I went to the Young Erie Professional's Generation-E Annual Leadership Awards banquet on Friday night (yes, that's a mouthful). Two of our regular Her Times colunnists were being honored -- Amanda Burlingham ("Adventures with Amanda") and Gennifer Biggs ("Handy Girl How-To").

It was the first time I'd ever been to the Leadership Awards, but it won't be the last. What a great event! I heard there were 450 people in attendance. The Avalon Ballroom was filled. It was a great mix of people -- the cream of Erie's crop -- I saw Senator Jane Earll, Mayor Joe Sinnott, Ruby Jenkins Husband and a few other area political figures among the numbers.

They did the presentations while we ate, so things moved along quickly. They had the awards presenation on big-screen, so you could see what was going on -- no matter where your table was.

After the dinner and awards, we moved over to another room where they had beer, wine, dessert bars and Dave Stevens Big Band. The band was, of course, great, but...it made talking (networking!) nearly impossible.

All in all, it was a great event and I'm proud that Her Times has two Leadership Award winners on our writing staff!

Are you a young Erie professional? You can join in the fun -- and get to know some other Erie-area movers and shakers. Membership in yep! is just $30 a year. Click here.