CT business community.
Newsletter Staff
Editor: Simon Pereira Shorey, GeneAfrica, Inc. (212) 208 2526
Technical Support: Jim McGuire, Eric Elias: Teledotcom Inc., 212 675 6565
Contact Information:
The Irish Business Organization of New York Inc.
FDR Station, PO Box 6425
New York, NY 10150-1901
Tel: 212 750 8118
Fax: 212 747 1820
email: info@ibo-ny.com
www.ibo-ny.com
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