Chamber Expo Schedule Released

Tenth Annual Southwest Florida Regional Business Expo at Harborside Event Center. The full day event on Wednesday May 7 is sponsored by the News-Press and Southwest Florida College with support from: Office Depot, Printer's Ink, Harborside Events Center, LAMAR Outdoor, WINK TV, LITE-FM & WINK AM & WNOG AM. The 2003 event theme is "Building Business For SW Florida" with an emphasis on Business Marketing plus Workforce Development.

Activities kickoff on Wednesday morning with a Special Small Business Survival Seminar Series featuring an assembly of panelists in the area of marketing, sales, customer service, and buying behavior. Cost to attend the Business Survival seminar is $79. Discounts are provided for volume purchases. Each seminar seat includes books, tapes and training materials valued in excess of the seat price. Seminar organizers are offering a money back guarantee to all those who register for the seminars. The seminar will be held twice on May 7, at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Nine additional seminars for business leaders and area career seekers will be held.

A Computer Security Seminar will be presented by Southwest Florida College. This presentation will cover the aspects of computer, network, and Internet security in today's global business environment including E-Business and E-Commerce. Seminar presenters include Shane P. Lauber, who currently owns his own company in Tampa, FL and works for Advanced Teknowlogy Professionals teaching the CTT+ and MCT train the Trainer courses. He started his teaching career at Southwest Florida College in Ft. Myers and is now the Dean of Students at the Tampa campus and teaches the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) program in Tampa. His certifications include: A+, Net+, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, and MCT and is currently pursuing the Security+ and CISSP certifications. The seminar is free to attendees and begins at 11:30 AM.

Free seminars and clinics in the human resource area for business leaders and career seekers will be held concurrently, on a space available basis, during the day on the following topics:

Identifying & Training Top Performers -12:15 PM

Teambuilding-1:30 PM

The Value of Employee Training: Xtreme Tools for Talent Retention-2:45 PM

Appreciation in the Workplace: 25 Xtremely E-Z, Frugal & Fun Ideas-2:45 PM

Resume' Tips and Interview Skills-12:15 PM

Dress for Success-1:30 PM

Southwest Florida Resources for Career Seekers-2:45 PM

Careers in the Military-4:00 PM

All seminar attendees are provided free entry to the event with a business card or resume.

The Regional Business Expo will also feature an Xtreme Employment Center and Resource

Area. Companies that want to recruit new talent for their organization will want to be a part of the Xtreme Employment Center area. Human resource consulting companies and education and training providers will use the Xtreme Resource Area for interviewing, networking, learning and demonstration activity. Booth Display in the Business to Business area or the Xtreme Employment area is limited and space is currently available.

The Expo event wrap-up is a President's Reception from 5-7 PM. Tickets for the reception can be purchased at the Expo event.

The first 2000 attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the Southwest Florida Employers Workforce Guide produced by the Workforce Development Board of Southwest Florida serving the five county region of Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee. The publication includes information on Demographic Trends, Recruitment Strategies, Training Strategies, Retention Strategies and Workforce Initiatives.

For Business Survival Series Seats or for complete event information, contact The Chamber of Southwest Florida at 239-278-4001 or visit www.chamber-swflorida.com.