Wooster Area Chamber 2021 ACCE Chamber of the Year Finalist with Samira Zimmerly

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

Episode 131 — Wooster Area Chamber 2021 Chamber of the Year Finalist with Samira Zimmerly
Clean Speaker-Labeled Transcript
Guest: Samira Zimmerly
Automated QA: Passed

00:00.83 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.
00:13.996 Intro Voice
And now your host he is trying to reduce the echo in his new office. He's my dad, Brandon Burton.
00:22.03 Brandon Burton
Hello, Chamber Champions. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Chamber Chat Podcast, where it's my goal to introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your chamber members and your community. Chamber Chat Podcast is sponsored, our title sponsor is Holman Brothers Membership Sales Solutions. Is your chamber struggling to drive the revenue it needs to support your initiatives? It's a common problem. And one that our new title sponsor, Holman Brothers Membership Sales Solutions, knows a lot about. Doug and Bill Holman aren't just sales consultants, they're real live chamber guys with twenty plus years of chamber leadership experience. They know how to diagnose and solve member recruiting issues faster and better than anyone else. And they're ready to put that knowledge to work for you in your chamber. Call the Holman Brothers today at six one nine eight five two one three nine one. Or check them out at holmanbros.com. That's h-o-l-m-an-b-r-os.com. For this episode, we're continuing our 2021 ACCE Chamber of the Year Finalist series, and we have Samira Zimmerly with us from the Wooster Area Chamber in Ohio. As she represents her chamber as a Chamber of the Year finalist. But for more than 11 years, Samira has dedicated her career to supporting the Wooster and Wayne County area through extensive improvements to the chamber's events, programs, and the overall vision of the organization. Samira began part-time at the chamber, growing in her various roles to now being named the first female president of the organization, working to enhance her professional skills and leadership. Samira has participated in various programs, including, but not limited to, Leadership Wooster, Citizen Government Leadership Academy, the Delta Institute, and is enrolled in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Institute of Organizational Management, as well as the ACCE Leadership Diversity Program. She's also volunteered her time organizing dress night for the local Night to Shine Prom and is a mentor with O'Huddle and serves on several community boards.
02:33.506 Brandon Burton
Samira was named one of the 2020 ACCE 40 under 40 emerging leaders shaping the chamber industry. When she's not working, you'll likely find her at a soccer field or a basketball court watching her two sons play. Samira, I'm happy to have you with me today here on Chamber Chat Podcast. If you would say hello to all the chamber champions out there listening and share something interesting about yourself so we can get to know you a little better.
02:59.842 Samira Zimmerly
Thanks, Brandon. Hello, everyone, and thank you for taking time to listen today. I'm happy to be here. I came to the chamber to interview 11 years ago, not having any idea what a chamber of commerce was. And I quickly realized the crucial role that we play in our local communities. And it wasn't soon after that I realized this wouldn't just be a job for me, but it was something I wanted to turn into my career.
03:26.53 Brandon Burton
That is it it seems to be a a way that a lot of people get into the chamber world. Is it it kind of becomes an accident, but they fall in love with it very quickly and and understand the great work that chambers do. well, tell us a little bit about the Wooster area chamber. I know we've we've had your chamber represented the last couple of years as Chamber of the Year finalists. So those who listen on a regular basis will We'll have some familiarity with the Wooster Area Chamber, but for those who may not be as familiar, please tell us about the organization, size, staff, budget, that sort of thing, just to kind of give us some perspective for our discussion.
04:08.91 Samira Zimmerly
Sure. So Wooster is located in Northeast Ohio. We're kind of between Columbus and Cleveland, to give you an idea of where we're located. Our population in Wooster is around 26,000 people. And in Wayne County, we have about 116,000 people. So we have around 725 chamber members, and we have four full-time employees, and our budget is around 450,000. So our staff is a little bit different than some chambers. We are for the first time ever in our history, we are all female. And we are a very younger generation chamber as well. So it's it's we have a lot of fun, we get a lot of things done, but we are a little bit different than your average chamber.
