As the year 2010 quickly becomes a memory, we all need to sit back and take a few minutes to reflect on what we have accomplished, both personally and professionally.

As for the Mt. Pleasant Business Association, it was a busy year with many accomplishments. Some of the accomplishments this year have been to design an implement a more robust and user friendly website.

I would like to thank Diane Pauldine of Direct Marketers of Charleston for all the work her and her team put  into making the new website possible. If you have not had a chance to check it out please do at www.MyMPBA.com. If your membership directory listing needs to be updated, please email me or Diane (Diane@ItsAMailThing.com)  I am also excited that we now have a link to place Member Announcements.
 
The economy continues to improve, but not without having an adverse effect on many of our members. As the Association faced those challenges, the board saw the need to determine ways to become more of a value to the business community. The Mt. Pleasant Business Association has so much to offer -- we just need to continue working together on ideas on how we can make this association grow and be conducive to creating more business for each of us.

As a member, one way you can do this is to join us for our Annual Planning Meeting to be held at Guy Harvey's Restaurant (located in Towne Centre) this coming Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. The planning meeting gives us an opportunity to reflect on the impact that the Association has had on the community, discuss the challenges we have faced over the past year and determine ways we can continue to add value  to our members.
 
I would like to thank Chuck Diggle for his continued support and guidance as I take on my new role as President. Many thanks to Diane Pauldine for her 15 years of services as Secretary. Although she has stepped down as Secretary, she continues to support the Association through her hard work with the Website and with promotional material. And thank you to Lynne Klosik, who stepped up into the role of Secretary for this coming year, as well as Robbie Bryant, who will be our new Treasurer.  Many thanks to second term Vice President Jason Biggs for his focus on giving back to our community and all the work he does for our scholarship program and annual donations. 

I also can't forget to thank our Committee chairs: First of all - Brian Sherman, for his work on the Membership Committee, which he will be continuing this coming year. Maria Aselage, for her work as Marketing and PR Chair. Maria has assisted us over the past 2 years and although she is stepping down, she has been a valued addition to the team. And last,but not least, Tammy Faust. Tammy, who is also stepping down, has served over the past couple of years as our Events and Speaker Coordinator.

I look forward to working with the officers and the rest of the board in 2011.  If you are interested in helping out on one of our committees please talk to a board member.
 
Finally, on behalf of the past and present officers, I would like to wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy holiday season. Please take some time out of that busy schedule to remember all those serving our country who will not have the chance to be home for the holidays.

I hope to see you at this coming Tuesday's MPBA Planning Meeting at Guy Harvey.  Join us for a great lunch and some interesting conversation!
 
And as Chuck would say...Cheers all!
 
Shawna

At the November meeting, the officers for 2011 were elected.
The 2011 officers will be:

· President - Shawna Garris
· Vice President - Jason Biggs
· Secretary - Lynne Klosik
· Treasurer - Robbie Bryant


Pictured here are Vice President Jason Biggs, Secretary Lynne Klosik, President Shawna Garris and Immediate Past President Chuck Diggle.
(Not pictured, Treasurer Robbie Bryant)


Another item of note at the meeting was the nearly decade of MPBA presidents that were in attendance.


Pictured here are past MPBA Presidents John Carroll, Duval Acker, Margaret Cotton, new MPBA President Shawna Garris and Immediate Past President Chuck Diggle

One of the most requested changes to the MPBA has finally come... our new website!

Since changing our name from MPBPA to MPBA, we realized it was time to change our domain name and to take this opportunity to update our web offerings to members and guests alike.  We got quite a bit of feedback about this from members and believe everyone will be truly enthusiastic about the new website, which can be found at:

www.MyMPBA.com

(The old link - mpbpa.com - will also lead to this new site.)

Thanks to the work of the board and longtime member Direct Marketers of Charleston, the look of the site has been updated. There are more links, buttons to reach our social media sites and you'll find that this new site will remain updated with current information more so that previously.

Of particular note is the searchable Membership Directory.  You can search by business name, business type, or member first or last name.  Likewise, you can see all members in a single list.  There are links with each profile that will allow you to email the member or visit their website. (We don't actually have email addresses or websites listed in the profiles so that web crawlers can't mine our site for addresses. This reduces the chances of you receiving spam due to being listed on our site.)

This particular feature of the website (a searchable database) was the most requested change and one we're proud to bring you.

Of course, this new database was built on the information contained in the previous website.  So we're asking members to take a moment and look up their listing in the directory.  If you are not there, if you need some information changed, if you'd like to add a photo or change your photo, please email Diane Pauldine by clicking here.  She will collect updates from members and then make them on a monthly or semi-monthly basis.  (So if your submitted change doesn't happen immediately, please be patient.  We will get to it asap.)

Coming soon to this new website will also be the ability to pay luncheon, event or membership fees via Paypal.  Also, we will launch on online forum that will allow members to communicate with one another on a wide variety of topics.

We welcome you to check out the new website and offer feedback.

For those of you who have become involved with the hottest social network out there - Facebook - you can now join the MPBPA Facebook group. We intend to develop this as an adjunct to our website as a method to share information and communicate with one another.

Because it has been asked, be aware that joining our Facebook group does not automatically make other MPBPA Facebook members your friends. It's simply a way to keep up with the MPBPA.

Please join our Facebook group to network, stay informed and further extend the wonderful connections you've made at the meetings. Click the link below to go to our new page and contribute:

Click Here To Go To The MPBPA Facebook Page

Get real-time information on business events (i.e., grand openings, and what's "coming soon"),
meeting notifications, and relevant project updates. Follow @mtpleasantbiz  for updates on all things business & everything Mount Pleasant.

Follow @mtpleasantbiz on Twitter for information & updates, and for direct questions, contact: Quin Stinchfield, Business Development Coordinator, via @ mpbiz@townofmountpleasant.com or 843.377.5365