Chicago Chapter - APA			August, 2008 Volume 2, Issue 7
Newsletter of the Chicago Chapter of the American Payroll Association
2008 Calendar January No Meeting February 2– CPP Review Class 16– CPP Review Class 21—Chapter Meeting Compliance Auditing March 1– CPP & FPC Review Class 15--CPP & FPC Review Class 29– CPP & FPC Review Class April 12– CPP Review Class 25—25^th Anniversary Celebration May 13-17 – 26^th Annual Congress, Austin, TX June 5– Chapter Meeting Payroll Basics 20-21- Relay for Life July No Meeting August 8 – Chapter Meeting Payroll All Day Meeting Officer Elections September 1-5 National Payroll Week Celebration 15^th Annual Illinois Statewide October 29—Chapter Meeting Preparing For Year End November Holiday Party Official newsletter of the Chicago Chapter
	Chicago Chapter Celebrates National Payroll Week : NPW Miniature Golf Outing Friday, September 5, 2008 - 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM We will be collecting school supplies at this event. Celebrate NPW With the Chicago Chapter Enjoy an evening of food, networking & Miniature Golf! At Top Golf 699 W Thorndale Wooddale Il 60191 On Friday September 5, 2008 From 6:30- 10:00 pm Registration is $ 15.00 www.nationalpayrollweek.com Payment by PayPal or send c/o Chicago Chapter PO Box 836 Chicago, IL 60690 Top Golf has revolutionary technology in golf. Top Golf allows a player to compete & get instant shot feedback. Every ball has a chance to score points. Every swing will help improve a player’s overall game. The game is played aiming at targets from 25 to 250 yards. Bring your own clubs or Top Golf will provide them at no extra charge. Our chapter’s main event is the miniature gold but if you enjoy regular golf you might enjoy this extra feature. There is an additional charge for this technology.		Election Results The 2008 Chapter Officer Election was held right after our August 8th All Day Meeting. The following offices have been filled, President is Mary Kazmierczak, Vice President is Paula Black, Corresponding Secretary is Mary Weiner, and Recording Secretary is Kathy Mizejewski.
2008 Chapter Officers President Chris O”Hara, CPP Vice President Mary Kazmierczak, CPP Recording Secretary Gabriel Vergara, CPP Treasurer Hank Mazik, CPP Gov. Liaison Katie Staffeldt, CPP Correspondence Secretary Mary Weiner, CPP Education Director Carolyn Kerkman CPP	Chicago Chapter Holiday Party Celebration Mark your calendars and save the date of Saturday, November 22, 2008.  On this date, the Chapter is planning to hold our annual Holiday Party from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM at the Wellington of Arlington, 2121 South Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL  60005.  The board is currently planning the event. Be sure to attend the Chapter’s Recognition and Holiday Party where these individuals will receive their FPC/CPP Pins. Pop Can Tabs. Reminder to save and bring in your collection of Pop Can Tabs. These tabs will be given to the Ronald McDonald House at the end of the year. Thanks for your continued support in this project.	Clues to Payroll!!! 2008 Illinois Statewide Conference Harrah’s Joliet Hotel and Convention Center 151 North Joliet Street Joliet, IL 60432 Phone: (815) 740-2484 September 17 and 18, 2008 Accommodations are available for conference participants on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 for a discounted room rate of $ 99.00 plus tax. Agenda Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Reception and Roundtable Topic: Payroll Issues Thursday, September 18, 2008 Guest Speakers – Emily Rook, CPP - APA President - Brad Patterson, CPP – 2006 Man of the Year Session Topics: Illinois Wage and Hour Laws - Connie Knutti Taxable/ Non-Taxable Compensation - Martin Rule; CPP, CPA, CFP Multi-State Tax Issues - LaTish O’Neal Registration Fees Chapter Members……… ……….$ 100.00 Nonmembers…………...………… $ 150.00 Registration will open late July, forms will be sent soon. Go ahead, save the date. Get your approvals and be ready to register for the 15^th Annual Illinois Statewide Conference. Page 2 Page 2
Upcoming Chapter Meetings February 21 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Compliance Auditing Kronos 425 N Martingale Rd Suite 40 Schaumburg, IL Continental Breakfast 8:30 am April 25 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm 25^th Anniversary Special Guest: Dan Maddux Exec Dir APA June 5 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Payroll Basics Continental Breakfast 8:30 am June 20-21 6:00 pm-6:00 am Relay for Life American Cancer Society Oak Brook August 8 9:00 am-4:00 pm Tax Day Officer Elections Continental Breakfast 8:30 am White Eagle Banquet October 29 9:00-12:00 pm Preparing For Year End ADP 100 Northwest Point Blvd Elk Grove, IL Continental Breakfast 8:30 am November 22 Holiday Party Wellington Elk Grove Village	Government Corner Social Security Social Security wants to make retirement planning as easy as possible.  One way we’re doing this is by introducing a new online financial and retirement planning tool, called the Retirement Estimator.  You can find it at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. The Retirement Estimator allows individuals to get an immediate and personalized estimate of their potential Social Security retirement benefits to help them in their retirement planning.  It is convenient.  Since it is tied to actual Social Security earnings records, there is no need to manually enter years of earnings information.  The Retirement Estimator is also interactive, allowing users to compare different retirement options by changing “stop work” dates or expected earnings. The Retirement Estimator is also secure - only the benefit estimates are provided online, ensuring that no personal information is revealed. We hope that you will take a look at the Retirement Estimator and share it with your clients and colleagues by adding a link to the Retirement Estimator to your company’s website.  By linking to the Retirement Estimator, your visitors will have access to a convenient and interactive tool specifically designed to facilitate their financial and retirement planning. Also, remember individuals can save a trip to their local Social Security office by applying for retirement benefits online.  They can visit www.socialsecurity.gov/applyforbenefits to apply online for retirement benefits - it’s convenient and secure.		Please Volunteer –We need your HELP! National Payroll Week – Sept 1-5, 2008 Bunco Party Have you ever played Bunco or know what Bunco is? In talking with members several of you play Bunco and we have a couple of resident experts willing to show us novices how to play the game. It will be a fun evening but we need a place to have a Chapter Bunco Party. Please let us know if you know of any places or if you are interested in playing and learning Bunco. Great Networking opportunity. APA News: 2008 APA National Membership Drive September 1 – December 15, 2008 During this campaign APA is waiving their $35 enrollment fee. If you are currently not a member of the American Payroll Association and would like to be a member you pay only $195 for One Year Membership Dues. If you are applying on-line go to www.americanpayroll.org/promo and enter the promo code: MEMBRMGM. If you would like to mail in your dues please contact the chapter mailbox and a form will be sent to you. For information on membership benefits, please visit www.americanpayroll.org. Page 3

