Business of the Year: Pacific Marine Credit Union
Ambassador of the Year: Joan Burns
Volunteer of the Year: Chip Dykes
The event was great and photos are available on our Facebook page. However, the reason I'm writing this post is not to necessarily speak about the event itself, but rather to talk about the speech made by our outgoing Board Chair, Bruce Tait. I have worked at the Oceanside Chamber for 13 years and I don't think I have ever heard the Chamber described better than how Bruce explained it today.
Bruce has graciously allowed me to share his speech on the Chamber Blog, so I would ask you to please take a few minutes to read the following, as I feel it will help you connect with the true purpose of your Chamber...
Some of you may think that a farewell speech may be about my term in office, but I’m not really going to talk about that. But I do have a question to ask: What IS this Oceanside Chamber of Commerce? What would make a person want to join this Chamber? What would make someone want to volunteer to spend dozens or hundreds of hours a year with an organization?
The surveys all say that the primary thing that people want out of a Chamber of Commerce is networking. But, I believe that it takes more than just networking to keep bringing members back. But, what IS it about this Chamber of Commerce?!
Perhaps we need to look outside the Chamber for the answers. Maybe we should ask the students in the school district who received scholarships from the Chamber what it means to them. Possibly we should ask the schools who received grants what the Chamber is and does.
Or, what about asking the citizens of Oceanside if they like having more tax dollars in the City’s accounts for police, fire and fixing the potholes in front of their homes. After all, the California Welcome Center, operated by the Chamber, brings in hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in direct and indirect additional tax money due to the tourism advertising and marketing that they do. They might say that the Chamber is acting on behalf of the community and promoting an enhanced quality of life.
Or you could ask the family who spent the day at Harbor Days, watched a pirate battle, a nail and sail contest, or climbed on the Camp Pendleton LCAC hovercraft, what they thought about the event or the organization that sponsored it.
When they first moved to the area after being stationed in Camp Pendleton, most Marine Corps and Navy families had never heard of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce. But we wanted to show our appreciation for families who were willing to join a team. A team that was willing to put themselves in harms way to defend the values and way of life that make this County so great. So the Chamber of Commerce has been providing food and entertainment at Operation Appreciation and hosting golf events for enlisted personnel for many years.
Perhaps we should ask the enlisted men and women honored at the quarterly breakfasts: Who is that Chamber of Commerce?!
If you were to ask an attendee at the Chamber hosted Health Fair, they might say that the Chamber is an organization that promotes an enhanced quality of life.
Those who watched the Council and Mayoral Candidates forum might have a slightly different answer. They may have watched the forum, co-hosted by the Chamber, and say: Wow, they sure asked a lot of questions about the candidate’s positions regarding business in Oceanside. They sure are promoting a strong business climate.
Maybe we should ask the residents in the western portion of the 760 area code (that’s us by the way) if they wanted to change their area code and have to change the phone numbers on all their websites, letterheads, envelopes, business cards, etc. They might say that the Chamber promoted a better business climate by being part of a team lead by Assemblyman Garrick’s office in opposing the area code split.
The supporters of the Oceanside Malkin Hotel project might say that the Chamber took a leadership role in teaming with the Oceanside Hotel Coalition and also in obtaining signatures on a letter from 22 elected officials in Southern California supporting the project at the California Coastal Commission.
Our members would probably say that by expressing our opinion in letters to local, state and federal officials, we provide a collective voice in speaking in support of business friendly proposals and against those that would harm the health of our business community.
How about if we bring up the question a little bit closer to home? Let’s ask the business members who went to the North County Business Showcase and
• Gained more leads than in any other one day show that they had been to
• Had incredible turn outs at their booths
• made over 200 new contacts and obtained a record amount of solid leads, and
• said the show was well-organized and it was run smoothly by very professional staff, and
• said they would recommend this show to anyone wishing to conduct business in the area, and
• received over 200 inquiries and a number of immediate orders, resulting in new clients, referrals, and future business.
Or as one of the less shy new members of our Board had said: “You guys rock!” I think that translates to: “You promote a strong business climate.” “You rock” sounds better though!
Another question you might want to ask our members is: how about the Chamber’s ability to educate its members in areas applicable to their businesses? They might answer by “tweeting”, a skill that is soon to be taught in Chamber classes, or by sharing on Facebook, or on LinkedIn, or by blogging, all currently available on the Chamber website.
Oh.. And by the way, our members are happy about the networking opportunities. As you can see on our website, they’ve said things like...
"The Chamber’s recent 5 minute networking event provided a return on my investment in merely 5 days. The contacts made were invaluable and I will certainly participate again."
"Since joining we have gained many new clients and have received over a 40:1 return on investment. I wish there were more organizations as professional and as proactive as yours."
"35% of our contact database are contacts made as a direct result of our participation and membership in the Oceanside Chamber! Additionally about 10% of all our clients came from networking at Chamber events and the Chamber's Business Showcase. "
So if you asked around, you might get answers like: The Chamber provides leadership for its members. It provides a collective voice for its members and the community. It promotes a strong business climate. It promotes an enhanced quality of life.
Bruce went on to thank the many volunteers, committee members and board members for making the Chamber what it is.
I want to thank Bruce for helping make our impact on the community so clear in his speech today. Well said Bruce!
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