Business Sponsors Sought

Business sponsors are being sought for the upcoming 2012 Santa Barbara Community Relay For Life.

Sponsors and others who want to get involved are invited to the free Relay for Life Rally at 6:30 p.m., November 15, on the back patio of Baja Sharkeez at 416 State Street.

Held in various South Coast communities, Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature 24-hour event to raise awareness and funding from 10 a.m., April 21 to 10 a.m., April 22. While other South Coast communities have their own event, Santa Barbara’s Relay for Life will be at Bishop Diego High School.

“Relay for Life is a community-based event, and so we want businesses to come together and fight the same fight against cancer,” said Relay for Life manager Lindsey Lockshaw. “For example, Staples in Santa Barbara is going have a team.”

A Baja Sharkeez official, who is on the relay committee, said she is expecting a big turnout for the November 15 rally.

“We are offering two-for-the-price-of-one drink specials and complimentary appetizers for those who are coming for the Relay for Life Rally,” said Sharkeez promotions manager Kathleen Muñoz. “We will also have a raffle for various prizes.”

A victory lap will be run at the relay to recognize South Coast cancer survivors, and a luminaria ceremony will honor those who have faced cancer. A “Fight Back Ceremony” will teach how to take steps to beat the disease, organizers said.

Relay sponsorships start at $500.

For more sponsorship information, email event chairman Louie Reyes at lireyes820@gmail.com or Lockshaw at lindsey.lockshaw@cancer.org, or visit the Web site at www.relayforlife.org/santabarbaraca.

Talking Soup

Douglas Conant, former chief executive officer of Campbell Soup Co. and author of TouchPoints, passed through Santa Barbara last week to talk about dealing with the accelerating pace of change and how companies can retool their organization to deal with it.

The book-signing party for Conant was also held to tout a new headquarters for the South Coast-based professional speakers bureau, BigSpeak, at 23 South Hope Avenue. BigSpeak has been better known nationally among its Fortune 1,000 clients than on the South Coast.

David Allen, a productivity expert and author of Getting Things Done, also spoke to the crowd of about 100, which included a variety of local and national personalities, including BigSpeak speaker Marilyn Tam, former chief at Aveda, Reebok apparel and retail group, and vice resident of Nike. Tam also is scheduled to speak at the International Women’s Festivals at SBCC in March.

Also in the crowd were Santa Barbara County Chief Executive Officer Chandra Wallar; Gene Sinser, a local SCORE mentor; Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider; Councilmember Frank Hotchkiss; Cathy Duncan of the Seymour Duncan company in Goleta; Senior Planning Services founder and CEO Suzanne McNeely; entrepreneur Kathy Odel; Karen Dwyer, head of Express Employment Professionals in Santa Barbara; and visual effects supervisor Lance Wilhoite.

Pure Biz

A South Coast six-session business forum, “Pure Business,” is scheduled to begin December 1.

Hosts Patty DeDominic and Dawn Thorpe will present experts on a variety of topics for a group of professionals in a confidential Santa Barbara setting. “It is a confidential, non-competing peer-group forum that has been designed for high-potential professionals and business owners,” Thorpe said. “It’s for people who recognize what once worked no longer will.”

The group will meet for two hours each session to “mastermind greater vision,” life balance, and business impact, Thorpe said.

Registration has begun, with a discounted rate of $599 for early sign-ups. Participants can reserve a seat with a deposit. See www.pure-biz.net. To register, go to http://purebusiness.eventbrite.com.

DeDominic is an expert in executive coaching and succession and strategic planning. She is the former owner of CT Engineering and PDQ Personnel Services, Inc., which she founded in 1979. The Montecito resident sold PDQ in 2006 to a privately held firm, which now has more than $1 billion in annual sales. She now operates DeDominic & Associates and advises clients such as Dr. Jane Goodall, Hugh O’Brian, and Lynda Weinman.

Thorpe is a Santa Barbara-based marketing, media, and social media expert and award-winning designer and project manager. She has worked with South Coast architect Barry Berkus.

For more information, contact Thorpe at (916) 439-2801 or thorpe@thorpemonkdesigns.com.

Building a Board

How to Create a Board of Directors/Board of Advisers to Help You Grow Your Business will be discussed at a 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. November 16 breakfast at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort. The breakfast is the monthly meeting of the Santa Barbara chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.

The speaker is Trygve Duryea, chief knowledge officer of the companies known as Retained Earnings, As Seen Everywhere, and The Leadership Group.

Reservations are required by November 11. Cost is $35 for members and $45 for nonmembers. For more information, see http://www.nawbo-sb.com.

Score Big

Using Social Media and E-mail Marketing is the topic of a free 10 a.m. to noon SCORE workshop at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center on 1118 East Cabrillo Blvd. SCORE is a national, nonprofit business-counseling group.

Constant Contact official Kelly Flint is scheduled to speak at the workshop. He is the regional director for the company’s Los Angeles-area district.

All-day parking costs $9.