Mailing Address:

Chicago Chapter APA

PO Box 836

Chicago, IL 60690-0836

Phone:

(773) 631-8480

{24-hr. Recording)

E-mail :

Chicago_Chapter_apa@hotmail.com

NPW Corner :

Tell us what you are planning for NPW.

Reflections of Relay 2008

The rain did not dampen the spirits of Team CAPA or Team NPW. We were fortunate to have the Oak Brook Park District facilities to stay dry in. The opening ceremony started with the survivors starting on the track in one direction and the caregivers starting in the opposite direction and meeting in the middle to form a very caring group. The teams were announced one by one and walked to a chosen song. Teams CAPA and NPW walked together carrying our chapter banner to the only choice… Giving you the best/ I am a Payroll Professional. What a great start to the evening.

I would like to thank everyone who donated to our teams and joined our teams. And now I would like to introduce our teams and those who came out to support our efforts. These were made up of fellow chapter members, friends, mothers and daughters, sisters, sister-in- laws, aunt and niece. Mary Weiner, Linda Lowe, Maria Gajda, Hank Mazik, Mary Kazmierczak, Kathy Mizejewski, Chris O’Hara, Margaret Yakush, Carolyn Kerkman, Karen Heil, Pat Gaughan, Mary Jo Ramson, Kathy Ramson, Katie Staffeldt, Jamie Deehr, Sally Saraceno and Kelly Kennedy. We had team members and supporters came in wheelchairs and walkers. Karen Heil, Carolyn Kerkman’s sister came from New Orleans.

I thank my husband, Keith for putting up with me through all the planning and craziness at our home. My daughter and son-in-law, Jamie and Tony for their never ending help with setting up the tents and taking the tents down. They went out in the pouring rain to get the luminaria bags and anything else I asked of them. I guess this would be a good time to also let everyone know I was not just a team captain but I also co-chaired Luminaria’s. I need to thank my brother, Bill, my sister-in-law Sally and my nieces Carly and Caitlyn for helping set out the Luminaria bags for me. Keith and Bill pealed me away from the wall that was holding me up during the Luminaria ceremony as my daughter, Jamie Deehr, told the story of our parent’s journey with cancer.

