On August 26, 2010, I started Association Advocacy Chick with one post and no clue what the heck I was doing. Sure, blogging seemed easy enough. But what exactly would I write about? Who was my audience? How often would I post? So many questions and hardly any answers. Yet, I created an account on WordPress and started spouting. If you told me last year everything that would come to pass as a result of this blog, you would’ve scared me right out of the blogging business.
I hope I’ve been able to give you something useful and worthwhile in my musings. I’m not looking to become a superstar with the answers to life’s challenges. Just someone with a voice that rarely exists in this space: a 37 year-old black female association lobbyist. To that end, I want to thank my friends, colleagues, supporters, those who retweet my posts, lurkers, and stalkers for contributing to the success of this blog. However, I need to recognize some special people who helped me through this first year.
KiKi L’Italien who has the distinction of being my very first commenter on my blog. We first met by e-mail, became association colleagues via Twitter and developed a friendship in real life. I can’t thank you enough for welcoming me into the blogosphere, for having me on your show and just showing me what a true social media diva looks like.
Maddie Grant who co-hosted KiKi’s show the day I was on. We had the best time that afternoon and hope that we can do that again in the future. Maddie was also my first interview on AAC talking about her book with Lindy Dreyer Open Community. I hope to feature her next book with Jamie Notter, Humanize after its release this fall. Thank you Maddie for your encouragement and guidance in this big scary world of blogging.
Deirdre Reid and Joan Eisenstodt who are two of the most dedicated, passionate association professionals you’ll ever met. They never hesitate to contribute to the conversations I start. Deirdre and I first met on Twitter, but finally met in real life in line for the CAE walk at ASAE10. She was one person behind me and we discovered each other as we were both tweeting about long wait backstage. I was hoping to meet Joan at ASAE11, but our schedules never synced 😦 I hope to make it happen one day. Thank you Deirdre and Joan for offering a kind word and constructive feedback to my posts.
The ASAE staff who read and/or comment on my posts. Thank you for your insight on topics I may bring up and for the opportunities you’ve presented as a result of this blog. I am honored to be a member of this great association.
Last, but not least, my DELPers especially Aaron Wolowiec, Artesha Moore and Shawn Boynes.
To Aaron – Part of my reason for blogging was because of your blog. Thank you for being one of my first guest bloggers and know that I will call on you again for your assistance. Congratulations on being awarded the 2011 Emerging Leader Award from the Michigan Society of Association Executives. Well done sir!
To Miss Artesha as I affectionately call you – I asked you to write a guest post as one of the newest DELP scholars. You hesitated. I threatened. And in the end, your post remains one of the most popular on my blog. Thank you so much for writing it and congrats to you for receiving the 2011 Young and Aspiring Association Professional award from Association Trends.
To my Shawn – What I can I say about you? After my first two posts, I knew I wanted a guest post by a DELPer and couldn’t think of a better person to serve as my first AAC guest blogger than you. You’re not just my DELP ’08-’09 classmate, you’re my friend, inspiration, shoulder to cry on, person to pop champagne with, and so much more. I heart you.
Association Advocacy Chick 
Sending you and your blog virtual cake. Was kind of surprised to learn it like a 10-layer cake with different kinds of frosting on each layer.
Thank you Jeffrey! We will be consuming said cake while fending off Hurricane Irene.
Stef – you are too kind! Please know that you’re an inspiration to many and I’ll always be one of your biggest cheerleaders. We met through our DELP experience and the rest just speaks for itself. I’ve actually followed along the path you’ve paved for us. So as you continue to spread your wisdom, unique insights, occasional Prince mentions, and passion for advocacy; please know that I adore you and I’m blessed to have you as a friend. Keep raising the bar for the rest of us!
Shawn you’re going to make me cry. Loved how you snuck in the Adore reference 😉
Had you not even mentioned me, I would have written in response to a(nother) magnificent post. Hearing your voice is critical to our world and our association community.
We need to rectify the “we’ve not met f2f” issue soon.
Thank you for allowing us into your thoughts.
It’s been a year????? holy moly. Love you, girl, and love how you write. Keep ’em coming.
@Joan – Yes, we do need to rectify that situation immediately. You’re awesome and offer such wonderful insight.
@Maddie – I’m as shocked as you are. My fear starting out was that I would run out of things to talk about, but as you can see, that hasn’t happened. I’m not kidding about the interview with you and Jamie about Humanize. Let’s make that happen. Love you back!