On March 4th, 2011, the lab techs here at spark+plug were invited by Community and Senior Services for the County of Los Angeles to run a private experiment during their leadership retreat at The California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles.

In less than an hour, we immediately flattened the organizational hierarchy into eight equal groups and facilitated our elevator pitch game for the Leadership Team and more than 85 employees. 

Producing a buzz of ideas, solutions and recommendations for department consideration, each participant was given 60 seconds to make a pitch to their respective groups. Each of the eight finalists made a second pitch in front of the entire audience with a vote on the top three best pitches.

Community and Senior Services investigates abuse claims against our senior and disabled population. They provide nutrition and other life-enhancing services to seniors, employment services to adults and youth while working with employers in times of hiring and downsizing. Offering mediation services to avoid court filings, the Office of Ombudsman provides a professional and impartial means to solve complaints against the Sheriff’s Department and the Office of Public Safety.

Contact us if you want to add value and velocity to the creation of ideas, solutions, and recommendations for your group, company or employees?

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Urban Marketplace is scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 2011 (7:00 AM- 1:00 PM) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Based in part on our work last August with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency we have been invited to host a table at the upcoming Urban Marketplace this March.

Michael Banner, CEO of the Los Angeles, LDC, a community development financial institution, first introduced us to the Urban Land Institute of Los Angeles. 

We will host a number of experts on Enterprise Zones including Blake Christian, CPA, Tax Partner with HCVT, Inc. and Craig Johnson, Enterprise Zone Manager, with the City of Long Beach and President of the California Association of Enterprise Zones.

Steven B. Paige, Chief Operating Officer and I from Empowered Banking will be there to share how business lenders, zone communities, and business owners can leverage zone benefits to stimulate lending, business growth, and hiring.

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the spark+plug experiment, SparkPlugMe.com
The spark+plug experiment 
is a friendly networking game offering Award Winners recognition, rewards and promotion.

The game format encourages players to build relationships while giving their best elevator pitch. A winning pitch can be about your business, a career goal, a group you support, or meeting people. 

Videos of Finalists and Award Winners are posted on SparkPlugMe.com. 

Best Performance Award 
goes to the winning elevator pitch voted on by the audience.

People's Choice Award
goes to the Finalist winning the most online votes at SparkPlugMe.com

Best Supporting Role
goes to the Community Group with the most supporters in attendance.

We will produce the game and promote new Finalists and Winners monthly.

Our goal is to invite a limited amount of 50 people who are looking to promote their best pitch in our first experiment. 

February 2nd, 2011
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I've supported this event in a number of ways. It always turns volunteers into next year's champions. It's a great event, has an immediate impact, and helps create great opportunities for the officers and kids to have a great experience. Provided is a short description of what the event is about.

On Saturday the 13th of November, the Long Beach Junior Chamber, Walmart store staff members, additional volunteers, Long Beach Police Officers, and a group of underprivileged children will come together, prior to the start of the standard business day, and take approximately 100 children shopping. Each Police Officer will be matched with a child and given approximately $100 to purchase school uniforms, shoes and other necessities. Extra funds and in kind donations will be used to provide the children with notebooks, pencils, backpacks and other various supplies.

Sponsoring a child's participation is $100.
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Along with our partner, Los Angeles LDC, Inc., we moderated two panels of experts on leveraging benefits from Tax-Exempt Bond Financing and Enterprise Zones to stimulate lending and economic growth in the commercial business sector.

We’ve assembled a highly qualified group of experts to answer every possible question you could think of when it comes to leveraging tax-exempt bonds or enterprise zone benefits.

This special event is designed for commercial lenders, local government, trade organizations, financial services intermediaries, community-based small business lenders, and community development banking staff (CRA).
More info at EmpoweredBanking.com
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