2012 was HeadCount's best year yet. The key to our success: incredible volunteers and leaders. To recognize their efforts, we've named a few as 2012 Award Winners, and we're sending them all on a free trip on Jam Cruise 11! Special thanks to Jam Cruise and Cloud 9 Adventures for making these incredible prizes possible. And the biggest thanks of all to our award winners and all our volunteers!
JON PERRI - 2012 MVP: Jon Perri and co-TL Meg Strauss led a consistently solid team in San Francisco, covering more than 50 events in 2012 (that's more than 1 a week!). In addition to regularly scheduled HeadCount shows, he worked outside the box to create a HeadCount presence a wide variety of local and non-music events. He also used social media to build the HeadCount family locally and nationwide. He is a great activist, a leader of his peers, and has truly been a gamechanger.
EYTAN BERNET - VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR: Eytan worked many HeadCount shows with both our Seattle and Portland, OR teams. He led his teams in voter registration most nights, and made over 200 phone calls as part of the Jam Cruise Calling phone canvass. But what made Eytan Volunteer of the Year can't be measured in numbers. His team leaders shared stories of Eytan traveling great distances to shows, always bringing a positive attitude, filling in at the last second many times, and stepping up as a leader at every opportunity.
JOSEPH MONCADA - TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR: Joey Moncada came in as a new Team Leader in Chicago in 2012 and took every opportunity to kill it. He led teams at 39 events this year to help register almost 2,000 voters - more than any other HeadCount Team Leader. Some of his best work came at street fairs, where he led great volunteers and registered hundreds of voters, without anyone even getting into a concert for free!
SASHA PATEL - REGIONAL COORDINATOR OF THE YEAR: Sasha led the largest group of Team Leaders (12 in total) - managing more than 200 shows this year! She helped more than half of her teams in the Mountain West region achieve challenging 2012 goals, which required a great deal of individual communication, dedication and coordination from her home base of Phoenix, AZ.
JONATHAN BROTHERS - LOCAL HERO: While Jonthan didn't have HeadCount artists rolling through town on a regular basis, he took the opportunity to bring HeadCount to his local community, Louisiana State University. He started the first official HeadCount campus chapter, created a regular presence at LSU's "Free Speech Ally" and brought HeadCount to local newspapers and radio stations.
JILLIAN WAYMAN - JAM CRUISE CALLING: Jillian is an active volunteer with other organizations in Nashville, and she learned about HeadCount this summer, through that network. She then volunteered for the "Jam Cruise Calling" phone canvass, a Get Out the Vote initiative where volunteers can win a trip on Jam Cruise by making voter reminder phone calls. This was the first time she has volunteered with HeadCount. She was one of the first volunteers to sign on to the Jam Cruise Calling contest and diligently made calls right up through election day.
JR WOTRING - SPIRIT OF HEADCOUNT: JR truly integrated HeadCount into his daily life. Everywhere he went, there was a clipboard in his hands. From festivals to gas stations, his first question to all strangers was "Are you registered at your current address?" JR worked out of Columbus, OH, the heart of the Presidential election. Even though most Ohio citizens get asked to register to vote every day, JR set all kinds of records for team totals. He's also a really funny and lovable guy!