LeTip of Denville meeting February 16, 2012

Posted on February 18, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday.

In attendance:
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Michelle Clevenger
Martha Paravati
Frank Berman

Absent:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Justin Marcus Smith
Joe Nugent
Joe Bellistri

No president and no guests today – Marianne Jones ably took the reigns of the meeting.

Today’s speaker was Dan Linkletter of Tri-State Computer Solutions LLC, the chapter’s resident IT professional.

Dan Linkletter

Dan Linkletter addressing the LeTip of Denville

Dan described his starting in the business in 1996 when he became the systems administrator at Woodbury Commons at the ripe old age of 18! Dan had already been responsible for maintaining the computers in his high school – which lead to him achieving a high GPA from his grateful teachers and in turn the opportunity to study IT and informatics at Rutgers University.

After college Dan had a couple of jobs before starting Tri-State CS with his friend Angelo, in Angelo’s spare bedroom. The company has been in existence for 6-1/2 years growing from sales of $150,000 in their first year to almost $1M this year – congratulations Dan! They moved out of the spare bedroom when his partner’s daughter was born and they moved into their current facility in Rockaway (just up the street from the Hibernia Diner!). Tri-State as a company sells, customizes, installs and maintains computers, printers and networks for a variety of clients but have had their greatest success with doctor’s offices and other medical professionals.

Rapt attention for Dan (left-to-right) Dan Gehrig, Bimal Gupta, Joe Troy, Martha Paravati

They provide remote backups, particularly of accounting software from their client’s servers to their own servers via “the cloud”. This allows clients to receive instant back-up of critical files in case of an emergency.

Dan has always enjoyed the socializing aspect of his business, unlike many of his contemporaries who prefer to spend their time hunched over computers and servers. He enjoys meeting his clients and spending time solving their problems. For all your computer repair and networking needs you can call Tri-State Computers Solutions.

After Dan’s talk John brought up the topic of having an evening mixer in Denville, inviting the local businesses to find out more about LeTip and its members. It turns out that Martha is on the Denville Chamber of Commerce and might be able to get some interest for the mixer within that group. John will meet up with Martha and see if a suitable venue can be found – maybe the new Irish bar in Denville would be a good place to start!

Next week we all do somebody else’s commercials having completed the visitation schedule. The meeting ended with our 30 second commercials and the passing of the tip bucket.

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LeTip of Denville meeting February 9, 2012

Posted on February 11, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Michelle Clevenger
Martha Paravati

Absent:
Frank Berman
Justin Marcus Smith
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Joe Troy – Secretary

Guests:
Joe Bellistri – Bellistri Training Solutions
Carol Lucas – Trinity Designs
Brian Soo Hoo – Euler Hermes
Alex – Independent Energy Consultant

We had a full house at this week’s meeting with four guests. All four guests got a chance to explain their own industries and how we could dollars in their pocket.

Today’s speaker was one of our newer members – Martha Paravati the banker of the group, from Valley National Bank. Martha started her talk with a great joke – something about a pen and a rectal (!) thermometer! She described her upbringing in Newark as the daughter of Italian immigrants before heading off to Rutgers to study psychology. Because of family issues she never got a chance to pursue a career in psychology and instead took a part-time job as a bank teller.

30 years later Martha is still with the same bank – now as an Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager! Valley National Bank was started in 1927 and have been through 23 mergers and 4 acquisitions to become the bank they are today with 200 branches across NJ and NY. Martha puts great store in the fact that VNB is still NJ based and has worked very hard to ensure that customer service is at its core. The fact that when you call them up you get someone who lives in NJ and knows where you are calling from is very significant.

Martha concluded her talk with a summary of the services that VNB offers businesses including Merchant Payment and Payroll Services.

Greg reminded everyone of the visitation schedule, where each member visits one other and then prepares to present their 30 second commercial “as them” at a future chapter meeting.

Scheduled Visitations are;
Robin Wolf              Bimal Gupta
Janet Navarro         Justin Marcus Smith
Frank Berman          Greg Angelillo
Rudy Riveron           Dan Gehrig
Marianne Jones        Michelle Lea Clevenger
Dan Linkletter          John Tully
Jeff Jones               Andy Krauser
Joe Troy                 Martha Paravati
Joe Nugent              Joe Troy

Joe Bellistri confirmed that he would be joining the group as our resident Personal Trainer. We look forward to hearing more about his services over the next couple of months and being whipped into shape. John Tully looks forward to receiving $50 for introducing the first new member of 2012!

The meeting ended with the passing of the tip bucket and the 30 second commercials.

