Featured Articles
50th Anniversary Annual Conference
 GEDA's 50th Anniversary Conference is just days away! Are you registered? Will you be amung the vendors exhibiting to the largest crowd of economic developers in one building in years? We hope you answered yes to at least one of those questions. We have worked tirelessly with an amazing group of volunteers to put together valuable programming, delicious menus, and great networking opportunities including but not limited to the app, exhibit area, and optional activities. Click here to see who else is registered.
Be a Volunteer Rock Star
This article marks a shift in content for the monthly Gazette. We would like to offer more editorial pieces like this one (originally submitted by Mike Pennington for the SEDC weekly blog). It is not our intention that this content will be created by GEDA staff, but by YOU! Feel free to submit an article that you think the membership would find valuable.
I know you’ve heard it before … you’ve probably even said it many times before. Join with me, “You can only get from an association what you put into it.” Stated differently, your volunteer activity is directly proportional to the benefits you receive from engagement. We have heard it time and time again and we likely have seen it come to fruition. However, it can still be daunting when you are taking those first steps with a new group or organization. Do my skills match what they’re looking for? Do they have a need for someone like me? Do I have anything of value to provide them? The answers to those questions are yes, Yes and YES!
Sometimes the biggest obstacle can be overcoming any self-doubt or apprehension about trying to get involved with a new group. Often times, you may not know anyone within the organization and will have to start over by proving that you have the talent and experience to contribute. Rest assured, we have all been there before. There are a few rules to follow when finding the right place to ‘plug in.’ Follow these and you’ll be much more likely to Find Your Passion.
Know Your Strengths … and Your Loves
You have known you longer than anyone else. It is not bragging to know what your strengths are. (Now, telling everyone about them may cross that line.) You know what you do well and you know what you enjoy doing. What’s interesting is, those two may not always match. You may discover that you have a great talent for writing but you cannot stand doing it. Or you may think that you would love to paint, but have no shred of artistic ability. Do not force yourself to use your talents in an arena where you have no passion. That will only lead eventually to burnout.
 The key is to find that place where your interest and your skills are at a high. As you can see in the graph, there are four potential outcomes when you volunteer, based on your skills (actual, not perceived) and your level of interest, or passion, for the subject.
- When both skills and interest are low, you will not be able to contribute a great deal to the tasks or discussions. This is neither your area of expertise nor something you care about. Please avoid falling into the “What Were You Thinking?” category!
- High skill plus low interest will lead to the Burnout mentioned earlier.
- Activities in which you have little skill but great interest could lead to a situation where you do more harm than good. You could be seen as more a Nuisance than someone who is actually contributing.
- Finally, of course you want to be the Rock Star; the person who has a high level of skill and a high level of interest. THIS is your passion! THIS is where you should volunteer your time, talent and resources.
You know what you love. You know what you do well. Find where those two lines intersect and you have found where you have great potential to succeed as a volunteer. When you find that right spot, you can confidently begin contributing to the larger group. Associations and organizations are absolutely ecstatic to find new Rock Stars! Be a GEDA volunteer rock star!
Last Call for Champions Circle
We are thrilled to announce that 4 of the 5 Champions Circle sponsorships have been sold for 2014! Only one spot left. Who will it be? Email Brian Dill if you are interested. As a quick reminder, these four companies have agreed to sponsor GEDA throughout 2014. This is the first time we have ever offered a package like this one and we couldn't be more excited about the response! Be prepared to see the following four logos a lot next year. And yours could be the 5th and final logo.
THANK YOU to:
2013 Events Calendar
September 25-27. Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Savannah
October 21. Awards Luncheon. Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins, GA
December 14-15. CEcD Exam by IEDC. Renaissance Atlanta Midtown
Welcome New Members!
Phillip Barry, Avison Young
Jaime Riggs, Candler County Industrial Authority
App of the Month
 It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that we think our app is the best so we nominated it and took a vote here and it won App of the Month. It's where you can go to find out anything related to the Annual Conference from room names and the agenda to who's there and who's is exhibiting
Back in Time
Check out that top TV shows of 1963. Did you catch the originals of any of these or just the reruns?
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Bonanza
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Petticoat Junction
- The Andy Griffith Show
- The Lucy Show
- Candid Camera
- The Ed Sullivan Show
- The Danny Thomas Show
- My Favorite Martian
- The Red Skelton Show
- I’ve Got a Secret
- Lassie
- The Jack Benny Program
- The Jackie Gleason Show
- The Donna Reed Show
- The Virginian
- The Patty Duke Show
- Dr. Kildare
- Gunsmoke
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