LeTip of Denville meeting May 24, 2012

Posted on May 28, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday morning.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary
John Tully
Janet Navarro
Joe Nugent
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri

Absent
Andy Krauser
Kevin Dulio

Guest: Don Chopoorian of BMW of Roxbury.

Andy couldn’t be with us today so Justin Marcus Smith stepped in as our pinch hitting speaker. Justin is our small business attorney – his website is at www.jmarcussmith.com.

Justin Marcus Smith addressing LeTip of Denville

Justin Marcus Smith addressing LeTip of Denville

Justin has just returned from the State Bar conference where there was a session on Civics, a history of the system of government. Not that long ago Civics was taught in all schools as a regular subject but is now largely overlooked. Justin had some examples of some early 1900′s Civics text books which he passed around.

Justin talked about the history of American law which he traced back to ancient Rome and the “12 Tables” at around 450 BC. One interesting article in the 12 tables allowed for retaliation in kind unless some form of monetary reparations was paid. The Romans invaded Britain and ruled into circa 600 AD bringing their law with them. When Britain was invaded again in 800 AD they received no help from Rome and it entered the Dark Ages where blood feuds were common to settle legal issues. Around this time the ruler started the process of codifying the various laws of the different kingdoms into one book, which eventually became known as English Common Law. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the new rulers worked hard to make ECL the law of the land.

When the pilgrims left for the New World in the 1600′s they took ECL with them which became the  basis of the laws for the new Americans. In and around 1776 the Founding Fathers wrote the constitution based on the old ECL and what’s known as Natural Law where certain things are held as being inalienable God given rights.

The law is still being formed and molded today but without an understanding of its history it’s just not as dynamic in most people’s minds.

Thanks to Justin for talking about this interesting topic today!

It looks as though Heather McManus from Artistry Interiors will be joining the chapter in June – we look forward to getting to know more about her business soon.

John invited all the chapter members to his golf outing on July 17. More details here.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting May 17, 2012

Posted on May 23, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday morning.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary
John Tully
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter
Kevin Dulio

Absent
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri

Returning guest: Heather McManus – Artistry Interiors

We welcomed Kevin Dulio as our newest member! Welcome aboard Kevin.

Our speaker today was Dan Gehrig of Gehrig Construction.

Dan Gehrig addressing LeTip of Denville

Dan Gehrig addressing LeTip of Denville

Dan has been in the business for 26 years starting with a small remodeler and then working with a developer before starting his own business in 1992. He has a wide range of experience in both remodeling and new home construction. Although he can’t remember his first job, he does remember his first “big” contract in the mid-late 1990’s in Ridgewood for $275,000. Other big projects followed but now he’s back to doing smaller projects because of the economy.

Dan spoke about a topic that many of his clients ask him about: Cost versus Value, how much they’d get back from an addition or improvement to their house versus how much it cost. Dan makes the point that if you are staying long enough in your home you should put in what you enjoy and not worry about the return.

At the top of the list with returns of more than 100% were fiber cement siding and a new entry door. New windows came in at between 77-82%, a new kitchen at 71% and a new deck at between 80-88%.

The worst item on the list, at only 45% return was a back-up power generator!

LeTip of Denville members enjoying friendly banter at our breakfast meeting

LeTip of Denville members enjoying friendly banter at our breakfast meeting

During his Q&A session Dan addressed a common request from his clients for a “dollar per square foot” budget number. This is not an easy number to determine because there are so many factors involved in the process. The budget discussion with the client is often the most important of the project as it can determine what can and what can’t be done.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting May 10, 2012

Posted on May 11, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday morning.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter

Absent
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary

Returning guest: Kevin Dulio – Native Fields Landscaping

Because the group has been growing we had a different sitting set-up at the chapter meeting this week. The change was well received by all with the exception of one member who shall remain nameless.

Jeff Jones

We had an opening in the schedule this week for speaker. Greg decided it was time to have some fun and games and so we played “Name that member!”. After Ms. Marianne Jones had settled down after a fit of giggles we played the game where Greg asked obscure questions about chapter members and if you guessed the member correctly you won a dollar! Talk about putting dollars in your pocket!!

Fun and games at Denville LeTip

"Name that member"

Rudy talked about an upcoming event at White Meadow Lake and the need for sponsors. Jeff Jones suggested that the chapter itself acts as a sponsor which would help out the organizers and provide exposure for the group.

It looks as though Kevin will be joining the group! We look forward to hearing more about his business over the next few months.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting May 3, 2012

Posted on May 4, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday morning.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter

Guest: Heather McManus – Artistry Interiors

We had a full house at our meeting today – 18 chapter members plus a guest! We hope Heather considers joining our group.

Our speaker was an “old-hand” Joe Troy of Amerprise , our chapter financial advisor.

