The Ideal Chamber - October 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

Well hello Chambers: How is everyone surviving the latest hoopla involving the US Chamber of Commerce?

Never thought I'd see a day when local Chambers would carefully distance themselves from the US Chamber in order to keep that neutrality and nonpartisan stance in place. But, I've now seen that happen.

From a recent communication from my local Chamber of Commerce..."The Chamber of Commerce is neither a member nor an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber. The Chamber is totally separate and independent from the U.S. Chamber.

In addition to its lobbying agenda, the U.S. Chamber endorses and supports political candidates for elected office. The Chamber does not and will not. Therefore, it would be totally inappropriate for us to participate in, or be a part of, any organization that does support political candidates."

I share the above from our Chamber President's editorial for those of you who are now (or may someday be) in a situation to have to verbalize to your membership your Chamber's stance on a political event.

I think "interesting times" call for interesting thinking and responses. If you are to move past mere survival as organizations into growth, you definitely need to protect your mission and policies. You already know you must deliver crazy-good member service.

You also need to unite with your colleagues. Your fellow Chamber leaders possess experience and creativity that you can use. And, because you never ask for that which you wouldn't give if you could, you need to share your own knowledge and resources, as well.

It is with this sharing mindset that I deliver the October issue of The Ideal Chamber.

This issue will not contain the usual stuff - which means what I am sharing with you here is "unusual." I've been collecting links to good resources and ideas from Chambers and other sources - mostly gathered from my Twitter followers.

Here's how I envision you can use these links:

-pass some along to your members as useful information in your own newsletters

-add some to board of directors or committee agendas to review for your own use

-allow some to inspire you in creative problem solving

One requirement before I give you the goods - you need to share back. You can do that here by leaving a comment back complete with a link to your Chamber's web site (little viz for you).

Here we go:

5 Small Businesses Successfully Using Social Media (great article w/ creative ideas)

Chambers of Commerce as the New Civic Players: Environmental Sustainability

Coupons Drive Consumer Online Shopping Habits (some good facts/figures)

Small Business Owners in Dallas Area Rely on Smarts in Recession

Environmental Art Award (Liverpool Chamber)

Charity Credit Control (idea to help charities having trouble collecting pledges - from Liverpool Chamber)

Are Small Businesses Wasting Their Time With Social Media (Blog posting that raises questions and gets some answers)

Embeddable Twitter for PowerPoint (real time tweets on your subjects for presentations-free)

12 Ways to Dazzle Customers (from Marketing Donut)

Audio from Charlotte NC's Green Conference. (Good idea for a "green conference" and nice way to share audio from the event).

From the Harlow Chamber of Commerce (simple FAQ page on their site - do you have one?)

From the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce - Partner Council (elite group of members)

Hispanic Chamber of e-Commerce. E-Learning (Bring seminars to your membership - create an entire section of your website to a library of resources, webinars, etc.)

Beth Bridges Blog (Beth is the Membership Dir. of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce - extremely social media savvy - your membership staff should RSS feed her blog)

Tarpon Springs Chamber has a Business Assistance Partnership (free resources for members, like help with business plans and marketing)

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce partners with the Nashville Technology Council to create the Nashville Entrepreneur Center to connect early-stage entrepreneurs with needed resources.

Also from Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce - Walkabout180 - event to bring together business owners and community leaders for fast-paced innovative learning (180 mins). By the way - check out their calendar. Awesome.

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