Monday, March 2, 2009

There's No Free Lunch


There might not be free lunch, but there are a lot of free lunchtime seminars--if you can find them. One of the benefits of living in a regional center for education, health care, recreation, and government is that we have a lot of subject matter experts (SMEs). If you pay attention, you can find a SME giving a free lecture or seminar every week. Here are some noontime events that are coming up in Bemidji.

3/4/09 Young Professionals Network at the Hampton, info here.
3/4/09 Master Gardener on Landscaping at the Library
3/11/09 Information on Local Labor Outlook
Every Tuesday at 12:00 Bemidji Area Toastmasters meets. Their meetings offer short speeches about a surprising assortment of topics.

The 10 am time slot is also popular. The Academy of Life Long Learning has a series of lectures every Tuesday for about 8 weeks spring and fall. Next week's offering: Cultural Differences Between France and USA

There are many free learning opportunities that help make Bemidji a quality community. The trick is to find out about them. We don't have a community calendar that lists them all, but a couple try. I usually look at the Chamber calendar, which allows people to "opt in" and post their event or The Pioneer community calendar, but it only shows two to three days at a time, when I want to see the entire month.

The Northern Community Internet, Bemidji page has a calendar that could be the central clearing house for local events. As with the Chamber and Pioneer calendars, users post their own events or provide a link to an existing calendar. If your organization or business has a calendar, how about sharing it? You will be helping your group and your community.

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