Magic and Mystery with Seattle Opera's Ring Cycle

Last night, I just finished the fourth and final performance in Seattle Opera’s production of “The Ring” series. The exhilarating loud horns and percussion instruments are still ringing in my ears from Gotterdammerung. This music is truly spectacular and I am fascinated with what was Wagner’s approach to including musical leit-motifs throughout these four operas that recall and foretell events. One of my favorites is Siegfried’s horn call and another is Loge’s (the Fire God) staccato, laughing, mischievous sounding notes.

This is the third “Ring” cycle that I have attended. One of the fascinating things I have heard over the past week is the admiration that so many out-of-towners have for our Seattle “Ring” cycle. The audience is full of people who travel from all over the U.S. and internationally to follow Ring cycles. I talked with several New Yorkers who have attended the ‘”Ring” cycle at the Met and compared our production more favorably. Another Ring aficionado told me that Seattle is one of only three cities in the United States that produces the full “Ring” cycle every four years. The others are New York and Los Angeles.

A few people have commiserated with me over how much time I have spent during this past week listening to opera. The two longest performances, Siegfried on Friday night was 5 hours long and Gotterdammerung last night was 5 hours and 20 minutes! I really must admit, however, that I didn’t begrudge any of the time because I was entranced with the incredible, magical music and the production values at every single performance.

Now that it is over, I am sad that I will have to wait another four years until “The Ring” is produced here again. I may have to consider becoming a “Wagner-ite” and find another “Ring” series in another city to compare!

The ZINO zInterns of Summer.

This summer, ZINO Society was lucky to have two great interns (“zInterns”) working with us pictured above; Christine Gilbert, an incoming junior, and Joe Markovich, an incoming senior, both going to school at Trinity College located in Hartford, Connecticut.  Joe worked on data base and business related issues while Christine filled in as acting Event Coordinator while our actual Event Coordinator, McKenzie Midboe, was on her honeymoon.  We are so appreciative of the skills and talents that both Christine and Joe brought to ZINO Society and wish them both big success at school this year! 

ZZIF Countdown . . . only 22 Days!

ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum is only 22 days away!  The ZZIF VIP Investor/Entrepreneur Dinner is on September 16^th and the actual ZZIF Forum in on the 17^th. 

We have selected the 28 presenting entrepreneurs.  See the complete list by clicking here:  http://zinosociety.com/news//912/ .  The ZZIF Coaching Board is now in the process of individually coaching the presenting entrepreneurs to be the most articulate, concise and clear in their 5 minute presentations.  I am busy putting together the ZZIF 2009 Investment Fund, LLC investors for the $100,000 fund that will be awarded to the two best investment opportunities as selected by the fund investors; $50,000 for best Non-Tech investment opportunity and $50,000 for best Technology investment opportunity.

If you have not attended ZZIF in the past three years, please do consider it this year.  I think you will be impressed and fascinated by the entrepreneurs and our Forum keynote speaker, Glen Hiemstra, futurist as well as ZINO Society member, Ric Merrifield, author of new business book, Re-Think who will keynote at the VIP Dinner.

 

ZINO Society Goes to the Dogs (Temporarily)!

Yesterday, the Hatch home was turned over to the dogs! We hosted the ZINO Society “Dog Days of Summer Party” yesterday afternoon and evening and what a doggedly good time it was! From big dogs to pocket pooches, all were awarded prizes of the day by the prestigious group of dog judges (see photo above):

The Honorable Bob Cremin-Cock Pit Bull Special Justice

The Honorable Patty Barrier- Pampered Pooch Prosecutor and Feline Defender

The Honorable Adam Tibbitts-Tail Winds and Tail Wags Chief Justice

The “Best in Show” Jet Set Pet Prize Package from Bombardier Flexjet was awarded to Australian Shepherd, Bailey, owned by Lisa Hjorten, while “Most Portable, Precious Pooch” went to Maltese, Sugie, owned by Dan Rosen. “Best Coiffe” was awarded to poodle, Storm, owned by Carol Wright and “Most Pampered Pooch” went to Yorkshire Terrier, Charlotte York, owned by Pat Wallace. The award for “Pets Who Most Look Like Their Owner” went to English Pointers, Zippy and Dreidel, owned by Lucas Schenck and Papipoo, Pepper Lou Payne, owned by Patti Payne was awarded “Most Huggable”.

