Meetings & Events

Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold The Washington Health Insurance Exchange: How will it work? on Friday, Sept. 14, beginning at noon, at Mirabeau Park Hotel & Convention Center, 1100 N. Sullivan. Mike Kreidler, Washington state insurance commissioner, will speak. The cost is $35 and includes lunch. To register, go to spokanevallychamber.org.



Sustainable Resources will host the third event in the 2012 Green Business Networking Luncheon series on Monday, Sept. 17, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., at the Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Speaking about fair trade at the event will be Denise Attwood, of Ganesh Himal Trading, a fair trade wholesaler based in Spokane; Kim Harmson, of Kizuri, a fair-trade retail store here; and Carol Schillios, of Fabric of Life, an Edmonds, Wash.-based nonprofit international development foundation. The cost is $18. For information, call 209-2861, or go to sustainableresourcesinw.org.



The Journal of Business and Moloney O'Neill Benefits will hold Health Care Reform on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 7 to 11:30 a.m., at the Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post. The event will focus on the Affordable Care Act and its effects on businesses. Speakers will include Mike Kreidler, Washington state insurance commissioner, Joy Higa, vice president, health care reform implementation, United Healthcare; and Elaine Couture, chief executive at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital. The cost is $40. For information, email [email protected], and to register, go to spokanejournal.com.



Greater Spokane Incorporated will hold Business After Hours on Location, a networking event, on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Mountain West Bank, 12321 E. Mission. The event is free for members and $10 for others. For information, go to greaterspokane.org or call 624-1393.



Connect Northwest will hold an Executive Connect breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Spokane Club, 1002 W. Riverside. Barclay Klingel, CEO of Cyrus O'Leary's Wholesale Pies, will speak. The cost is $30. To register or for more information, call 358-2114 or email [email protected].


Workshops & Seminars


Tincan, the nonprofit organization that uses information technology and interactive media for education and community development, will offer the following free technology training workshops: Pinterest, Monday, Sept. 17, from 11 a.m. to noon; Basic Video: Editing, Monday, Sept. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m.; Online Job Searching, Tuesday, Sept. 18, from 11 a.m. to noon, and Friday, Sept. 28, from 2 to 3 p.m.; Photoshop 101, Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 3 to 4 p.m.; Growing Your Business with Twitter, Thursday, Sept. 20, from 4 to 5 p.m.; Google Cloud, Friday, Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to noon; Basic Video: Exporting and Uploading, Monday, Sept. 24, from 4 to 5 p.m.; Facebook Basics, Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 4 to 5 p.m.; Intro to Game Design, Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 4 to 5 p.m.; Growing Your Business with Social Media, Thursday, Sept. 27, from 4 to 5 p.m.; Resum Builder, Friday, Sept. 28, from 1 to 2 p.m.; Open Computer Lab, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Open Video Lab, Tuesdays, from 1 to 4 p.m. Workshops will be held at 1317 W. Second. For information and to register, go to tincan.org.



The Washington Small Business Development Center will hold a Sales Rich workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 18, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., at 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. The cost is $40 for the first person and $20 for each additional person from the same company. WSBDC also will hold an Empower Your Team workshop on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., at 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. The cost is $44. WSBDC and the International Trade Alliance will hold a Ready, Set, Export! seminar on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 26 and 27, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Oxford Suites, 115 W. North River Drive. The program will provide the information and resources needed to understand exporting. Cost is $75 and includes lunch. To register and for information, go to wsbdc.org/training-calendar or call 358-7890.



The Washington State Department of Revenue will hold a free tax workshop for new and small business owners on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., at 1330 N. Washington, Rock Pointe III, third floor, conference room A. For information and to register, go to dor.wa.gov or call 327-0200.



Visit Spokane, previously known as the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, will hold a Certified Tourism Ambassador Training class on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Hilton Garden Inn, 9015 W. Hwy. 2. The cost is $25. For information and to register, call 744-3340 or email [email protected].



The American Society for Training and Development's Inland Northwest chapter will hold Designing Training 2012 Series: Designing Training to affect HPI and Behavioral Change, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at CenterPlace at Mirabeau Point, 2426 N. Discovery Place. The cost is $15 for members and $25 for others. For information, go to astdinw.org/events.



The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber, under the auspices of Washington State University's Small Business Development Center, will offer an NxLevel Entrepreneur Course beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The 13-week program will be on Wednesdays, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Valley Chamber Business Center, at 1421 N. Meadowwood Lane, in Liberty Lake. The cost is $425 and includes all books and resource materials. For information, call 924-4994.



The U.S. Postal Service will hold two free Grow your Business Day workshops, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 25 and 26, at 10 a.m., at the Spokane postal processing plant, at 2928 S. Spotted Road, on the West Plains. The workshops are designed to help business owners promote their companies using direct mail. To register, go to usps.com/growyourbusinessdays.



The Washington Association of Accountants' Spokane chapter will hold a mini seminar, Quickbooks for Accountants, Wednesday, Sept. 26, beginning at 7:30 a.m., at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place, in Spokane Valley. The class will qualify for eight hours of accounting continuing-professional education credits. The cost is $175 until Sept. 21 and $200 thereafter, and includes lunch and course materials. For information, go to waa.org or call (206) 367-8704.



The Greater Spokane Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America will hold a writing workshop, featuring Ann Wylie, owner of Wylie Communications Inc., of Portland, Ore. The workshop will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park, 303 W. North River Drive, in Spokane. She will teach how to think like a reader and how to cut through the clutter. The cost is $40 for members and $45 for others. To register go to annwyliespokane.eventbrite.com.



Greater Spokane Incorporated and the Eastern Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center will hold a free building a capabilities statement workshop on Friday, Sept. 28, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at 801 W. Riverside. For information, go to www.greaterspokane.org or call 624-1393.



Gonzaga University will hold Start UP Weekend, Friday, Sept. 28, through Sunday, Sept 30, in the Jepson Center, at 502 E. Boone. The 54-hour event is designed to provide experiential education for technical and nontechnical entrepreneurs and will teach how to pitch an idea, recruit a team, manage a project, and build a prototype and present it to a panel of judges. The cost is $85. For information, go to spokane.startupweekend.org.

Conventions & Shows

Candidate Coaching and Prescreening, in conjunction with Washington Trust Bank and Peacock Virtual Solutions, will hold the first annual Options Conference on Sept. 22, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at Spokane Community College, in the east wing of the Lair building. The conference will provide career advice and resources for job seekers. The cost is $79. To register, go to ccp.mycustomevent.com.

Go Social-Winning and Building Business Online, a social media marketing conference for businesses
Sept. 25, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The cost is $149
Expected attendance: 300
Gosocialinw.eventbrite.com

2012 Washington Governor's Industrial Safety and Health Pre-Conference Symposium and Conference
Sept. 25-27, Spokane Convention Center
Expected attendance: 800
wagovconf.org

Pacific Northwest Employer Health Care Summit
Sept. 27-28, Coeur d'Alene Resort
Expected attendance: 150
nwhealthcaresummit.com

Washington State Society for Healthcare Engineering Annual State Conference and Technical Exhibition
Oct. 2-5, Spokane Convention Center
Expected attendance: 350
206)-521-0705