Category: Podcast Episode

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Chris Romer from the Vail Valley Partnership was referred to me when Frank Kenny was on the Chamber Chat Podcast.  Chris and the VVP do a great job collecting meaningful data from their membership that they then use to develop new programs that fill a need for their members and drive economic success.  Chris stresses the importance of making data informed decisions, and not just following a hunch or what seems like a good idea to your staff.  Some of the ways that the VVP collects data is from visits to businesses, surveys, flash polling, and listening sessions.  They utilize thematic questions which allows them to identify common themes or needs to focus on.
In this interview, Chris and I talk about some of the member needed programs, how they came to be, what need they filled, and how the programs have played out.  You can click here to see the many programs that the VVP offers.  The ones we focus on for our discussion are: My Partner Career Network, One Valley Healthcare Program, and Lodging Quality Assurance Program.
My Partner Career Network: This is a trailing spouse program.  Often a person will be transferred to the Vail Valley for a new job and their spouse makes the move with them but does not have a job before making the move.  With the My Partner Career Network, the “trailing spouse” is able to get their resume in front of the businesses that are a good fit for them within this network of members.  This program obviously helps the family that is relocating.  It also helps the businesses and HR departments that are looking to hire quality candidates.  It is also a benefit to the business that made the hire for the initial spouse to offer this program to help the spouse with job placement.  The My Partner Career Network has had a 90% success rate for job placement!

One Valley Healthcare Program:  This program came about because many of the member businesses in the VVP are small businesses where providing healthcare benefits can be difficult.  The One Valley Healthcare Program is an Association Healthcare Plan that allows for group rates for purchasing healthcare in a shared network.  This program was implemented in November of 2018 but most people are already seeing a 50-60% savings on their healthcare costs.
Lodging Quality Assurance Program:  This program has been in existence for over 20 years.  The Vail Valley is a tourist driven area and over 20 years ago, the VVP noticed that some of the area lodging reviews in magazines were taking a dip to lower ratings than they were content with.  This was before online reviews were popular.  In response to this problem, the VVP created a 100 point checklist for their area hotels and condos to work through before being inspected and rated.  These ratings can then be shared with the property owners, visitors, and with those making reservations.  This program created a standard for lodging in the area to live up to and to create consistency in the industry.  There is both member and non-member pricing but this program has really gained momentum to the point where every place of lodging in the area participates.
To learn more about these great member needed programs and the others offered by the VVP, you can reach out to Chris Romer by email at cromer@visitvailvalley.com, by phone at 970-477-4016 or you can connect on Facebook or LinkedIn.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Aaron Cox from the Texas Association of Business and TCCE, is my guest for this episode as we talk about the importance of Leadership & Professional Development.  Aaron mentions how the world today needs strong, solid leaders who have integrity, courage, and passion.  With Chambers of Commerce being one of the most critical organizations, Aaron has a passion for strong leaders in the Chamber industry.

As we discuss Chamber leadership, we talk about how many of us look up to a mentor in the industry.  As we look up to our mentors it can become easy to idolize them.  In response to this, Aaron urges to not idolize, but instead we should understand them.  By seeking to understand them we are no longer idle and we can then take actions to become like them.  Some great ways to understand these mentors is to talk to them and to work to further your professional development.  This may include attending statewide Chamber conferences or ACCE conferences.  By attending these conferences and being in the same room with many like-minded individuals, you are able to learn from them and listen to problems or trends that others are seeing so you can be better prepared to handle your Chambers needs. 

Aaron brought up one of his favorite authors, John Maxwell.  We talked about how leaders are readers.  Aaron also referenced “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.

Aaron suggested that we ask ourselves “What impact are we having on people?”  Are you creating a legacy?  
Having Real Reasons + Solutions = Problem Solving.

Aaron Cox can be reached at:
Acox@texbiz.org or by phone at 512-637-7711.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Gary Molberg from the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce was a fantastic guest to have on the podcast! Gary recently learned the importance of bragging about his Chamber because they are doing some great things. This is an episode that you will want to be sure to listen to.