We feasted on barbecued chicken and hot dogs though the occasional hot dog was snagged by one of the dogs. The dogs were served their own meals of Mulligan Stew brand dog food in a corn tortilla shell which by the appearance of only crumbs left, all appeared to enjoy. The swimming pool was just too much of a temptation for golden lab, Buck, owned by Dianna and Bill Fieldstead and golden retriever, Rufus, owned by Sally & Dave Maryatt, so they splashed in from time to time throughout the party. Dog trainer, Joey Iversen, amazed the guests with her ability to get dogs to obey her commands as they maneuvered an obstacle course and walked on a balance beam. Kathryn Barnard snapped photos of the people and dogs (see her photo of the group at the top of this blog) and took dog portraits of each “dog family”. To see a selection of the fantastic dog and people photos, please visit this link: http://pa.photoshelter.com/invite/g/U000078YsUAGWs1o/G0000gCPueUQkM24/

Husband, Ken Hatch, has requested that we bring chimpanzees to our next party! (I think he is just kidding!)

Tara, Patty and Pilates

This morning, friend Patty Barrier and I attended our regular Friday morning Pilates semi-private session at PNB’s Francia Russell Center in Bellevue.  We drag ourselves to Pilates first thing in the morning kicking and screaming, but always feel much better after we have completed our session.  Plus, we reward ourselves for our efforts with a latte at the nearby Starbucks!  Our instructor, Tara Stepenberg, is an amazing Pilates instructor!  She is in amazing shape and though over 60 years old herself, has the body of a 35 year old.  She can immediately see what each of our bodies needs and can always tell when we are doing an exercise even just a bit wrong.  When I had a lower back strain last year, she knew exactly how to reduce pain and help re-build my strength.  Of course, it is always about the “core” and breathing correctly.  Now if I could just figure out a way to get her to skip the dratted “hundreds”!

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder

Last night I attended the PONCHO Invitational Fine Art Exhibition preview for the upcoming PONCHO Art Auction at Western Bridge, the gallery usually devoted to exhibiting items from the collection of Bill and Ruthie True. Their sister-in-law, Janet True, serves as the PONCHO President and is currently overseeing the transition of the PONCHO Art Auction date moving to this fall (October 3^rd) and the PONCHO Wine Auction date moving to next spring. As a past president of PONCHO myself (1997-1998), I know that Janet is working extremely hard to keep all the fundraising balls in the air. Great job, Janet!

The exhibition of the art to be auctioned off on October 3^rd is impressive with many famous and not-quite-yet famous artists represented. The thing that is special about these art pieces is that each artist has been “invited” to participate by the PONCHO Invitational Fine Arts committee comprised of knowledgeable arts patrons, artists and gallery owners. Some of my personal favorites that I saw last evening were glass pieces by Anna Skibska, Dale Chihuly, Benjamin Moore, Nancy Mee, and Sonja Blomdahl. Anna’s was a spider web of fused glass rods as airy and light as a real spider web. Dale’s piece was a large colorful basket series bowl from the collection of the late Keith Grinstein and his wife, Clare. Nancy’s piece was one of her perfect assemblages of circular sandblasted glass with cut and cast metal and stone. Benjamin’s piece was a dark cobalt blue bowl in the same color as an earlier glass bowl of his we have in our collection and Sonja’s piece was a shimmering orange color. One of my other favorites located on the wall just as you walk into the exhibition was a haunting mixed media photo-inspired, encaustic and oil portrait by Judith Kindler. If you want to see any of the art for yourself, the exhibition runs at Western Bridge through August 22^nd or you can attend the PONCHO Art Auction on October 3^rd at the Seattle Sheraton. Let me know what you think.

Women of Influence

I have had the opportunity to be associated with the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence for the past five years; first as a nominee and now as a member of the Advisory Board and Selection Committee.  There are only a few days left until the nomination deadline (August 21, 2009).  As Becky Monk, Assistant Managing Editor of PSBJ says, “Please help us identify the women who have the power to make command decisions within their organizations, are revered within their industry and community and who mentor the next generation of leaders.”  If you wish to nominate someone for this year’s program, please click on www.psbjwomenofinfluence.com .

