Since 1985, I've been associated with AIRS, the Alliance of Information and Referral Services. Our practitioners are the folks who staff 2-1-1 centers and community helplines across the US and Canada, as well as the folks who support the staff who work the phones. And since around 1993, I've been on the Board of Directors of MI-AIRS, Michigan's affiliate to the national AIRS.
When the decision was made to hold the 2011 AIRS Training and Education Conference in Michigan (the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, to be more precise), MI-AIRS agreed to provide substantial help to the AIRS staff. I agreed to help stoke up interest in the Conference by writing a series of posts to the primary listserv read by I&R professionals.
The postings (57 of them, running from 4/10/11 through 6/5/11, the opening day of the Conference) were intended both to educate readers and to entertain them. Topics viewed from Michigan and Detroit trivia to tourist information.
It turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated. It also turned out to be immensely rewarding. I realized how deeply embedded a Michigander I am.
Not wanting to let go of that satisfaction, I've decided to continue the postings in this forum. Not on a daily basis though. Instead, I'm going to post when the muse strikes me.
--Dick Manikowski
PS--As for the Meecheegander name for this blog, that's the identity I assumed for the listserv postings. The Yahoo user name Michigander was already taken, so I became Meecheegander. Meecheegander is also my Twitter handle, but those postings aren't necessarily focused on the Great Lakes State.
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