SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE:
Local Chambers host annual meetings with flair, celebration.
Have you ever felt that your boss was looking at you, uncertainly? He or she is asking, “What is it you do, again?”
Chambers of Commerce feel we are always under that kind of scrutiny. Part of our challenge is that we don’t produce a solid, tangible item. The past few weeks I have talked about our legislative advocacy, our town hall meetings and our trips to the Statehouse. Unless you participated in one of those activities, or if it happened several weeks ago and the memory is fading, you might not see your Chamber in action.
So, what is it we do, again?
This past week, the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce and the South Bend Regional Chamber hosted our annual meetings. Goshen will host its annual meeting in December. The South Bend Chamber calls its meeting “Salute to Business.” Elkhart and Goshen simply call ours the “Annual Meeting.”
In Elkhart’s case, our bylaws require us to give an annual report to the membership. Our members are our bosses. We like to remind them what we do. And if we need to report to our bosses, we might as well make a gala out of it and pack the room with everybody you need to meet.
