Keynote speaker Michael Angelo Caruso will deliver keynote address on "How to Engage Someone in 15 Seconds."

Rock Island, Ill. (March 25, 2015) - PR Network of the Quad Cities is hosting its annual Half Day Workshop at the iWireless Center on April 21. The keynote speaker is international speaker and author Michael Angelo Caruso.

Caruso's presentation will cover how to execute the perfect handshake, diffuse an angry customer, craft an impressive elevator speech, create value in the first ten words you say to someone, and so much more. You have 15 seconds to make a good first impression. Everyone can make a better first impression!

Caruso is based out of Royal Oaks, Mich., and travels the country delivering motivational speeches. He's delivered over 2,000 paid presentations and keynote speeches on leadership, selling and internet marketing.

Breakout sessions include :

Social Media Marketing What Matters in 2015 (and Beyond) - Josh Krakauer, Sculpt LLC

Krakauer will present on social media marketing trends/survival kit for 2015, with an additional emphasis on the how and why of Facebook advertising. Josh Krakauer is the Founder and CEO of Sculpt LLC, Social Media Marketing Agency based in Iowa City, Iowa. Sculpt focuses on social media community management, strategic planning, creative execution, and brand development in the digital space.  Krakauer is a graduate of the University of Iowa, and is "obsessed" with all things social, web and startup.

Technological Changes & Effective Video for PR - Joe Brown, MediaWork Productions

The breakout session will discuss changing technology over the years and effective video for public relations. A short Q&A will also be included, so get your questions about video ready! Founded in 2001, MediaWork Productions produces video for businesses and non-profits along with some agency work. Brown is a co-owner of MediaWork. He is a graduate of Auburn University, with a B.A. in Mass Communications, double minor in Journalism and Business Management.

Media Buying - Natalie Linnville-Mass, MediaLink

This breakout session will focus on media buying, and will explore the differences between using a media buying software and buying by hand, as well as what media buyers look at when buying TV, Radio, Cable, Print, Outdoor, and Online. Trends and processes behind media buying will also be discussed. Natalie Linville-Mass is President of Media Link, Inc., has been in the media field for more than 25 years. She graduated from Drake University with a degree in Broadcast Sales and Management.  Natalie has successfully grown Media Link over the past 14 years through her consultation, media placement and development of Media Link Software™.

Crisis Management - John Riches, Aloca

"Social media - creating crisis when none exist." Curious? Attend this session to learn more. John Riches is Communications & Public Affairs Manager for Alcoa in the Quad Cities. He has managed high-profile visits to the plant by President Obama and Governor Branstad. He is a former TV Reporter and News Director at WQAD-TV. John graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. Degree in Broadcast Journalism and minors in Economics and Computer Science.

"We're very excited to have Mr. Caruso as our keynote speaker. He will motivate and inspire attendees to be better people," said Amy Kolner, Half Day Workshop Director. "Plus, our breakout sessions are covering such a wide range of topics - there is something for every marketer and PR professional in the Quad Cities. We are also excited to honor our first winner of the Marketing and Public Relations Professional of the Year award!"

PR Network of the Quad Cities Half Day Workshop

§  When: Tuesday, April 21 from 8 a.m. - Noon

§  Where: iWireless Center, 1201 River Drive, Moline, IL

Advanced registration is required. Deadline to register is April 10. For additional event details and to RSVP your attendance, please visit http://www.prnetworkqc.org/workshop.php.

For more information about PR Network of the Quad Cities and to learn about membership opportunities, visit http://www.prnetworkqc.org/ orwww.facebook.com/PRNetworkQC.

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About PR Network of the Quad Cities

PR Network of the Quad Cities, Inc. provides professional development, networking and educational opportunities to individuals interested in the marketing/public relations/communications field.

Statement attributable to Lance Trover, Director of Communications, Office of the Governor

"The Rauner administration respectfully disagrees with the Attorney General's opinion regarding local right-to-work. The administration is confident that with enabling legislation from the state, local governments can create employee empowerment zones." 

Event Announcement:   

Event:           Project Management: The Human and Technical View  

Date:           Thursday, April 2, 2015 and Friday, April 3, 2015  

Time:            8:00 AM - 4:00 PM  

Where:         MRA - The Management Association  

3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100  

Moline, IL  61265  

Cost:             MRA Members: $460; Nonmembers: $645   

This two day program, gain the know-how to lead projects to successful outcomes.  Participants will learn to implement a process for planning and completing any project, using a practical, hands-on approach.  Discuss the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, including managing the human dynamics of the team and stakeholders.  A communication-style assessment guides project managers to an understanding of the power of an adaptable style. Participants will be able to explain how to affect change and influence others as projects evolve.

