The Ideal Chamber - August 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

I'm going to start off this issue of The Ideal Chamber with a challenge.

Encourage, support, and host special interest groups within your Chamber. The challenge here is how to get it going and then have it managed appropriately.

SIGs (shorthand) for special interest groups are where people (of like interests) gather to network for specific results.

Certainly, your Education committees, Leadership groups, and Military Affairs Committees qualify as SIGs, but I'm talking about fostering networking on a level deeper. Here are a few ideas for SIGs:

Women Business Owner Issues
Social Media Learning Curve
Youth Citizenship
Network Marketing Out of the Box
Entrepreneurs for Joint Ventures
Charity Collaborators
Business Mentorship
Self Marketing
Second Jobbers Support Group
Green Business Promotion
Wellness Business Promotion
Customer Relationship Building

You probably have some ideas from listening to your members, but if sending a short survey around might reveal some good clues.

The "why" for considering a SIG or two is four-fold...

1) Getting into that level below the surface with your members shows you really do care about what they are into that goes beyond general business support.

2) Gives you another benefit to offer members (this one - at no cost).

3) Allows for another leadership opportunity for members with a particular passion (you'll recruit a SIG leader).
4) Because they are "special interest" groups with a real purpose, you'll attract more active participants.

Back to the challenge: Find a good leader...one with plenty of contacts to pull together a good core group (even 5 or 6 could be a SIG). Because you are really just allowing a group to form under the umbrella of the Chamber, you really don't have to do a lot of managing here. Give the group space to meet and any other support you wish, but leave most of the admin up to the leader.

The cool thing about a SIG is that you don't really have to recruit or campaign to make it happen. If a SIG is worth being a SIG, it will stand on its own. Unlike an Education or Government Affairs Committee, you don't need to allocate staff to monitor and you aren't failing if the SIG doesn't come together. It's simply an opportunity for your membership.

A few rules you might offer a new SIG:

--Meet regularly (even if it's only once every 2 months).

--Define an actual purpose for the group that involves real exchange of resources, ideas, examples, and actions.

--Publicize your SIG using whatever means available to your group members. You can start a newsletter, web site, online network, send out articles or press releases. The Chamber will support with links as possible.

--Keep the Chamber informed of any news or events relating to your SIG.

--Do not engage in any group-ordained political activity while under the auspices of the Chamber.

Closing: A SIG could be a great way to turn service back toward your "customers," and another reason to get an article in the local paper about the Chamber.

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REPRINTABLE ARTICLE:

You're gonna hate me for this one.
Copy and paste the article just above and run it in your newsletter with your own header. Edit anything you wish and add commentary indicating that you are considering starting a SIG. If the article stirs their interest, they should contact the Chamber for a meeting.

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INCOME PRODUCING IDEAS:

Like last month, this idea could be an income producer, or could simply be one heck of a publicity opp for the Chamber and your members.

The idea comes courtesy of Gretchen Smith, Communications Manager for the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce in Florida.

Chamber Chat: 1/2 hour weekly Chamber member spotlight talk show produced by the Chamber and sponsored by 3 local businesses (funeral home, auto dealership, and wireless provider). Gretchen formats the shows like a regular talk segment, interviewing members around a particular topic for interest. The Chamber has links to their archived shows and the live-stream on their site. http://flaglerchamber.org/chamberchat.cfm

Gretchen says the Chamber was actually approached by the station about producing the show, and even provided help in securing sponsors. "During this time in the economy when it's been so tough on our members," says Gretchen, "it's great to be able to offer this kind of exposure to them. And, it's fun!"

WNZF Talk Radio (am/fm) hosts Chamber Chat and has even sponsored a special 1-hour call-in show with the Chamber all about sharing "good news" from members and non members on the air. Word from Gretchen is that the lines were "jammed." They promoted via Facebook and Twitter.

My comments: if you video-taped parts of these shows and uploaded it as a You Tube, could you charge the member guests a little admin fee and turn this into an income-producer?

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HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR INSTITUTE EXPERIENCE:

Swap resumes with two or three of your colleagues. Select well. It will give you a feel for the types of experiences and talents they have that you might draw upon. Also, should any of them decide to leave their position, they already have your resume on hand. You're not actively looking -- planting seeds in case it rains.

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CHAMBERFIX:

Q: How do I handle a board member who is mistreating a staff person?

A: Without knowing the specific mistreatment, I'd probably suggest that you (if you are the exec) and your chairman speak to an attorney and follow his/her advice. You're in a precarious situation whereby the staff member might commence a law suit should the behavior warrant. You can't control how anyone in this scenario will react. But, one thing is for sure -- keep documentation on every action and conversation that relates to the matter-dates and times included. Those are your records to support your own actions. If any of you have other advice to share, feel free to do so.