05:01.536 Brandon Burton
Yeah, that could be a whole discussion in itself. Just the the dynamic there and and both the all female led staff and the kind of the the younger generation, the influence on the business community. So a lot of a lot of good things to unpack there. But for this episode, we'll we'll be highlighting the two program synopsis that you guys submitted on your chamber of the year application. And we'll get into that discussion as soon as we get back from this quick break. Are you looking for a year-round affordable and timely shop local campaign for your chamber or CVB? Look no further. Build a custom Eat Shop Play mobile app with App My Community by visiting AppMyCommunity.com/chamberchat. App My Community mobile apps are not just simple membership directory listings, they provide many more capabilities to engage with your community. Provide your residents with a robust events calendar. Partner with a local fair, festival, or farmers market to provide a schedule, map, and other resources to promote the event. Run a small business Saturday campaign any time of the year using built-in scavenger hunts. Allow your membership to communicate directly to their customers via push notifications. Your App My Community mobile app will be a unique member benefit, allow you to generate non-dues revenue with sponsorship opportunities, and best of all, Provide a valuable resource to your community. Please visit AppMyCommunity.com/chamberchat now to receive ten percent off your first year of an App My Community mobile app.
06:45.966 Brandon Burton
All right, Samira, we are back. as I mentioned before the break, we'll be highlighting those those two program synopsis. I know all of the chambers that were applying for chamber of the year, we're it it was one of those requirements to to have something in there as far as your your COVID response in your community. so I know one of your programs kind of revolves and is is related to that, but actually they both tie in pretty well. But why you go ahead and Tell the listeners what those two programs are and then we can dive in a little deeper on some of some of the follow-ups that we'll have with the
07:23.704 Samira Zimmerly
So we led the charge in creating a DORA, a designated outdoor refreshment area in our downtown. you know, during the pandemic, especially our restaurants, you know, all over, but especially here in town in Ohio, they were forced to not have any inside dining for quite a while. And then they opened back up at half capacity, and we felt what they were going through and we heard their concerns and you know, just being afraid for their livelihoods moving forward. And we wanted to find a way to help. A couple of years ago, our community looked at creating a DORA and it just didn't we everybody wasn't on the same page. And so it didn't happen. And you know, during the pandemic we realized that was something that we could help our business community and and making happen. So we actually put together a 50 plus page application. We got all of the players to the table. So we brought in our city administration team. We brought in our city police department, our Main Street Wooster program. We held several meetings with the local restaurants, some of the local retailers in downtown to make sure that they would be on board with this. We did a community survey where we had You know, sometimes with surveys, you never know what you're gonna get, and sometimes you don't get very much feedback at all. And we were overwhelmed with the response that we got. And it was about 97% of the people that filled out the survey were in support of us creating a DORA. And that survey went out to everybody in our community. so we were really excited when we saw that it would be, you know, a positive thing with our community. so now we the chamber actually created the logo. we put together all of the marketing materials, we put together the rules and all of that for our restaurants to have and be able to educate their staff, especially the bartenders and service, just to make sure that they knew the rules so that everybody was abiding by them. we created the street signs that are all around our
09:40.376 Samira Zimmerly
Downtown area. And we put together a video actually explaining how the DORA worked that we posted on our social media and our website just to make sure the community understood before going out and enjoying that. And we also manage the cup process. So you have to have an a designated cup that the people use to utilize this program. And we order the cups and then we work with the restaurants to make sure that they're fully stocked and have the supplies that they need to be able. move forward. So that has allowed us an opportunity to work with some of our members even on a more regular basis than we would normally. So it's been a good program for us.
10:20.14 Brandon Burton
Yeah, absolutely. So was there a I I'm trying to just picture in the downtown area, like what space does you did you designate for this area? Was it a a park that was pre existing? Was it a a vacant lot? I mean, how did you come up with the space to do this?
