With it being Valentine’s Week, I figured it’s a good time to talk about the things we love and how to best share them with others. Love takes many shapes beyond just romantic love. Sometimes it’s love and respect for a treasured colleague, sometimes it’s love for a particular location and sometimes it’s love for a group or activity. There are many people, places, and things that we love and there are two great projects happening right now to help you share the love.

The first one, and by far the one with incredible urgency, is nominating a business leader for a Chamber Award this year. There is extreme urgency with this, as nominations just opened last week and they close this Friday, Feb. 18 (or realistically Monday, Feb. 21, once I check my morning e-mail).

Allow me to digress to explain why you are only just hearing about this.

We’ve been tentatively planning for our Chamber Annual Awards Dinner on March 11 for several weeks. However, in the midst of that plan, Covid numbers were spiking, and the date of the event was in real jeopardy. We had a contingency plan to do our awards, as we did last year, in combination with our golf tournament in May if the Covid numbers were too high, but we really wanted to get back to a sit-down dinner. Last week, the number of cases fell to a point where we feel confident that we can have a safe event on March 11, and voila- everything now goes into overdrive.

The RFP for catering the event closes this Friday, Feb. 18, too (e-mail me for details). We will announce the winner for both the awards and catering RFP at the Chamber After Hours at Sea Dog Brewing Wednesday evening Feb. 23 (co-sponsored by RE/MAX- Riverside).

The good news is, you still have time to nominate who you love! Who is worthy of distinction in your eyes? There are numerous businesses and individuals who’ve been remarkable over the last two years, but we want to know why and how they were exemplary.

Typically, we have award categories and criteria, but we’re forgoing that for all but one award this year. Rather than sticking to the exact criteria for the large business of the year, or the citizen of the year (just as examples) just tell us which business or individual you think is deserving and we will place them in the category where they fit best.

The lone exception is the Joshua L. Chamberlain Award, which has been awarded for over 40 years going to the civilian or military member who has helped develop and strengthen the bond between the communities and military in our region. This highly-respected award was the only specific award we gave in 2020 which went to the Sgt. Stephen Hembree.

To nominate a business or individual you love, simply e-mail me at either ExecutiveDirector@midcoastmaine.com or Cory@midcoastmaine.com (they both go to me) or leave a message at the office (207) 725-8797. When nominating, don’t simply say who, tell me why, so that when I meet with the committee I can share your thoughts better.

Now for the second project and sharing what you love.

Do you have great photos that show off life on Maine’s coast? The local tourism council wants to pay for your pics.

Maine’s Midcoast & Islands is the name of our tourism council, and the council gets local control of marketing funds annually from the Maine Office Tourism to use to attract visitors and relocators to out region (through my chamber work I’m also the President of Maine’s Midcoast & Islands which is basically a collection of the coastal chambers). Our region extends from Brunswick along the coast to Searsport, out to sea to North Haven and Vinalhaven, and inland to Union, Freedom and all points in between.

We have plenty of coastal landscape and beautiful sunset photos, but we would love to have more photos with people experiencing all we have to offer. Examples of such photos include families, couples, and people of all ages enjoying: the beach, the rocky coastline, lighthouses, hiking, ferry rides, walking downtown, time at the lake, mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing, snowshoeing, walking the dog, attending a farmer’s market, shopping in a store, attending a concert, grilling, chilling, whatever. We’re open to just about any location or activity.

We have a budget to pay for good images, and while we often hire photographers and influencers and the like, we want to open this up to everyone. Specifically, we will pay $100 per chosen image, and we will choose up to 75 images between now and May 1. Send us your photos, and if we can use them, we’ll send you a check.

Aside from the $100 (or more, if we like multiple shots) you stand to benefit from significant exposure to people who are already interested in traveling here. Your credited photo could be used in any of a number of media channels. Our email list has over 72,000 subscribers, we have more than 37,000 followers on our Facebook page, over 14,000 on Instagram and we hand or send out between 10,000 and 30,000 guidebooks each year.

The fine print: You must own all rights to any images you send (including permissions of any individuals featured in photos- meaning if it’s a posed shot with 2-3 people get their permission, but an unposed street shot of 50 people enjoying something doesn’t need permissions of everyone on the street that day). You must agree to give us rights to use the images in print, on our website, on social media, in displays without restriction. Images must (obviously) be taken in our region (see above). We reserve the right to accept or reject any image for any reason.

What have you got to lose? Send files to photos@mainesmidcoast.com, and we’ll respond no later than May 1.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.