Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve.” Now, the Greater Lansing community has an opportunity to vote for businesses that create value by serving customers with creativity, expertise and kindness. Ten area businesses have been recognized as award finalists in the eighth annual Celebrated Service Award campaign. Tens of thousands of public votes are anticipated, and will determine this year’s award recipients.
The campaign has three goals. One is to use the power of storytelling as a teaching tool for Celebration Cinema and Studio C employees, who advocate for business finalists based on direct experiences that have inspired them. Secondly, the campaign aspires to encourage business nominees, each of whom receive promotion, movie perks and an invitation to an annual ‘Art of Celebrated Service’ workshop. Finally, Celebration! Cinema hopes that the campaign can be one factor contributing to people’s expectation that this is a region of the country marked by world-class hospitality.
Community is also welcome to attend the eighth annual ‘Art of Celebrated Service’ event, taking place at Celebration Cinema North in Grand Rapids on Thursday afternoon at 2pm. This year’s event will feature five local speakers, each sharing their passion for a particular dimension of great service and the resulting practices that have evolved in their work.
Public voting for the finalists begins Tuesday, October 30th, and runs through Monday, Nov. 12th. Finalists for Lansing can be found at https://www.celebratedservice.com/lansing/ where the community can vote, tell stories and determine the award recipient. Award recipients will be revealed at www.celebratedservice.com by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
TEXTING FOR LANSING & OKEMOS FINALISTS: Text Keyword to (763)333-2323:
| Business | Keyword |
| Haslett Animal Hospital | PET |
| Blondie's Barn | BARN |
| For Crepe's Sake | CREPE |
| The Avenue Cafe | AVENUE |
| Anytime Fitness Haslett | FITNESS |
| Premier Rehabilitation | STRONG |
| Ayers Basement Systems | BASEMENT |
| Good Truckin' Diner | BACON |
| Strange Matter Coffee | STRANGE |
| Okemos Dental | TOOTH |
The award is a game changer. Business recipients receive months of recognition on Celebration! Cinema movie screens, lobbies, web site, Facebook and radio. The award also includes a $2,500 cash prize, specialized training at ZingTrain (in Ann Arbor) and movie watch parties for the employees of the business recipient. Past award recipients have appreciated the encouragement they have received from customers and reported that the recognition has contributed to the health of their businesses. “Great service helps someone know that they are important,” says Susan Auyer of Riley’s A.C.E. Hardware. “We all know from personal experience how much that matters. Being able to make someone’s day a little brighter is always a good thing.”
One business will win a Celebrated Service Award in each of the six markets that Celebration! Cinema theatres operate. Those markets are Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, Mt. Pleasant and Kalamazoo. The value of award packages for the six regional recipients total more than $300,000 in value.
The award is supported by sponsors Beene Garter LLP, Mercantile Bank, MLive Media Group and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses. “Celebrated Service helps create the culture of West Michigan,” says Tom Rosenbach of Beene Garter. “I think that people want to come here because they know this culture exists, and they are attracted to it.”
Now it is up to the community to determine the 2019 award recipients!
The public may vote and tell their own stories of great service by visiting www.celebratedservice.com or by texting keyword to (763) 333-2323
