Breakfast Club

March 4: The Springfield Marriott at Two Boland Way will be the setting for the Breakfast Club meeting of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield (ACCGS), starting at 7:15 a.m. The breakfast will salute Convergent Solutions Inc. for winning BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneurs award for 2008, and Roberts & Sons Printing Inc. for a new generation of ownership. The March of Dimes is the nonprofit salute for the month. William F. Dowling, Esq., president and managing partner of the New Britain Rock Cats Baseball Club, will speak on “From the Paper City to the Hardware City: A Baseball Odyssey.” Reservations must be made in writing and in advance. Tickets are $20 for ACCGS members and $25 for non-members. Reservations may be made through Diane Swanson, events manager, ACCGS, 1441 Main St., Suite 136, Springfield, MA 01103-1449, by fax to (413) 755-1322, or via E-mail to swanson@myonlinechamber.com or by visiting www.myonlinechamber.com.

Brown Bag Luncheon

March 4: Nate Winstanley of Winstanley Associates will present “Branding Your Business: Be Brave or Be Gone” from noon to 1 p.m. as part of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Brown Bag Series. The lunchtime workshop is designed to help area business owners and managers with marketing strategies during tough economic times. The workshop is free to all Berkshire chamber members, and attendees are invited to bring a brown-bag lunch. The chamber office is located at 75 North St., Suite 360, in Pittsfield. To register, visit www.berkshirechamber.com, or call (413) 499-4000, ext. 26.

Ann Hood Lecture

March 5: Bestselling, New England-based author Ann Hood will present a free lecture at 7 p.m. in Empsall Hall at Bay Path College in Longmeadow as part of its Kaleidoscope series. Winner of the Best American Spiritual Writing Award, her last two novels (Comfort and The Knitting Circle) have received wide acclaim. For more information, call (413) 565-1066 or visit www.baypath.edu.

Innovative Voices Conference

March 10: The MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield will be the setting for a capacity-building conference, co-presented by the Women’s Fund of Western Mass. and Bay Path College. Titled “Innovative Voices: Crafting a New Agenda for Leadership,” the daylong conference will feature guest speakers Sara Laschever and comedienne René Hicks. Workshop topics offered throughout the day will include: “New Faces in Leadership I: Generations & Cultures,” “New Faces in Leadership II: Strategies for Change,” “Wikis, Twitter, and Blogs – Oh My!” “Learning to Ask: Negotiation Basics,” “The Art of Politics: Navigating the Political Waters,” and “Making Yourself Memorable: Personal Branding from the First Handshake.” Workshops will also include “Expanding our Capacity: Energizing Our Spirit,” “Balancing Mission and Money: How Nonprofits Can Do Both,” and “Finding Your Voice and Changing the World: Passion, Emotion, and Leadership.” Registration is $70 for the first organizational attendee and $60 for each additional organizational attendee. The deadline to register is March 2. For more information, visit www.womensfund.net.

Brown Bag Luncheon

March 11: “Recession-proof Stress Management” will be presented by Richard Fabozzi of Richard Fabozzi Presents from noon to 1 p.m. as part of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Brown Bag Series. The lunchtime workshop is designed to help area business owners and managers with stress-management strategies during tough economic times. The workshop is free to all Berkshire chamber members, and attendees are invited to bring a brown-bag lunch. The chamber office is located at 75 North St., Suite 360, in Pittsfield. To register for the workshop, visit www.berkshirechamber.com, or call (413) 499-4000, ext. 26.

Casino Royale Fundraiser

March 14: Anyone who enjoys gambling for a great cause is invited to check out Casino Royale, CityStage’s annual fund-raiser, at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield. Highlights of the affair include hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, live entertainment, prizes, a live auction, a 50/50 raffle, and a mystery raffle. Single tickets are $100, which includes $400 in gaming money. There are also special groups of 10 rates available, as well as VIP tickets for $150 each. Casino Royale begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call (413) 788-7646. Pit Boss sponsors are Berkshire Bank, Hampden Bank, MassMutual Financial Group, Mercy Medical Center, and United Bank.

Get Beyond ‘Hello’

March 18: Steven Valenti of Steven Valenti Clothing for Men will present “Get Beyond ‘Hello’ — Delivering Exceptional Customer Service” from noon to 1 p.m. as part of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Brown Bag Series. The lunchtime workshop is designed to help area business owners and managers with customer-service strategies during tough economic times. The workshop is free to all Berkshire chamber members, and attendees are invited to bring a brown-bag lunch. The chamber office is located at 75 North St., Suite 360, in Pittsfield. To register for the workshop, visit www.berkshirechamber.com, or call (413) 499-4000, ext. 26.

Employer Outreach Breakfast

March 27: The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County Inc. (REB) is gearing up to place young people in summer jobs, and encourages businesses to attend an employer-outreach breakfast to learn more about the program. The breakfast is planned from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Big Y Foods Inc.’s corporate headquarters at 2145 Roosevelt Ave., Springfield. There are three ways that businesses can help the REB: hire a youth, donate money, or become a worksite. All aspects of the program will be reviewed by REB representatives. Anyone planning on attending the event should RSVP to Kathryn Kirby at kkirby@rebhc.org or call (413) 755-1359.

Rock ‘n’ Roll & Management Styles

April 15: “Everything I Learned About Management, I Learned From Rock ‘n’ Roll” will be presented by James M. Wilson III, Ph.D., assistant professor of Business at Bay Path College; and Gregory Jones, director of Cannes Associates Production Management. Wilson and Jones have been conducting research for three years on the production of live concerts featuring Metallica, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson, among others, with a focus on how event management contributes to organizational theory. The free lecture at 7 p.m. will take place in Breck Suite in Wright Hall at Bay Path College in Longmeadow. The event is part of the Kaleidoscope lecture series. For more information, call (413) 565-1066 or visit www.baypath.edu.

Women’s Professional Development Conference

April 30: Bay Path College in Longmeadow will host the 14th annual Women’s Professional Development Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. For more information, call (413) 565-1293 or visit www.baypath.edu.