Award | that damn redhead

I know, some of you who know me in person are thinking “we knew that!” but I’m not talking about the context you’re probably thinking.

It is with great honor and humility that I announce www.thatdamnredhead.net has been officially anointed by THE Liz Strauss of Successful-Blog as a Successful and Outstanding Blog, which means I am among bloggers who, in Liz’s words,

“. . . take the conversation to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.”

Obviously, the SOB program could not exist without readers who are brave enough to come out of Lurk Ness and comment, so I wanted to thank all my readers who have participated in a conversation here, with a big shout-out to the amazing community of wildlife enthusiasts from WildEarth.tv, whose support was overwhelming when I shone some light on what a true “social ecosystem” is all about.

If you’ve been reading this blog and haven’t commented yet, I invite you to de-lurk and say something sometime — it won’t hurt you and you may even find new friends. Also, I wanted to thank Liz publicly for letting me be among the “cool kids,” it’s a privilege to be among such great company.

More information about the SOB program and its origins can be found at Successful-Blog.

It’s worth bragging about.

I am very involved with my local chamber of commerce as an Ambassador and intertwined with it through Fenton Area Toastmasters, which is spearheaded by the Chamber. I’ve also been involved on a smaller scale with the Grand Blanc Chamber and the Genesee Regional Chamber. (As my father’s daughter, I would have to be.)

I cannot stress the importance of chambers of commerce not just to small businesses, but to the vitality of communities as a whole. The Fenton Chamber is a tight-knit community and many of the members are like family to me. I always knew we were awesome, but this just seals the deal. I’m so proud of us. I love my town.

RECOGNIZED AS OUTSTANDING CHAMBER IN MICHIGAN

LANSING, MI– The Michigan Chamber of Commerce Executives (MCCE) association recognized the Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce with the 2008 MCCE Outstanding Chamber of Commerce Award—Small Chamber Category at the MCCE Leadership Conference & Annual Meeting held at Crystal Mountain Resort on October 23, 2008.

The Outstanding Chamber of Commerce award is given to one chamber of commerce in each of three membership categories (small, mid-size and large chambers of commerce) and based on a comprehensive application judged by chamber of commerce professionals from six Midwest states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Applicants must demonstrate quality, innovation, and effectiveness of programming in the areas of leadership and governance, finance, business advocacy and programming/membership development. The highest scoring applications receive the annual award.

The Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce was recognized for its achievements including its work in meeting the needs of underserved business communities, its success in merging with the Linden-Argentine Chamber of Commerce, a successful membership development strategy that resulted in 23% growth, and its expansion of membership benefits and services to keep business members informed and active in the chamber.

MCCE also presented 2008 Outstanding Chamber of Commerce awards to the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce in the Mid-Size Chamber category and the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce in the Large Category.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce Executives is a statewide organization of executives involved in the management of chambers of commerce. Its mission is to promote excellence among chambers of commerce through innovative and industry best practices programming. It represents more than 100 local chambers of commerce in Michigan.

It just so happens that we will be hosting next year’s Michigan Chamber Ambassadors Conference. We were required to make a preview presentation of some sort at this year’s conference, held this past September, and I was elected to be the one to do it. Whereas other chambers did a boring PowerPoint, I decided to go a step beyond that. The video is in the extended entry. My boyfriend, a radio DJ, did the voiceover.

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