To Register, or for more details, go to www.mratraining.com, or contact MRA at 309.277.4183 or heatherroberts@mranet.org.  

Event Announcement:   

Event:           Affirmative Action Plan Workshop  

Date:           Thursday, April 9, 2015 and Friday, April 10, 2015  

Time:            8:00 AM - 3:30 PM  

Where:         MRA - The Management Association  

3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100  

Moline, IL  61265  

Cost:            MRA Members: $460; Nonmembers: $665  

During this two day workshop, you will receive the tools you need to write a federally-sound affirmative action plan from start to finish, including the preparation of all critical statistical analyses.  In addition to writing the plan, we discuss important affirmative action concepts and implementation requirements.  Our approach is unique.  First, the seminar is conducted by MRA's AA/EEO managers.  Second, this is one of the most "hands-on" and "interactive" seminars you will ever attend.  You actually prepare many elements of your plan during the seminar.

To Register, or for more details, go to www.mratraining.com, or contact MRA at 309.277.4183 or heatherroberts@mranet.org.

Event Announcement: 

Event:           Advanced Communication Series - The Art and Science of Excellence

Date:           Effective Communication - Beyond the Basics - Friday, April 10, 2015

Communication From The Inside Out - Friday, April 24, 2015

Right Brain/Left Brain Thinking -  Friday, May 15, 2015

Time:            8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Where:         MRA - The Management Association

3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100

Moline, IL  61265

Cost:             MRA Members: $885; Nonmembers: $1170 

During this three day series, you will push your communication skills to higher levels. In this series, participants will learn how humans take in and process language and information and the ways language and information drive our thinking and behavior.  This series will explore current science of the mind and its impact on language, behavior, understanding, and actions.  This highly interactive series seeks to move information to knowledge and then to action.

To Register, or for more details, go to www.mratraining.com, or contact MRA at 309.277.4183 or heatherroberts@mranet.org.

Event Announcement: 

Event:           Human Resource Professional Certificate Series

Date:           Session 1: HR Professional As Business Partner - Friday, April 17, 2015 (8:00 AM - 3:30 PM)

Session 2: HR Metrics: ROI For HR Initiative - Friday, April 24, 2015 (8:00 AM - 11:30 AM)

Session 3: Internal Investigations: A How-To-Guide - Friday, April 24, 2015 (12:30 PM - 4:00 PM)

Session 4: Fundamentals of Compensation - Friday, May 1, 2015 (8:00 AM - 3:00 PM)

Session 5: Finance Essentials For The HR Professional - Friday, May 8, 2015 (8:00 AM - 3:30 PM)

Where:         MRA - The Management Association

3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100

Moline, IL  61265

Cost:             MRA Members: $1100; Nonmembers: $1490

This certificate series is designed specifically for those with at least 3 years of professional level HR experience and for experienced HR Professionals looking to improve their overall technical and management knowledge.  Prior completion of the Essentials of HR Certificate Series is strongly recommended.

During this five session certificate series, you will be building upon the technical skills gained in the Essentials of HR Certificate Series, this certificate series continues to grow your technical HR expertise, while focusing on key HR competencies of business acumen, collaboration, influencing, and work relationships.

HRCI Credit: 16.25 Business (Strategic)

To Register, or for more details, go to www.mratraining.com, or contact MRA at 309.277.4183 or heatherroberts@mranet.org

Event Announcement: 

Event:           Frontline Leadership Certificate Series

Date:           1. Motivation and Trust Building - Tuesday, April 21, 2015

2. Communication Skills - Tuesday, April 28, 2015

3. Effective Training Techniques - Tuesday, May 5, 2015

4. Resolving Conflict And Handling Difficult People Problems - Tuesday, May 12, 2015

5. Achieving High Impact Results - Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Time:            8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Where:         MRA - The Management Association

3800 Avenue of the Cities, Suite 100

Moline, IL  61265

Cost:             MRA Members: $1250; Nonmembers: $1700 

This five-day series is for those individuals who provide leadership or formal guidance to a work group without the power to hire, to fire, or conduct performance reviews. (They may be called group leaders, team leaders, coordinators, leaders of work groups, "go to" people, etc.) These employees often do the work while providing leadership to their work group. 

