ZINO Society new Members and Coaches

A warm welcome to new ZINO Society Roundtable member, Bill Prater, in the top photo along with guest Barbara Whatley and in lower photo from left to right new Roundtable member and Coach, Skip Walter, along with veteran Coaches, Jackson Weaver and Dave Van Patten.  Our members and those that also take time to coach are so important to the success of our ZINOpreneur Members!  Thank you!

Gaming, Mortgage Banking, Online Investing & Shopping . . . Oh My!

The ZINO Society Roundtable Investment Meetings this past week showcased four excellent investment opportunities on Tuesday evening at the conference center at Davis Wright Tremaine and Wednesday at lunch at the Bellevue Harbor Club.  The brief keynote remarks were provided by Dan Greenshields of ShareBuilder.   Dan serves as President of ShareBuilder Securities Corporation and President and Chief Investment Officer of ShareBuilder Advisors LLC. Over the past 7 years, Dan has been instrumental in building ShareBuilder into the 6th largest online brokerage firm with over $2 billion in assets.  Shannon Jones of Hestia Cellars was our featured winemaker and Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, of Pike Brewing Co. were our featured beermeisters.

The four presenting entrepreneurs received a lot of investor interest following their presentations.  Pictured in the top photo above from left to right are featured entrepreneurs Stephan Roche of Kapitall, Dave Long of Exponential Entertainment, Mark Freedle of NetMore America and Ramu Ramanathan of Mobba.  

Kapitall is a new online investing platform designed to transform investing for the “Gaming Generation” with a rich application modeled on video games.

Exponential Entertainment is building HollywoodPlayer, a multi-platform online service that brings casual gaming, Hollywood content, and social networking together.

NetMore America buys the most secure and marketable mortgages in the U.S. and sells them at a profit.

Mobba is a new online marketplace that leverages social networks to form large groups of like-minded buyers.  Sellers then compete to win a big sale.

We are very happy to announce this week that our facilitated fundraising to-date has increased to $14.2 million.  I won’t be surprised to see all of these companies receive at least a portion of the angel funding they need as a result of their presentations at ZINO Society.  We take huge pride in the entrepreneurs that present through ZINO Society and hope to help each one with capital, mentoring and/or referrals.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A Seattle treasure is gone!  Ken and I attended the memorial service for our friend, Dick Friel, last week at the Museum of Flight.  I estimate that there were around 1,000 people in attendance of what was organized as a grand celebration of his life.  He was loved by so many of us who had the opportunity to work with him over his lifetime.  Though we served together on the PONCHO board and had the opportunity to work together for many years, my closest association with Dick was when I served as PONCHO President in 1998 and had the benefit of working with him closely to raise $2 million for the arts that year. 

The memorial celebration began with a Missing Man Formation Fly-Over of four jets organized by Joe Clark, Bruce McCaw and Clay Lacey.  We all moved outside to view the fly-over and as the one jet left the formation and began a slow upward ascent away from the other three, I know I certainly got a lump in my throat and saw many others with shiny eyes too.

Once back inside, Bob Flick, Dick’s long-time friend and usual auction item announcer, emceed the celebration.  It began with a welcome from Kevin Callahan, Chairman and Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, President and CEO of the Museum of Flight.  Pastor Bruce Swanson shared the 23^rd Psalm, musical interludes were performed by Melvyn Poll and Dick Foley, a video detailing Dick’s aviation marketing awards was presented and tributes were shared by Joe Clark of Aviation Partners Inc. and Palmer Pettersen.  Others who shared tributes were Carol Munro, Patti Payne and Friel family members, wife Sharon and sons Rick and Chris Friel.

There was a lot of laughter as the speakers fondly reminisced about Dick’s energy and passion for everything he was involved in during his long career in aviation marketing and in his avocation of auctioneering.  Some of his interesting quirks were recalled such as stamping his foot when something sold at an auction, or launching his note cards in flight once he was finished with each one.  An interesting factoid shared was that Dick and Sharon Friel, truly a dynamic duo, have raised more than $300,000,000 for the many charity auctions they have participated in over the years.  Dick’s joke team including Tom Mathers, Don Cohan, Joan Byrne and Brad Goode shared some of Dick’s best jokes over the years and had everyone laughing.