10:38.104 Samira Zimmerly
So we looked at our downtown restaurants that had liquor license and we wanted to make sure that they were all included if they wanted to be. We gave them the choice. So this is actually you can walk down the street. It is not a, you know, just a parking lot or an area like that. You can actually walk down several of our streets in our downtown area to enjoy that. So it's really helped. It's really helped even our retailers because You know, if you're going shopping Saturday afternoon, you know, and you have let's say brunch at one of our downtown restaurants, you can take a mimosa with you, you know, to to walk around and enjoy some of the shops and and do that. So each each establishment downtown has stickers on their windows or doors when you walk in that says either DORA drinks are welcome here, DORA drinks are not welcome, or DORA drinks are served here. So that way. you know, the residents that are walking around downtown, they know whether they're able to take their drink into an establishment or
11:38.356 Brandon Burton
Okay. So not to get into the sticky details, but the question comes to mind when when masks were still very much a a heavy thing and you have a a DORA drink allowed in a in a a retail shop, was that compatible? How did that how did that work just logistically with each each each shop?
12:00.782 Samira Zimmerly
So, you know, the rules state that if you are not actively eating or drinking, right? So we did not hear a lot of issue with that. Obviously at the beginning of we this actually kicked off in September. So it wasn't, you know, in the hype of COVID first kicking off. It's it's not even been in place for a year yet. but the response that we've had from both our restaurants, our retailers, our community members. Even our police department, you know, they were very amazed at how everything has, you know, worked out and we haven't had any major issues. So we're, you know, we're really excited about that.
12:40.43 Brandon Burton
So share with us some more about those responses that you had from the community and from the restaurants and the shops. What what kind of feedback are you receiving?
12:50.456 Samira Zimmerly
So we had one of our restaurants actually reached out to us and said, I'm not sure if we would have survived if we wouldn't have been able to secure those additional sales. you know, and that's I think one thing you hear that and you think to yourself, my goodness, like, you know, these people went through such a challenging time dealing with all of that and all the uncertainty that came with COVID. And to be able to help even just a little bit, I mean, that's why we do what we do in the chamber world, you know, to help our members and help our community push forward. And so we, you know, we've received that from one of the restaurants. Some of the retailers have even played on the DORA thing and they're doing, even during COVID, they did some Facebook Live sales where they were talking about DORA and featuring, you know, barware or different things like that. So it's been, it's, it's really been a positive thing for our community as a whole.
13:48.47 Brandon Burton
That's awesome. I I love hearing these stories and how people got creative. I'm curious, had this been implemented a couple of years ago when you first were exploring the idea, do you think it would have had the success that it did as launching it through the as a result through COVID?
14:06.625 Samira Zimmerly
I don't think so.
14:08.96 Brandon Burton
It I see this being one of those things that can stick around for a while though too. You know, people adopt it and they they like it, but it's I hate to say one of those positive things that came out of COVID, but it it's good to look for those positive things too among
14:24.186 Samira Zimmerly
Negative. And a lot of communities did you know, did some outdoor dining things on a temporary basis. But this DORA is not temporary. It's, you know, it's there for the long haul. And so our hope is that it continues to be a positive thing and brings, you know, a different quality of life piece to our community and brings additional visitors that might not have come otherwise. When we were looking to create it, we actually went to another community that had one and just wanted to get a feel for how it worked. Yeah. And we were sitting at the bar ordering a drink and there was a couple next to us and they said, We think DORA is so great. And now we look at what communities have it and we make a weekend out of it. And you know, so anything like that that you can bring additional people to your community, that's a win.
15:12.62 Brandon Burton
Yeah, when it becomes a a destination, a purpose at the destination. And you get people, you know, drinking a little bit, having some fun. They tend to spend a little bit more money too in those downtown businesses. So that's great. So as long as we're on the topic of downtown, I have to ask, just because I find it totally intriguing, the wiener dog races. Were you guys able to do them this last year?
