Chamber News

Published in the Culpeper Star Exponent
Monday, January 23, 2012

I could not be more excited about an upcoming event developed for Small Business and Non-Profits by the Culpeper Chamber. With the leadership of the Small Business Committee and the Non-Profit Council we will introduce our Second Annual Professional Development Conference held at Germanna on February 9th.  The program is all day, includes lunch, a powerful keynote speaker, and 25 sessions to choose from. What is the price? Read on….

The program is developed to strengthen business on several fronts. We have four session tracts including Marketing, Human Resources Management, Operations Management, and Board Development. This is of course a wide range of topics and yet all very interesting and relevant. As I have written in past columns – organizations are generally most vulnerable to what they do not know.

The professionals @ the Chamber of Commerce have identified areas that are unique to this year’s business environment. I use the term unique because the sessions offer rare access to interesting topics and great speakers. Here are the sessions as currently arranged.  

8:00 Registration Opens

9-10:15 am: Session I 1) Employment Basics - Practices Every Employer Must Use
2) Tax Compliance Small Business & Non-Profits (990's)
3) Building and Leveraging Email Database – Constant Contact
4) Grant Writing
5) Disability Center - ADA Compliance for Business & Office
6) Roberts Rules for Organization Boards

10:30 - 11:45 am: Session II 1) Lessons from Penn State - Recruiting, Retaining, and    Terminating Employees/Volunteers
2) Google Apps for the office
3) Mailings & List Management
4) Grant Writing - Foundation Center
5) Dispute Resolution
6) Board / CEO Relationship

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch with Keynote -  The Performance Group, Inc
Pushing the Right Buttons, Keys to Inspiring Your Team

1:00—1:30: 2012 EXPO

1:30—2:45 pm Session III 1) Dispute Resolution Center
2) Quick Books - Tips, Short Cuts, and Reports
3) Social Media
4) Foundation Center Online Directory
5) Microsoft Cloud for Non-Profits and Small Business
6) Fiduciary Duties of Non-Profit Boards

3:00 - 4:15 pm Session IV 1) Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws for Events
2)

Fundraising for Board Members - Can it be Easy!
3) Employee Performance Tracking
4) Building and Leveraging Email Database – Constant Contact
5) Financial Tracking Made Easy - Dashboards
6) Customer Service
7) Myers-Briggs

Go to ProfessionalDevelopmentConference.com or CulpeperChamber.com for more details. Register today for early pricing.

Navigating Social Media

Published in the Culpeper Star Exponent
Monday, January 16, 2012

Normally a Chamber of Commerce meeting is interesting, sometimes very interesting, and occasionally they are inspired. The first Social Media Mastermind Group met last Monday morning at the Depot. 
With a fresh pot of coffee and an open slate of discussion, we did not waste anytime diving into the reaches of social media. We navigated thru Facebook, Goggle Blogs, Email, Foursquare, Yelp, and a few others that are outliers. Within each of these, there were basic and advanced revelations for everyone. Whether you were a novice or an experienced Social Media Pro, there were new ideas in the constant stream of discussion.

So what is a “Mastermind Group"? The term is common in cyber circles. In fact, the term mastermind may apply to almost any area of interest. The concept is for a group of like minded talent to exchange ideas about a subject with the intent to sharpen everyone’s knowledge.

The rate of change in social media coupled with its exponential growth has continued implications for business. As a business community we are faced with decisions everyday in applying our time productively. Social media can consume time and leave you at the end of the day with more questions than answers. And yet, we cannot ignore the need for education in determining the strategic social media direction that is best for your business.

To further complicate the issue, especially for Digital Immigrants (those that did not grow up with computers), we are accelerating toward the mobile environment. Consumers and businesses alike are leveraging their mobile devices (now including tablets like the Ipad) for the best value in their immediate location. Where are the best places to eat, shop, and play…. Now!!! We are moving from waiting to have a celebrity endorse products to tuning into our friends online for immediate recommendations.

As a rural business community, we are attracting visitors from the urban areas that have adopted the mobile technologies in mass. They expect our community to be mass communication savvy. Granted there is an appeal of the rural setting and preserving this is essential. That does not conflict with the need to be digitally dynamic. In fact, it is my view that as we are collectively agile in digital media, the brighter our digital light shines for business opportunity.

Our “Wireless Ecosystem” is evolving and these are enterprising times. There is a great deal of opportunity. We are in a place and time to move our community forward thru digital intelligence.
We invite you to join the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce and take advantage of the next Social Media Mastermind Group meet up on Monday, February 13th 8:30 AM @ the Depot.

REGISTER and let us know you are coming by CLICKING HERE

What is on the Chamber radar for 2012

Published in the Culpeper Star Exponent
Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9th - 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM @ The Depot - The Chamber Small Business Committee introduces a new Social Media Mastermind Group - Join us for an open discussion on the latest in social media. The group is open to Chamber Members and is led by Beverly Herdman of Wine Trail Homes. We plan to meet on the second Monday of each month - same time and place. No registration required.

January 18th - 8:00 AM @ Peppers Grill - The Marketing Committee and the Membership Committee introduce our Monthly Networking Breakfast. Registration is required.

January 25th - Chamber Day at the Capitol - Join Chambers from across the Commonwealth to meet with our General Assembly representatives and hear from our leaders in Richmond. Registration required.

January 25th – Chamber Members Mixer and Ribbon Cutting - New Verizon Store - 5 PM Ribbon Cutting - 5:30 Mixer (members only).

January 28th - Drop it! The 2012 Healthy Living & Weight Loss Challenge. Culpeper Regional Health System and Germanna Community College invite you to join the FREE Challenge to improve your health and the overall health of our community. Kick-Off Health Fair: Saturday, January 28 from 10 am - 4 pm

February 1st - E Squared Kick Off - 9:45 - 11:00 AM @ Germanna. CCHS and EVHS students meet with their team for the first time and begin Entreprenurial project planning. The program culminates on May 10th with winners being selected for scholarship awards. Go to EsquaredCulpeper.com for full timeline and program descriptions.

February 9th - The Small Business Committee and Non-Profit Council present - The Second

Annual "Professional Development Conference and Expo for Small Business and Non-Profits" - Join other professionals to learn the latest in Marketing & Social Media, Business Operations, Board Development, and Human Resources. Details and registration at www.ProfessionalDevelopmentConference.com.

Lead Culpeper 2012 - Leadership Development beginning in April. Watch for details.

2012 Chamber Community Guide - Highlight Your Business - Contact The Culpeper Star Exponent.

2012 Annual Sponsorship Programs - Get in early for the best value. Go to CulpeperChamber.com to see why 26 businesses have signed up so far. Contact Martha at the Chamber office for more details.

Chamber Website Change - The new Website address is CulpeperChamber.com . Simple is good and so we shifted our hosting to a new domain name, formerly CulpeperVaChamber - Now CulpeperChamber. Our Email addresses have changed to reflect the new web address.

Free Membership - Virginia Chamber of Commerce - You may qualify for free membership in the Virginia Chamber of Commerce as a result of your membership in the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce. This is an opt in program for Small Business w/ 10 or fewer employees. Contact the Culpeper Chamber office for details if you would like to opt in and begin gaining the benefits of membership in Virginia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Alliance.

Join us to get involved today.