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Please visit our COVID-19 resources page for digital resources, updates or virtual events (past and upcoming). 
August 19, 2020
FACES & PLACES

The Fort Worth Chamber hosted a timely COVID Protocol webinar, which focused on restaurants, retail and other service-based businesses as they continue to navigate ever-changing rules and a new environment. Topics included employee training for new mandates, safety measures, cleaning, sanitization and mask enforcement.
 
Pictured (clockwise, from left): Mike Coffey, Imperative Information Group; Dr. Kara Farley, Blue Ocean Health Services; Beth Standlee, Trainertainment.
PRESS YOUR LUCK
Click on the links below to enter for prizes
I need 10 of these: Mr. B, who had a C- average throughout elementary school only because he was a teacher’s pet, brought Animal Crackers weekly to bribe his first-grade teacher. By fifth grade, he was eating the crackers and bringing animals for show-and-tell. Teachers, before COVID-19, had the second most difficult job, only behind parenting. Amidst COVID, that ranking is 1) parents who teach, 2) parenting, 3-tie) teachers and first responders. Gordon Boswell Flowers knows your angst, your pain, your humorless attempts to explain multiplication tables, that/which, farther/further and good Lord, the Oxford comma debate. Mi Cheri Kirkman, GM of the official unofficial florist of B2B Insider, says “nothing is sweeter than an apple for the teacher!” She sent over a beautiful Gordon Boswell Flowers Apple-Happy-Everything bouquet in a classic white striped mug and a lovely apple soap dispenser.
$5 for a burger? Where? Burgers. With bacon. Or bleu cheese. Or onions and ’shrooms. It’s the second annual Fort Worth Burger Week Aug. 24-30 and approximately 30 area restaurants will feature at least one $5 burger specialty. Fort Worth Burger Week benefits Ronald McDonald House Fort Worth. Register for the Pinnacle Bank Golden Passport and read the passport for specific $5 burgers at each restaurant. The Passport also spells out special Burger Week combos. Chamber members Acme Brick and Trinity Metro are among the sponsors. Communications guru Beth Lamb at Ronald McDonald House Fort Worth communicated very effectively with a $125 burger gift card.
Secure Casa for Mañana: The theater has been dark, but the lights are on. Similar to most entertainment venues, Casa Mañana has had to get creative to wait out the virus and begin “breaking a leg” or two. Last week, it began a silent auction that runs through August 27, the theater’s Day of Giving. In addition, there is a raffle for a chance to win one of these three items: 1) A Louis Vuitton Propriano Damier Azur Tote; 2) Bucket O' Booze (*you must be 21 years old and very thirsty); 3) Two tickets and entry to the Producers Club to a 2021 Broadway Season show of your choice. Casa’s Lindsey Rushen-ed over a raffle ticket.
Congratulations to the August 12th
Prize Winners:

  • Stephen Fink, Spirit of Texas Bank
  • Julio Carrillo, Trinity Habitat for Humanity
  • Michael Ryan, Four 3rds Creative
  • Meghan Phillips, Fort Worth Club
HE SAID, SHE SAID, THEY SAID
Sheltered in place too long: Tracy Georges, Transwestern, didn’t dance around her feelings after having won a 12-pack of Mrs. Renfro’s salsas. “Honestly, all restaurants, not just Mexican, should put chips and salsa on the table when you sit down,” she said. “Italian, Chinese, Thai, BBQ, whatever. Obviously, with Mrs. Renfro’s would be optimal.”
Too late for bribes? Tomorrow is a Chamber board meeting and Chair Martin Noto (Inwood Bank) only would confirm that a CEO will be named. Another source said it’s between Mr. B and a relative newcomer, also with the initial B.
Just wondering: If CEO is the higher rank, why are execs with both titles listed as President & CEO?
A horse with no name: Steve Hammond, new to town and new to the Chamber, noticed a lot of ranches in the area and named his company Horseless Ranch. He does lectures and speaking engagements, and puts on seminars.
Bowling…or bowled over? Two of the five Power Conferences in college football not playing this fall is “causing havoc with the bowls that have tie-ins to those conferences,” said ESPN’s Brant Ringler, the Executive Director of the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. “Our game is not affiliated with either conference. Hopefully, we can find a way to play.”
“I'm not a scientist and don't play one on TV.”



-Beth Standlee, TrainerTainment
during COVID-19 discussion
All about the west: Andrea Ruby, recently hired to lead the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, is the granddaughter of Bob Wills, the "King of Western Swing." The Hall is accepting nominations through Aug. 31 for its 2021 inductees.
Two weddings and no funerals: On the same day, Lisa Hasbach, sales manager at Pinstripes, and Meghan Phillips, Membership and Food & Beverage overseer at the Fort Worth Club, pitched Mr. B about micro-weddings, though the Prospective Ms. B is an Ex. Meghan explained: “Brides are postponing their main event and still having an intimate gathering with close family/friends near their original date.” (Parents must be shuttering.) Meghan says the FWC recently has hosted two and Lisa said “micro weddings and other social events have picked up. We had to go on a wait list for our live music on the patio Friday and Saturday night. That was refreshing to see.”
What women want: Mr. B obviously was outlawed from the Chamber women’s WIN Dine & Discuss last week. However, an unnamed source was there and Lovely Leah shared some group discussion highlights:
  • Run your business like a non-profit – Be mission-focused, not money-focused. Align all actions and decisions by the mission. Treat your employees as volunteers; empower them and share with them how they are impacting the mission.
  • Re-focusing during the pandemic – What do you want to change? Take an introspective look, be comfortable saying no to things and having control over your time. Discover what brings you happiness and where you can add value. Be known as an encouraging, supportive friend.
Build it and they will come: After two decades, doing a Dream Home gets to be old hat, like Mr. B. So, Fort Worth Magazine is collaborating with builders and subcontractors to do Dream Street — three luxury homes built on one-acre lots at the end of a cul-de-sac in Southlake. Tours run Oct. 3-25 and proceeds benefit a Wish with Wings.
Map your strategy: If your caller ID reads Target, it's not the store. It's you. Target Marketing is the Chamber's partner in producing a full-color North Texas Regional Map and Resource Guide and you are its Target. The opportunity is to Target your marketing / advertising message to businesses in Fort Worth, relocating businesses and employees, and new residents, of which there are trillions. If you can't wait for the call, email jhensley@chambermaps.com
12th Man salute: To Mike Hernandez (’83), owner and CEO of D&M Leasing, and Charean Williams (’86), former Star-Telegram NFL writer and Hall of Fame inductee, for their selections as 2020 Texas A&M Distinguished Alumni, the highest award given to former students.
UPCOMING EVENTS
To comply with Tarrant County's recommendations on public gatherings, our in-person programs are currently on hold. Please see our upcoming virtual resources below.
Thursday, August 20
Online Office Hours: Personal Experiences of Race in Society & the Workplace
Tuesday, August 25
Business After Hours
Thursday, August 27
Vision FW: YP Summit 2020
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