Dick and Sharon’s favorite song, “Moon River” was performed by their daughter-in-law, Kim Virant accompanied by Friel sons Rick and Chris, Mike McCready and Ty Bailey and we concluded the memorial with Dick Foley performing and leading us to participate in the song, “I’ll be Seeing You” .

Following the celebration of Dick’s life was a big reception in the Great Gallery where we had the chance to say hello and visit with hundreds of friends who also cared about honoring the life of Dick Friel.  Though he is gone, he left each of us with special memories and as he often said, I say to him now in hopes he will hear my message,  “Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!”   

What is a glassybaby worth?

On Saturday morning, friend Toni Hoffman and I ventured to the semi-annual glassybaby seconds sale in Madrona. I have long been a fan of glassybabys, the little hand blown glass votive candle holders that come in a panoply of colors. They are expensive at $40 retail each and the seconds sale seemed like a good opportunity to pick up a few at the special price of $26 each. So Toni and I arranged to leave early, stop for a Tully's latte on the way, and get there half an hour before the shop was to open at 10:00am.

When we arrived at 9:30 am, the line was two blocks long! People in the know had lined up at 8:00 a.m. and brought their own cloth shopping bags and baskets. See Toni at the right-side of the top photo above standing in the enormous line. We waited outside (brrrrrrrrr!) in line for about an hour and a half.

Once the store opened, they continued to move people into the store as fast as possible and we were finally admitted to the store about an hour and a half later with frozen toes. Once inside, it was total bedlam. There were far too many people in such a small space and it was virtually impossible to move through the store. I quickly became claustrophobic and lost my appetite for shopping so selected the first few bluish glassybabys I saw and headed for the exit. There wasn’t really an organized check-out line, but just people shoving in a maelstrom trying to get close to a cashier. Toni, obviously with more patience than I, took time to select several glassybabys and light candles in each one to see how they actually looked when lit. See photo above of Toni and photo of the crowd inside the store.

I know that the next time I feel I must buy another glassybaby, I will happily pay full price and go on any day BUT the day of the seconds sale!

Ken celebrates Robbie Burns in a kilt!

On Friday evening, dutiful husband, Ken, and I attended the Robbie Burns Dinner at the Rainier Club. As you may already know, Robbie Burns was a Scottish poet, philosopher and a lyricist who lived from 1759 –1796. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and the anniversary of his birthday continues to be celebrated worldwide each year. Christopher Chan, of the Rainier Club worked with several volunteers and the entire Rainier Club staff to produce this celebratory event.

This was the third time I have attended this particular annual dinner but the first time I was able to get Ken to wear a kilt! Ken was a star in his new kilt, sporran, vest, jacket, knee socks and dagger. He received the kilt outfit for Christmas though surprisingly, it was not on his wish list. See the photos above with ZINO Society active and legacy members Phillip Swan (a real Scotsman) and Ron Savage (another real Scotsman) and other ZINO Society friends, Jo Krueger Savage, Vladlina and Eric Fulton, Randy Squires and Angela Polin, Jacqueline Witter and Peggy Reddy.

As we arrived, we were greeted as Lady Cathi Hatch and Sir Ken Hatch. The evening was packed with interesting activities including a scotch tasting, Scottish dancing and singing, recitations of Robbie Burns’ famous poetry including “A Red, Red Rose”, bagpipers leading in the haggis (a disgusting national food in my opinion but is part of the tradition), toasts to the lassies and separately to the laddies, singing of Robbie Burns’ famous song, “Auld Lang Syne,” and an excellent served dinner (except the haggis) produced by award-winning Rainier Club Executive Chef, Bill Morris and his talented culinary team.

When we returned home following the party, Ken threatened to list his kilt on ebay. He certainly didn’t admit that he actually had fun, but I’m pretty sure that he did!

Please VOTE for Cathi! Voting is now live for SeattleDances.com!

In a shameless attempt to capture the mirror ball, since I am worried that my actual dancing won’t do it, the link is below where you can vote for your favorite “dancer” (I’m hoping you will vote for me at $25 per vote, and Plymouth Housing Group is a great cause of course!). Here is where to go to vote (http://www.seattledances.org/) and just click at the bottom of the page on "Cast Your VOTE" or just click on my name here Cathi Hatch and it will take you to my voting page. 

And, for those of you that are available and want to join Ken and me at our tables on March 13^th, the evening of the humiliating event, the link to register is also http://www.seattledances.org/ . Please do let me (or McKenzie in my office at m.powell@zinosociety.com ) know if you will be joining us so I can save room at our tables. Now, I’m off to rehearsal . . .

