At the heart of the Cherryland office is executive administrative assistant Shannon Mattson (left). Her many talents extend to every department. This year, Shannon is coordinating the biggest event of the year—Cherryland’s Annual Meeting. Shannon shared with Michigan Country Lines a little about herself and the role she played in bringing Cherryland’s Annual Meeting to life.

Q: Tell us about yourself.

A: I came to the Grand Traverse area over 16 years ago with the intent of building a life here and raising my daughter. Being born and raised in a small farming community in the U.P., I spent most of my time in the hay field or riding horses. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a thrill seeker and try to take full advantage of all this area has to offer, from hiking and camping adventures to skydiving over Little Traverse Bay (twice in one week!). I’ve made incredible friends and had some life changing experiences. I am proud to call Traverse City my home.

After working in the travel industry for most of my adult life, a friend (and future colleague) referred me to Cherryland Electric Cooperative and the rest is history!

Q: What is your role with Cherryland?

A: Thankfully, I’ve been empowered to shape my role within our cooperative into much more than I expected. I’m involved in a lot that goes on here including planning our cooperative events, assisting both our Cherryland board of directors and the Cherryland Cares board, organizing our volunteer efforts, arranging corporate travel, and more. Every day is different, and that certainly keeps it interesting.

Q: What goes into planning the Annual Meeting?

A: An incredibly willing team and mad scientist organization. For each ‘job’ at our Annual Meeting, we’ve got a team captain from Cherryland to oversee the tasks at hand and their employee volunteers. My job as the planner is to make sure they have everything they need to be successful. The planning process starts at the end of the previous year’s meeting and doesn’t stop until the event comes together. I maintain a detailed timeline of how and when things occur, so nothing is missed, ensuring our members enjoy their time with us and that the business meeting runs smoothly.

Q: What can members expect from this year’s Annual Meeting?

A: As a member, you can expect a great afternoon with a mix of business and fun. You’ll have an opportunity to attend our business meeting, vote for your representatives on the board, eat tasty food, listen to great music, familiarize yourself with a handful of our area nonprofits, grab a ride in a bucket truck, get your picture taken with a lineman, play games and win prizes!

Our theme this year is “Members—Just Like You!” This theme highlights both our commercial and residential members. All of our members are important to us. We thought it would be fun to bring that all together in one gathering.

Q: Why did you want to coordinate the Annual Meeting?

A: It’s such a great event that I couldn’t resist volunteering for it. We’re able to incorporate our annual business meeting with providing an opportunity for our members to spend some time with our employees in a more casual setting. It’s a win-win, and I wanted to be a part of that.