The First 90 Days

I would like to congratulate the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for completing the first 90 days of 2010 with a whole lot of enthusiasm and with a superior attitude for driving for results. As a volunteer Board with full time careers and families, I know of the challenges of balancing work, life and Board duties. I am proud of the leadership shown by this chapter for upholding the mission and vision for NAAAP.  On behalf of our membership, sponsors, and executive board, "Thank you."

As a summary, here are the results from the first 90 days of 2010:

• David Eam and Herbert Pang, Community Service and Membership Chairs, organized a community event to serve 80 families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Washington among other community service events. (Note: Kevin Chang, will be the new Membership Chair replacing Herbert)

• Jenny Xu, Social Chair, coordinated the first Eastside social event with 80 people in attendance and a women networking event launching the Women in Naaap program locally.

• Andy Yip & Ki Kim, NAAAP Past presidents threw a volunteer appreciation event for last year’s volunteers.

• Lynn Huynh, Treasurer, reconciled our actual from budget and maintained chapter financial health.

• Casey Huang, Scholarship Chair, is launched on our first College scholarship to be awarded in the first half of 2010.

• Julie Pham, Marketing Chair and Marian Liu, VP of External affairs, are working to expand the reach of the NAAAP message while creating a positive brand to increase value for members and sponsors.

• Hang Chen, Professional Development Chair, worked with Kaplan to deliver an MBA Strategy Seminar.

• Rebecca Deng, Natl. Rep, & I, represented the Chapter at the NAAAP National Retreat in Connecticut.

• Amy Duong, Student Relations Chair, is working on creating relationships with student groups across the Puget Sound.

• Vivian Hauer, Newsletter Chair, has implemented an events calendar to be shared at our all of our events.

• Erik Kalinka, Technology Director, is working on updating our technology to the National Back Office.

• Liz Tran, Fundraising Chair, emceed our Haiti fundraising event and created a fundraising strategy.

• Roxanne Tam, Board at Large, led a committee in updating our chapter by-laws.

• Nancy Ko, Board at Large, planned and executed our chapter's Board Retreat resulting in a strategic plan for membership, professional development, social and community areas.

• Jen Phang, VP of Operations, recruited top professionals for election to the Board of Directors.

As you can see we're up to creating a vibrant and engaged community of professionals that improve our communities and create competitive professional advantages.

If you would like to know more about NAAAP Seattle and NAAAP and are thinking about joining our membership, please visit our website at http://seattle.naaap.org/Welcome.do or http://www.naaap.org/

Figure. NAAAP Board of Directors at the Haiti Relief event held in February. (l to r) Future Board Member, Kaiden Yip; Andy Yip, Ki Kim, David Eam, Tanatha P., Liz Tran, me, Amy Duong, Jen Phang, and Hang Chen.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

What makes a chop salad evil?

While NAAAP-Seattle volunteers were winding down from cleaning the streets of ID, another NAAAP event was winding up across the lake with the Seattle chapter's launch of Women in NAAAP (WIN). WIN debuted as a Women's luncheon at Joey's in Bellevue.

Laughter and conversation emanated from the group of ten NAAAP-Seattle women with diverse professional backgrounds, ranging from software programming to the non-profit work.

At Joey's, the WIN-ners were particularly intrigued by the large salads with a funny name: evil chop. After lunch, the women enjoyed more evil by going to watch 'Alice in Wonderland' in 3D.

One participant shared, "I had a good time and can't wait to do this again."

You can ask NAAAP-Seattle Social Chair Jenny Xu and the other original WIN-ners in Seattle for yourself what makes that chop salad evil and just how evil was the Red Queen by meeting them at NAAAP-Seattle's upcoming monthly mixer in Bellevue at 2AM (yes, that's the name of the bar) in Bellevue on April 2. For more information, visit: http://seattle.naaap.org/Events.do?id=8091

Three city blocks, 17 volunteers, and 15 bags of garbage

Despite the grey skies that promised rain on a Sunday morning (3/28), NAAAP-Seattle saw the largest volunteer turnout of 2010 yet--17 people.

Volunteers were distributed into several teams to clean the strip of So. Jackson St. between 8th & Rainier Ave that had been adopted by NAAAP-Seattle in Seattle's Adopt a Street program.

The result? 15 large bags of trash.

Community service Chair David Eam noted, "a random bystander in the ID even applauded our efforts for this work."

The volunteers were impressed by the great turnout and by how much they were able to accomplish in just a few hours. And they were grateful for the rainless skies.

Next time you walk down So. Jackson St., look for the "This street has been adopted by NAAAP-Seattle" sign.

Get Counted - Census 2010

Are you out of a job? Angry about education cuts and can't afford college? Can't afford to see a doctor or pay for healthcare? Fill out the 2010 Census survey and get yourself counted today.

Census information affects how $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year could be spent in your community. Tell the government how to spend your taxpayer dollars and make sure it's paying for the services you need.

• Hospitals and clinics  
• Job training centers  
• Funding for schools
• Meal programs for the elderly and for kids  
• Roads and transportation  

Make sure you mail it back by April 1.

Don't be shortchanged and left out.

Share this with your friends and family make sure they're counted, too.

Rewarded with cranberry & pomengranate ice cream

Under community service Chair David Eam's direction, NAAAP-sters are venturing into new terrain for volunteer opportunities. This past Sunday, 11 volunteers (David had originally set the max at ten) showed up at the kitchen of Farestart in downtown Seattle, donned aprons, sliced fruit, bagged lunches, and washed dishes.

According to Farestart's website, FareStart is "a culinary job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals. Over the past 17 years, FareStart has provided opportunities for over 3,000 people to transform their lives, while also serving over 3.5 million meals to disadvantaged men, women, and children."

The volunteers were treated a special lunch of their own. David said, "Everyone was given cranberry and pomengranate ice cream at the end of the event. The chefs were very
helpful, giving us tips in the kitchen."

NAAAP-Seattle volunteers will next tackle litter on the streets of the International District on March 28. Come join us! For details, email David at david.eam@naaapseattle.org

Precision Questioning & Answering (Vervago)

In this video, CJ (Allison Janney) is the Press Secretary in NBC's hit show the West Wing. She's prepping for a news briefing.  As you'll soon see, she's using precision questioning to speed up decision making and to have a deeper understanding of issues. 

Pretty amazing, huh? Now ask yourself, "What would your workplace be if you interacted with precision questioning and answers?" Also, "what would it be like in your 1:1's with your managers or direct reports, in meetings, and in presentations?"

If you're interested in knowing more and where to get training, you can visit these links.

• Vervago: http://www.vervago.com/video_precisionqa.html  
• Vervago Skill Sharpener: http://www.vervago.com/resources.html  
• History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_questioning  

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

NAAAP-Seattle welcomes new board members

At the board meetings in February and March, NAAAP-Seattle elected new board members.

Welcome Casey Huang (Scholarship Chair), Amy Duong (Student Relations Chair), Vivian Hauer (Newsletter Chair), Eric Kalinka (Technology Chair), Claire Ding (Secretary), and Kevin Chang (Membership Chair).

At the last board meeting, Lynn Huynh stepped down, leaving the position of Treasurer open. Gala chair is also open.

The NAAAP-Seattle board comprise of energetic, passionate, and talented individuals dedicated to bringing together and developing Asian American professionals in the Greater Seattle area.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in joining the board and serving this community as NAAAP-Seattle treasurer or Gala chair, please contact NAAAP-Seattle Vice President Jen Phang at jen.phang@naaapseattle.org