We went to the Mercury 100 Awards in Boulder last week to rub shoulders with some of the fastest growing companies in our area. We hoped some of their business savvy would rub off on us. Instead, we came away convinced that we had to do more to help “build a culture of giving.” It was all Tom Keller’s fault.
To be eligible for the Mercury awards, you have to be a Boulder or Broomfield private, locally owned company. Then, you have to have stratospheric growth rates like 400% and 500%.
To get some of the great wine, beer and yummy food, though, (and to hob-knob with these fastest growing companies) all you had to do was sign-up, pay a ridiculously small fee and show-up.
The winners were recognized with awards, champagne, photo-op’s and even 30 seconds of microphone time (thank goodness for short speeches). Companies like Cloud 9 Living, Eco-Products, Boulder’s Best Organics and Goozmo walked away with the top honors. (download an Excel list of all the Mercury 100).
However, it was a different short speech from Tom Keller that may have meant the most to those gathering at this prestigious event.
Keller calls himself a serial Internet entrepreneur, and he has the successful credits to prove it. He recently sold his latest venture, Intense Debate, for a nice wad of money – and when he did, he gave a healthy portion of that wad to some of the folks who are doing good work in the community,
He challenged the award winners (and those of us enjoying the goodies and beer) to do the same:
“Take time tonight to go visit with Chris and Gretchen at the Community Foundation booth – or take 10 minutes out of your busy work day tomorrow to visit the Community Foundation web site. You’ll find out how they are helping your community – and you’ll find out what you can do to help them.”
Following up on Tom’s instructions, we made our way over to talk to Chris and Gretchen.
Chris is Chris Barge, an award winning Boulder Daily Camera and Rocky Mountain News reporter, who is now the Director of Philanthropic Services for The Community Foundation. Gretchen is Gretchen Minekime, a past President of Boulder Business Professional Women, and now the Community Foundation’s Director of Advancement.
From Mr. Barge and Ms. Minekime we learned that The Community Foundation is out to “improve the quality of life in Boulder County, now and forever, and to build a culture of giving.”
They are a lot like an organization you are likely to find in your own community, wherever you live, as there are over 600 such foundations around the globe.
Take a peek at the Grants Archives section of their web site to see how extensive their reach is. They’ve distributed over $30 million in grants to Boulder/Broomfield organizations – covering education, health, environment, the arts and more.
Yes, it was a night where the Mercury 100 winners were honored in Boulder. But, it was also a night where everyone in the community will be a winner, if they do what Tom suggests and take the time to talk to Chris and Gretchen.
2 comments ↓
It sounds like it was an uplifting event. This whole social thing makes you see 1) how little things can help, time, $, it’s less about the amount and more about the act, and 2) it does give you a sense that the human spirit is inherently good, (hope I’m not getting too sappy here).
there is something about social media that makes it more than a marketplace of goods, services, and ideas. It’s also a movement of sorts. This is why I believe it’s not a fad, or new form of direct mail, it’s a different way to look at human interaction.
All the best to you both.
Thanks Albert,
We pointed out recently when we went to a Boulder event called the IQ Awards (a fairly big deal awarding the most inventive companies in our area) that not one traditional media source wrote about the event – and not one blogger wrote about the event (except us, of course!).
At the event we write about above, virtually no one was Twittering about it – and again no traditional media or citizen media. We’ve got a long way to go, baby. Twitter especially needs to reach out beyond the PR and web optimization gurus – to the doctors, lawyers, plumbers and retail operators.
Which is what you’re about – and why we like you! Getting real folks to use social media – not just social media folks telling other social media folks (and tech folks telling other tech folks) about how cool it all is.
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