15:36.802 Samira Zimmerly
So we hold what you're referring to is Woosterfest. So Wooster's own Oktoberfest event. And we weren't able to have to have the full event, unfortunately, just with the large gathering restrictions that we had in place. But we have we held a virtual Woosterfest. So we had a virtual wiener dog race. It's nowhere near what it normally would be, you know, in a typical year. But we had about 15 wiener dogs participate this past year. And instead of having them run in heats altogether, we did them individually. So that way we were not exposing any wiener dogs to COVID. and so it wasn't quite, you know, the turnout like we normally have, but we are having Woosterfest this year. And we posted the registrations last week and we already have quite a few wiener dogs signed up for the race. So if you want to stop down to Wooster and come enjoy the Wiener Dog race, it'll be October 2nd.
16:35.98 Brandon Burton
Awesome. I just think that's such a cool thing. I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me laugh and I'm sure it's a fun time for everybody that's there. Yeah. Well, let's let's shift gears a little bit and and focus on the other program that was in your synopsis on the application. I understand it had something to do with the with employment and kind of a branch off from what was your your traditional manufacturing day.
16:44.396 Samira Zimmerly
Very enjoyable.
17:04.503 Samira Zimmerly
So workforce is an issue regardless of where you're at right now. And Wooster is no different. We have a significant workforce issue that we are trying to work through. During the pandemic, we just continued to fear, you know, once businesses were able to reopen some of them, some of them were full force the entire time. We were getting phone call after phone call after email after person stopping in. You know, I need people. How do I find people? Where can I find them? And typically in a non-COVID year, the chamber really focused our workforce initiatives on our Wayne County Manufacturing Day and our Wayne County Healthcare Day. And our Wayne County Manufacturing Day typically would have over 600 students, 18 manufacturers participate, and we would take these students to two different manufacturers. And they would get to select where they wanted to go. And you know, it was a really good not only awareness piece, but we were connecting education to industry. And, you know, there was a lot of students that wound up getting jobs after graduation or even some summer jobs because of that program. And it was a big loss for us to not be able to have those days. And You know, with with the phone calls and the emails and not being able to have those days, we knew we had to do something to get creative and try to help build awareness and make some connections. So we decided to put together a we called it our Wooster is hiring publication. And in that, all of our members were able to advertise the different openings that they had or what they were looking for. And that publication. We decided we wanted to have it both printed and digital copies to be available. So it was posted on our website. we had it inserted in our local newspaper so it went out to all of you know the residents. We posted it on social media where we had over 50,000 views. And because it got so much traction on social media, one of our news channels in Cleveland actually picked it up.
19:21.486 Samira Zimmerly
And not only did they feature it on the news, but they also posted it on their website. So they had a full list of companies that were in the booklet listed, as well as our entire publication that you could flip through and read as well. So we were pretty excited about that. we also sent it digital copies to 16 colleges in Northeast Ohio trying to, you know, make sure that we were reaching that audience. And then as With our manufacturing day, we worked with every single school district in Wayne County. So with this publication, we wanted it to reach that audience as well. So we not only sent it digital copy, we also printed enough copies to give to all of the school districts in Wayne County. And what was really cool is when we reached out to the schools, they were like, anything we can do to help, we want to help make those connections. And a lot of them posted it on their district-wide websites or emails that get sent out. So that reached not only the high school students, but also, you know, the families and the parents. And so that publication was a pretty big deal for our businesses that were hurting so badly. And what was kind of exciting about it is we had a couple of parents that worked for our chamber members currently that said, because of that publication, my child got a job, you know, at the downtown restaurant that was advertising. In there, or you know, because of that, we were able to go interview here, or we talked to them and were able to secure a summer job. And so just hearing those stories and knowing that you were able to, you know, help just on a small scale make those connections because I I feel like, you know, a lot of our business, our local businesses got discouraged during COVID. It was a lot to deal with. Everything was constantly changing, trying to keep up with. what you were supposed to do, not supposed to do, whether employees could come to work or you know, all of those things. And then to not be able to even find staff to run your business. I mean, that's tough. So the fact that we were able to help even a little bit, you know, that's that's extremely important to us. And it's not like that publication solved all of the world's problems by any means, but it was able to help some. And you know, that's the important
21:44.782 Brandon Burton
Just all the Wooster problems. That's all. So I would love to to be able to link to the digital publication in our show notes for this episode. But for those just listening, can you kind of give us a kind of an audio tour of kind of the format of how that was set up? And I mean, hopefully people can check it out on the show notes as well if they wanted to. you know, try to implement something like this in their community, but I'm just curious of the the format and and how that all works.
22:17.912 Samira Zimmerly
Most definitely. So when we started, we thought, okay, how many pages are we looking at here? And so we kind of waited to gauge how large, you know, how many pages the publication would be until we figured out how many people wanted to utilize it. And we were kind of blown away at first because we had a lot of people that were like, okay, I need in. so we had to expand it quite a bit. and then we actually worked with our OhioMeansJobs. group here and they wanted to sponsor the publication and help get the word out as well. So, you know, we were able to build some partnerships. So the back page is all of their information and how job seekers can get help, you know, whether it's needing to create a resume or, you know, just helping make some of those connections and make sure that they know the opportunity is available. we we did a page on the chamber and you know what we're here for and how we can help. And then it The rest of it is, you know, the different opportunities with within the membership and you know how to get connected, where to apply, all of that kind of information. And I'm definitely happy to share that and have everybody take a look and get a feel for for what that looks like. And if anybody has questions, I'm also happy to answer those as well.
23:36.598 Brandon Burton
Yeah, I appreciate that. So was this publication, was this something that the businesses would pay to advertise in? Or I I know there's a lot of cost with the printing and the distribution, getting it out everywhere you did, so to cover those expenses. and so did you guys take care of all that internally, just like emailing out and and contacting the businesses you knew needed the staffing help, or how did you go about that part of it?
24:05.112 Samira Zimmerly
So I mean, we shared it in our Friday emails that go out to our entire membership to make sure everybody knew it was available. We also advertised it in our chamber newsletter. but we did all of the people that we, you know, that we had talked to that had called in or stopped in or emailed, we made sure that they knew it was available and the opportunity that it had. And we did charge for it, obviously, because it is expensive to print and and you know, do those kinds of things. And at the time we weren't expecting it. To be any sort of a moneymaker for us because we were just trying to offer our members, you know, a resource, a way to to help. And with the way that it happened and the way it expanded, we did make a little bit of money on it. But honestly, it was really just just to be helpful to our members and nobody really batted an eye at the cost because they're already, you know, sponsoring ads on Facebook or running ads in the newspaper or you know, all the different ways that billboards, the amount of local companies now that are using billboards, it just says we're hiring, you know, across it and the signs. we've got signs all over town that say sign on bonus, immediate hire on the spot, you know, all of these things. Companies have had to get really creative in in how they attract people. So You know, everyone was happy to be a part of it and when they realized the reach that we had gotten from that publication, they were actually pretty impressed.
25:36.248 Brandon Burton
So I don't know if you have an answer to this question yet. And I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I know your manufacturing day is is kind of a staple there at your chamber and that that'll come back as soon as you're able. I I would guess probably this year. Do you see the Wooster is Hiring publication continuing in conjunction with the manufacturing day? Or do you think that was maybe a one time? I don't know. What what are your thoughts and do you do you have an answer yet? I don't know.
26:05.314 Samira Zimmerly
So we just did that at the end of this school year. So it was very it it's very neat for us. you know, we do have other efforts that we do. We have a job posting Facebook page where we post all of our members. Any chamber member can use that and there's no no cost with that. we w occasionally will do pages in our newsletter and they're able to advertise the different opportunities that they have there. We haven't made a decision for sure on whether we would do the publication again or not. We have had quite a few people call and inquire that saw it. as soon as it was, you know, inserted in the paper and we had some people call and they say, I didn't realize you were doing that. And you know, it's always funny because you're like, it's in our emails, it's in our newsletter, we you know, all of the things that you try to advertise. but there are people that advertised in it that have already reached out and said, When are you doing the next one? Yeah.
26:44.802 Brandon Burton
That's always the case.
27:01.826 Samira Zimmerly
So we're kind of evaluating, you know, what we are doing. I think with for all chambers, right? We had to get creative during COVID. And while you weren't able to do some of your normal things that you would do, you tried to come up with new things. And now we're in this struggle of trying to decide, okay, now that we're able, you know, to bring things, most everything back, but we still have these things that we implemented during COVID and people want those to stick around too. How do you balance and figure out, you know, moving forward? What what are we able to do? What direction do we want to head? So I think a lot of chambers are probably evaluating what they did before, what they've added and trying to find, you know, what that next chapter is gonna look like.
27:44.694 Brandon Burton
Yeah. Well, and I have to say I love the name of the publication. It's a very positive, you know, good feeling kind of a a thing to kind of help guide the community to to that positivity. So good job. So I wanted to ask you, and this may have nothing to do with your chamber of the year application, but this is it is the third year in a row as a as a chamber of the year finalist. You guys are doing something right there in Wooster. You're making an impact in your community. What do you feel, maybe just from your own perspective, what is it that the the Wooster chamber does that's different from other chambers that you think might set you apart and and make you stand out a little bit?
28:29.294 Samira Zimmerly
goodness. Well, I would say there's probably a couple of things. you know, we really try to link business with community. And I think some chambers have started to go to strictly being a resource for business. And while we aim to be a resource for business, we also want to make sure that we have an engaged community. So we do a few community events on a very large scale. One of them is the Woosterfest that we briefly touched on and the amount of people that that brings to Wooster, you know, they're staying in the hotels, they're eating at the restaurants, they're, you know, shopping at the small businesses and all of that. All of those pieces are extremely important to our business community, but also, you know, making sure that our community has a place, you know, feels a part of the community, wants to be engaged, wants, you know, to explore the different places. we we do focus on that quite a bit. we also take an inclusive approach, you know, with our newsletter, let's say. You know, a lot of chambers have gone to just digital newsletters instead of printed. And, you know, only the chamber members get those. And the approach that we've taken on that is we want to get not only our brand out there to build awareness, but we want You know, when we advertise a ribbon cutting or a new member spotlight, we want to make sure that it's not just our chamber members that see that. We want the whole community to see it. So, you know, we are still printing our chamber newsletter and some people would look at us and say, Why? but for us it's worked. And you know, that's inserted in our local newspaper. So our community gets it. It's it's it is posted online, you know, it does go out digitally as well, but it's still mailed to our chamber members. So, you know, some members you might only have one or two or three contacts for, you know, in your database who would get it digitally. But this way, you know, it's on the break table for all the employees to see. Or some of the doctors or dentist offices have it out, you know, on the table with their magazines. So when patients are coming in and they're sitting there waiting, instead of looking at a, you know, home and garden magazine, maybe they're looking at the chamber newsletter, just trying to figure out what's
30:47.958 Samira Zimmerly
Not only what the chamber's up to, but what's happening in the community and you know how they can get involved and what businesses have recently opened and you know, just trying to trying to feel you know like they are a part of this community we think is extremely important. And that's worked out really well for us too. We have, you know, having that newsletter out there and people being so visible, we've been able to secure a lot of new members just by them seeing what we have going on. So it's worked extremely well.
31:18.476 Brandon Burton
Yeah. I think of of everything you said, the the ability to connect to the community, to engage the community is so key. And and even with with the newsletter, the printed newsletter, I often will, you know, make the the correlation that I guess that you know, digital is great. It it's got a wide reach, but how many times have you seen something on your Facebook scroll or whatever and and you can never find it again, right? You see it once, you go back to look for it, you can't find it. digital just kind of you cut you stumble across it, kind of happenstance where the print media, it gets to you, it'll find you, you know, and and it's easy to find again. So I think there's huge value in in that having that printed newsletter. well, I wanted to ask you if there is maybe one tip or strategy that you would offer to. listeners that they can take back to their organization to help, you know, take their chamber up to the next level.
32:22.466 Samira Zimmerly
Don't be afraid to try something, you know, to try something new. Don't be afraid to go against the grain. You know, we are, especially with COVID, I think, you know, we have been forced to be innovative and get creative and try to come up with new things. And the one thing that I'm really proud of with our team and our chamber board is we're not afraid to try things. You know, not everything always works great. Not everything is a complete success, but if you don't try, you don't know. You know, you'll never know if it could be successful or how many businesses you can be helping, or whether, you know, that that little thing that you do is gonna get you new mem chamber members or maybe chamber volunteers. And I think that that's just so important. I think sometimes you can get complacent and it's like, well, we're doing these things. And don't be afraid to evaluate things. If something isn't accomplishing what you originally set it out to to accomplish, get rid of it. Stop doing it. There's So many other things that you can be doing. And I'm I'm really excited to be a part of a team that is not afraid to do that and evaluate, look at things. And you know, we started this for this reason, and we're not accomplishing that. So let's kind of shift our focus and find a way that we can, you know, reach a wider group of people or try to get more people engaged. so just don't be afraid. Get out there, try something new, give it a shot, see what happens. That would be my advice.
33:49.782 Brandon Burton
I think that's good advice. Collect that data, try something new, collect data, make revisions. You know, it's it's a evolution, iterations all along the way. so I like ever asking everyone I have on the podcast this question. As we look to the future of chambers of commerce, how do you see the future of chambers and their purpose going forward?
34:13.696 Samira Zimmerly
I think that moving forward, especially as, you know, the generations kind of shift around and, you know, the millennials have a little bit of a different view on things. You know, I think in years past people join the chamber because that's what community minded people do, right? You want to be a part of that network. And I think that's going to shift, you know, as as some people age out of the workforce and you've got that next generation coming up is you know, making sure that we stay relevant. I think that's going to be extremely crucial for all of us. you know, finding ways to have the different generations engaged in the chamber and what you have going on and make sure that they feel a part of it. And, you know, I think it's going to be extremely important that, you know, people leading the chamber are catalytic leaders, you know, not afraid to get out there. We need to be proactive, not reactive. And trying to get out in front of things before they happen and be strategic.
35:13.75 Brandon Burton
I think that's that's sound advice, especially being being the inclusive and relevant to the the younger generation that's coming up and kind of making that fit of of how the chamber fits into their life, especially in in doing business. So so Samira, I wanted to give you an opportunity to put out any contact information for people that are listening that would like to connect with you, learn more about you know, any of these programs that you talked about, maybe your newsletter or Woosterfest or DORA, any of these things, you guys are doing some amazing work. What would be the best way for for a listener to reach out and connect?
35:51.138 Samira Zimmerly
So my email is kind of long. so if you go to WoosterChamber.com, that's W-O-O-S-T-E-R-Chamber dot com. my phone number, email, everything like that is on there. so definitely feel free to check out what we have going on. If you have questions, I'm happy to help. I like, you know, being a part of IOM and some different groups. I enjoy, you know, talking to other chambers and I think that we all do a lot of cool things and I think it's really great when we can share that and collaborate and try to bounce ideas off of each other. So I'm happy to help.
36:30.462 Brandon Burton
Absolutely. And I I can even help out everybody with the with finding you and and put put your email and phone number in our show notes for this episode, as well as the the Wooster is Hiring digital publication. but that the show notes will be found at ChamberChatPodcast.com/episode131. Samira, thank you so much for spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast and sharing the great impact that you guys are having in the Wooster community. Keep up the great work and best of luck to you guys with Chamber of the Year.
37:04.332 Samira Zimmerly
Thank you. I appreciate you having me.
37:07.67 Brandon Burton
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37:43.342 Brandon Burton
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