Gary has been the President & CEO at the Amarillo Chamber since 1997 and during this time, they have built some great momentum, not only with their membership but in large part with their non-dues revenue events. Gary shared with us the top 4 non-dues revenue events that their Chamber hosts each year.

The top 4 non-dues revenue events are:

1. The Chamber Golf Tournament with 288 golfers.
2. Summer Celebrations/Fireworks Show.
3. Business Connection with over 380 business booths.
4. And the big one is their BBQ Social with over 7,000 people and 100 businesses participating with their cookers.

We spent a good amount of time talking about the BBQ Social because it is an awesome event. This even ranked #9 in the nation by the US Chamber for non-dues revenue events and has been implemented by several other Chambers.

The format for the BBQ Social is Tuesday is the set-up day. Wednesday is Team Night where each “Team” or participating business is able to invite their VIP guests to cook them a special dinner. This portion is by invitation only. Thursday is the big day where over 7,000 people show up from 5-8 pm to try all of the great food that is prepared. During this entire event, great relationships are formed and business deals are done all along the way. Gary was nice enough to invite me to come to their BBQ Social and to participate as a judge!

The Amarillo Chamber has a couple of other neat programs. One is called “Mayor Calls” where twice a month, Gary as the Chamber President & CEO gets together with their Mayor and the President & CEO of their Economic Development and they go out to visit businesses. They ask what their struggles are and how they can help. They have many success stories by going out to the businesses in their community.

The other program that Gary discussed is called “Buy the Way” which used to be “Shop Smart, Shot Local”. This program does just that, it encourages people to purchase local before the look to make online purchases. Before implementing “Buy the Way”, they were seeing the sales taxes trending in a negative way but they are now trending more positive.

One thing that stuck with me is a quote that Gary shared which is “You have to have the team to live the dream”.

If you would like to connect with Gary about anything that he discussed or about how to start your own BBQ Social, he can be reached by email at gary@amarillo-chamber.org or by phone at 806-342-2001.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Jenna Armstrong, President & CEO of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce was our guest this week as she shared her ideas about being inclusive and what she has done in the area of community outreach. One of the key messages that Jenna shared was a motto of sorts that their Chamber uses of “seek to provide value first” in everything that they do. This motto extends to businesses that are not members of the Chamber yet so they can experience what the Chamber can do for them.

The Lake Houston Area Chamber is focused on being an Information Central for their community since their trade area encompasses several municipalities. With so many different government agencies, it can be difficult to disseminate information to the community. The Chamber has taken on the role to broadcast information as they receive it from their various community partners. With recent storms and flooding, this idea of being an Information Central has become even more important.

Another way that her Chamber strives to be Information Central is by being a very business solutions focused Chamber to establish credibility and respect in the community. Businesses in a community typically will succeed or suffer together depending on the environment. The goal of the Chamber is to help all of the businesses succeed.

A key take away that Jenna shared with us was, for a Chamber to establish stronger community outreach and to strive to be an Information Central is to build partnerships with important people in your community that will share your social media posts that are of importance. These people may be elected officials or people from your school district, but they can become social ambassadors to help spread the important messages from the Chamber, especially with traditional media sources becoming less and less effective.

If you have any questions for Jenna about how she is doing things at the Lake Houston Area Chamber, she can be reached at jarmstrong@lakehouston.org or you can follow @LHAChamber on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Kevin Hodes, Founder of Swypit came on the Chamber Chat Podcast to discuss how his credit card processing company is able to help your Chamber earn more non-dues revenue. Swypit offers a Chamber affinity program that works in multiple ways. You can find more details about this affinity program at chamberchatpodcast.com/cc where you can fill out a form to have Kevin and his team customize a program for you.