Joe Troy addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe Troy addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe has been a financial advisor for 5 years and he used his time today to talk about his value proposition, his values and his business plan. Joe prepared handouts that contained all the relevant material – making it easier for everyone to remember and making it easier for this writer to keep his notes up-to-date!

Joseph E. Troy’s Value Proposition

My core business model consists of a disciplined investment management process and personalized service, combined with a holistic approach to wealth accumulation and wealth preservation. I help successful professionals make informed decisions about their money, their growth and protection of their assets and estate. lastly I aspire to build a meaningful relationship based on integrity, trust and superior client service.

Joseph E. Troy’s Values

Faith
Family
Healthy Lifestyle
Relationships based on trust
Wealth Accumulation and Preservation

Joe also talked about his ideal clients, their demographics and personal profiles. Joe clearly knows his stuff and pays a lot of attention to these details which is a great indicator of his success in the industry.

Before the end of the meeting Robin reported that 28 tips had been passed in the month of April (which included one week when tips weren’t passed). The top-tipper for the month was John Tully.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting April 26, 2012

Posted on April 30, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular meeting at the Hibernia Diner on Thursday morning.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter

Guests: Kevin Dulio of Native Fields landscaping and Denise Jones of Interior Planning & Design.

We had a full house at our meeting today – 18 chapter members plus two guests! We hope Denise and Kevin consider joining our group.

Our speaker was another of our newer members – Lee DeCarolis, our chapter architect.

Lee talked his approach to his work specifically in regard to working with his clients and potential clients. He likes to meet with clients early in the process to discuss their ideas and plans. He explains to them the design process – going “from nothing to something”. The meetings lead to preliminary drawings and these drawings after research into zoning and planning board requirements lead to construction drawings.

Lee DeCarolis addressing LeTip of Denville

Lee DeCarolis addressing LeTip of Denville

Lee talks to his clients about what they would “like to do” vs. what they “need to do” and he always introduces the budget very early on. It’s important to pay attention to the budget although he says that some architects don’t care!

After the initial planning Lee brings in a builder to make sure that the budget fits the project. The construction drawings allow a fair and valuable bidding process with a number of builders ensuring that the client gets the best deal. The bids are reviewed with the client.

Then comes the fun part – the construction! There are often surprises during construction (such as, what’s underground) and Lee remains on hand to answer questions and make field changes as necessary. He reckons that there are 10,000 decisions, even for a small project.

In his experience people typically want homes that are too big. He emphasizes quality over size and traditional architecture over modern architecture. Although modern can be cheaper it’s not as challenging. Its Lee’s opinion that the building should be as interesting up close as it is far way.

Lee is also a licensed construction official and building inspector which comes in very useful for working with townships and inspection officials. He’s also in a very small percentage of architects who are also Construction Risk Analysts.

Lee gave a very informative talk and I’m sure we all understand his business and who would be a good tip/contact for him.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting April 19, 2012

Posted on April 23, 2012 by JohnT

Today’s meeting was not at our regular venue but at Joe Nugent’s compound in the wilds of Jefferson Township! How wild? Ask Joe Bellistri who is going to sleepover next time to make sure he gets there!

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Justin Marcus Smith
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Joe Nugent

Absent:
Joe Troy
Lee DeCarolis
Dan Linkletter
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Martha Paravati – Secretary

We had our meeting outdoors by Joe’s office overlooking the lake – a truly great way to start the business day. The meeting was more informal than our regular meeting but ended up being just as informative.

LeTip members engaging in friendly banter

LeTip members engaging in friendly banter at Joe Nugent's office

The speaker was Rudy “Rudy Rudy” Riveron of ReMax Realty our residential real estate agent.

Rudy has been in the business for 26 years and has seen many markets come and go, but probably none as difficult as this one. It’s just so very tough to determine values. He spoke about how important referrals were in residential realty and even though everyone seems to have an opinion about realty he made the point that the best advice came from realtors who were less like realtors and more like counselors.

Rudy Riveron

Rudy Riveron (sorry for bad exposure!)

Educating 1st time buyers is extremely important because they face so many obstacles. Even though mortgage rates are low, taxes, especially in NJ are at an all-time high. One big factor in local taxes is the cost of education – the average cost per pupil in NJ is ~$13,000, in Rockaway where Rudy resides it’s up at $16,400 per pupil.

Rudy spends a lot of time hand holding new home buyers – they tend to think that they know what they want, but really don’t! Many times 90% of what they want is good enough. He also tries to explain to them that home inspection is not a source of extra discounts that some of them assume they will be.

LeTip chapter members listening to Rudy Riveron

LeTip chapter members listening to Rudy Riveron

On the other side sellers all say they “don’t want to give it away”, but in this market its much more about being reasonable and getting interest than sticking firmly to a value that they’ll never get. Again having an experienced agent will help.

