Photo by Lexi Coon.
Mayor Stewart Welch introduces the Circle of 100 during the Chamber of Commerce's monthly meeting on Sept. 20.
For those who Mayor Stewart Welch would call “raging fans of Mountain Brook,” he introduced the Circle of 100 initiative at the Chamber’s monthly meeting on Sept. 20.
The idea is to encourage greater attendance at community events that the city, businesses, chamber or residents host throughout the year, such as Jazz with Civitas, the Village Garden Walk and Block Party or Taste of Mountain Brook. Welch, who thought of the program earlier in the year, said it was in response to visiting many events himself and noticing small attendance numbers.
“Everything I did was fun,” he said of the city’s activities. “But sometimes, they [the events] weren’t as well attended as I thought they should have been.”
Through the Circle of 100, Welch recruits 100 “raging fans” of the city, who are then emailed at the beginning of each week with a list of that week’s events, in addition to events further in the future. They then create their own circle of friends, with whom they share the list of events, either by forwarding the email, calling, texting or sharing on social media.
He said residents should then try to attend as many events as they can, which will support community members and businesses.
“You don’t have to stay forever at all of those things,” he said. “Sometimes, I’m only there for 15 minutes. Sometimes, I’m there for a lot longer than that.”
The Circle of 100 members will also help invite others to events, Welch said.
“It’s one thing to know about an event, but it’s something completely different to get invited by one of your friends,” he said.
In looking at the initiative a little more, Welch compared numbers and said if each member of the Circle of 100 had 100 friends themselves, 10,000 people would know what events were happening in Mountain Brook each week. This would solve the greater problem — that many residents aren’t up to date on the city’s events calendar.
“A lot of times, people don’t know what’s going on or they see an event after it happened,” said resident Blake Patterson.
Patterson grew up in Mountain Brook and recently moved back to his hometown. He said he understands that those who are new to the community may not be aware of what events it has to offer. He, along with Joseph Braswell, Jamie Justice and Knox Richardson, will be helping Welch with the Circle of 100 program.
With social media and technology, both Welch and Patterson believe it should be easy for residents and those part of the Circle of 100 to share upcoming events and encourage neighbors to attend community events.
“This is a great idea to get more people involved,” said President of the Chamber of Commerce Lori Smith. “It has a great ripple effect.”
To sign up for the Circle of 100 weekly events list, email Welch at stewart@welchgroup.com; Chamber of Commerce executive director Suzan Doidge at suzan@mtnbrookchamber.org; or Chamber of Commerce project manager Molly Wallace at molly@mtnbrookchamber.org.
