The Yin and Yang of Life

It’s been a heck of a year. One year ago this week my mom was diagnosed with a major illness. Soon after she was in recovery, my father took ill. I am grateful that my parents are now in much better shape and that I had the support of friends, co-workers and a boss who helped me through this very difficult time. Thank you, thank you. That’s the yin and yang of life.

On the other side of that coin, the yin and yang of CR, our community outreach programs at Avnet really soared. We received a $50,000 grant from the Carstens Family Fund to go toward the scholarships we delivered during the 2009 Avnet Tech Games (ATG). Also in 2009, we ran a wonderfully successful ATG, reaching a larger audience than ever before.

And, I’m excited to announce, that the 2008 ATG just received an Award of Merit in an international awards ceremony, the Gold Quill. I’ve just returned from San Francisco where I accepted this award on behalf of the fabulous team who helps me administer the Tech Games.

The Gold Quills are put on by IABC, the International Association of Communicators. This year, there were 1,000 entries from around the globe competing for top honors: we won in the category, Communications Management, Community Relations.

And, just to show you that everything has to come full circle, I managed to pick up a little flu bug while I was in San Francisco and spent a harrowing plane ride home. So, just like in life, community relations, awards ceremonies, the universe, and everything … you gotta have the yang to balance out all that fabulous yin. Or is it the other way around? Either way, it was still worth it!