As usual we all learned a lot about a new business topic and one of our members.

We didn’t have tips today but did have short commercials/testimonials for and between the members that did attend.

Special thanks to Joe Nugent for hosting the meeting – all the attendees enjoyed it and found it worthwhile even if it did mean an early start and a longer drive.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting April 12, 2012

Posted on April 18, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Dan Linkletter
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Lee DeCarolis
Andy Krauser
Joe Troy

Absent:
Justin Marcus Smith
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Martha Paravati – Secretary
Joe Nugent

Our speaker today was one of our newest members – Michelle Clevenger our Massage Therapist. As has become the custom Michelle did start with a joke – thankfully a clean (Greg!), massage therapist based joke that had them rolling in the aisles (see below).

michelle clevenger addressing group

Michelle Cevenger addressing LeTip of Denville

As Michelle is still relatively new to the group she started with some historical background. She was born in California and moved to Parsippany, NJ as a child where she attended high school (with future beau Dan Linkletter). She went to college in New Mexico for business and started a career in banking with Wells Fargo bank in CA, where she moved up the promotion ranks. (The main claim to fame with her bank was that it was robbed three times!).

She moved back to NJ in 2006 where she had a banking job waiting for her, but…she had a dream of opening a spa and so she decided to chase her dream and went back to school to study massage therapy.

Michelle's joke had them rolling in the aisles!

After qualifying she worked first at Massage Envy before moving to her current spa in Livingston, NJ. She hopes to be ready soon to start her own spa and that’s where LeTip comes in. Through LeTip she is meeting more people and building up her own clientele that she hopes to take with her when she sets up her own business. Currently after her hours at the spa she travels with her own table and accessories to offices, hospitals and homes and performs massages for people “on-the-go”.

Michelle is fully licensed and covers a wide range of massage disciplines (Swedish, Pre-natal, hot stones, etc.). She promotes her services as an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In our hectic world stress often leads to illness and massage has been shown to reduce stress. She’s worked with people with the following ailments:

  • Low back pain
  • Range of motion issues
  • Weak and atrophied muscles
  • Special needs children
  • Circulation
  • Spasms
  • Tired and overworked muscles

Michelle completed her talk by stating that she always loved getting massages and she’s found out that giving massages is just as much fun!

We all wish her success with her “dream”!

Greg reminded the chapter that next week’s meeting will be at Joe Nugent’s office in Oak Ridge.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting April 5, 2012

Posted on April 6, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President
Martha Paravati – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Joe Nugent
Justin Marcus Smith
Dan Linkletter
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Lee DeCarolis

Absent:
Rudy Riveron
Joe Troy
Andy Krauser

Today is the first official day with our new board in place! Welcome to your new positions Dan Gehrig (VP), Martha Paravati (Secretary) and Michelle Clevenger (Membership). Greg, Bimal and Robin stay on in their respective positions (President, Treasurer & Tip Master/Mistress/Person). Marianne Jones was recognized as Past President.

In other announcements the April 19 meeting will be held at Joe Nugent’s offices in Oak Ridge.

Our speaker today was one of our newest members – Joe Bellistri of Bellistri Training Solutions. Joe opened with the news that as of that week he was now a registered Titleist Performance Institute Golf Fitness Professional!

Joe Bellistri addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe Bellistri addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe talked about how much LeTip has meant to him – last year he spent $1000’s on “traditional” marketing efforts; direct mail, flyers, Facebook ads with little or no results. A couple of months into his LeTip membership and he already has 5 chapter members signed up! He talked about how hard it was for him to get face-to-face with people as he was afraid of talking to them especially as he spends most of his day wearing sweatpants and encouraging people to “squeeze their butts”. He started 2012 with the goal to meet more people and LeTip came along at the right time and has really helped him gain confidence.

Back in 2001/2002 Joe decided on a career change from his previous life and he sat back and looked at what he enjoyed, which was helping people via exercise and fitness so he made the jump to personal trainer. He started working in commercial gyms where he quickly found that everybody has “problems”; backs shoulders, knees, etc. One of his clients asked him about a herniated disc so he researched the injury in order to help them. Through this approach he developed relationships with doctors and other medical professionals but the gyms were expensive and if people wanted to see him they had to join the gym. So he made the decision to start his own company that was essentially the complete opposite to a commercial gym.

Chapter members listening to Joe Bellistri

Chapter members listening to Joe Bellistri

Joe addresses each person’s goals and needs individually – everyone is different so should get different exercise plans. Everything happens in small groups, no more than 4 people, normally 3 or less. Very important in the program is the community spirit that is fostered by the other attendees – while Joe is not a “rah-rah” guy plenty of support comes from the other participants. (In Marianne’s words he’s creating the cult of Joe!)

