The Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County will honor women who have achieved top leadership roles at its 4th Annual 100 Outstanding Women gala on May 16^th at the Signature Grand in Davie. The event is presented by SG Resorts International.

Each year, the Boys & Girls Club of Broward County celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding women who have influenced the county’s community, businesses and philanthropic fields. The event also features a dinner, fashion show, and live and silent auctions.

This year’s honorees include Davie Mayor, Judy Paul, and Katina Taylor of the Jason Taylor Foundation.

Event chairs are Gale Butler of AutoNation, Kim Sweers of Fastboats Marine Group and Ann D’Auria of Bank Atlantic.

Join Us!

Get your spandex shorts and biking shoes ready because the 26^th Annual Zimmerman MS Bike Ride, Presented by Mack Cycle and Fitness, is ready to roll. More than 2,500 cyclists are expected to participate in the bike race at 7 a.m. this Saturday, including Phil Keoghan, the host of The Amazing Race. There are many teams in the race, including Zimmerman’s Zmotion team, Mack Cycle and Fitness and Bacardi’s team of more than 220 cyclists, many of which are supporting family members with MS.  Yolanda Salgado, a member of the Mack Cycle and Fitness team who suffers from MS, will be riding for “hope” on a recumbent bike donated by the team.

The ride begins in Homestead-Miami Speedway with a lap around the track, then cyclists will continue the 150-mile journey, stopping overnight at John Pennekamp Park in Key Largo.

Once all the riders have arrived at the park, there will be a celebration with food and entertainment.

In the morning, the riders will return to the speedway and be cheered until the finish line.

Other riders are also invited to participate in a Kids and Family Ride on April 21^st at 8 a.m.  There is a $15 fundraising minimum for kids 12 and under plus free registration, $50 minimum for teens ages 13 – 17, $150 minimum for adults 18 and over, with a $20 registration fee.

In addition to the generous support from the title and presenting sponsors, Zimmerman Advertising and Mack Cycle and Fitness, the following organizations have committed as major supporters of the MS Bike Ride:  DHL, Maroone, FedEx, Bacardi Hatuey, Amex, Subway and UPS.

To register or volunteer for the Zimmerman MS Bike Ride Presented by Mack Cycle and Fitness visit www.msbikeflorida.org, email ms150bike@fls.nmss.org or call 1-800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867).

The 10th Annual Florida’s Children First (FCF) Broward Awards reception raised over $100,000 and drew more than 250 community and business leaders, judges, elected officials and more to the event to sponsor the states foster, neglected and abused children.  The picture below includes Todd Templin of Boardroom Communications.

Florida’s Children First will host it’s tenth annual Broward Awards Reception event  Thursday, March 22, 2012  in Fort Lauderdale. Last year’s event was attended by more than 200 people, raising $100,000 for the organization protecting Florida’s youth.

FCF provides attorneys for foster children and provide a voice to those who don’t have one.  Executive Director Christina Spudeas, along with FCF President and Fort Lauderdale children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld will the lead the event, which is expected to host more than 300 child advocates, judges, elected officials and community and business leaders.

The event will recognize and honor the individuals who supported The Tracy McPharlin Pro Bono Dependency Recruitment Initiative. Also, the 80 plus attorneys that have been trained, and volunteered to take cases on behalf of the children and these attorneys will be recognized for their service to the community at the awards reception.  For more information, visit the website.

Andrew Holmes has been fighting cancer since age 3. He has been through two long treatment periods that lasted several years and is once again in the battle against Leukemia. The cancer is now invading his spine and brain. Currently, he is at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida undergoing treatment culminating with a bone marrow transplant.

Mark Holmes, Andrew’s uncle, started the Andrew Holmes Recovery Fund several years ago. Due to Andrew’s recent diagnosis, Mark has restarted the fund. “It’s a very large mountain to climb and in fact, insurmountable on their own,” said Mark. Please, join us in spreading the word of Andrew and Mark’s story.

If you would like to help Andrew and his cause, donate to the recovery fund and check out Andrew’s blog.

COME TO THE 1ST ANNUAL NAIOP SOCIAL!

Join us on February 29, 2012 at Vic & Angelo’s Enoteca for the first social for NAIOP.

Where: 290 E. Atlantic Avenue, in Delray Beach

When: 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm.