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LeTip of Denville meeting February 2, 2012

Posted on February 3, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Michelle Clevenger

Absent:
Martha Paravati
Frank Berman
Justin Marcus Smith

Guest:
Joe Bellistri – Bellistri Training Solutions

No special treats or surprises at today’s meeting – we had what would pass as a “regular” meeting. We welcomed Joe Bellistri as a guest – Joe runs his own fitness and training company in Whippany. Greg also handed out the visitation assignments to the group for February. We will be presenting each others commercials at the meeting on February 24.

Today’s speaker was originally supposed to be Martha but she had an excused absence so Janet Navarro stepped up to the plate.

Janet Navarro addressing LeTip of Denville

Janet Navarro addressing LeTip of Denville

Janet talked about her background and how joining LeTip has helped her business.

She’s been practicing law for 15 years – first working for a solo practitioner then for a bank before setting up her own solo practice. Although she mainly handles real estate work now, her background is in litigation which she finds is invaluable in her practice – the ability to back up words with actions if deemed necessary. It also leaves her free to pick up additional litigation work if it becomes available.

Janet talked about how she received no business training in law school so joining LeTip has been really important in developing her business, especially having a very close network of “advisors” to fall back on. She singled out Marianne Jones as a particular example of a strong woman in business and how that has helped her keep going. The lack of management skills straight out of school is an issue facing many attorneys although some make it clear that they don’t want to learn any!

Janet Navarro and Dan Gehrig

Janet Navarro answering questions from the group

In response to some questions Janet talked about home closings and where some of the potential problems arise. Her job at the closing is to make sure the “deal” the buyer gets is the one that they wanted. Problems often come from assumptions – assuming something is part of the sale but actually isn’t. Many issues at closing are due to home inspection issues and Janet works hard to make sure that these issues don’t become a source of re-negotiation.

Before the meeting wrap-up and 30-second commercials Greg confirmed the LeTip of Denville “Rush into Spring” Drive. The first member to sponsor one new member between today and March 31 will receive $50 cash.

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LeTip of Denville meeting January 26, 2012

Posted on January 27, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.
In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Joe Nugent
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati
Michelle Clevenger

Absent:
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Justin Marcus Smith
Frank Berman

Greg was fully back in the swing of things and quickly brought the unruly mob under control. We welcomed our newest members Michelle and Frank (although Frank was in fact absent from the meeting).

Today’s speaker was Robin Wolfe of Sunrise Title Services ( www.sunrisetitleservices.com).

Robin Wolfe

Robin addressing the group

Robin has discussed her profession in front of the group in the past so rather than go over old ground she answered questions from the chapter on various matters pertaining to title insurance and introduced some of the group to some new terms and expressions.
Mechanics Lien – this happens when you’ve hired someone to do a job at your property and then didn’t pay them. The contractor can put a lien on the property to make sure they get paid eventually – although many are forgotten and only come to light upon a property sale.
Water and Sewer Lien – applied to the property by a local municipality or agency to reclaim the costs associated with supplying water and sewer services. Again often isn’t even known about until a property sale.
Title insurance is a state regulated entity and is required on all mortgaged properties. Theoretically they are not required if the buyer is buying outright with cash, but everybody does it because it uncovers all possible liens.
Adverse possession – if your neighbor occupies part of your land either with or without your knowledge, after 30 years they are entitled to claim the land under adverse possession laws.
Rights of way – generally not an issue because they are very well documented.
Co-ops and leaseholds – generally to be avoided because the contracts can include some very “strange” clauses that can become problematic.

Greg announced that the 30 second commercials would be in the form of one word, with a $5 prize going to the best one. The words ranged from the strange, “glox” from John Tully as a word played recently by Greg Angelillo in Words with Friends, to the heartwarming “love” from new daddy Greg. The winner of the $5 was Joe Nugent who suggested “prophylactic” which emphasized the protection that he offers!

After the meeting a report from the board was received which contained the following items:
First week of the month Greg will assign Visitation Schedule. Once the assignments have been made its imperative that each group member VISITS each other, and prepares a commercial for the person that you visit. The commercial will be on the 3rd week of the month.
Second week of the month is Progressive Five a Day. Simply bring a guest and receive $5.00, on the other hand no guest give $5.00 to our chapter
Third week is visitation commercials.
Fourth week is our Board Meeting.

Also, in the spirit of driving membership and guests, the board has decided to have a Spring Time Membership drive. The first member to recruit a new member by March 31st will receive $50 cash.

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LeTip of Denville meeting January 19, 2012

Posted on January 20, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Joe Nugent
Justin Marcus Smith
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati

Absent:
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress

Guests:
Frank Berman – Security Direct
Michelle Clevenger – Massage Therapist

Greg was back after his stint of paternity leave and was full of stories and reports of his new baby. His stories lead to reminiscences from some of the other members on their brushes with childbirth. Greg also confirmed that he will be contributing $100 in the chapter kitty because he FAILED to bring in the additional members he promised to bring in at the end of last year! On top of all that he also recently changed jobs and is now employed by Prudential.

