[Be sure to check out the update to this story.]
This morning on my voice mail was a voice mail (wav file) from Congressman Tom Reynold’s assistant informing me that he "wants to recognize me with a National Leadership Award" and to please call back.
Today was a busy day so I didn’t have a chance to call right back, but as I was looking at furniture for the new office and picking up the power cord I left at the Web marketing course I taught last night and writing up a few estimates for new clients I got to thinking….
- Why does a congressman from New York want to recognize a business "leader" from Maine?
- Why does the Business Advisory Council (a project of the National Republican Congressional Committee) want to recognize a democrat?
- Who nominated me? Why do I deserve such an honor?
My curiosity piqued, this afternoon I Googled "National Leadership Award" and found this article about a fellow winner of the award…and a fellow democrat. In short, after winning the award, Ronald Silver was hit up for $300 and asked that they could include his name on a media blitz they were doing. Here’s a snippet:
"The question is, do you want a tax cut?" Matt asked frankly.
"Well, Matt, it depends," I said. "We’re on the verge of a war. Tax revenues are down. Unemployment is skyrocketing. The United States has one of the lowest tax rates in the civilized world. And gasoline prices are cheap enough to allow every Jones in the country to drive a Sport Utility Vehicle. I suppose it depends who’s getting the break, and who’s going to suffer for it. Now, what is the story on this award?" I wanted that plaque.
I told the story to Beth, my project manager and registered Republican (with non-partisan leanings), who asked incredulously, "Is Tom Reynolds selling National Leadership Awards for $300?" I didn’t think so, but I had to get to the bottom of this.
I returned to the voice message and called Brenda at the Business Advisory Council (BAC). Although I didn’t get Brenda, another woman looked me up and saw that I had in fact won the National Leadership Award and asked if she could play a message from Congressman Reynolds that would only last 35 seconds. I said yes.
After hearing the message that reminded me that I was being overtaxed by my government and that the government should be helping small businesses (I really wish I had a transcript of the exact recording) I wondered what the BAC’s take on Net Neutrality was.
When the next operator (a 3rd person, a man this time) picked up the phone I was about to ask him when he confirmed that I had won the award and it came with a gavel and a plaque. (Mmmmm…gavel.)
He also asked if I would be OK with the BAC using my name in a full-page ad they were taking out to support further tax cuts and to defeat the Democrats in the upcoming elections and would I make a donation of $500 to support this "media blitz."
I begged off and asked him if the BAC had a position on Net Neutrality. He said that the BAC was a project of the National Republican Congressional Committee. It seemed he was saying how could they support this as Republicans, but I informed him that Net Neutrality is a non-partisan issue and even the Christian Right supports Net Neutrality.
He said, "oh." I asked if he knew if the BAC had taken a position and he said he didn’t know. Then he asked if $300 donated anonymously would be easier for me to afford.
I told him that I didn’t feel comfortable making a donation or having my name appear in the ad, but I was definitely looking forward to the gavel to "keep my employees in line." He told me that I needed to go to the BAC Web site and fill out a form to get the paperwork started.
I must have missed the URL the first time he gave it to me because just before he hung up I told him that I couldn’t find the link to the form. He repeated the URL and this time told me to put "slash info" at the end. (It’s possible I didn’t hear this the first time.)
I’m not sure if you can register for a National Leadership Award without hearing from a congressional leader first, but if you want to try, here’s the sign up page.
I can’t wait for my gavel.
[Be sure to check out the update to this story.]
Rich Brooks
National Leadership Award Winner
Here are some related links:
