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FACES & PLACES POW                                                                                  
Last Tuesday, business leaders from the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Urban-Intertribal Community and the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber mingled and noshed at an Area Chambers Mixer at TCU. This networking event was hosted by TCU Community Outreach.
 
From left: Erica Estrada, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce; Eddie Hartfield, Dannon; Dennise Babiche, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.
 
To view more pictures from this event, click here.
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It's here! Yay, Pinstripes. The New York Yankees of the bistro, bowling and bocce world is open at Clearfork and deserving of your attention. But let's not allow the bowling and bocce to overshadow the bistro part available from the scratch kitchen. Jillian Taylor won't. She's the 5-star catering manager and is rolling down the lane toward a strike with this offer of a lunch catering presentation from chef Juan Colorado for up to 10 people. This could include wood oven bread and pesto salads, pastas such as meatballs and cavatappi, a chef entrée specialty and chocolate chip cookies. Anyone have nine friends?

Very Important (arts) Patron: Not many of us ever own the feeling of being a VIP. (Grandkids don't count.) Mr. B guesses the VIP feeling might even be better than winning a B2B Insider giveaway. What if you could do both? What if you could win a giveaway to be a VIP? ArtFairSourceBook.com rates the MAIN ST. Arts Festival produced by Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives as the No. 4 fine arts event in the U.S. Mr. B rates Claire Armstrong, the Pavlov PR pro, a No. 1 Insider giver-away. She has arranged for two, four-day VIP passes to the festival April 19-22. EACH day, you and a guest are invited to hang out at the VIP Pavilion area across from the University of Texas at Arlington Main St. stage and receive two complimentary drink tickets and light dinner from The Capital Grille. The VIP Pavilion offers prime viewing of the headline musical performances. In addition, you will receive the 2018 MAIN ST. Arts Festival commemorative poster.

Beauty in eye of beholder: Mr. B's four-year-old, gym rat, power-lifting granddaughter, The Great BamBino, has a princess gown side, too. Seeing her do 30 squat thrusts with 32 pounds dressed as Cinderella, Ariel, Elsa or Mulan is a bit disconcerting. Her animated Disney fixation began with Belle of Beauty and the Beast fame, the story of the young woman and a Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end. The Children's Theater at Casa Mañana presents 24 performances of this epic and ageless tale from April 20-May 13. Casa's Lindsey Rushen-ed over a family four-pack of tickets for opening night, April 20 at 7 p.m.

So, you were a petal pusher: In ancient times, Mr. B was a volunteer at the very fab Fiesta de Oro, a fundraiser for Lena Pope. He sold flower picks, which enabled people to buy a fake plant and exchange it for a real prize. Seven straight years he won the Gordon Boswell Floral Salesperson of the Year. B was fired Year 8 after he tried to bribe a guy to buy more flowers. He brought a Bud to a Coors exec. Whoops! You and a guest, however, will be warmly welcomed April 24th by the Keegan Hand with food, drink, music and the enchanting gardens at Joe T Garcia's. Lena Pope assists children and families in countless ways. One is the Chapel Hill Academy, which will add grades 6-8 next year; another is the Early Learning Center at UNTHSC.

Congratulations to the April 4th Prize Winners: 
  • Mark Hotchkiss, First Command Financial Services
  • Dena Walts, Expanco
  • Brett Jeffreys, Handyman Matters
  • Katy Kothmann Abraham, Construction Cost Management
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HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAIDSoundBytes
Get on the bus, Gus: What if all 75,000 Tarrant County College students started riding the Trinity Metro buses now that the college is picking up the tab? First, the stipulations. It's not available for non-credit students in continuing education, Early College High School or Dual Enrollment students. The voucher reward is capped at $60 per student. Official guesstimates are it might cost between $500,000 and $1 million a year and money will come from bookstore sales, rental of facilities, vending machines, etc.

Networking ... in baseball: Jim Schlossnagle (pictured right) envisioned his dream job while an assistant baseball coach at Tulane. Private school, southern U.S., good city, team with needs. In the early 21st century, TCU and Fort Worth fit the bill. Except legendary coach Lance Brown's teams weren't crummy. So Jim went to Las Vegas to coach until Brown retired in 2003. He got some help to become TCU's head baseball coach. Seems former New York Yankees great and Fort Worth resident Bobby Brown had attended Tulane Medical School and knew Schlossnagle. Brown was a tennis doubles partner of TCU AD Eric Hyman. Game. Set. Match.

Lead or get out of the way: Know a president, principal or chief executive officer who has strengthened and transformed your organization? Then nominate that person for the Chamber's Susan Halsey Award. Susan was a former Chamber Chair and a giant in Fort Worth's legal, real estate and civic worlds. The award debuted in 2016, and the recipient was Lillie Biggins, president of Texas Health Fort Worth. Nominees must demonstrate the ability to actively support advancement; create a vision and inspire others; establish a positive image for business while leading it to higher levels of success; encourage innovation and risk-taking among employees; give back to the community; and mentor. Go to the nomination form here. Deadline for nominations is May 7.

Arrive early: That's good advice for 1) networking and 2) choosing a prime seat at luncheons/dinners that alternate different desserts.

Nothing the matter with kids today: Fort Worth Academy will be honored for 20 years and about 700 visits to Meals on Wheels clients. The middle school children, ages 10-14, bring food to the homebound at a senior living facility.  Associate Head of School Sharon Rice schedules the visits and transports the children.

"I'm still working until 10:30 (p.m.) At least it's no longer 1 a.m."  

-- Brooke Howerton, solo-preneur
The Paisley Heart 
    
Basics of harassment: Laura O'Donnell, an attorney more than 20 years, said during the Chamber's Employment Law Update presented by Haynes and Boone that the biggest change she has seen has been best illustrated by #MeToo. "The social and print media interest is the big differentiator," she explained. Here are some of her thoughts that might enlighten your workplace:
  • Unlawful harassment is ... conduct + based on sex or other protected categories + that causes tangible job detriment or creates a hostile environment.
  • An incident(s) still could be harassment even if a relationship were consensual at some point.
  • A victim may not need to resist for harassment to occur; there's no such thing "as asking for it"; conduct doesn't have to be deliberate or intentional.
Does this qualify as a groupie? When Francie Cooper, Director of Community Events for the Tarrant Area Food Bank, attends Pink Martini with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra this weekend, it will be her sixth time to "swoon, sway and sing to the Laud-erable music. Love them!"

Getting FLIRT-y: Those No Trespassing signs you see around railroad tracks? Always important, but moreso now with Trinity Metro testing new trains for TEXRail. Practice runs of two new FLIRTs (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) are ongoing many days and/or nights.

Leaving a Legacy: The Fort Worth Public Library Foundation received $16,500 from LegacyTexas Bank to support makerspace-type programming at the Fort Worth Library. The grant will support expanding access to 3D printers, robotics and other equipment so an educator can teach concepts and skills related to design, manufacturing, engineering, art and science.

Kudos: Texas Health Southwest, part of THR, again is a Top 100 hospital nationally, according to IBM Watson Health, which has artificial intelligence that other rankers don't have. Southwest is the only hospital recognized in north Texas and one of eight in the state.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Sponsored By

2018 BOOK OF LISTS AVAILABLE!resources
The 2018 Book of Lists have arrived in our office!  Compiled and published annually by the Fort Worth Business Press, this directory includes lists of top companies in more than 60 industries in Tarrant and Denton counties.

Order a copy for only $95 (members only) from our eCommerce store here (normally $225). Members need to login with member ID to receive member pricing on all publications.

Email Katie Kassler or call 817-338-3377 to schedule pickup or for more information. See more of our publications in our online store.
 
For sponsorship inquiries in B2B Insider, contact Jennifer Vuduris or call (817) 338-3335

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