As a brief summary, Swypit can save most Chambers up to 40% on their credit card processing fees. Swypit will help to get their services integrated into your current set up and will even provide new equipment if needed. Kevin mentioned how many Chambers use Stripe or Square to take mobile payments at events that are off-site. These services, while convenient, have very high processing fees. Swypit has mobile processing solutions that will keep your costs low.

As your Chamber starts using Swypit, you will see that Kevin and his team provide great service so you can feel confident referring Swypit to your membership. Swypit can help your Chamber members become more profitable right away by providing a free cost savings analysis and can have them set up with Swypit services within 24-48 hours.

Your Chamber will earn 10% of the profits from the processing fees for each member that starts using Swypit. You will see that recurring non-dues revenue increases year after year as you continue to refer and promote Swypit. It is really a simple affinity program that requires little involvement from the Chamber but can provide large payouts as your Chamber’s relationship with Swypit matures. Revenue projections can be seen at chamberchatpodcast.com/cc. You can also see the video of the 3 things that Kevin hates about the credit card processing industry.

Be sure to Google Swypit and Google your current processor to see how they match up. After you compare, I am confident that you will want to “Get Swiping With Swypit”!

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Frank Kenny was kind enough to come on the Chamber Chat Podcast to share some of his wisdom with the Chamber world about social media and digital marketing. Frank really proved his knowledge of digital marketing during the recession in 2008 as he served as a Chamber president when he saw the Chamber membership double as a result of very effective social media marketing. Frank has since become a speaker and a consultant to help teach what he knows to Chambers around the world! Frank Kenny now manages the 7,500+ member (and growing) Chamber of Commerce Professionals Facebook Page.

One of the key take aways from this interview is that most people on social media are trying to push their products or events, and Frank shares from his experience that people go online and to social media to get value, not to be sold to. We discussed the tactics of Gary Vaynerchuk and Bob Burg where they both talk about giving first before asking for anything in their books below.

For Chambers of Commerce, Frank is a big fan of Facebook since that is where most of your potential audience hangs out. He also encourages other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. However, you should only be on the platforms that you like and that you are willing to manage and to keep up with. One think Frank made very clear is that social media and digital marketing needs to be a priority for your Chamber!

To start your Chamber’s social media presence, Frank suggests these 3 steps:

1. Create awareness about the Chamber (give, give, give). Let your community know what the Chamber does and how they serve the community.
2. Build relationships with those who engage with your posts beyond just liking their comments on your posts. Reach out and engage with them!
3. Once you have created awareness and built relationships, then the opportunity for digital marketing begins.

Some Chambers may be confused about their messaging. Frank suggests a hierarchy of who your messages should be targeting:

1. Your current membership base.
2. Prospective members (follow & engaged online)
3. The general community for messaging about community events as much of your non-dues revenue should come from this source.

When it comes to digital marketing, as a Chamber, you should have a marketing budget so you can re-target visitors to certain pages on your website through re-targeting pixels. Most important though is to be collecting contact information all along the way because sales happen through email campaigns, not necessarily through social media.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Our guest this week is Layne Mullin, the President of Community Matters, Inc., an award winning Chamber publisher and one of this show’s sponsors.  As Layne and I visit, our conversation revolves around Chamber publishing.  As a publisher, Layne and the Community Matters team help Chambers of Commerce realize their goals in producing high quality, award winning caliber publications that are turn-key and are customized to the needs of each Chamber.  Community Matters specializes in maps and directories (magazines) for Chambers of Commerce.  Although Community Matters is a publisher, Layne takes the time to recognize that there are many Chambers that do a great job in producing their own magazines. 

Layne points out how Community Matters can put together a package that allows a Chamber to play to their strong suites and then Community Matters can help to bridge the gap to complete your publication, or Community Matters can handle everything from start to finish.  Community Matters provides the resources and expertise to allow you to focus what Chambers do best, serve their members!

You can learn more about Community Matters by visiting chamberchatpodcast.com/cmi where you can fill out a form to receive more information and to request a bid for your next map or directory.  Layne also mentioned the new online map platform that Community Matters has to offer.  A sample of this new online map technology can be viewed by following this link for the map that was done for the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce.

