What a ZOO!

Today we celebrated Jackson Hatch’s 3^rd birthday at the Woodland Park Zoo.  We were greeted at the entrance by David Wu, Vice President of Development for the ZOO along with Ken’s son and Jackson’s father, Michael Hatch who showed us where we could park close to the party entrance.  Jackson, along with many other young friends and their parents who were all having a wonderful time had a chance to ride on the carousel, but the big hit was Edward the Armadillo (named after Edward Scissorhands because of his claws).  In the top photo, Jackson (second from left) and his friends are enthralled with Edward’s perambulations around the enclosure.  The handler invited the children to “gently” touch the back of the armadillo and that was a surefire hit though Edward preferred to stay close to his handler and followed her around the enclosure like a small puppy.

The melting ice cream cake turned out to be quite an attraction to the boys who began eating it with their fingers long before the birthday song was sung (see 3^rd photo).  Jackson’s mom, Alicia Hatch, shared the tip to parents for future reference that dry ice (which wasn’t used here) is the appropriate ice to keep ice cream frozen!  The children and adults also enjoyed the puzzles and play dough as you can see in the bottom photo with three generations of the Flug family; Pat, Lauren and Eliza  enjoying their bright green play dough noses!

At the end of the party, all was bedlam as Alicia handed out oversize balloons to the children and Michael and Alicia tried to pack up the remaining corndogs, quiche, salads, fruit, soft drinks and birthday gifts in time for the next birthday party scheduled to start in the party room in just a few minutes!  It was a satisfying and fun party for all that definitely qualified as a “zoo” at the ZOO!   

ZINO Green Portland a Success!

The ZINO Society team is figuratively walking on air since the successful inaugural ZINO Green Portland event on Wednesday this week!  The entire staff handled hundreds of details with good humor and expertise in order to produce such a stellar event.  We were so pleased to work with our major and venue sponsor, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and were amazed at the attention to detail and service that Michelle Martin, their event representative provided to us.  My good friend, Don Krahmer, (3^rd photo above)of Schwabe facilitated a dealflow flight of entrepreneurs and drew the winning name for the 2 airline tickets door prize offered by our supporting sponsor, Alaska Airlines.  Presenting entrepreneur, Craig Rominger of Nano Ice USA was the big winner of the tickets!

There were many people who helped make ZINO Green Portland a reality.  In addition to Schwabe and Alaska Airlines, our other invaluable sponsors were Oracle, Portland Business Journal, McKinstry and Stoel Rives.  I am also especially appreciative of our ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee members and my friends and co-chairs, Douglas Bouland and Cindy Tortorici, who brought the group together to provide advice and input to me and the rest of the ZINO Society management team about the appropriate entry into Portland.   

Ray King, Founder & CEO of AboutUs participated in a fireside chat about his experience as a serial entrepreneur and shared some of his best advice with the entrepreneurs in the room.  Ray is pictured above in 4^th photo along with his wife, ZINO Green Portland Advisory Committee member, Deneen King, and ZINO Society VP of Business Development, Mary Holmes.

There were 14 entrepreneurs who each presented 5 minute overviews of their businesses and shared their traction to date, market pipelines, financial projections and any important information for potential investors to consider.  Big kudos are definitely in order for the ZINO Green Screeners and Coaches who worked so hard to assist the entrepreneurs in making the most clear and concise presentations.

The winners of the ZINO Zenith Awards for best investment opportunities as selected by the event attendees were Peter Jay Klauser of Eco Carpet Inc., Craig Rominger of Nano Ice USA, and Burt Hamner of Hydrovolts.  See top photo above of each with their “green” ZINO Zenith award trophies.  To help investors in the room learn more about the ZINO Zenith Award winners, they then participated in a Due Diligence LIVE! Q&A segment with expert panelists (shown from left to right in 2^nd photos above) Drew Bernard, angel investor, Darius Hartwell, Shareholder, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Chris Ulum of Plas2Fuel Corporation, Byron McCann of Ascent Partners, and Bruce Sanchez of Oracle.