Today’s speaker was Justin Marcus Smith ( www.jmarcussmith.com ) one of our newest members.

Justin Marcus Smith

Justin Marcus Smith addressing the group

Justin talked about his varied experiences in the technology world before he changed careers and became an attorney. His love of technology started in the 1970’s a time of impressive macro-scale tech projects such as the World Trade Center, the Sears Tower and the Space Shuttle. Although he started at college as a hard core scientist he switched mid-stream and became an econ major, but was still interested in tech companies and products and got caught up in the 1990’s trend towards micro-electronics. He went into project management at a time when many of his contemporaries went into management consultation and got involved with benchmarking research projects at electronics and component parts manufacturers. He also got involved in market research, measuring market share for companies such as 3Com and Intel.

LeTip of Denville

Andy, Joe N, Jeff and Rudy listening to Justin Smith

While working for a small manufacturer of networking components he got caught up in the bursting of the tech bubble in the late 1990’s and had to reassess his future. He had been working with contracts and agreements – all legal stuff at his company so the switch to the legal profession seemed like the perfect option.

Justin studied law at Rutgers Newark while in his early 30’s and after graduating worked for the NY Attorney General’s office (during Elliott Spitzer’s reign) prior to starting his own business where he deals mainly with small business clients handling disputes and contracts. He finds that his background in research and technology really helps him now with investigating the facts of each case and presenting detailed solutions for his clients.

A really fascinating talk from Justin and we all look forward to working with him more closely in the future.

The meeting ended with the 30-second commercials and the passing of the tip bucket.

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LeTip of Denville meeting January 12, 2012

Posted on January 13, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner today.

In attendance:
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati

Absent:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Joe Nugent
Justin Marcus Smith

Guests:
Frank Berman – Security Direct
Michelle Clevenger – Massage Therapist

Greg was still away on paternity leave so Marianne took the reins again and shook things up by declaring today as SDRAWKCAB YAD (Backwards day!). So we started with the 5 reasons to join LeTip and ended with the Pledge of Allegiance!

Today’s speaker was Dan Gehrig of Gehrig Construction ( www.gehrigconstruction.net ).

Dan Gehrig

Dan Gehrig addressing the group

Dan talked about the difference between a remodeler of the 1970’s and 1980’s and today’s version. Prior to 1980 the remodeler did everything on the job whereas today’s remodeler acts as more of a general contractor using specialty-trained sub-contractors.

There are many benefits to the home owner from this approach and Dan described a few of them:

  1. The GC directs and has oversight over the different sub-contractors. He handles the tradesman’s interactions rather than the homeowner.
  2. Using a GC allows planning for future work, where additions and modifications can be planned now to accommodate future expansion.
  3. Using skilled sub-contractors is generally faster than having one guy do everything, although the GC is there to make sure that things aren’t done too fast!
  4. The GC is responsible for the cleanliness of the site
  5. The GC is the main problem solver – not throwing their hands in the air, but actively solving issues as they arise.
  6. A good GC, although they may not be as individually skillful as the sub-contractors, has a knowledge of the whole job and is the person responsible for keeping up with any new rules and regulations.

All good reasons why you need a general contractor in charge and why you should talk to Dan for your remodeling needs!

Bimal, Janet, Robin and Rudy in "rapt attention" mode

It looks as though Frank and Michelle will be joining the group. We look forward to hearing more about their services over the coming months.

The meeting ended with the 30-second commercials and the passing of the tip bucket. Although 4 members were absent 14 tips were still passed between the group.

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LeTip of Denville meeting, January 5 2012

Posted on January 6, 2012 by JohnT

Welcome to 21012! We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.

In attendance:

Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Jeff Jones
Rudy Riveron
John Tully
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Joe Nugent
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati
Justin Marcus Smith

Absent:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Janet Navarro – Vice-President

Guests:
Frank Berman – Security Direct
Michelle Clevenger – Massage Therapist

Marianne filled in again as temporary chapter president.

We had two guests at the meeting and we hope that Frank and Michelle consider joining.

Andy Krauser addressing the group

Thursday’s speaker was Andy Krauser of Minuteman Press ( www.dover.minutemanpress.com ), the printer of the group.

Andy started with a great joke and then spoke about the fact that potential clients for him means just about anyone! People needed printing for many different reasons including the printing of cards and promotional items. Although traditionally 4-color printing was much more expensive than 2-color that’s not the case anymore as digital printing has brought down the price so that now there’s really no difference.

Dan, Justin and Marianne in rapt attention!