Legendary - An Appropriate Descriptor

Last evening, we had a delightful dinner at venerable 26-year-old  Il Terrazzo Carmine in Pioneer Square with friends Mike Kunath and Kate Harrison.  Mike was our dinner host and Ken brought a bottle of legendary 1993 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon to share.  Proud and esteemed restaurant owner, Carmine Smeraldo, was there overseeing a very busy Saturday evening and in spite of that managed to find us a perfect table near the windows looking out into the charming courtyard.  See the photo of Mike and Carmine above.

Our palates were tickled with first a delicious starter of venison ravioli with an enchanting mushroom sauce, followed by an excellent Caesar salad, salad Caprese or sautéed spinach and garlic with lemon.  Ken and Mike ordered Carmine’s famous fall-off-the-bone Osso Bucco while Kate ordered the special risotto of the evening with artichoke hearts and I ordered the special pasta of the evening which was perfectly cooked al dente tagliatelle with a spicy Italian sausage sauce topped with fresh made ricotta cheese.  At the end of the evening, all of the truly amazing Quilceda Creek wine was gone, but both Osso Bucco bones made it home with us to share with Callie, the spoiled and favored Maltese dog that rules our home.

At the beginning of the evening, we toasted our dear friend, Dick Friel, who has left us too early with his passing a few days ago.  We each had such respect for Dick and shared stories of the many legendary impacts he has made in our community.  He was a master at recognizing and commenting on individuals during an auction and saying something special about each one that made each one of us sit up a little taller.  He will be terribly missed.

We ended the evening discussing our individual goals for 2010 (most centered around family and business) and upcoming travel adventure opportunities.  With the announcement of a recent archeological find of a few days ago, Mike looks forward to planning an adventure to see El Dorado, the legendary lost city of gold.  With respect to the entire experience at  Il Terrazzo Carmine last evening, we each felt we had discovered not the legendary lost city, but instead the gold standard in food and service at a legendary restaurant that luckily for us has not been lost.

He casts a "long shadow" too!

On Thursday at the ZINO Society KEYnoteable luncheon sponsored by Key Private Bank and hosted at John Howie Steak at the the Bravern in Bellevue, good friend and founder of Long Shadows Vintners, Allen Shoup, was the featured guest.  Allen shared the story of his life’s career path through major marketing and executive positions in Amway, Max Factor, Gallo Winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle and finally discussed his development of Long Shadows Vintners and the opportunity to bring together top winemakers from around the world to partner with him in developing seven new wine brands, each scoring consistently over 90 points with Robert Parker.

Allen also had fascinating insider stories he shared about other giants in the wine industry whom, in his opinion, had cast a “long shadow” with their life’s work.  One of the people that Allen mentioned as an example of one who cast a long shadow was Bob Mondavi, founder of  Robert Mondavi Winery.  Allen was one of the five people who gave an eulogy at Robert Mondavi’s funeral.  Another among several he mentioned, was Walter Clore, who was a pioneer in viticulture and agricultural research in the state of Washington and has been formally recognized as “Father of Washington Wine”.

The luncheon guests enjoyed the elegant private dining room at John Howie Steak and delicious selections from a luncheon menu especially chosen for the ZINO Society KEYnoteable luncheon.  Allen never had the chance to eat a bite however, because we kept him so busy sharing stories and his wisdom about winemaking and marketing.  John Howie, owner and chef of John Howie Steak, stopped by to greet everyone and pay his respects to Allen as well.

Representing Key Private Bank, our luncheon sponsor that makes these very special, intimate KEYnoteable Luncheons possible, were Lynn Bain and Tiffany Koenig.  Thank you Lynn and Tiffany!

So far, Kermit the Frog is Wrong!

As I mentioned in my recent blog postings, we are very pleased to present our inaugural ZINO Green Portland on February 24, 2010 in Portland.  Since my last blog posting, ZINO Society VP of Business Development, Mary Holmes, and I travelled to Portland and met with the ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee to ask for input and advice on what our next steps should be.  I am very appreciative of the advice and counsel we received from the ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee including Douglas Bouland and Cindy Tortorici, Co-Chairs, and members Don Krahmer, Chris Fenner, Nicole Vogel, Dennis Powers, Brian Rice, Bruce Ramseyer, Nancy Frisch, Deneen King, Rob Wiltbank, Marcia Stillwell, Brenda Meltebeke, Selby Key and Socrates Jimenez.  Pictured above from left to right are Marcia Stillwell, Chris Fenner, Cindy Tortorici, Cathi Hatch and Douglas Bouland.

