Expat Women's Happy 3rd Birthday Blog Shout-Out Competition Winner

Hello and big congratulations to Shanie Matthews for winning our Expat Women Happy 3rd Birthday Blog Shout-Out Competition!

Last month, we wrote to the 1,100+ women who have listed their blog on our Expat Women Blog Directory and invited them to give us a shout-out for our 3rd birthday (16 January 2010) to enter our Amazon voucher competition.

Well, this week, the entries were collated and our friend Expat Expert Robin Pascoe randomly chose the winning number. So, congratulations Shanie, you will receive a US$100 Amazon.com voucher... plus we'll give you a big, unexpected shout-out for your blog(s) here:

The Era of Collaboration: A Blog Celebrating A New Era In Global Cooperation

"Shanie Matthews is a United States-born and raised freelance wordsmith, photographer and professional snow skier. After living in multiple countries, she now considers herself a citizen of the world. From a childhood in Bellingham, Washington to adolescence in Bavaria, Germany to over a decade of young adulthood in Lake Tahoe, California, her experiences led her to wanting to explore outside the box.

She relocated to Mendoza, Argentina in 2005 with her husband, Jamie, first owning a wine vineyard. They currently live in awe-inspiring Bariloche, Patagonia where they appreciate the impressive views, soaring condors and undiscovered outdoor paradise. She and Jamie share their daily craziness of living abroad in their blog, LivingInPatagonia.com. She also writes a blog on her personal journey with consciously practicing happiness.

Despite the occasional group exercise in high school and college growing up, the power of collaboration didn’t truly occur to Shanie until her research into creating a ski area cooperative. As hours of research accumulated, she discovered over and over again how communities are moving forward in what experts are calling the “Era of Collaboration”. This blog is to share what she has learned, interview experts and to be a real-time information source about the era of collaboration."

Honorary mention must also go to Tiffany Jansen of Clogs and Tulips: An American in Holland for the most comprehensive shout-out. Thanks Tiffany!

Thanks go to everyone who supported us for this competition and we hope to run the same again next year! Andrea