Following the business session, everyone had a final opportunity to talk with individual entrepreneurs and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and beverages together.  Featured winemakers were Dave Hanson of ArborBrook Vineyards and Emily Stoller Smith of Solena Estate.

Thank you to everyone who attended, was involved and helped make ZINO Green Portland an inaugural event of which we can all be very proud!  And now we can still look forward to ZINO Green Seattle this coming week on March 4^th at the McKinstry offices in Seattle!

Spencer Turns 1 Years Old!

What fun to watch three little children under the age of 3 years old attempt to share and play together, a few shouts and cries notwithstanding. This week was Spencer Hatch’s first birthday and he had a fine time celebrating with mom and dad, Alicia & Michael Hatch, grandfather Ken, big brother Jackson (who most certainly rules the roost) and friends Eliza Flug and 2 year old daughter, Lauren! 

Master of Wine (& Food) Monday

Last night, ZINO Society members and guests enjoyed our first Master of Wine Monday at the Seattle Harbor Club.  Our sommelier and ZINO Society Wine Professional Member, David Le Claire selected four unusual and interesting wines from our corner of the country, but not all Washington wines while Chef Dustin Calery created magnificent food pairings.  Pictured above are Jim & Bonnie Towne, Ken Hatch and David Le Claire, members Denny & Bernie Dochnahl and their guest Bethany Douglas, ZINO Society team member Robin Moore along with guests Greg & Jan Schrag and new ZINO Society member Jay Pickering.  My taste buds still happily remember the incredible menu which follows so I am looking forward to the next Master of Wine Monday at the Harbor Club!

Chervil Wrapped Ling Cod with Satsuma and Shallot Marmalade paired with Gray Monk “Pinot Auxerrois” – Okanagan, Canada

“Bronzed” Wild Alaskan Coho Salmon with Cascade Huckleberry Gastrique paired with Foris “Pinot Noir” – Rogue Valley, Oregon

Cracked Pepper Crusted Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin with Vanilla Scented Pomegranate Jus paired with Hells Canyon “Bordeaux Blend” – Idaho

Red Wine Braised Short Rib of Beef with Cacao Pappardelle paired with Big Daddy Syrah – Woodinville, Washington

Gewurtztraminer Poached Pear Tart with Hazelnut “Frangipane” and Fireweed Honey Crème Anglaise

We're off to Portland tomorrow for ZINO Green

The 4th annual ZINO Green Seattle Investment Forum and inaugural ZINO Green Portland Investment Forum are right around the corner.  Tomorrow we leave for Portland to prepare for our very first investment forum outside of Seattle.  ZINO Green Portland will occur on February 24^th in the afternoon at the offices of Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt and ZINO Green Seattle will occur on March 4^th in the afternoon at McKinstry.  Both events feature 14 entrepreneurs in the areas of clean tech, green IT, energy efficiency and sustainable products and services. Presenting companies are early-stage or are seeking expansion capital in the $250K-$5M range. ZINO Society is also bringing together thought leaders, angel investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who are committed to the advancement of innovation and green economic development in both locations.
The presentation format is a 5 minute pitch followed by Q&A. Forum attendees will select three finalists for a final round of questioning by our expert panelists in our Due Diligence LIVE! segment.
Presenting Companies:
AmeriStar Solar Tracker 
Building Runner 
Canvas Solutions, Inc.
Eco Carpet Inc.
EMME
Environmental Energy & Engineering Co. 
G.R. Green Building Products Inc.
Hydrovolts
KersTech Vehicle Systems 
Lagotek  Nano Ice USA
sengWare
Virticus 
Zebigo.com
If you are interested in attending, click HERE for more information.