Joe works in four separate but interrelated areas:

  • Post-rehabilitation
  • Corrective exercise
  • Weight loss (90% of his clients need help here)
  • Golf Fitness

He enjoys helping people have better lives by helping them move better – they are progressive programs that change as you get on with the program.

Joe got glowing testimonials from Marianne, Joe N and John and a big round of applause from the chapter.

Greg will send out the text of a referral e-mail designed to help recruit more members.

Also the new board members will be attending a board members training session on April 13.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting March 29, 2012

Posted on April 4, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President (elect)
Martha Paravati – Secretary (elect)
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair (elect)
Joe Troy
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Nugent
Justin Marcus Smith
Dan Linkletter
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser
Lee DeCarolis

Absent:
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress

We welcomed our newest member to the group today – Lee DeCarolis, now our chapter architect. Unfortunately it looks as though Frank Berman has decided to leave the group.

Before our speaker Greg asked the chapter members for tips to share about how to go about getting new members. Joe Nugent had the best answer – he asks prospective members that he meets during his regular business how big their sales force is? Inevitably they say they don’t have a sales force whereas Joe can tell them that he has 15-18 people working for him continuously as part of LeTip. It seems to work as Joe has introduced well over 10 new members over the years.

By coincidence today’s speaker was Joe Nugent of Prudential/Plymouth Rock. Joe is the chapter’s Personal, Property and Casualty Insurance person.

Joe Nugent addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe Nugent addressing LeTip of Denville

Joe pointed out that one big differentiator with Plymouth Rock was that they were NJ-based and conducted all their business within NJ. Joe brought up a number of interesting topics for the members:

For the companies he represents claims are still handled by a person, whereas at most insurance companies now they are handled by computer software. The other major insurance companies have saved millions of dollars by getting rid of agents and using software to determine insurance claims.

Joe talked about the “creativeness” of some people to get paid via insurance claims. Just recently in NJ/NY a $279million ring of attorneys and medical offices was busted by the FBI for fraudulent claims on a “conveyor belt’ system of insurance claims and medical bills. NJ forces insurance agencies to cover the medical costs of under-insured passengers up to the full amount of $250,000 – irrespective of how the driver is covered or who is at fault. As a result of this PIP rates in NJ are destined to increase over the next couple of years.

Joe confirmed that when you rent a car they insurance offered by the rental car company only covers the deductible of your regular auto policy. If you rent using a major credit card this is often covered by the credit card carrier.

Amazingly Joe also confirmed that in NJ your credit score and what credit cards you hold will affect your insurance rate!

Our new officers will be officially in place at our next meeting.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

Posted by John Tully

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LeTip of Denville meeting March 22, 2012

Posted on March 22, 2012 by JohnT

We had our regular Thursday morning meeting at the Hibernia Diner.

In attendance:
Greg Angelillo – Chapter President
Dan Gehrig – Vice-President (elect)
Joe Troy – Secretary
Bimal Gupta – Treasurer
Robin Wolfe – Tip Mistress
Michelle Clevenger – Membership Chair (elect)
Marianne Jones
Jeff Jones
John Tully
Rudy Riveron
Joe Nugent
Martha Paravati
Justin Marcus Smith
Dan Linkletter
Joe Bellistri
Janet Navarro
Andy Krauser

Absent:
Frank Berman

Guest:
Lee DeCarolis – Registered Architect

Wow – what a great meeting today, with nearly a full house of chapter members and a returning guest, Lee Decarolis..

Greg confirmed that the board changes would be “official” next week even though the new board members are already getting themselves ready. Joe Troy announced that he’d be stepping down as chapter secretary and after a brief discussion, Martha Paravati stepped up and agreed to take on the position.

Today’s speaker was Marianne Jones – who kept up the recent tradition of starting with a joke. Something about one of Snow White’s dwarfs – the one named “Happy”. Any similarity to Marianne’s husband – Jeff Jones was entirely coincidental (!).

Is Jeff Jones Happy?

Is Jeff Jones Happy?

Marianne is the owner of Millenium Home Mortgage but started her career as a teacher and currently still teaches classes in NJ, the mortgage section of the NJ real estate course. Marianne has worked in the mortgage business for 29 years. She’s been a long standing member of LeTip and is a past president of this chapter.

Marianne Jones addressing group

Marianne Jones addressing group

Her motto in business is to treat people as if they are her only client and although the majority of her business is done over the phone she loves working with people face-to-face. Rather than use up the rest of her time with more talk Marianne had prepared a crossword puzzle for us all to complete in the allocated time!

It looks like Lee will be becoming our newest member – we look forward to hearing more about his business over the next couple of months.

The meeting wrapped up with our commercials and the passing of the tip jar.

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