 

I have so enjoyed watching the new “crop” of women each year who are truly making a difference in their business and community roles.  It will be impressive to attend the celebration ceremony which will occur on November 19^th at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue Hotel.  The selected women will also appear in the special PSBJ publication on November 20^th.

 

Another rewarding part of this involvement is that a scholarship is awarded each year to a deserving young woman.  This scholarship is funded from a seed gift made by Lytle Enterprises a few years ago as well as donations given by attendees of the celebration event.

 

I look forward to the selection process as we choose another stellar group of individuals who will be honored in November.

Double header at DeLille Cellars this weekend

On Thursday evening, ZINO Society celebrated our 4^th birthday at a fantastic magnum party at beautiful DeLille Cellars in Woodinville. The photo above is of ZINO Society members Larry Hitchon and Dana Reid flanking vintner, Ben Smith of Cadence Winery. Both walked in, one directly behind the other, carrying a magnum of Cadence wine. I couldn’t resist taking the photo to memorialize their entrance to what turned out to be a very fun party. There were many ZINO Society members, guests including Tom Skerrit and his wife Julie, Wine Professionals and Vintners in attendance. In addition to Ben Smith of Cadence Winery, there was legendary grape grower, Dick Boushey of Boushey Vineyards, Marty Clubb of L’Ecole #41 Winery, Chris Upchurch of DeLille Cellars, and many other winemakers attended the event. Sommeliers Jake Kosseff and Kurt Krause ably managed opening and pouring the magnums that each guest brought. In addition to celebrating ZINO Society’s 4^th birthday, we also celebrated Greg Lill’s 50^th birthday. Media personality and ZINO Society member, Patti Payne, led all in singing a rousing “Happy Birthday” to both Greg and ZINO Society.

The delicious wood-fired pizza and salad were catered by Veraci Pizza with their portable wood-burning oven. Once again, Marshall and his team did a stellar job and the pizzas were fantastic! For the fourth year in a row, our title sponsor was Berntson Porter and we were so happy to have Berntson Porter-ites, Greg Porter, Rick Fisher and Nancy Harnasch join us in the celebration.

On Friday evening, Ken and I attended an Auction of Washington Wines Winemaker Dinner once again at DeLille Cellars. It was a perfect night and the food was provided courtesy of Thierry Rautureau, chef in the hat, of Rover’s Restaurant. Every course was exquisite! Jay Soloff, partner in DeLille Cellars presented a courtesy bottle of DeLille Cellars wine to every server and chef involved in producing such a special evening, while DeLille Cellars winemaker, Chris Upchurch, described the process he uses in tasting and making wines. Other featured winemakers were Michael Corliss of Corliss Wines and Allen Shoup of Long Shadows Vintners. DeLille Cellars President, Greg Lill and his wife, Stacy Lill, hosted the party overseeing the very large table seating around 40 people. Considering the length of the wine glass filled table and the chandeliers overhead, several people commented that it looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie. The photo above from this amazing winemaker dinner is Lauren and Greg Porter and Kathleen and Allen Shoup. Greg is one of the principals of Berntson Porter, a loyal and revered ZINO Society sponsor. In addition to being a principal at Long Shadows Vintners, Allen was originally one of the founding Advisory Board members for ZINO Society.

A boy becomes a man. Celebrations of family and friends.

Today, my husband, Ken, and I attended the Bar Mitzvah for the son of ZINO Society Elite Roundtable member, Phillip Swan and wife Tracy Swan; Kieran Swan.  It was a beautiful ceremony at Temple de Hirsch Sinai in Bellevue and Kieran impressed all with his competent reading of the Torah.  The synagogue was a lovely setting with towering trees visible through the windows behind the podium.  The cantor’s voice was exquisite and mesmerizing.  When Phillip and Tracy spoke about how proud they are of their son, there was not a dry eye in the crowd.  Other ZINO Society members attending were Heather and Michael Sandoval and their beautiful twin sons.