Andy talked about a couple of offers that he runs, that can be customized to anyone looking to promote their business. #1 was a referral certificate that he gives out to clients and if they bring back a referral they receive a discount on their next order AND the new client also receives a discount. #2 was a promotion where clients bringing new work to him (for quote) received a $25 gift cert for a local restaurant that Andy has partnered with – everyone wins! Andy also gave 28 different benefits of doing business with Minuteman Press!

The meeting ended with the passing of the tip bucket and our 30 second commercials.

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LeTip of Denville meeting, December 22, 2011

Posted on December 22, 2011 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner today.

In attendance:

Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Jeff Jones
Rudy Riveron
John Tully
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Joe Nugent
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati
Justin Marcus Smith

Absent:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Janet Navarro – Vice-President

Neither Greg nor Janet could be at today’s meeting so Marianne filled in ably as temporary chapter president. Welcome to our newest member Justin Marcus Smith – we look forward to hearing more about you and your services over the next couple of months.

Today’s speaker was yours truly, John Tully the Marketing “guy” for the chapter. The speaking engagement was thrust on me at the last minute so I tried not to bore the attendees with a little historical background on where I came from and how I ended up with my own company, dsm-llc, providing sales and marketing assistance to small business. Reminiscences included “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, my Art School days and my travels around the US and the world on behalf of my employers.

customized QR code

customized QR code

My takeaway to the group was a short demo on the use of customized, colorized QR codes as marketing tool above and beyond the standard black & white QR codes that are popping up on everything. The customized QR codes can be used to promote a brand from within the code and can be linked to specific landing pages, contact info and even Twitter feeds to generate “buzz”.

The meeting ended with the passing of the tip bucket and our 30 second commercials.

There is no meeting next week (December 29) because of the Christmas / New Year holidays. We will reconvene on January 5, 2012.

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LeTip of Denville meeting December 8, 2011

Posted on December 9, 2011 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.

In attendance:

Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
John Tully
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Joe Nugent
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati

Absent:
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Jeff Jones
Rudy Riveron

Guest:
Justin Marcus Smith – Attorney

Marianne & Jeff Jones and Rudy Riveron were attending the NJ Real Estate Convention in Atlantic City today. Marianne was due to speak so Dan Linkletter stepped up and pinch hit in her absence.

Dan’s company is Tri-State Computer Solutions.

Dan Linkletter addressing the group

Dan spoke about the need for companies to have a backup protocol. Many use tape backup which requires changing the tape daily and storing them off-site. This is fine in theory but do people do it everyday and if they do, who checks the tape?

Dan’s company offers an online based solution where a companies important stuff is backed up at night to off-site servers. The data is checked daily for integrity and can be transmitted back to the company at the touch of a button if needed.

They also offer a more in-depth solution where they employ both the off-site backup AND a mirrored server which saves every file and can be brought online instantly if needed.

While there are costs associated with this program they are much less expensive than being off-line. Some of Dan’s clients have calculated that they can lose $100,000/hr during downtime.

After Dan’s presentation we settled down to perhaps the most important part of the meeting  – informal networking over breakfast!

The most important part of the morning? Breakfast!

Greg Angelillo announced that next week’s meeting would not be held as a regular breakfast session, rather we would hook up with another local chapter and join their holiday gathering. It also looks as though Justin WILL be joining us as our newest member! Welcome aboard Justin.

The meeting ended with the passing of the tip bucket and our 30 second commercials.

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LeTip of Denville meeting December 1, 2011

Posted on December 2, 2011 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner yesterday.

In attendance:

Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Marianne Jones – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Jeff Jones
Dan Linkletter
Dan Gehrig
Joe Nugent
Rudy Riveron
Andy Krauser
Martha Paravati

Absent:
Janet Navarro – Vice-President
John Tully

Guest:
Justin Marcus Smith – Attorney

Today’s speaker was Robin Wolfe of Sunrise Title Services (www.sunrisetitleservices.com ).

Robin Wolfe at LeTip of Denville

Robin Wolfe addressing the LeTip of Denville chapter

Greg Angelillo made the following notes on Robin’s talk to the group:

Passion. Energy. Love for career. Robin Wolfe possesses all of those qualities and she is crazy about Title Insurance! A certified notary since 1982, Robin used her love of law and paralegal background to enter Title work in 1992. She’s been in love ever since.

This morning, Ms. Wolfe spoke passionately about her career, maybe mundane to others, but not her. Robin works at Sunrise Title in Hackettstown, NJ. These days, title insurance pricing is regulated by the state of NJ, so pricing is not an issue. Moreover, personal experience and getting the job done correctly and efficiently is what drives Robin and sets her apart. Robin says, “she loves uncovering past history” when it comes to title searches and “gets really excited” about finding “stuff” out about people’s property history.

Robin Wolfe is all you need for Title Insurance.

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