As a result of the advice, a big decision we made was to move ZINO Green Portland from the Oregon Technology Business Center in Beaverton to the conference center in the offices of Venue and Major Sponsor, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in downtown Portland.  The ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee felt that it was important that our first targeted investment forum event in the Portland market should be located conveniently in downtown Portland.  We are so pleased with Schwabe’s generous sponsorship and look forward to working with them to make the investment forum a success!  The ZINO team is currently working to fill out our expert panel and keynote speakers and I will be able to share more about this soon.  As we continue to look for additional Supporting Sponsors for ZINO Green Portland, I am also very pleased to announce that a sponsorship agreement with Oracle was also agreed upon today and we look forward to working with them as well.

ZINO Green Portland will be a half-day event from 1-6 p.m. featuring 12-15 companies in the areas of clean tech, energy efficiency and sustainable products or services, presenting their businesses to angel investors and business leaders.  This year, the selected ZINO Green entrepreneurs will make their pitches in both Portland and Seattle locations. Companies that would like to be considered to present at ZINO Green need to submit an online application and upload an executive summary by the January 29^th, 2010 deadline.  Here is the link to apply to present:  http://www.zinosociety.com/entrepreneurs/applytopresent/zino-green/

An investment fund of $50,000 will be awarded to the company selected by the ZINO Green 2010 fund investors  as the best investment opportunity.  If you are an accredited investor and interested in being a part of the investment fund, the unit size is $5,250 including the administrative fee and I would be happy to tell you more if you will contact me.

We are also planning a pre-event cocktail party the evening prior to ZINO Green Portland on February 23, 2010 to introduce entrepreneurs, angel investors, sponsors and selected invited guests to one another in advance of the half-day investment forum.  Location is still to be determined.

I know that Kermit the Frog always opined that “It isn’t easy being green!”, but so far, we are very happy and pleased with the status of ZINO Green 2010 in both Portland and Seattle!

All Aboard! ZINO Green Portland

Mary and I are on the Seattle to Portland train looking forward to meeting with a group in Portland who will be giving us some advice on our upcoming ZINO Green Portland which is scheduled for February 24^th at the Oregon Technology Business Center.  We are so pleased to be working with Chris Fenner who is leading the effort in Portland.  We also appreciate the introductions by our good friends Douglas Bouland and Cindy Tortorici who have agreed to take the role of Co-Chairs of the ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee. 

They, along with Chris, have invited a small group of leaders in Portland who will bring advice and diverse opinions about how best we can partner to make this first ZINO Society targeted investment forum outside of Seattle a worthwhile and successful experience for both the entrepreneurs and the investment forum investors and attendees.

What will we hear? 

ZINO Green in Portland in February

The press release will be coming out this week with more details, but I am so pleased to share that this year ZINO Society will be producing not only a ZINO Green Seattle Investment Forum on March 4^th at the McKinstry Innovation Center in Seattle, but also a ZINO Green Portland Investment Forum on February 24^th at the Oregon Technology Business Center in Beaverton.  The format will be the same for both investment forums; afternoon sessions from 1:00-6:00 p.m. showcasing 12-15 clean tech, green, energy efficient or sustainable companies seeking angel investment capital followed by an awards and wine reception.  Our man on the ground in Portland taking the leadership role to produce ZINO Green Portland is well-known in both the Seattle and Portland angel and entrepreneurial communities, Chris Fenner.

We are in the process now of accepting applications from entrepreneurs to present at the ZINO Green Investment Forums.  Entrepreneurs selected through our screening process will present in both locations.  In our 4^th year now and as in the past, we will accept entrepreneur applications from the entire I-5 corridor between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia and selectively beyond that as well.  To apply to present, interested entrepreneurs can click on this link.

We are also in the process of developing the rest of the program with keynote speakers, expert panelists and sponsors.  Though each ZINO Green will have similarities, most speakers, panelists and sponsors will be individual to the market.

We look forward to our first investment forum produced outside the Seattle market.