Week 5: Hello, Fall!

So my calendar is telling me that it is November. As in the second to last month in the year, home to Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day and the all important Election Day!

As a fan of shows like "The West Wing" and "Scandal," I am aware of the drama Election Day holds. Typically, there are candidates sitting in hotel suites with their families, campaign managers and communications professionals, watching the returns on TV, checking last minute polling data and refreshing their computers every few minutes for the most recent results. There are two speeches prepared, a concession speech and a victory speech, because you don't want to jinx yourself, with one of them being used at the end of the night. There are parties and balloons falling from the ceiling, celebratory drinks and dancing into the night. Of course, this is how it’s portrayed on TV.

While I'm sure that may happen in big, national campaigns, the campaign I had the privilege to work on and be a part of was a local effort and didn’t have the big budget for frivolous campaign expenses. It was a local bonds campaign – the perfect type of campaign to get your feet wet. "Vote YES for Education Bonds" was a countywide bonds package consisting of $290 million for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and $210 million for Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC).  The measures passed with record numbers, 74 percent of voters supported CMS bonds, and 72 percent of voters supported CPCC bonds.  

On election night, the Bonds Campaign Committee, CMS representatives, a few volunteers and select local media gathered to watch the returns. There was no fancy hotel suite or balloons falling from the ceiling, but that didn’t matter. The night was full of anticipation and excitement and celebrated those who had worked endlessly for months to ensure these bonds passed

It was an amazing event and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of such a fantastic team!

A record setting victory was not the only exciting thing that happened this week. As you all know, I have a full-blown addiction to coffee. I might need Dr. Drew because I stop for coffee two to three times a week at Dunkin' Donuts. Earlier this week, I treated myself to a Red Velvet Latte from Dunkin' and later tweeted about how delicious it was. Within a few minutes, Dunkin' Donuts tweeted me back and sent me a message of appreciation saying they were going to send me a gift card! 

Needless to say, the whole office was a buzz the rest of the morning, as I am not the only hard core coffee junkie here – a tweet from Dunkin' is a big deal.

It is now Thursday, the end of my week and I still can’t believe the past few days have happened.

I cannot wait to see what next week has in store!

Until next time,

Erin