As readers of this blog may know, I have two professional roles: One, as a business-owner and entrepreneur with my company, TalentGrow; the other, as a volunteer on the Board of Directors of my professional association, the Metro DC chapter of ASTD (the American Society for Training and Development).

As 2009 President, I am very proud of the work we've done and the tremendous efforts of the talented volunteers all around me who made it all possible. Just last week, we held our annual Volunteer Recognition dinner celebration during which we thanked all those who have volunteered in some capacity to help our chapter operate - we do it on 100% volunteer fuel!

I think 2009 has been a very successful year for Metro DC ASTD. In a tight market and a contracting economy we've managed to keep our membership steady (actually, it grew) and continued to provide quality programs to our constituents to achieve our mission of enriching their knowledge and skills and increasing their impact in their workplace. We added a lot of new virtual ways to do that via social media, webinars, and podcasts, which garnered us an award from the National ASTD. And we've continued to keep over 6,000 workplace learning and performance professionals informed about events in our area that can help them grow professionally - help their talent grow!

The Volunteer Recognition event featured a panel of experts who discussed the value of volunteering to enhancing one's career, a subject I've previously discussed here and here. One of the attendees, Andrew Welch, who volunteers with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, summarized some of their key points nicely on his blog.

How have your volunteer experiences enriched your career this year? What new opportunities are you going to seize to grow your own talent in 2010? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Top Photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyradk/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Bottom Photo credit: Ali Green

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