Former Vermont Country Store president Bob Allen received the New England Mail Order Association’s Leadership Achievement Award on Thursday at the group’s spring conference in Cambridge, MA.
Allen is a past president of NEMOA, and held that post through a particularly difficult time for the organization, the fall of 2001, noted incoming NEMOA president Margot Murphy Moore.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001 lead the association to cancel that year’s fall conference, which hurt NEMOA financially. But, noted Moore, Allen worked hard to lead NEMOA out of the doldrums.
Allen, who attended his first NEMOA event in 1984, didn’t know in advance that he was receiving the award. “I have nothing prepared, but that never stopped me in the past,” he joked. “And I’m glad I’m not getting this award posthumously.”
He encouraged members to become involved in the running of NEMOA. “It’s probably the most fun you’ll ever had that you won’t get paid for.”
Network
