20 Lessons from 2020

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability and to correct obvious transcription errors while preserving the meaning of the original conversation.

Episode 101 — Lessons Learned in 2020
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Solo
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.884 Brandon Burton
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community. And now your host, he has four amazing children. He's my dad, Brandon Burton. Welcome to the Chamber Chat Podcast. This is Brandon Burton, your host, and you're joining us today for episode 101 of Chamber Chat Podcast. And as the year 2020 is winding down, I thought we could take a moment to reflect. To look back on this past year. I know a lot of us want to just look forward and get 2020 behind us, but I think we would be missing a huge opportunity if we didn't look backwards and try to learn something out of this crazy year. So my thought was in this episode to share with you 20 lessons that I've learned from 2020, and I'm sure that you'll be able to. Take some some of these lessons as well and recognize some of these lessons that you've learned and be able to kind of forge ahead as we look forward to to twenty twenty-one with these lessons kind of ingrained into our our being so we can be more productive and be able to be of a better service to those that are within our stewardship. So that's what I my plan is today with this episode, and we will jump into this right after this brief message. Would you be interested in creating even more value from the processes that you're already doing on a daily basis? Swypit has been one of my sponsors for Chamber Chat from the beginning. Swypit provides credit card payment solutions that will save your chamber up to 40% on your processing fees, and Swypit can integrate your credit card processing seamlessly into your existing membership software. Swypit does not charge chambers to switch.
02:12.012 Brandon Burton
And they will make switching simple. In addition to these savings, Swypit has an affinity program for Chambers of Commerce so you can earn more nondues revenue to support your budget. Learn more about Swypit by requesting your free cost savings analysis and become more profitable today by visiting Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC as in credit card. Again, that's Chamberchatpodcast.com slash CC. And you can join many other chambers as you begin swiping with Swypit. All right, we are back. So, like a lot of you, for me, 2020 started off with a bang. I had big goals and a strategic plan that was already in motion. Along with the excitement of my new year, of a new year, my family was also packing up and getting ready to move to our new home. Life was very busy, but everything seemed to be going as well as it could have been planned. Then the week that we moved into our new home, I was getting my kids swing set put together when the news of shutdown started to spread. As I'm sure you all remember, it seemed like dominoes. One entity or organization would send out cancellation or postponement notification, and then another and another, and so on and so forth. I immediately had to figure out how to make an adjustment so I could still work, albeit from home, where we were not unpacked and I didn't have a formal office space. I was planning on building an office but had not started that project yet. So I ended up finding myself working from my closet. And I'm sure many of you were in the same situation. But if I've been on a Zoom call with any of you, you may have seen a fancy shiplap wall on one side of me. And that's actually a faux wall that I've I built to conceal my wife's wardrobe that's on the other side of the wall. But needless to say, we've all had to accept the reality of a world that we're in today. And we've had to make some big adjustments to keep moving forward. So with that with that stage set, here are twenty lessons that I've learned from twenty twenty. Number one is the importance of being flexible.
04:41.184 Brandon Burton
When the pandemic hit and closures started to become more rampant, I noticed that my current publishing schedule for the podcast needed to be adjusted. I had episodes already recorded and scheduled to release, but I reached out to my guests for these episodes and asked if we could bump them back for a few weeks so we could focus on more relevant time sensitive topics. Not only did I have to be flexible, but my guests were were all very understanding, and one even applauded me for being so bold to make the change to my publishing schedule. The second lesson that I learned in 2020 was the necessity of having reserve funds. So reserve funds both personally and in business. And I've counted my blessings multiple times that I had savings to get through the shutdowns, at least until I could make a pivot into other income streams. In April, I had Michael Gellman on the podcast where he spent some time talking about the need for reserve funds for chambers and how to plan ahead for the next year or and the next immediate future, if you will. So I'll link his episodes in the show notes page for this episode. But the third lesson from 2020. is the burning of sacred cows. So most chambers have these sacred cows that they're just not allowed to touch or even discuss getting rid of, even though they're really just not relevant anymore. Using COVID and the pandemic as a reason to rid your chamber of these sacred cows is a great strategy and really a great opportunity. The fourth lesson is the need to pivot. We all learned this lesson very quickly as it was forced upon us, from the need to work from home to finding ways to interact with large groups of people, like your membership in a virtual way. While some of these pivots may only be temporary, some others might be here to stay for a while longer. When you think way back when the traditional office space was originally set up, it was well before the time of the internet.
07:07.83 Brandon Burton
Now we have new strategies that we can adopt into how we operate in the office space going forward, however the office space looks. Lesson number five is the support system among chamber champions is strong. I love how willing each of my guests are to come on the podcast and to freely share their experiences and knowledge with everyone. And I've seen the same thing through other platforms as well. There were several great webinar series this year from ACCE and US Chamber. Frank Kenny's Chamber Pros Group is another great resource for support, as well as Izzy West blog, the Izzy West dot com. Lesson number six is advocacy in new ways. So part of the pivot that Chambers had to make quickly was learning all about this new these new programs, the PPP loans and EIDL loans, and how to best disseminate this information to the business owners and their communities. So you had we had to learn quickly and and learn the best way to get that information out. Lesson number seven is the need for business specific advocacy. Now typically most chambers will say that they exist to advocate for all businesses in their community. However, through this pandemic, certain business industries have been chosen as the winners, while others have been chosen as losers. And what I mean by this is that through no fault of their own Certain business types have been shut down. Things like hospitality, tourism, bars, and even some restaurants and retail stores, while other businesses, grocery stores and many big box online retailers have been the winners by default. Many chambers have taken up the fight to advocate for these businesses who are being shut down through no fault of their own by contacting their governor or other elected officials.
09:26.678 Brandon Burton
Lesson number eight is that virtual can also be reality. While virtual was forced upon us seemingly overnight, our virtual meetings are now our real meetings. We can probably get away from using the term virtual, which means almost or nearly, because let's be honest, these meetings are really happening, they really are taking our time and and energy and we need to prepare for them. So it's not just almost a meeting or nearly a meeting, but it is in reality a meeting. And just a Zoom or a webinar, I I guess what I'm saying is that a Zoom or a webinar can be more of a location rather than the delivery method. So when you say we we're having a meeting on Zoom, it would be like saying we're having a meeting at the chamber boardroom. So just make that shift to making the the platform the location rather than the delivery method. Lesson number nine is that as we're talking about Zoom, Zoom can be highly effective. So after some time of establishing norms around Zoom meetings, I've seen that they can be highly effective since they eliminate travel time and they have a simple way to capture what's discussed in the meeting by recording it. This can then allow for the recording to be used for future trainings or to be repurposed into other content, maybe for your social media or email newsletter, or even for your chambers podcast. But the tenth lesson is the need for some organizations to merge together. So this has been a trying time for organizations, chambers included, to a time. It's a time for them to evaluate the resources and impact on their community and see if there's a good match to partner with another organization to leverage each other's resources so you can more effectively serve your community. So it's a good time to take inventory of that. So we are we're halfway through these lessons for 2020, but lesson number eleven is the importance of personal communication.
11:51.572 Brandon Burton
As the shutdowns rolled out, many chambers made personal phone calls to every chamber member to check in on them and to provide helpful resources. This personal touch has been lost over, I would say, the last ten to fifteen years with more digital interaction through email and social media. Whenever possible, the personal touch goes a long way in creating a stronger perceived value for your organization to your members. Lesson number twelve is the need for multiple sources of revenue. With the initial shock of membership dues not coming in as expected or feeling bad about asking your members for their renewal fees, this has brought more focus onto other options to fund budgets. So sponsorships and affiliate programs are some of the most effective ways to add nondues revenue. But events and programs are also great as long as you have a d a digital delivery system that will still retain the value similar to what it would be if it was an in t in person event. So lesson number thirteen, and this is a a big lesson that I learned this year is the ability for brick and mortar businesses to sell online has never been more important. And I hope as a chamber leader that this lesson has been learned for you as well, and I hope that you're able to to leverage this lesson to to help those businesses. But when everyone in the world was shifting to buying everything online from food to toilet paper, it became very evident that if a brick and mortar store did not have an online store, that they were missing out big time. Sure, curbside and delivery were good band-aids at the moment, but a legit online store with a Shopify or the like that which can sell on Amazon and and some of the other big marketplaces will make or break some of these brick and mortar businesses and is a game changer for many of these mom and pop retail shops. So you you might consider, you know, teaching these types of businesses, these mom and pop brick and mortar shops.
14:18.008 Brandon Burton
How to set up an online store. And I think that would be a huge value. Lesson number 14 is the opportunity to show your membership that the chamber is more than a networking group. How many of your members join the chamber for the networking, for the referrals? So this is the opportunity for your members to know how much you care, and in turn, they care about how much you know. Because you're able to offer them you know, so many other opportunities through their membership. So great job in in turning that around. I know probably everyone listening has done that. They've really shown the great value that the chamber has. Lesson number 15 is that this is the time to be innovative for the needs of your community. So several years ago. I remember seeing an image and on this image the the left half of it was the blockbuster logo and the right half of this image was the Netflix logo and the caption said innovate or die. And that really just stuck with me because Blockbuster refused to innovate. So as we look at the chamber environment, how can your chamber innovate? Better serve the needs for your community so we can innovate and keep serving. Lesson number sixteen is the need to be future ready. Christy Gillenwater was on the podcast earlier this year, ironically, before the pandemic hit, to talk precisely about this topic. So I'll link her episode in the show notes. But we need to look a good five to ten years into the future so we can see what we need to know. To do now so we can be ready in the future because it's coming at us quickly. And I think this pandemic has brought the future onto us even quicker than expected. Lesson number 17 is disruption often brings new opportunities. So while mixers and after hours and luncheons have largely been canceled this year, considering consider what new opportunities are presenting themselves.
16:43.052 Brandon Burton
Were these events of the past the most effective way to get the desired outcome? So think about what was the desired outcome? What was the purpose and is that the most effective way? Consider what opportunities might be right in front of you. Lesson number eighteen is this will be a pivotal and a defining time for all of us. So a few times in a person's lifetime there are large nationwide or global events that define the perspective that we have of our world. This can come in the form of wars or terrorist attacks. economic downturns or even, as we're seeing now, pandemics. We will all learn from personal lessons and we will each view the world differently for having lived through this time period. Think of a grandparent maybe, who lived through the Great Depression and how they viewed money. we're gonna have a certain views going forward because we've lived through this this time period. So just two more. Lesson number nineteen is podcasting can be a great tool for chambers. And I've been talking about this, but I've had a a couple of episodes this year where we spent some time discussing how podcasting can be a great tool for chambers. And I'll link those episodes in the show notes, but in a nutshell, a chamber podcast can be it it can perpetuate what you're doing already. It can be a new platform to showcase and support your business community, and it can be a source of new non-dues revenue. So huge fan of podcasting, obviously. Check it out. you could also go to chamberchatpodcast.com slash pivot to learn about what I call the podcast pivot and being able to introduce podcasting to your chamber. But the the last and final
18:53.518 Brandon Burton
Lesson number twenty that I learned in twenty twenty is that the worth of a chamber has never been more valuable than it's been in twenty twenty. We've learned a lot this year about the value of a chamber. You've probably even had a few moments of self-evaluation to go back to the roots of what a chamber of commerce is. Thank you for fighting this fight and for advocating for businesses in your community. I'm a firm believer that we're stronger together. both in your community and supporting businesses and in the the community, the chamber community in general, supporting and being supported by other chamber leaders. So thank you for everything that you're doing that you're doing. But as usual, thank you for for being here and participating in this episode with me today. I think we've all learned a lot from this last year, and each of you could probably create your own list of twenty lessons learned in twenty twenty and and they could have a lot of similarities and overlap, but I'm sure each of us have learned very individual lessons as well. So I would I would encourage you to explore that so you can reflect on those lessons and and apply those lessons into your life and into your organization moving forward. But show notes for this episode can be found at Chamber Chat Podcast dot com slash episode one one. And I know it's been a while since I've done a solo episode and now this is two weeks in a row of having solo episodes. But we're gonna get back at it again next week with another interview and just a a little teaser as I have Matt Pivarnik from the Greater Topeka Partnership. Will be joining us next week. So until then, keep fighting the good fight. Thank you for doing what you're doing, and we'll chat with you again next week. If you are a chamber professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast, new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you're finding value in this podcast,
21:15.928 Brandon Burton
Please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share ChamberChat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.
21:30.198 Brandon Burton
As a podcast listener and as a chamber leader, have you considered the benefits that podcasting could have for your chamber? This is what I like to call the podcast pivot. If you're like many chambers, you're always looking for ways to provide non-involvement value to your member investors. Many chambers are finding that podcasting is a great solution. A podcast platform becomes a media arm for your organization that builds trust in your community and Tells the stories about your members as well as your advocacy efforts and becomes a valuable tangible asset for nondues revenue. If you'd like to see if podcasting is a good fit for your chamber, visit Chamberchatpodcast dot com slash pivot to learn more and to gain access to our free chamber podcasting guide. Again, this is found at Chamberchatpodcast dot com slash pivot.