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Greetings, FEWnet friends! I can hardly believe that we are embarking on our 7th year as a networking community focused on meeting the needs of high level women in finance and accounting. What started as a handful of professional women looking for referrals of other lunch companions in St. Paul has now grown into a membership of nearly 1100 strong. We couldn't be more proud of the professional relationships and personal bonds that continue to form with each year!

Many of our small group members have remarked that they wish they would have started building their network earlier in their careers. These words were the impetus behind our young professionals networking group, Nextworking, which we launched in 2005 and currently has over 800 members. If you have staff members, mentees or other professional contacts, both men and women, with up to ten years of experience, who are looking to meet other young professionals in the industry, please have them check us out at www.nextworking.com or email Melissa Mlakar for more information about our next event. We appreciate your referrals!

Thank you again for your participation in FEWnet. If you haven't joined one of our small groups, I do hope this is the year that you do so! If your schedule doesn't allow for a monthly time commitment, I encourage you to mark your calendars today for our annual FEWnet party on Thursday, May 15. Julie Gilbert, Senior Vice President of Retail Training and Leadership Development at Best Buy, will share lessons learned from the Women's Leadership Forum (WoLF), and how we can translate her experiences into better recognizing and supporting the talents of women within our own companies, communities, and families.

Take care,

Sally Mainquist
President and CEO
Certes Financial Pros

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Beth Bird

Beth Bird is a Partner with Eide Bailly, a Top 25 public accounting firm with offices throughout the Midwest. Her primary focus is on non-profit clients and closely-held businesses where she enjoys working with leaders who have such a passion and connection to their work. "It's so much fun to play a role in helping people deliver their messages more effectively and to watch their businesses change in part, due to your efforts."

With over 20 years of public accounting experience, Beth has worked with accounting firms in Minnesota, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. Although she loved the culture change of living in a southwestern environment, her roots brought her back to colder climes (Beth is an alum of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she received her B.A. in Accounting).

With the busy season in full gear and on the heels of being honored with a 2007 Top Women in Finance award, we were thrilled to get some time to talk about the importance of nurturing your staff during a critical business time and why getting bitten by the travel bug couldn't have happened soon enough!

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Discover what our FEWnet small groups are talking about:

• Mentoring a Millenial.
• Enhancing the employee experience to attract and retain top talent.
• Accounting firms receive high praise as best employers.
• Resume writing - helpful tips that are often forgotten.

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"A vision of what is possible, a source of hope and inspiration, is the necessary ingredient for energizing change." Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation - and Positive Strategies for Change by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever is a fascinating study of why women seldom ask for what they want at work and at home. More importantly, it is an examination of how our culture strongly discourages women from trying to do so. Starting with the importance of negotiating a starting salary at that first job, research quickly illustrates how even the smallest differences in compensation or performance evaluations between genders at the start of a career can lead to a half-million dollars worth of difference in salary and promotion later on.

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Compliments Can Be Our Legacy

Yesterday, I was visiting my ailing mother-in-law who is 86. I saw her 1937 West High School yearbook sitting in a corner and pulled it out to take a peek.

When I was finished, I closed the book and asked, "You know what my favorite part in your yearbook was? The handwritten poem a football player wrote you." Whoa! What a transformation. Her face lit up like a 17-year-old beauty queen. This lady, who sometimes forgets well, anything and everything, said with a glow, "Mary Louise, your such pretty eyes, reign supreme with the football guys."

And we wonder if sincere compliments matter? What if each of our compliments had this sort of impact? If everyone did as well as this football player, I think we'd have a chance at world peace. Don't you?

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2008 FEWnet Annual Party

Join us for our annual celebration on May 15! Wine tasting, delicious hors d'oeuvres, and plenty of networking will complement this year's compelling keynote speaker, Julie Gilbert, Senior Vice President of Retail Training and Leadership Development at Best Buy. Share in her lessons learned from the Women's Leadership Forum (WoLF) and leave inspired to better recognize and support the talents of women within our own companies, communities, and families.

Sponsor: FEWnet by Certes
When: Thursday, May 15, 2008
Location: Park Place Doubletree Hotel
St. Louis Park, MN
Cost: Free for FEWnet members

To Register: Email Melissa at mmlakar@certespros.com

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Barb Monson recently joined Tennant Company as a Finance Manager. Congratulations on your new role, Barb!

Tina Eskro is now Controller at Empi, Inc. All the best to you, Tina!

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Certes Financial Pros is a financial placement firm specializing in providing professionals to Twin Cities' companies needing project, interim staffing, and permanent hiring support. Whether you have a temp or temp to perm need, Certes Contract is here to help with a wide variety of high level professionals to ease your team's workload.

The Perm Placement Network by Certes connects financial professionals with permanent positions in the Twin Cities while providing companies with highly qualified, screened candidates at all levels of accounting and finance. To explore this or other opportunities, visit us today!

Do you have an immediate need? Check out our current available lists and give us a call.

Long-Term Contractors Available

Perm Placement Candidates for Hire