Price: – Members- $20

Non members- $25

About the venue: Vic & Angelo’s Grand Italian Coal Oven Enoteca Features Big City Rustic Italian Dining in the Heart of South Florida. Vic and Angelo’s Founder and Creator, David Manero and Culinary Director Paul Griffin, have created a signature authentic menu including items such as their Famous Old School Meatball, Imported Bufala Mozzarella, Hand Made Pastas, Signature DOP and Simmered-Daily Homemade San Marzano atop their Authentic Coal Oven Pizza with Just Made Mozzarella.

For more information, visit the website.

On Thursday, February 16, the South Florida chapter of NAIOP will be hosting the Awards of Excellence at the Marriott Harbor Beach Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale.

The awards ceremony is celebrating its 30th anniversary and will honor the outstanding real estate achievements of the past year.

The event begins at 6 pm and is expected to end at 9:30. The price per person is $150 for NAIOP members and $165 for non-members. For more information, please call 954-990-5116 or email naiop.info@naiopsfl.org.

Spring cleaning came early in the office this year for Boardroom Communications! The Boardroom team worked together to clean out old supplies and files. With so many office supplies left over, Boardroom account executives decided not to let everything go to waste. Instead Boardroom made a donation to the Council for Educational Change, a statewide, non-profit organization that focuses on leadership to improve student achievement and address critical education issues.

Boardroom reminds you to recycle and remember that simple gestures can make a difference!

On Monday, March 5, 2012, Margaux’s Miracle Foundation is hosting its Sixth Annual Women’s Luncheon at La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach.

At the luncheon, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz will receive the prestigious “Woman of the Year” award and special guest speaker Dr. Leslie Baumann, a nationally renowned board certified dermatologist, New York Times best-selling author, media personality and lecturer, will discuss the latest in new innovation skin care and therapy.

Boardroom Communications is proud to sponsor Margaux’s Miracle Foundation—President Julie Talenfeld is on the Board of Directors and Vice President Jennifer Clarin serves as the Board’s secretary.

The event begins with a shopping bazaar at 9:30 a.m., followed by Dr. Baumann’s presentation at 11 a.m. and a noon lunch. Proceeds from the luncheon will go toward cancer research for children, with special emphasis on sarcomas, specifically, Ewing’s sarcoma.

As a South Florida public relations firm, we’ve seen the damage that the absence of a crisis communications plan can cause to any organization. The most recent example on the national stage came earlier this month when Susan G. Komen for the Cure cut funding from Planned Parenthood. Now, Komen — the largest national breast cancer non-profit — has a new mandate: To reel in the pink ribbions it’s been threading all over the media and take corrective action.

Reversing its plans to deny funding to Planned Parenthood on Friday, Komen has some serious damage control ahead to combat the 72-hour media storm it created.

Komen found itself inundated with criticism when it publically announced it would no longer provide funding for Planned Parenthood’s breast exam and educational activities geared toward low-income women. The premise for the cut: Komen would not support organizations under “investigation.” Planned Parenthood was facing a questionable inquiry by Republican lawmakers. It didn’t help Komen that a vice president was an ardent and vocal right-to-life supporter.

It’s no surprise that the move resulted in a national backlash against an otherwise highly respected organization. People withdrew support. Some women’s advocates cried foul. Even its California offices issued a statement decrying the decision.

Huffington Post described the move as “one of the most boneheaded political miscalculations that will have serious ramifications for Komen: supporters won’t forget this for years to come.”

First, Komen president Nancy Goodman Brinker hit the web with a video supporting its decision. Then days later and facing the backlash from supporters and women’s groups, Komen amended its statements to only cut funding to groups under investigations that are “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

This is no way to fight a national P.R. fiasco.

Komen needs to enact a simple but effective crisis communications plan to clarify that it’s an organization that helps women. Like any organization, it must consider the potential publicity and negative ramifications of its actions before making moves or statements.

If it seeks to cut funding to various organizations it has supported in the past – a move that’s completely within its right – it must make sure the cuts don’t reek of politics or frivolous, agenda-motivated policy.

We give Komen kudos for recognizing its egregious error and taking action to right its course. But it now needs to stress that its mission as an organization is in tandem with that of Planned Parenthood – two organizations striving to better women’s health.

Then, it should get a crisis communications plan in place.