Every hour had a different theme. Thanks to Karen Heil, we were ready for my favorite, the Mardi Gras hour at 3AM. Karen brought beads from Bourbon Street for everyone. We donned our signature hats, purple with many feathers on them. We sang, we walked, we danced, we walked, we talked, we walked, we laughed, and we walked. We made it through the night with each one encouraging the next to make it through to sunrise.

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE by Robert Wilson, Jr

Defeating the De-Motivator

The sweet strains of a Puccini aria cut through the Saturday night clatter of the busy Italian restaurant in New York City, but it wasn’t coming from the aging voice of the Sicilian baritone who was hired to belt out favorites like Funiculi-Funicula. It was a soprano whose crystal clear voice filled the room. Within moments all the ambient noise came to a halt. Diners stopped eating and talking, busboys stopped clearing tables; the cooks even came out of the kitchen.

Singing on the tiny stage was the skinny moon-faced waitress from Ohio. The Sicilian heard she studied opera, so he invited her to join him, but what began as a duet ended in solo as he too was mesmerized by the beauty of her voice. When she finished, the place thundered in applause and I saw tears of gratitude glistening in her eyes. She had hit each note perfectly.

If only she had done that when she auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera. But she choked, flinched, allowed a seed of doubt to creep into her consciousness and thus her voice.

She told me her story over a couple of beers after work. It was the fall of 1984, and I was a fellow waiter at the restaurant; just another struggling artist in the city that never sleeps. She explained that she got nervous during her audition and couldn’t hit the high notes. She would get one more chance to audition, but she would have to wait an entire year.

I never found out if she made it; as a writer my art is portable and a few months later I moved to a city where they still have a bedtime. I suspect she did, because that night she received a proof - a vital beginning step.

Doubt is a silent killer. We transmit feelings of doubt to others through subtleties in our body language, facial expression and tone of voice. It is picked up subconsciously by those with whom we communicate. Worse than that, we communicate it to ourselves, and it seeps into our performance.

Doubt is the De-Motivator and all too often it prevents us from even trying.

Our team achieved Silver status for the donations we collected, a fitting achievement in our 25^th year as a chapter. I would also like to thank everyone at all of the meetings so far this year for your generosity in purchasing the raffle tickets sold at all chapter events. We are a great chapter because of you, our members.

Next year we will be looking forward to having more members join us for Relay 2009!

Katie Staffeldt, CPP

Invite from Off the Street Club Guest Night!

Thank you to the members that came out to see the summer camp for the boys and girls from ‘Off the Street Club” on Wednesday, July 16^th. It was an enjoyable night full of meeting interesting and fun people. We met the children, the counselors and supporters of the club. We had a good barbeque dinner and all kinds of desert. We brought the children some goodies from the Illinois EPA and the chapter.

We are planning to have a ‘Money Matters” evening event in October with this group and hope more members can make it. It is truly a worth while group.

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We all suffer doubt occasionally and its cure is always the same: proof. Proof that we are indeed talented enough to do what we set out to do. A proof doesn’t need to be big to eliminate doubt. A series of little ones can be just as effective.

I keep a journal – a log – of accomplishments. Both small and large, because they all add up to reasons for believing in my abilities. It is especially important to log the little ones, because they are so easy to forget or overlook, and yet they carry tremendous weight when it comes to giving ourselves confidence.

You say, “I’m just starting out and have no accomplishments.” That just means you’re not looking in the right places. We all have successes; some of them may be found in different areas of your life. I often read in the Wall Street Journal about women, who after years as stay-at-home Moms, return to the workforce in well-paid management positions. They acquire these jobs by citing in their resumes the many skills and achievements they learned through their volunteer work. What talents are you racking up through your hobbies and leisure activities?

Sometimes proof comes to us by comparing ourselves to others. Simply ask yourself, “Out of all the people who have ever lived, how many have attained what I want?” The sheer numbers alone will often be all the proof you need.

When all else fails, fall back on faith. Some of the most successful people in the world had absolutely no proof that they could achieve their dreams. All they had was a strong desire and a belief in themselves. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist.  He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators.  For more information on Robert's programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.

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Chicago Chapter -APA PO Box 836 Chicago, IL 60690-0836