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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, February 6, 2014 | 8 Halton.ca 311 Halton Small Business Centre Women Entrepreneur Event A half-day session that will include keynote speaker, Fay Chapple, international speaker, author, business strategist and success coach; plus spotlights on local women entrepreneurs; strategies for making the right connections; as well as time to connect with other women entrepreneurs! Wednesday, March 5 OE Banquet Hall & Conference Centre, Oakville 7:45 a.m. ­ 12 p.m., $30/person I Upcoming Business Seminars and Programs Starting a Small Business Seminar: A general overview of the things you will need to consider, along with resources to help you succeed. Covers structure, registrations, regulations, licences, taxes Wednesday, February 12 Halton Hills Public Library, Georgetown Branch 6:30 ­ 8:30 p.m., $25/person Marketing ­ Research and Cost Effective Ideas: Identify why and how conducting market research can impact your business success and learn some cost effective ideas to market your business. Wednesday, February 26 Burlington Central Library 6:30 ­ 8:30 p.m., $25/person Starting a Small Business Seminar: A general overview of the things you will need to consider, along with resources to help you succeed. Covers structure, registrations, regulations, licences, taxes Wednesday, March 19 Burlington Central Library 6:30 ­ 8:30 p.m., $25/person Getting Started Information Session: A one hour overview of all the rules and regulations you need to know about if you are starting a business in Halton. Staff will guide you through a checklist for starting a new business which you can take home. less. Every Tuesday 9:00 ­ 10:00 a.m. Halton Regional Centre, Small Business Centre No cost, but registration is required Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) ­ General Information Session: A one review of the application process and evaluation and eligibility criteria. (Canadian Youth Business and a great business plan of up to $15,000 for young entrepreneurs between 18 and 39 years of age who are looking to start their own full-time small business.) 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month in 2013 10:30 ­ 11:30 a.m. Halton Regional Centre, Small Business Centre No cost, but registration is required Registration and pre-payment for all seminars is required as seating is limited. Contact us for more information and registration details for these events. Join our online community. Get connected at www.haltonsmallbusiness.ca once sat in a subway car across from a woman who, as fate would have it, was reading my rst novel. Initially, I merely marvelled at the odds -- I mean, the book sold only 11 copies, 10 of those went to my mother, and on any given day thousands of people ride Toronto's subways. Subsequently, I marvelled at the woman's reaction as she perused a passage. A grin lit up her face and then she broke into laughter. Later, in a bar with a friend, I told the tale of this incredible encounter and of how crazy cool it was to actually witness someone taking pleasure in my prose. My friend teasingly questioned whether the meeting was truly happenstance, or was I in fact stalking this poor reader? And then he went for the jugular, which for any writer is the ego: "How do you know she was laughing at a funny part? She may have been laughing at your writing, at what was supposed to be the most serious part of the novel." I packed up my insecurities and quit the bar, leaving my former friend holding his ridiculous theories and, of course, the bill. All of which brings me to novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz who has started a service called Book A Writer. In this venture, authors agree to appear at a book club, hear their work being discussed, and add their two cents -- for a fee. I'm sure as a writer it would be interesting to be the proverbial y on the wall. But only if the y is being attered, not attened. Hey, I know how these book club meetings work, how much wine is swilled and outrageous opinions are thusly fermented by sometimes blinkered bookies, and I know the merciless mudslingers that belong to these clubs. A novel idea that brings authors to book clubs That's Life Andy Juniper Guest Contributor Because I'm one of them. True: I've been in a book club that has existed in assorted incarnations for far longer than I can recall. I know how harsh and critical, or gentle and uncritical, the capricious book club climate can be. Take our book club. We recently gave poor Paul Harding a rough ride. Harding is the American author who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with his debut novel, Tinkers. Well, for assorted reasons, Tinkers was damned by most in the club. Conversely, one giddy night, we went cuckoo-bananas over Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, an enjoyable but comparatively lightweight bestseller told from the point of view of a dog. By the close of that meeting, we had convinced each other that the book was a literary classic. If not, like, the best book ever. No, I'm not sure there's enough money in the world to have me appear at a congregation of book clubbers in which one of my books is being discussed, or dissected: one of my babies that took ve-plus years to produce and contains the very essence of my being. My blood, sweat, tears, and the fumes from a thousand cups of coffee. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook www.facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at @thesportjesters. R0012448869 2014 Waste Management Guide and Collection Calendar The 2014 Waste Management Guide and Collection Calendar, which has everything you need to know about waste collection in Halton Region, has been delivered to mailboxes across the Region. The calendar is effective February 1 and includes a schedule for Blue Box, GreenCart, garbage, bulk waste and yard waste collection and information on the Halton Waste Management Site. If you have not received your Waste Collection Calendar yet, please contact Access Halton by dialling 311 or use the online Service Request Tool at www.halton.ca/waste. Residents can also view their Waste Collection Calendar online at www.halton.ca/wastecalendar. Halton Regional Meeting Schedule Feb. 18 9:30 a.m. Health & Social Services Cttee. Feb. 19 9:30 a.m. Planning & Public Works Cttee. Gary Carr Regional Chair Meetings can be viewed at www.halton.ca/meetings. Feb. 19 1:30 p.m. Admin & Finance Cttee. Feb. 26 9:30 a.m. Regional Council 090114 Furnace Diagnostic Service only No additional charge for evenings and weekends $ 9 locations to serve you better Please contact us as soon as possible if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. www.aireone.com A+ RATING 905-849-4998 49 reg. $99