We look forward to presenting all the quality companies listed above and look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends at both ZINO Green Portland and ZINO Green Seattle.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Saturday night Ken and I celebrated Chinese New Year at Jade Garden in the Seattle International District with friends Rick & Christina Tsang and their family.  Course after course of very flavorful food was delivered to the table including jelly fish, crab soup, Peking duck, sweet and sour pork, Shanghai-style noodles, potstickers, honey fried prawns, whole fresh crab plus many other dishes that I cannot describe or recall.  When finally the fresh orange segments and fortune cookies were delivered, we were all groaning a sigh of relief.

Last week, we also had a Chinese New Year celebration with the ZINO Society Year of the Tiger party at the Harbor Club in Seattle.  Guests were encouraged to wear “tiger print” or Chinese red.  See photo above of me along with Anne Marshall, Margaret dell’Osso and Mary Blackburn all wearing our version of tiger prints.  One guest, Eric Moris, chose a different direction to dress “tiger-style” and came dressed as Tiger Woods.  His fiancée, ZINO Society member Connie Blumenthal, was stunning in a Chinese red satin dress.  In the middle photo, ZINO Society Elite Roundtable member Ike Lee, enjoys the party with ZINO Society team members, Robin Moore and Mary Holmes.

We were entertained by an 18 person dance troupe performing the famous Chinese Lion Dance complete with drums (see bottom photo) and enjoyed an excellent Chinese buffet prepared by the chefs from both Harbor Club-Seattle and Bellevue.  The featured wine was Dama Wines poured by their representative, Terry Christiana.

And then last evening, I was invited to a “ladies only” Chinese New Year party at a dear friend’s home where we played Mah Jong, consumed delicious Asian-style food and adult beverages, talked, laughed and shared our Chinese and astrological horoscopes with one another.  I feel that I have thoroughly celebrated Chinese New Year this year!    

Wishing all a very happy Chinese New Year and happy Year of the Tiger!

Save the Planet! ZINO Green is coming! Companies selected.

Last Thursday at Davis Wright Tremaine for the second ZINO Green screening session, the ZINO Society Screening and Coaching Board reviewed another group of 8 companies vying for a space at our upcoming ZINO Green Investment Forum scheduled this year for the first time to be held in both Portland and Seattle.  ZINO Society COO Rob Brown welcomed a new Screening and Coaching Board member to the team – Bob Nowlin.  Each entrepreneur had 5 minutes to pitch their company and 5 minutes for questions and comments from the screeners.  After the screening session and reviewing the input from all the screeners, each of the selected companies was assigned two individual coaches to help the entrepreneur perfect his or her pitch for the upcoming forums.  We are happy to announce the following companies as the ones selected to make 5 minute pitches at both ZINO Green Portland on February 24^th and ZINO Green Seattle on March 4^th:

 AmeriStar Solar Tracker

BioXcelerator Technologies, Inc.

Building Runner

Canvas Solutions, Inc.

Eco Carpet Inc.

EMME

Environmental Energy & Engineering Co.

G.R. Green Building Products Inc.

Hydrovolts, Inc.

KersTech Vehicle Systems

Lagotek Corporation

sengWare

Virticus

Zebigo.com

To register to attend, click here for Portland and here for Seattle.

Yes, Dancing is Harder that it Appears!

Here I am with wet hair with my amazing Bachata dance partner, Marcelo Garces, following a hard dance workout including a difficult grapevine sequence expected to be danced at warp speed.  The second photo is of costume designer, Giuseppe Graziola and my dance style teacher, Naomi Scoggin.  It takes a village to help get ready for the upcoming Seattle Dances competition fundraiser which will occur on March 13, 2010 at the Fremont Studio.  This dance competition is a fundraiser for Plymouth Housing Group, so when people go online and vote (for Marcelo and me of course), all the funds go to support the important mission of Plymouth Housing Group which is to provide permanent homes for the most challenged homeless people in our community—those suffering from long-term homelessness and multiple disabilities.  Click here to vote for me as “Best Cyber Choice Dancer” (best to do it sight unseen though there is a brief video clip on the website of Marcelo and me at rehearsal).