MCC History- 2009 in review

This is message 4 of a 5 part series. Message 1 (MCC History- In The Beginning) is HERE. HERE is message 2 (MCC history, year 1). You can find message 3 (year 2, the virus begins) HERE

I gotta be honest, 2009 was a total blur. It went by so quickly. Mostly because it needed to. Many of us would agree that 2009 was not a great year.

In Motor City Connect land we did our best to inspire, lead and be the change we wish to see (love that line from Ghandi).

On one snowy January day, Charlie and I took center stage at Walsh College and delivered a banging presentation. We shared tips and tactics to 200 people on how to make the best use of Social Media. Lots of people who now teach social media were in that room.

Between February and March we noticed a slow down in attendance. Maybe it was the $20 or maybe it was the time commitment (hard to be out networking when your boss says "we need business NOW"). Like most things, I suppose the truth is in between. As a result, we scaled back on the number of face to face meetings.

We did have an awesome time watching the Pistons on March 9. We got on the court, took some shots...had a sweet suite and an awesome behind the scenes tour of The Palace. See, membership has its privileges.

The real highlight of 2009 was the launch of Blood, Sweat & Gear week in July. The idea came on June 11 and 6 weeks later we transformed the energy in Detroit. We had over 100 people volunteer at Blightbusters, close to 100 people give blood and raised bags and bags of school supplies for Operation Kid Equip. It was an amazing week and I'm looking forward to way more participation this year. (Special thanks to Stephanie Styron and Renee Howarth for all of the work you two did)

As I look back through 2009 I think the theme was Learning and Collaboration. We partnered with many organizations (like Buy Michigan Week, Celebrate Michigan and a host of non-profits) and offered a ton of training classes. This is a trend that I would love to see continue.

What would you like to see from Motor City Connect in 2010?

Be connected-

Terry Bean