MCC History- Year 1

When we last left our Heroes (the wayyyy early members of MCC) it was March of 2007. If you want to get caught up on the story, check out IN THE BEGINNING.

We had a home on Yahoo groups and it was a great place to meet Detroit area business professionals. New members started showing up, introducing themselves and ASKing for what they sought.

While the growth was certainly slower than it is today, you got the feeling that the right people were joining. I just reread some of the posts from March, 2007 and not much has changed. We were helping people find the resources, jobs, information and people they need back then too.

It's kind of ironic because when I decided to pick up this mantle (read, start Motor City Connect) I had both selfish and altruistic reasons for doing so. Truth be told, I really haven't gotten around to the selfish reasons (although I do have a business opportunity that will benefit some of you that will be announced toward the end of this series). The altruistic reason was easy.

I was busy building a worldwide network and realized that most people around the globe didn't really care about OUR Detroit. It was time to make sure that those of us who are here did. By infusing some positive energy and shining the light on great things, it was easy to wake us up to what is right with our area. Helping one another became the norm.

It was March 27 that I met my good friend and partner in MCC, Charlie Wollborg.

Other great things that took place in 07:

Late July, Keith Stonehouse entered the group. Keith has been a great evangelist and supporter for our group for a long time.

Lori Williams dubbed the term MCC Live during a lunch meeting at BD's in Royal Oak about that same time.

Linda Anger joined us in November and only Duane Ahola has contributed as much content to our group as Linda and I.

Benji Rosenzweig was able to FINALLY get us approval to have an official group on Linkedin in December of that year.

The pinnacle of 2007 happened on December 21 when we launched Red, Green and Warmth. It was a campaign for the Red Cross where we raised Blood, Bucks and Blankets for their organization. The idea was conceived on December 12 and within 9 short days we made a tremendous impact. This was the predecessor to what you know as Blood, Sweat and Gear.

It was then I knew that this would forever be more than just another "Netowrking group". And I'm pretty sure that all who were around at that time know exactly what I mean.

We finished 2007 with about 240 members. Not bad for a first year.

The next post will talk about EXPLOSIVE GROWTH and how we decided to change platforms.

Thanks for taking a look back so we can continue to move forward. Together!

Terry