Creating a Vibrant Downtown.

Press Release!

Fresno’s Leading Young Professionals (FLYP), in partnership with the City of Fresno, is launching its inaugural 2010-2011 class of the Downtown Academy. This project will connect senior-level business, government and community leaders with a group of 15-24 forward-thinking professionals to explore the following question:

“How can we transform Downtown Fresno into a vibrant place where people can live, work and play?”

Those who apply and are selected will meet once a month – for ten months – to learn about the changes taking place in Downtown Fresno.  In addition, participants will learn about Downtown Fresno’s history, discuss the values of good urban planning and practice entrepreneurial thinking and behaviors.

Urban environments have their own special planning, psychology, economics, design and politics.  For this project, we will use Downtown Fresno as our space to analyze and recognize new opportunities.  Opportunities are plentiful, but require a different skill set for the upcoming urban leader.  Participants will take what they learn at the end of the class to create an event or enterprise that attracts people to Downtown Fresno.

If you are curious about Downtown Fresno, have never been there, try to avoid it at any cost, or love it and want to know more, apply today. To apply or request more information, email us at: info@flypinfo.com

Experts from the Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno, are leading a six-part series designed for front-line supervisors and managers–those new to the role, those needing a refresher in the core skills, those recently promoted a technical role to a supervisory role, and others interested in acquiring or refining their supervision skills.

The series begins on September 18 and takes place on six consecutive Fridays (no class on 10/16/09) from 8 am to 11 am on the university campus. Instructors for the series are Laurie Taylor-Hamm, MBA; Debbie Young, MBA; Julie Olson-Buchanan, M.A., Ph.D.; Jim Schmidtke, Ph.D.; and Ida Jones, J.D. The fee for the Certificate Award in Supervisory Skills Training: Increasing Individual Effectiveness and Impacting Organizational Results is $595 for all six classes. Enrollment is for the entire series; registration for individual class sessions is not available.

For details, contact the Division of Continuing & Global Education, (559) 278-0333, email cgeinfo@csufresno.edu, or visit the website at  http://www.csufresno.edu/cge/supervisoryskills

The owner of the Fresno Grizzlies has provided us with his Fresno Fave Five – Enjoy!

1.  Fresno Grizzlies’ Monday Madness and Parker

• In these tough times, this is the most value-packed deal anywhere and we’re extremely excited to offer it to our community. At every Monday home game, fans can get 2 tickets, 2 hot dogs, 2 sodas, 2 Wild Water Adventure Park passes and 2 Blackbeard’s mini-golf passes for just $22.  That’s more than $100 in value. There aren’t many places where you can get that kind of bang for your entertainment buck. In addition, Parker, the Fresno Grizzlies’ mascot, is quite simply the best mascot in all of Minor League Baseball, if not on the face of the planet. He really epitomizes the Grizzlies experience, where there’s fun to be had by everyone. He’s definitely worth the price of admission all by himself!
  

2.  Concerts at Table Mountain

• I attended the Counting Crows concert (including performances by Augustana and Michael Franti) at Table Mountain and it was simply the best concert I’ve attended in recent years. The music was eclectic and electric and the view from the seats was excellent.  This is another in a long series of great concert performances sponsored by Table Mountain.  What a perfect venue for concerts they have there.
  

3.  Kings Canyon National Park

• Even if you never get out of the car, the less than a one-hour car ride to the entrance of Kings Canyon National Park is incredibly beautiful. In the wintertime, it is a great place to play in the snow.
  

4.  Kayaking, paddling or dinner cruising

• You can drive up to one of the lakes and rent a boat – or figure out which lucky friend of yours lives on one of the many beautiful man-made lakes in the area! Several of the best evenings with friends have been spent taking a boat ride on a warm summer evening!
  

5.  Museums/Culture

• I often hear people saying that there is nothing to do in Fresno, but there are numerous museums, all of which are quality institutions (particularly the Fresno Art Museum) and there are numerous opportunities to see quality performances by the Fresno Philharmonic, the Fresno Grand Opera and Roger Rocka’s. If people take advantage of the entertainment options available to them, there is no shortage of activity!
  

Oh – and by the way – this is the last week of Fresno Grizzly baseball for 2009! Go out and support your team!

FLYP PD thought this event might interest you- check it out, and let us know your thoughts-

Complimentary Workshop Coming soon:

Tuff Selling Strategies for Tuff Times

If your company struggles with too many “think it overs”, much activity but not many closings, ineffective prospecting, price battles, or unpaid consulting. Then this complimentary workshop is for you. You’ll learn why Cold Calling is ineffective and what to do about it, why your salespeople spend so much time “chasing” prospects, and you’ll gain a new perspective on the sales process.

Thursday August 20th
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Sandler Training Center Fresno

2331 Fresno St. Suite 121
Fresno, Ca. 93721
559-412-8178
800-928-0238

Register for this Event

So you are looking for a job- a lot of people are! What is going to seperate yourself from everyone else?

Check out these videos put on by the Fresno based Denham Resources to help you become a better interviewee.

http://www.youtube.com/DenhamResources

After I published my Fresno ‘Fave Five’ I received a lot of feedback saying that I missed some of the best parts of Fresno. Due to my oversight – I have allowed some guest bloggers to provide you with their ‘Fave Five’.

