BY KHADIJA BATUTA

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce began 2004 missing one of its favorite sons.  Henok Assefa, Director of iBrooklyn, departed on Dec. 31, concluding his tenure of four and a half years.

A graduate of Fordham University, Henok hopes to take a brief detour to California to visit friends before returning home to his native Ethiopia for a year’s respite and to reconnect with family (he has lived abroad for the past 12 years).  With interests ranging from soccer to photography, Henok’s future may include exploring entrepreneurial pursuits to teaching economics or mathematics at the university level back home. 

“Even though my plans are not certain right now, my experience at the Chamber has left me without fear because now I know I can do whatever I put my mind to,” stated Henok.

Starting at the Chamber as an intern with the Real Estate and Business Services Department in early 1999, Henok later moved on to the Brooklyn Goes Global (BGG) program in its previous incarnation, before finally focusing his talents developing the Chamber’s new website, iBrooklyn.com.  Without any previous Internet experience, Henok honed his skills on the job and in the process discovered his natural talent for managing professional relationships, one of the key reasons for his success in the position.

Under the direction of Mark Kessler, Vice President of Program Development, Henok put together a development and management team made up of Chamber Members HUGE Inc., 3rd Edge Communications, Four Eyes Productions, and Pure Source to reinvent the Chamber’s identity on the Internet.  An arrangement many would dismiss as a recipe for disaster instead resulted in the successful launches of the Chamber’s various online media properties including the redesign of iBrooklyn.com, the Chamber’s flagship home site, Brooklynmade.net, the Chamber’s virtual tradeshow for Brooklyn-based manufacturers, and the latest online venture launched in September 2003, Brooklynease.com, a neighborhood guide to Brooklyn’s retail businesses and service providers.

Henok’s hard work has not gone unnoticed by the industry, which recognized iBrooklyn for communications excellence with an American Communications Excellence (ACE) Award in 2001 (design team at that time included Chamber Members Nunet Solutions, Community Cartography, Brooklynx.com, Four Eyes Productions, and Accelerator Designs).

“The Chamber was fortunate to gain Henok's services during a critical time in our development on the web. His energy, enthusiasm and fresh eyes helped to shape the new vision we had for the Chamber's online destination, and make it a reality.  From BGG to iBrooklyn, and several projects in between, Henok made lasting and vital contributions to the organization,” commented Kenneth Adams.

Henok’s parting project—a face-lift for Brooklyneats.com, an online guide to Brooklyn’s dine-in restaurants—will debut January 2004.  The site’s new look is part of the Chamber’s initiative to bring all its web properties in line with its primary site iBrooklyn.com, re-launched by Henok in its current design in December 2002.
 
The staff, along with many Chamber Members, extends heartfelt thanks to Henok for a job well done, and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Henok for the past 30 months or so.  He has been absolutely determined to make iBrooklyn the most effective tool that Members could have to maximize the benefits of their Chamber membership.  Henok has brought a level of sophistication and a focus on customer service to the website that makes it one of the strongest Chamber sites in the country.  We appreciate all his hard work and wish him well,” says Mark.

The Chamber will soon announce plans for the management of its online properties after details are finalized.