 

This evening we attended the 25^th wedding anniversary of good friends and ZINO Society member, Spike Anderson and his beautiful wife, Carol.  All of their children and grandchildren were there to help them celebrate such an auspicious moment in their lives.  In addition, they included their many friends who are so important to them.  When they got up to make a toast, Spike said that they had talked and decided that for their 25^th anniversary, their gift to each other would be a party to have their family and friends help them celebrate.  We were so glad to be included because both Spike and Carol hold a special place in our hearts.  It was a spectacular party!

 

Congratulations Spike and Carol!  Mazel tov, Kieran!

 

ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum Screening Process

Over the past two days, the ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum Screening and Coaching Board has had the opportunity to see over 20 entrepreneur presenter prospects for ZZIF 2009. There has been a great group of ZZIF screeners and coaches gathered to watch and listen to each presenting entrepreneur and to provide questions and feedback. Pictured above in the top photo from left to right are: Dave McGinnis of CitiGroup Private Bank, Bryan Brewer of Business Plans NW, Rob Brown of ZINO Society, Gary Ritner of Puget Sound Venture Club and Peter Fosso of Global Music Project. Visible in the lower photo from left to right are Dave Van Patten , C.J. Voss of Stoel Rives, Bryan Brewer, Dave McGinnis, Gary Ritner, Peter Fosso, Christine Gilbert of ZINO Society, Haeryung Shin of Davis Wright Tremaine, Dan Branley of Launch Communications, Jeff Lindstrom of My Health Insurance of Washington, Jackson Weaver of OneAccord, Alan Housley, Geir Hansen of Silicon Valley Bank, and Nathan Kaiser of npost.com . The entire ZINO Society team so appreciates the time and expertise the screeners and coaches bring to the entrepreneur selection process.

Just a few of the interesting and more unusual companies that we have previewed include:

• Grace and Game LLC – a company specializing in feminine golf clothing for women
• Pathable – a social networking service for conferences and events which we plan to use at ZZIF this year
• CoreWerks – a company that has developed a patented chair that addresses lower back pain which Rob is currently enjoying in his office at ZINO Society
• Harbor Wing Technologies – a company that has developed robotic wind driven Unmanned Surface Vehicles and WingSails to be used for defense, commercial and recreational use
• DropStation – a service that solves the problem of missing parcel deliveries at home

Once the entrepreneur selections are made, the next step is for the entrepreneurs to go through at least two coaching sessions to help them hone their presentations to include all the most important information in their pitches. We look forward to once again presenting a great group of articulate and talented entrepreneurs on September 17^th at ZZIF 2009!

Supporting the Arts through Spanish Wine Tasting

It was a beautiful afternoon and evening yesterday to support the arts by hosting a party at our home to benefit Pacific Northwest Ballet and PONCHO, both organizations for which I sit on their boards and care deeply about.  It was a Spanish Wine Tasting which individual donors had purchased spaces to attend at the PONCHO Wine Auction last fall.  Donating their time and talents, Jake Kosseff (pictured above) was the expert sommelier that led us through the Spanish wines, most of which we knew very little about;  Jonathan Sundstrom, chef owner of Lark, and his team presented delicious and unusual food bites, including a strawberry-tomato gazpacho with a paper thin parmesan crisp atop (pictured above); and classical Spanish guitarist, Andre Feriante, elegantly entertained all with the beautiful, rich sounds of his guitar.

 

Along with PNB Artistic Director, Peter Boal, and his wife Kelly, PNB principal dancers Ariana Lallone, Olivier Wevers,  Lucien Postlewaite and Carrie Imler, soloist, Benjamin Griffiths and corps de ballet dancer, Jordan Pacitti were in attendance to meet the other guests.  There were bocce ball and croquet competitions and all guests were interested to hear more about the upcoming PNB season which opens next month with Jean-Christophe Maillot’s  Romeo et Juliette. 

 

Some of the other guests attending included Michele and Dan Heidt, Cynthia and Tom Captain, Paul Birkeland, Kathy & Tom Schafer of àMaurice Cellars, Galina and Steven Peterson, Joan and Bob Cremin and Diane and Gordon Kuenster.

