Upcoming Events

Walk - Bike - Bus
to School and Work Day
Friday, May 16, 2008

May Cal Shakes
Opening Season Event
Friday, May 16th: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Theater Square, Orinda, CA 94563

The Orinda Chamber of Commerce and the City of Orinda celebrate the opening of the 2008 California Shakespeare Theater Season. This season will be the 35th in Cal Shake's long history of excellence. The "Cal Shakes" plays represent everything fun and good about the east bay arts scene.

Come join the celebration, and pick up your new schedule for the 2008 performance schedules. Look for lot's of Fun, Food, Music and great shopping at our Cal Shakes Festival Night.

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Chamber Tips

Over the next six weeks this resource will walk you through the steps of creating a solid marketing plan. Sign up (free) and get started in developing your marketing plan today.

Volunteer with California Shakespeare Theater!

Volunteers are a vital part of any nonprofit organization and California Shakespeare
Theater is no exception.  Volunteering with California Shakespeare Theater can be a great way to spend time with family and friends, make new friends and experience new things, see great theater for free, and most importantly, achieve the feeling that you are paying it forward in the spirit of volunteerism.  To learn more about the California Shakespeare Theater Volunteer program or sign up to volunteer, simply contact the volunteer Coordinator at 510.548.3422 ext 101 or via email at eschrey@calshakes.org.

2008 Season:
PERICLES by William Shakespeare
AN IDEAL HUSBAND by Oscar Wilde
UNCLE VANYA by Anton Chekhov
TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare

Call 510.548.9666 or click www.calshakes.org

Contra Costa County Small Business Task Force Award Keynote Speaker Gives Tips for  Business Ethics

At the Contra Costa Council’s Small Business Task Force awards luncheon on May 9th, the event's keynote speaker David Gill, CEO, EthixBiz.com, a 1968 Cal Berkeley graduate, has studied the influence of ethics in the business world his whole career. He highlighted the three most important things he has learned:

1. Emphasis needs to be on positive and not negative. Too often attention goes to wrong and bad. It's really about excellence in achievement. There are often too many experts in shouting “no” instead of cheerleaders in shouting “yes.” My parents would say, what are you doing about it? You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem … figuring out how to hold up and praise what is right about the business world. St. Paul: "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." Be aggressive about praising and rewarding for good. Feed them positive support.
    
2. Most important thing: Get the mission straight. Purpose drives behavioral change in individuals. All businesses want to make money and keep an eye on the ball. Good inspiring mission taps into basic themes. Vision is so critical. What is a good mission or a good vision? First theme is to invent or create something good. Challenge employees to create, design/build something that will be beautiful, useful. Challenge them to help someone, fix something. build something beautiful or fix something broken. Help people recover their humanity in the act of doing their work. Make people want to get out of bed in the morning.
    
3. Culture and character are more important than ethics codes and ethics rules. If a company has a weak or corrupted culture, it will rationalize the rules. In such a culture, even the best of rules won’t be followed. If culture is toxic, a good code of ethics won’t be effective. You can have a genius code of ethics, but if you don’t build a strong culture, it’s not going to happen. The business implications are very clear. Hire people with good character and not just great technical skills.
    

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Orinda Events & News

Contra Costa Council’s Small Business Task Force Honors Orinda Motors at May 9th Small Business Awards Luncheon

The event's keynote speaker was David Gill, CEO, EthixBiz.com, a 1968 Cal Berkeley graduate. Please visit his keynote speech highlights in the left column of this e-News edition.

Union Bank's Financial Services officer Nicole Forte commented, “Our existing clients are so pleased we are here. I am looking forward to becoming active in the Chamber of Commerce and meeting local individuals and business owners - and be sure to attend our Grand Opening on June 4^th, at 5:30pm."

In cooperation with the Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda and Pleasant Hill Chambers of Commerce the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will hold a workshop for employers interested in learning more about what they can do to maintain a legal workforce and avoid violating federal hiring laws on Tuesday, May 13, 5pm – 7pm at the Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa.

The presentation will include information on correctly completing the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9) and employers’ responsibilities to ensure they hire authorized workers, as well as hands on introduction to fraudulent document detection.  ICE will also brief employers on the agency’s IMAGE initiative, which stands for ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers.  As part of IMAGE, ICE is partnering with companies to strengthen hiring practices and reduce the unlawful employment of undocumented foreign nationals.  Businesses participating in IMAGE must adhere to a series of best practices including the use of the E-Verify Employment Verification Program, administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Number Verification System, administered by the Social Security Administration.

ICE provides training to IMAGE partners on proper hiring procedures, fraudulent document detection, and anti-discrimination laws.  ICE also shares data with employers on the latest illegal schemes used to circumvent legal hiring processes.  In addition, ICE reviews the hiring and employment practices of IMAGE partners and works collaboratively with them to correct isolated, minor compliance issues that are detected.

Those companies that comply with the terms of IMAGE will become “IMAGE certified,” a distinction that ICE believes will become an industry standard.  Participation in IMAGE helps companies reduce unauthorized employment and minimize identity theft.

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25th Orinda 4th of July Celebration

4^th of July Celebration update

This year - Orinda will be celebrating its 25^th Fourth of July Celebration. The festivities will begin on Wednesday, July 2^nd from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. with the "Reach For The Stars" party at Theater Square.  Mark your calendars. Talk about Fun!!

Call Sylvia Gonos Deaton 510-224-8548 for more details.