The Ideal Chamber - September 2009

Welcome to the Ideal Chamber -- This is a newsletter written by former Chamber Executive, Mary Kurek, for Chamber of Commerce leaders. Each issue contains advice for solving staff, member, and board problems, ideas for producing income and boosting membership, and useful tips from fellow Chambers. If you'd like to be e-mailed when fresh issues are available, contact mary@marykurek.com with name, Chamber name, and e-mail address. Thanks. Mary

Is Your Chamber a Victim of the Grim “Weeper”

Last night, as I sat sipping a much-deserved glass of chardonnay, across from me sat a woman who was talking about her grandson’s excitement over Halloween this year. “I’m going to be a Grim Weeper” she said, quoting the young man. Though she tried to correct him, he was convinced of his rightness. The more I think about it, the more I think the young man has a point.

You see, the Grim Weeper I’m thinking of could be stealing your staff’s motivation, after they’ve worked so hard to get the attention of members seriously wounded on the recession battlefield. The Weeper’s tactic is to wear down good intentions, spurts of meeting-induced energy, and small wins until what’s left is a robot motioning through the hours by the grace of decent coffee. Do you recognize these robots? Do you see what’s happening?

I hear from businesses who are having the same situation occur within their staffs – just because a Chamber of Commerce is a non profit doesn’t mean it is immune. What is needed here are some fresh thoughts – different perspectives – and a total commitment to becoming new. “Reinventing – rebranding – restructuring – redeveloping” –these are all things corporations consider as soon as the snake raises his head – all things that a Chamber should think about as we start to move out of this recession.

Want to know why? It’s really hard to re-connect with members who have been living without you for a year. And, it could be hard to infuse life into a staff that’s burned out.

Here’s a new thought/perspective for consideration: The Chamber is the collective of all of your members…therefore you are the “mothership.” You are the biggest business, and must act accordingly.

Here’s a new reinvention for you: You are the new headquarters for each of your members.

Here’s a redevelopment for you: Develop the Chamber as if its members were franchise branches – provide them with in-house business coaching, bring to them new online business tools that will make their processes easier, provide them with web pages, a blog, a forum, and more – all on the Chamber site.

Market the Chamber as if it were the head office – are you on Twitter and talking about your “franchise owners?” Is the Chamber listed in online business directories or does it have a Google Profile? Is the Chamber pushing out testimonials and encouraging co-promotional activities?

Talk to people who have franchise operations and ask what kind of support they receive, “re-purpose it” and give your folks what they need – but don’t give them anything without training them on how to use it or how to do it - start with how to network!

By the way : the above doubles as your ChamberFix column for this month.

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REPRINTABLE ARTICLE BELOW - Copy and paste right into your own newsletter.

Contributed by Martha Smith Vaughan, Green & Healthy Living Expert

Green Your "Biz" & Save Some Green

Going green could actually save your company money. Small things make a big difference-here are some tips:

1- Use your own coffee mug - Yes you have to wash it but it still reduces energy and waste involved in producing, transporting, and disposing of more than 1.9 million tons of paper and plastic cups, plates thrown away in the US each year.

2- Use refillable pens made from reusable materials. There are 770 tons of plastic waste in landfills each year just from pen casings. Look for pencils that are manufactured from sustainable harvested timber or wood substitutes, such as recycled paper, old plastic cups, wood offcuts, and reclaimed denim.

3- Reuse a sheet of paper. This can save you money. Put the paper back through the copy machine if it is just for in-house memo or info not for the public's eye. Always use the back side of paper when making copies. Don't worry if you are not use to it, your idea will catch on with others. You are saving money, paper is about 70-75% of a typical office's waste.

4- Put your computer in sleep mode (set it for 10 minutes of inactivity) when you are away from your desk. You are reducing its electric consumption. Have all of your electric machines on powerstrip outlets and click the off button when you leave at night.

5- Remember, going green involves many decisions every day. Start to stop and think, where something came from and where it is going before you use it and before you so readily trash it. Think about how you could reduce the waste, reuse something one more time before you recycle.

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Income Producing Ideas

Become a Green Chamber & Receive Some Bucks!

As nice transition from the article above, Martha, offers an interesting opportunity Chambers -- a creative way to have a fundraiser for the Chamber that lasts and builds every month? Use environmentally sensitive products and money-saving services to receive a check month after month. Help your membership go green, save money and reward your organization. For more information contact Martha Smith Vaughan 252-726-8723

SponsorPitch- Help in Nailing Sponsorships.

I'd do a bad job of explaining this if I tried, but I think it's worth Chamber attention. Check it out if you need sponsors for events, and, who doesn't?
http://sponsorpitch.com/public/about

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How To Get the Most From Your Institute Experience

Set up one notebook with tabs for items like “income producers, operations, board info, forms/apps, services, recruitment, and events.” Each year, when you return from Institute, weed through the notebook they gave you and add what you wish to keep to the compilation notebook.

Check the Chamber Resource Box on This Page. Check for recent past issues in the "Recent Blog Posts" Box