The first guest is Jenn Blair- and her ‘Fave Five’ are:

1. People- I love how Fresno is such a closely knit community and everyone is very friendly and honest. There is a great sense of doing what is right for our Valley.
2. Parks and Lakes- I love the outdoors and enjoy being so close to so many beautiful natural resources such as Yosemite, Millerton, Shaver, and Bass Lakes.
3. Entrepreneurialism- Fresno is the leader in food and water technology. It’s pretty cool to say that we feed the majority of the US with our agriculture.
4. Big City Things- Fresno is the 4^th largest city in Fresno and has so many cool things to do. Whether you are into getting a good bite to eat, rooting on our local Grizzly baseball team in downtown Fresno, or visiting a cool museum, Fresno has it all.
5. Traffic- There is none! I grew up in Southern California and I dread visiting because of the traffic. You can get from North Fresno to South Fresno in 10 minutes.

Oh…and if you were wondering who Jenn Blair is – Here you go:

Jennifer currently serves as Chairman of the Board of FLYP and Ex-Officio Board Member of the Greater Fresno Chamber. Jennifer Blair graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  In 2004 she relocated to Fresno from her hometown of Southern California. During her 4+ years in Fresno she  she has been active in Fresno Area Business Networking, the Greater Fresno Chamber of Commerce, the Central California Chamber of Commerce and the Commission of the Status of Women for California.

An exciting event for FLYP’ers to attend- Check it out!

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) is pleased to host a special event with the James Irvine Foundation: A Community Forum — Implications of Cultural Engagement in California’s Inland Regions

August 27, 2009
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Arte Americas
1630 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno

The landmark study, Cultural Engagement in California’s Inland Regions, commissioned by The James Irvine Foundation, is receiving national attention. The results paint a detailed picture of cultural engagement in the San Joaquin Valley, much of which occurs ‘off the radar’ of the traditional arts organizations.

The goal of the forum is to have a dialogue about the study from many perspectives. As the organization that co-authored the study with WolfBrown, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) is committed to sharing the study results back to the community at large.

Featured Speakers:

• Alan Brown, Wolfbrown, principal author of the study
• John McGuirk, Director, Arts Program, The James Irvine Foundation
• Ron Eichman, Executive Director, Fresno Grand Opera and Past Board Chair of FCASH
• Maria Eraña, Director of Broadcasting, Radio Bilingüe
• Dr. Deborah Wong, UC Riverside Professor of Ethnomusicology…. And You!

Link to the 24 page report summary

Link to the full 189 page report

Please RSVP to ACTA 559.237.9812 or alawrence@actaonline.org by August 25. Space is limited.

Have you visited FLYP’s website but aren’t sure what we’re all about?  Check out this video from KSEE 24 on how FLYP is working to keep our brightest and most talented young professionals here in Fresno.

FLYP on KSEE 24

As I sit here thinking about just exactly how I am going to write this article, my mind races and comes to a few conclusions. I wanted to share with you what professionalism and professional development mean to me.  There are literally hundreds of books about what it means to “be a professional” and I have read a few myself, but what it really boils down to is this: What does professional development and professionalism mean to you?

We all have heard or at least have an idea of what this means and I will give you an example here. According to Wikipedia.org, professional development is defined as, “Skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice.” So, my question to you is, how does that translate to your own personal situation?

Professional development can mean different things to different people.  To me, both professional development and professionalism mean ongoing education about what drives and motivates you in your personal and professional life.

Being able to adapt, change, and make adjustments to your life so that you are always one step ahead of the game.  Being a problem-solver and a resource in your field of study or career. Being courteous, honest and respectful with people that depend on you for advice and look to you to help them make better decisions.  Listening and understanding truly what it is people are saying before you say anything in return. Always wanting to be better than you are today so that, as you grow over time, you can someday share that same passion and become a role model for younger generations.

I am sure I can go on for a few more paragraphs, but you get the point. Think about your own personal situation today and where would you like to be in the future.  Remember that there is no right or wrong answer to this question–what’s more important is how can you take what you already know, what you have learned in the past, and what you will learn in the future to make yourself a better person in both your personal and professional life.  Give it some thought and you, too, will soon come to a conclusion about what professional development means to YOU.

Posted by Ivan Legorreta

Ever wonder what makes Fresno unique?  When someone asks you, “What’s Fresno like?”, are you at a loss for words?  If so, we’ve got the answer for you.  The Fresno Convention & Visitors Bureau has been working with two of Fresno’s marketing/branding experts, Suzanne Bertz-Rosa and Travis Sheridan, to develop a brand describing who and what Fresno is all about.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve included the link below.  It’s a vision of Fresno–who we are and the expectations of our actions–and hopefully you all have the chance to read it and work through some of the exercises towards the end.

Click here to read “Fresno’s Brand Platform”

Now that you know what the brand is, what are you doing to “live the brand”?

Email us at flypresearch@gmail.com.  Please share your stories, thoughts, and comments with us.

Posted by Tim Sudiacal