Layne can be contacted by phone at 800-380-2450, on his cell phone at 972-998-9228, or by email at layne@communitymattersinc.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Lisa Hermes is our guest this week from the McKinney Chamber of Commerce in McKinney, TX.  Lisa visited with me about the efforts that the McKinney Chamber is doing to stay current as a 21st Century Chamber.  Some of these efforts involved trying to include technology as well as ways to adapt to the needs of businesses in their community that are evolving, whether it is more of a global customer base or a new industry in their area, they are always looking for the best ways to conned and serve these businesses.

Lisa shared an example about how the McKinney Chamber used to have a monthly magazine and an entire publishing side of the Chamber that we a for profit organization.  The magazine came about because of a need at one point to connect with the community and to get information out at a time when there were not many options for doing so.  A few years ago, the McKinney Chamber noticed that there was not as much of a need for the printed monthly magazine so they shut down the publishing side.  They did continue however to run a website that is separate from their Chamber website to connect businesses with the community while the Chamber website is focused more B2B.  You can see what both of these websites look like as you consider if this is a move that your Chamber should look at.  McKinneyChamber.com and McKinneyOnline.com.

Lisa did say that they still have printed publications, just not a monthly magazine.  Their publications now are more niche now with target audiences like a Senior Resource Guide, a B2B Guide, a Membership Directory, and a Map.

We discussed the value in having a 3 year plan for your Chamber and how that allows for you to adapt as needed without being strapped to a longer term plan.  A longer vision can be very helpful, but the plan for your Chamber should not be any longer than 3 years!

If you have any questions about this episode or if you would like to connect with Lisa, she can be reached at 972-542-0163 or by email at lhermes@mckinneychamber.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify

Shannan Reid is the Executive Director at the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce in Montgomery, Tx. The Montgomery Area Chamber is only about 5 years old and is a high growth area just North of Houston. With just 209 members at this point, Shannan explains how their Chamber is able to Play Big! They have a vision for what the mature version of their Chamber will look like and they are serving their community and membership as if they are already at this mature level. A major advantage that Shannan has is that they are in the process of creating this Chamber so it can go any direction that they feel is needed and they don’t have to be tied down to old traditions. They are very active in finding out what the needs are of their members and then creating programs to best serve their membership. By keeping a pulse on what the members needs are, also requires the Chamber to have the courage to sunset some programs that are no longer serving their members.

While surveying new members, Shannan found out that 95% of the businesses are joining the Chamber for engagement. Engagement can mean different things to each business, but there is both the give and take in the engagement process. Some businesses want to engage at the level of getting their name out in front of other businesses and the community, while others what to engage by learning what is going on in the community so they can better serve their target audience. In both types of engagement, the Chamber needs to be the trusted resource for your community. Chambers should leverage all of their relationships to best serve their members. Shannan has a neat phrase that she tells all new members, “My number should be in your speed dial”. She shares her cell phone number with each new business to give them the confidence that she is working for them and will be their trusted resource to get them the answers that they need.

We also discussed how important it is to learn something new. As a Chamber, education programs are a great way to keep your members engaged and learning how to better round out their business. I mentioned that in the digital age that we live in, education has never been easier. We used to have to be at a library or referencing a book or going through some type of format education to learn, but new we can learn about anything, even when we are on the go. That is way I love podcast! You can learn about any topic. Google and Youtube can also be great helps in allowing you to learn something new.

Shannan was a great guest to have on Chamber Chat Podcast. For anyone who would like to get in contact with Shannan about anything we disucussed in this espisode, she can be reached at her office 936-597-5004 or you can call/text her cell phone at 936-524-2484 or email at admin@montgomeryareachamber.com.

If you have a need for a publisher for your next Chamber Directory or Map, please consider Community Matters, Inc. as a partner with their turnkey system, award winning quality, and great reputation.