This series introduces the important principles of motivation, interpersonal communication, employee training, influencing others to achieve results, meeting organizational objectives, and resolving conflict. Using a combination of discussion, case study, and skill practice, participants are prepared to be more productive within their organization by developing their leadership skills. This series is also effective for individuals that are being groomed for a leadership-type role. 

To Register, or for more details, go to www.mratraining.com, or contact MRA at 309.277.4183 or heatherroberts@mranet.org

About MRA-The Management Association
Founded in 1901, MRA-The Management is a not-for-profit employer association that serves more than 4,000 employers throughout the Midwest, covering 800,000+ employees. As one of the largest employer associations in the nation, MRA helps its member organizations thrive by creating powerful teams and safe, successful workplaces. MRA conducts more than 2,000 learning events each year. Members of MRA also receive access to expert guidance, best practices, professionally facilitated roundtables, essential tools, and dozens of business services in the areas of human resources and training. MRA is headquartered in Waukesha, Wis., and has regional offices in Palatine, Ill.; Moline, Ill.; and Plymouth, Minn. To learn more and to become a member of MRA, visit www.mranet.org.

Retirees Should Reconsider Strategies on IRA, 401K Withdrawals, Financial Advisor Says

A government rule on retirement savings may be tricking retirees into looking at their financial situations all wrong, says a financial advisor who specializes in retirement planning.

The rule says retirees can't leave money in their IRA or 401k accounts forever. At age 70½ they must begin making minimum withdrawals, even if they prefer to leave the accounts untouched.

"You are forced to take money out whether you want to or not," says Dave Lopez, a mathematics and computer science major who applies his analytical mind to solving retirement challenges.

And in reality, Lopez says, you should want to take out as much as possible. That's why he likens the rule to a head fake because it causes retirees to look at the situation from the wrong perspective.

"They get fixated on that minimum amount they must withdraw, so that's how much they end up withdrawing, leaving the bulk of their savings right there in the 401k or IRA," he says.

That's a mistake, he says, especially for people who hope to leave a healthy inheritance to heirs.

"If you keep taking out the minimum amount each year, it will just about guarantee you have a large amount in there at your death," Lopez says. "Under the current tax law, if you die and your IRA or 401k is left to your heirs, they are taxed on it at a high rate. With state taxes added in, it could be 40 to 45 percent."

The percentage could end up being even more, depending when you retire and whether tax laws change, he says.

If Congress and the president raise taxes, the government's share of your retirement savings would go up and the amount left to heirs would go down.

That's where it would be good for the middle class to take a lesson from wealthy retirees, who are less likely to fall for that head fake, Lopez says. They understand that they need to withdraw greater chunks from their IRA and 401k accounts, placing the money in tax-friendlier accounts.

"While people in the middle class take out the minimum-required amount, the rich do the exact opposite," he says.

Lopez says a few strategies exist that retirees can take advantage of to make sure taxes don't deplete their legacy to their children. "You have to put these strategies into place early, though," Lopez says. "The later you wait, the less effective they are and the less your savings will be."

• Explore tax-free options. Move the money into a tax-free vehicle, such as a Roth IRA or a specially designed life insurance plan that would allow the dollars to flow tax free to heirs. Lopez says one additional advantage with the life insurance option is that, historically, when laws are changed related to life insurance the old policies are grandfathered in and not affected. "It's a top estate planning trick for the rich," he says. "The challenge is the middle class doesn't know it exists."

• Stretch out inherited IRA withdrawals. Under tax law, when your heirs inherit an IRA they don't have to take money as a lump sum. They can have it paid out over their lifetime, which could keep them in a lower tax bracket, Lopez says. They pay taxes only on what they take out, he says. "There is gamble involved with this plan," Lopez says. "You are gambling that the law that allows heirs to do this will still be in effect when you die. Many people think this law is one of the easiest ones to change because the government could just claim this is a tax loophole and they are closing the loophole."

Ultimately, he says, it will pay off to sit down ahead of time to review options with a financial advisor who understands the intricacies of retirement planning.

"You don't want to be taken in by that head fake," Lopez says. "You want to make sure you and your family get as much benefit as possible from all those years you were saving your hard-earned money."

About Dave Lopez

Dave Lopez is the founder of ILG Financial, LLC (www.ILGFinancial.com) and has been working with individuals and businesses in the Northern Virginia area since 1986. He specializes in strategies that enable his clients to potentially build a retirement nest egg that they can rely on and can never outlive. Lopez has his Bachelors of Science degree from James Madison University with a major in mathematics and computer science. He is an investment advisor representative of AlphaStar Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor.