Edward Livingston & Bryan Loeffler, The Livingston Firm presenting on Interlectual Propert Law to members and guests of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Small Business Resource Network at the Lee County Economic Developement Center in Downtown Fort Myers.
Lorna Kibbey writes:
We will meet, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, January 19 at the Lee County Economic Development Office in downtown Fort Myers - 2201 Second Street, Fort Myers, FL 33901.
Presenters will be Edward M. Livingston and Bryan L. Loeffler - U.S. Registered Patent Attorneys and SBRN Members. They concentrate their practice in patent law and other areas of intellectual property law, including trademarks/servicemarks, trade dress, trade secrets, copyrights, franchising, and litigation. Ed is also Board Certified by the Florida Bar in intellectual property law. Whether you are an inventor, an entrepreneur, a small business or a major corporation, protecting your intellectual property is a critical part of any business endeavor. Ed and Bryan will be giving a general overview of intellectual property law and discussing issues that you should be on the lookout for to protect you and your clients.
The evening begins with the Resource Network’s monthly “Network After Five” social event where members and guests network and exchange ideas for growing their business.
Cost for SBRN members is $15 per person, which includes hors d’oeuvres. Guests and unaffiliated small business owners pay $20 per person.
Space is limited and RSVP is required. To register, go online to www.sbdcseminars.org. Deadline for registration is Wednesday, January 15.
Can't wait to see you all!
Links learning more:
The Livingston Firm - Website + Blog:
This event is an extraordinary value for anyone that owns a small business. -
Terry & Kay Wynter
Two of SBRN's distinguished members will be speakers: President-elect Barbara Melvin, Wells Fargo and Reggie Blackmon, Greater Florida Insurance. Their company's are also sponsors. Website and Social Media Marketing is provided by SBRN member Birgit Pauli-Haack and sponsored by her company Relevanza, Inc
The 2012 Entrepreneur's Law School is presented by the Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University!
This all-day workshop is an opportunity to get your small business legal questions answered by professionals in the field of law.
Choose from tracks of 50 minutes each on subjects such as legal contracts, commercial leases, legal structures, business continuity, employment law, foreclosures, and more!
Entrepreneur's Law School will take place at Florida Gulf Coast University Student Union Ballroom from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The day will kick off with a continental breakfast sponsored by Costco at 8:30 a.m. Sessions conducted by the area's finest attorneys, followed by lunch with the attorneys, highlighted by guest lunch speaker Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw, President, Florida Gulf Coast University.
The afternoon session includes a dynamic panel discussion on the effects of small business bankruptcy from a legal, tax, finance, and insurance perspective. In addition to the workshops, a mini tradeshow will take place.
The event is sponsors by Pavese Law Firm, Relevanza, Greater Florida Insurance, Wells Fargo and Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Company
We all work with small businesses and we are experts in our fields. Many of us share information on websites, blogs, and other sites, where we can learn from each other and provide also a web of resources online. The ideal environment to pool resources and share knowledge.
Please fill out this online form with your information and you will be included in our online directory. Please use the information posted to share each other's posts, like each other's pages and retweet each other's tweets, if you feel the information share is relevant to your audience as well.
Social Media Bootcamp: How to use Social Media to Increast Traffic to your Website?
Where: FGCU Renaissance Center, Naples
When: Fridays: Jan 13, Jan 20 and Jan 27 - 3 - 6pm
Presented & Hosted by Small Business Development Center & Relevanza, Inc
….to reflect on the past year and on those who have helped to shape our business in significant ways. We evaluate strategic relationships, reflect on successes, lessons learned and plan for the upcoming year – and this is exactly what we are going to do tomorrow at the SBRN Strategic Planning Retreat!
I encourage all our members to take on a leadership role within the group in the new year. Only through active participation, input and involvement from you we can become more successful.
This is also, of course, the season to give thanks, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Southwest Florida SBRN and for the support and encouragement from the Steering Committee. I wish all of you a wonderful Holiday Season!
Marie Grasmeier
Southwest Florida SBRN President
This morning, I received not one but two messages, which appear to have come from the Better Business Bureau about a complaint filed against my company. Although at first glance, it looked very legitimate with proper spelling, signature and logo image, however when looking at the link to be clicked on it didn't show a BBB.org domain name just an numeric IP address, something like 38.106.32.186.
There was something phishing about it, as a ligitimate business would make sure that the link goes back to their website and not to some unrecognizable IP address. So I enter this string into a Google search box: "Bogus BBB.org e-mails" and the first top results where all about an alert the Better Business Bureau has posted on various websites.
Read more about it on the Central Florida BBB site from Wednesday 12/7/2011: "ALERT: Scam Email Claims It’s from BBB"
This email is fraudulent and does not originate from BBB. The email attachment and link are malicious and we are strongly advising to not open or click them.
Our Steering Committee meets monthly on the day of our networking event (third Thursday), from 4:30 to 5:30. The December meeting will be held on Friday, December 9, from 9:00 to 1:30. This will be a Strategic Planning session for the Steering Committee of 2011 and 2012. We will review our 2011 goals and plan for 2012. Nancy Boyle, our Statewide Director, will be present at the meeting. If you plan to attend this meeting, RSVP is required. Contact Lorna Kibbey and let her know you’ll be there (LKibbey@FGCU.edu).
The Accounting Committee of Fred Tenorio, Marie Grasmeier and Michael Willis want to alert SBRN members of end of the year tax code changes which will affect virtually all employers and taxpayers.
Unless they are extended by Congress which looks unlikely given the continuing Congressional deadlock, the following tax credits will disappear December 31, 2011.
There are other changes or potential changes which may occur before the end of the year and to help you with your year end or 2012 tax planning, please contact Fred, Marie or Mike for specific details.
Birgit Pauli-Haack
Small Business Resource Network Southwest Florida
