Category: Podcast Episode

Tallia Hart, President and CEO of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week as she shares what her experience has been like to work at really big Chambers, such as San Francisco, as well as smaller Chambers. The contrast between how these different Chambers function lead to a discussion about the evolution of Chambers of Commerce.

If you would like to connect with Tallia about what she has shared in this episode or to continue this conversation off-line, she can be reached by email at tallia@healdsburg.com, phone at 707-433-6935 or on the Chamber website at healdsburg.com.

In your mission to be a great Chamber you will find that your publications say a lot about your organization. Community Matters, Inc. is an award-winning Chamber publisher that would like to help your Chamber with your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication that will represent your Chamber very well and you will have a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Jason Camis, President and CEO of the Gardner Edgerton Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week to talk about how your Chamber can address the pain points in your community.

In this episode, Jason shares some of the unique ways that his Chamber works to be inclusive to all businesses in their community as they strive to solve these community pain points.

If you would like to connect with Jason about what he has shared in this episode or to continue this conversation off-line, he can be reached by email at jason@gardneredgerton.org or on the Chamber website at gardneredgerton.org.

In your mission to be a great Chamber you will find that your publications say a lot about your organization. Community Matters, Inc. is an award-winning Chamber publisher that would like to help your Chamber with your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication that will represent your Chamber very well and you will have a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Britt Delo, Directory of Membership at the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week to talk about the important topic of how to use data at your Chamber.

In this interview, Britt shares some of the many ways that she and the Michigan West Coast Chamber collect and use data in order to provide a better member experience with their Chamber.

If you would like to connect with Britt about what she has shared in this episode or for more details about how to use data at your Chamber, she can be reached by email at britt@westcoastchamber.org, phone 616-392-9719, or on the Chamber website at westcoastchamber.org.

In your mission to be a great Chamber you will find that your publications say a lot about your organization. Community Matters, Inc. is an award-winning Chamber publisher that would like to help your Chamber with your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication that will represent your Chamber very well and you will have a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Jessica Welch, VP of Operations at the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week to talk about a seldom addressed topic in the Chamber world of staff retention.

In this interview, Jessica shares some reasons why people leave their Chamber job, the importance of the culture in your office which starts with the CEO, and ways to retain and attract employees through both monetary and non-monetary perks.

If you would like to connect with Jessica about what she has shared in this episode or for more details about how she handles staff issues at her Chamber, she can be reached by email at jwelch@irvinechamber.com, phone 949-502-4115, or on social media on LinkedIn and Facebook.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, you may consider delegating to an award-winning Chamber publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Jodie Perry, President and CEO of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week to talk about a very comprehensive community development project that her Chamber recently took on after a leadership visit to South by Southwest in Austin with 15 leaders in their community. The community development project is titled Mansfield Rising.

You can see the marketing material that was produced for Mansfield Rising which shows the scope and goals of the project by clicking here. You can also follow the hashtags #sxsw419 and #mansfieldrising to see how Jodie and her team are leveraging social media in this campaign.

If you would like to connect with Jodie about what she has shared in this episode or their Mansfield Rising project, you can reach out to her by email at jperry@richlandareachamber.com, phone 419-522-3211, Twitter @chamberjodie. You can also look up her presentation at ACCE in 2019.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, you may consider delegating to an award-winning Chamber publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Matt McCormick, President and CEO of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce in Missouri is our guest this week to talk about his experiences with leadership visits, both as a guest and as a host. Matt shares some of the many benefits that come from these type of visits to communities that are similar to your own. Even if you think you know what all of the benefits are, it is worth a listen to see the perspective that Matt takes to leadership visits.

If you would like to connect with Matt about what he has shared in this episode or for more details about hosting of planning leadership visits, you can reach out to him by email at MMcCormick@columbiamochamber.com, phone at 573-874-1132, or you can visit their Chamber’s website at columbiamochamber.com.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, you may consider delegating to an award-winning Chamber publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

Rebecca Wildeboer, Hospitality and Events Coordinator at the Sparta Chamber of Commerce is our guest this week to talk about some of the events that the Sparta Chamber hosts and how she goes about leveraging the value of sponsorship to the businesses who support these events.

Rebecca shares a great example of a Harry Potter Festival that they created and hosted for several years and dives into details in many areas from coming up with the idea to the execution of it and measuring it’s success.

If you would like to connect with Rebecca about what she has shared in this episode or for more details about her events and sponsorship ideas, you can reach out to her by email at events@spartami.org .

In your mission to be a great Chamber, you may consider delegating to an award-winning Chamber publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.

In this episode, I take a moment to reflect back on the top 10 take-aways that I have learned this year while hosting Chamber Chat Podcast. The top ten lessons are listed below with links to past episodes and other pages that explore these ideas on a deeper level.

1. The Chamber community is full of great people who are willing to help others be successful!
2. The importance of travel events/intercity trips to learn from other communities. The Chamber Chat Podcast can help with some of these benefits by learning how other Chambers/communities are doing things.
3. A Chamber can and should be much more than a networking business community. (see episode 44 with Libby Spears and episode 46 Roy Williams).
4. The importance of staying true to your strategic plan. (see episode 40 with Henry Florshiem).
5. Digital is important, but print is still very relevant. (see episode 31 with Justin Starlin and episode 15 with Layne Mullin). Community Matters, Inc. can help you with your Chamber publishing. Learn more at chamberchatpodcast.com/cmi.
6. The importance of great community partnerships. (see episode 18 with Jenna Armstrong and episode 3 with Becki Womble).
7. The importance of talent & workforce development. (see COY finalist series episodes 24-35).
8. There is no such thing as too much non-dues revenue. (see episode 17 with Kevin Hodes) Swypit has a great Chamber affiliate program to help with your non-dues revenue. You can learn more at chamberchatpodcast.com/cc.
9. The future is bright for Chambers that stay relevant tech/automation. (see episode 5 with Tony Felker, episode 16 with Frank Kenny, and episode 45 with Jonathan Packer)
10. Every Chamber should explore the option of producing their own podcast and several have already reached out to me about how to do this. If you would like to learn how to produce a podcast for your Chamber, please visit chamberchatpodcast.com/guide to receive a free how-to guide to get started with podcasting.

Take the Stairs, by Rory Vaden is a great book that highlights what successful people do to be successful. I love the title and the lesson that the title carries with it. We need to be willing to do the short-term hard things in order to see the long-term rewards.

In this episode, I share some of the points that resonated with me as I read the book. I was first introduced to this book when Rory Vaden spoke at TCCE about 5-6 years ago. The book is not directly written for Chamber professionals, but he obviously has a message that relates to those in the Chamber industry that want to be more successful.

You can find Take the Stairs on Amazon and I am sure at other book stores as well. I would encourage everyone to read this book and more importantly, apply the principles that are taught!

In this episode, I mentioned the work of a Dr. Daniel Amen about overcoming automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) in order to become more positive. You can find out more about his work here on his website.

In your mission to be a great Chamber, you may consider delegating to an award-winning Chamber publisher like Community Matters, Inc. for your next Chamber Directory, Guide, or Map. Community Matters can handle all of the ad sales, design work, collection, and distribution. In the end, your Chamber has a great looking print & digital publication and a smooth source of non-dues revenue. Click here to receive a bid for your next publication.Image