Michigan Rockhounds Group Receives Prestigious Award from Facebook
From left to right, friends Scot and Jennifer Wack, founder Cody Wiedenbein, brand specialist Janessa Slangen, group moderator Mercedes Crane, Geologist Craig McClarren, and group administrator Mark Donselar.
Michigan Rockhounds, a hobbyist geology-focused group of rock collectors, has been singled out for recognition by facebook for having the potential to change lives and become a real force for science in michigan.
On October 20th, 2022, Facebook announced the recipients of its prestigious and highly sought-after Facebook Accelerator Program Grants; Michigan Rockhounds was incredibly proud and excited to be included on this very short list of top-tier organizations. The Facebook Accelerator program is designed to assist Facebook groups and community business start-ups with extensive coaching, networking and a generous grant to more quickly reach their full potential. More information about the Facebook Accelerator Program as well as a complete list of participants can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/community/accelerator/ .
Founded in Fall of 2020, Michigan Rockhounds began on Facebook as a tiny group of a dozen members focused on educating the rock-collecting community of Michigan about our geology and about the rules and regulations that govern ethical and legal collecting of rocks from our beautiful public lands, while providing an engaging and supportive space for a community of likeminded members to interact and find help in their hobby.
This uniquely service-oriented approach to community education and support in the rockhounding community led to the explosive growth of Michigan Rockhounds, with up to one thousand members joining each day in the Summer of 2021. Today, Michigan Rockhounds has just under 100,000 members and continues to grow at a rapid clip, all while maintaining the warmth and nurturing support of a far smaller community of friends and neighbors.
To better service the needs of our members, founder Cody Wiedenbein created MichiganRockhounds.com and registered the group as an LLC, allowing us to write educational articles that reach an audience beyond our Facebook group, spread awareness of our laws and rights within Michigan as collectors, share resource maps of our state, sell Michigan Rockhounds gear, and to create in-person events around Michigan in partnership with local businesses and the Michigan DNR.
Our growth, mission, far-reaching impact, and incredible potential has been recognized by Facebook, leading to Michigan Rockhounds’ selection for the Facebook Accelerator Program, which through coaching, connections, and funding aims to “accelerate” start-ups like ours so that we can reach our potential much faster, creating the very best community and community resources imaginable.
This support and funding will allow Michigan Rockhounds to fast-track several ongoing projects to aid our community and the State of Michigan. The future is boundless and we are excited to be accelerating- with Facebook’s help- full speed ahead.