Thoughts on the 2014 BiG DiFIZEN of the Year Award!
Yup, it was last night and I am so so pleased to be able to report that the winner of our #HamOnt Innovation Factory Mark Chamberlain BiG DiFIZEN of the Year Award is Carolynn Reid, of the city’s EcDev Department! KUDOS Carolynn!!!
But wait, there’s more…so much more…and let me remind you that I speak from the “lofty” position of being the innaugural winner of that award back in 2012…and it really may “take one to know one” type of argument here….
And just last year, the Innovation Factory presented the 2013 BiG DiFIZEN of the Year award to our own Kevin Browne, who they described by saying “it is truly great to see how many people really want to be a contributing part of Hamilton’s Innovative Community, but with everything he has done, Kevin Browne is truly a grass-roots supporter of innovation in Hamilton.”
And last night our 2014 BiG DiFIZEN of the Year trophy was presented to Carolynn Reid….who tweeted the following right after same –
Carolynn Reid is a well known #HamOnt figure, and her resume would show that she has done much here to push/promote/expose our city to the world in the hopes of building up the renaissance of our community. She has in her past, run our own SBEC for years…she has a BComm from our own McMaster University, she has EcDev knowledge from both the CEdC and University of Waterloo and yes, she know how to “develop” our own #HamOnt.
And she’s everywhere. Every place I go to help build my #HamOnt community, she’s there. I turn around and yup, she’s over there chatting to that startup about the city and then later at a meeting she’s contributing her own take on community building and why it’s so dang important.
I travel all over #HamOnt, and she’s there….and if you know me you know I attend about as much as I can – and so does she. It’s her ability to take on the task of promoting the city via her engagement with owners, founders, folks looking to invest, firms thinking about moving….it’s a wide broad mandate I know…but she does it well.
Very well and yes, her abilities are mirrored throughout the whole city EcDev Department….they all think alike which is a damn fine thing for our city.
So last night, Mark Chamberlain took the stage at the annual Innovation Factory BiG DiF gala event, and announced the winner of the 2014 BiG DiFIZEN of the Year Award, and called Carolynn up to the stage to accept same. She was surprised, but that’s not unusual…we all were….but more than that, she reminded us about the “state of the city” and how we all were working towards the same end…the success of #HamOnt!
Could there be anything better either, than the challenge from Dave Carter our Innovation Factory leader, that for 2015, the next BiG DiFIZEN of the Year was something we should all be aiming at being….and the cheer from the crowd was a great thing to hear…
A great night for #HamOnt…a great gala and yes, truly a great winner….hat’s off to Mark Chamberlain himself for his leadership in getting the city moving towards it’s renewal and to our Innovation Factory for their sheparding of same….we truly do live in a great community…and judging by our latest DiFIZEN of the Year, it’s only going to be that much better, eh!