Thursday EVENING connect, February 20th, 2020, Sonoma.

Format: Our meeting has an agenda with time for you to introduce yourself to us, give us a little snapshot of who you are and what your business is - if you are in business. After this we dive into collaborations - we are BIG on collaborating with each other. Many of us use each other's services, and we also help each other make our businesses better by brainstorming and offering suggestions to each other in terms of broadening our reach or perhaps approaching our businesses differently. Other agenda items include announcement of members’ NEW products, services and events as well as celebrations. Chapter and company news communication is also featured and we have a speaker. We end our meeting with a connection activity, which enables you to effortlessly connect any member you might like to get to know more. The first 15 minutes of the meeting is mingle time before we start the agenda part of our meeting. 

Cost: $25 which includes shared appetizers and beverages. If you have special dietary needs, please advise in the notes section when registering for this meeting. YOU NEED TO BRING CASH OR CHECK (made out to the restaurant)

Cancellation: Members your attendance is confirmed with the restaurant at noon the day prior to our meeting. Should you need to cancel after this hour, you will be charged the $25.

Arrival time: We ask that you arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, so we have ample time to check you in and get you situated. Arrival after 5pm is disruptive to the meeting and makes everything run not very smoothly...

We provide a roster of attendees, which is printed Tuesday afternoon prior to the meeting. For your name to be included, your attendance needs to be confirmed by noon on the said Tuesday.

If there's a particular topic you would like brought up at the meeting, be it a business challenge you may be facing, an area of personal growth or skill acquisition, please submit this with your meeting registration (in the notes/comment section).

Our speaker this month is:  Fiorella Butron, Executive Chef at Stone Edge Farm, Sonoma.

Stone Edge Farm comprises the Farm, Silver Cloud Winery and the Edge Restaurant. Waste not, want not is Stone Edge Farm's philosophy. 

Stone Edge Farm produces over a hundred varieties of organic heirloom vegetables, fruit, olives and olive oil, herbs, eggs, and honey, supplying kitchens at the family residence and EDGE. It's officially detached from the electric utility grid and operates as a self-sustained island. The winery is a "model citizen" in air, soil, water and energy conservation. 

Fiorella is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Lima, Peru. She worked at The Four Seasons in Palm Beach and Maui, the Wailea Beach Marriott, and Jay Bistro in Fort Collins, and explored food in Europe, Southeast Asia, and India. She co-authored The Stone Edge Farm Kitchen Larder Cookbook with John McReynolds and Mike Emanuel.

Fiorella's talk will focus on the importance of sustainability and highlight how we as single individuals can aspire to living life in a more sustainable way as well as educate us on all the culinary delights she surrounds herself with daily.

Charlotte Hart

Managing Director, Polka Dot Powerhouse,

Sonoma Chapter.