 

See the many photos of the party that one of the guests, Galina Peterson, took by clicking on the following link:  http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=9d92e3890e121b62&sid=2QZtnLZmyZMRO .

 

 

Happy Birthday ZINO Society! #4

August 13^th marks ZINO Society’s fourth Birthday and we will be celebrating with our friends and fellow ZINO Society members.  Everyone brings their favorite magnum of wine to share!  This is an annual bash at beautiful DeLille Cellars, immediately following the Auction of Washington Wines picnic.

 

On a more serious level, four years marks quite an achievement for a little start-up company that is attempting to promote entrepreneurism by connecting angel investors with entrepreneurs.  There have been many twists and turns along the way during the past four years and we have had to be very flexible as we tried one thing and then another, always searching for the best way to work with our members to meet their needs and at the same time help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.  We are proud to say that we have helped facilitate direct angel funding of over $12.5 million since inception.

 

Our annual calendar offers investment meetings or investment forums 11 months of the year and over 40 annual events including our social and educational events.  One of our big program successes has been our all-day September ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum where we feature screened and coached entrepreneurs and have awarded guaranteed angel investment funds to those entrepreneurs who have been selected as the best investment opportunities as judged by the fund investors.  Our fourth ZZIF is scheduled this year on September 17^th at the new Four Seasons Hotel and we will once again feature 28 presenting entrepreneurs, a keynote speaker, a Due Diligence Live! panel, a walk-around lunch, networking time and an awards ceremony following the business session.

 

I am especially grateful to the original angel investors and advisory board members who chose to believe in me and the ZINO Society team and our early vision of what ZINO Society would be.  Thank you to Ron & Bonnie Elgin, Firoz Lalji, Geda & Phil Condit, Suzy & Moe Krabbe, Gary McLean,  Mike & Pam Towers, Amin Lakha, Sharon Ballantine, Hope Moore, Joan & Bob Cremin, Chuck Lytle, John Rindlaub, Ike Lee, Mel Sturman, Carl Behnke, Greg & Stacy Lill, Barb & Dick Taylor and Tom Hedges.

 

I am also thankful for the ZINO Society staff, past and present, who have helped create what ZINO Society is today.  Without them, this would not have been possible and I appreciate each one for what he or she has brought to the team that helped propel us forward.  I especially toast each of the current ZINO team members:  Mary Holmes, Rob Brown, RJ Humphries, Robin Moore, McKenzie Midboe and Julian Tescher.

 

And, of course none of this would have been possible without each of the ZINO Society members who chose and continue to choose to participate in ZINO Society or the presenting entrepreneurs who come to us to ask for our help in assisting them reach their dreams or our valued sponsors who are so critical to supporting this success.  Thank you!

 

Please raise a glass of fine wine or sparkling water and help me toast each and every one of these people and companies who have been such an important element of our success!  Happy Birthday ZINO Society!  Cheers!

 

 

Best Wishes to McKenzie! Happy Wedding!

Best wishes to McKenzie Midboe, ZINO Society Events Coordinator and Administrative Assistant, as she counts down the last few days until her wedding.  She was surprised by the ZINO team yesterday with a shower across the street from our offices at ZINO Society sponsor, the Capital Grille.  The ZINO team pictured from left to right includes summer intern Joe Markovich, Robin Moore,  McKenzie Midboe, Cathi Hatch, RJ Humphries, Rob Brown and Mary Holmes.  Missing in the photo is Julian Tescher.

 

Mary arranged for a bridal veil for McKenzie to wear during the shower from the beautiful Luly Yang Couture located in the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, as are our offices, and the team joined in toasting her happiness and gifting her the flatware for which she had registered.  Of course, everyone shared some pithy marital advice with her as well! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

It is a small world.  Our summer intern, Joe Markovich pictured above, is an incoming senior from Trinity College, a small liberal arts college of 2,000 students and while McKenzie is on her honeymoon, my neighbor, Christine Gilbert, an incoming junior at Trinity College will be holding down the fort and helping produce upcoming ZINO Society events.  What are the odds of the two of them attending the same college on the East coast, both from this area and never having met before meeting at the “world headquarters” of ZINO Society!?