Cedar City Chamber of Commerce Blog

Utah was represented well at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management in Los Angeles, Calif. last week. Wow! What a great way to network with chambers of commerce throughout the country.

Are you familiar with the Utah State Chamber of Commerce? The organization helps to educate chamber executives, employees and members about issues and events on a state, rather than a local level. We try to pass the information on to you.

The Utah State Chamber holds two conventions per year. This year the fall conference will be held in Ogden, Utah where the state president, David Hardman heads the Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce.

The state organization also holds a conference event in Salt Lake City during the legislative session each year.  This is a GREAT way for your chamber executives to keep their fingers on the pulse of state legislation that can impact businesses.

I currently serve as president-elect for the state chamber. Next year I’ll serve as president and we will hold the fall conference in Cedar City. I really want to wow the other chamber members from throughout the state with our beautiful area and fabulous facilities.

Would you like to help plan this event? Speak up now. I really want to hear from you. In addition to planning the educational part of the conference, we will be planning the recreational portion. What do you love to do in Cedar City? I need your help and ideas.

To learn more about the Utah State Chamber of Commerce and about other chambers throughout the state visit http://www.utahstatechamber.org.

Your Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce board members are working hard to keep you connected to other chambers in the state, nation and the world! We’ll do our best to represent you at every level.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Donna M. Brown, Cedar City chamber of Commerce - 435-586-4055
Alan Anderson, ChamberWest (West Valley City, Taylorsville & Kearns) - 801-977-8755
Stephanie Wright, South Jordan Chamber of Commerce - 801-253-5200
Steve Densley, Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce - 801-379-2555
David Hardman, Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce - 801-621-8300
Bill Malone, Park City Chamber of Commerce - 435-649-6100
Lane Beattie, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce - 801-364-3631
Lorraine Gregerson, Richfield Area Chamber of Commerce - 435-896-4241
 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
David Hardman, Chair - January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008
Donna Brown, Chair Elect - January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008
Lorraine Gregerson, Past Chair - January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008
Alan Anderson, Treasurer - January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008
Craig Peterson, Executive Secretary, at the will of the Board

The Beach Boys might be disappointed to learn we just can’t all be California girls.

I spent the last week in Los Angeles learning at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organizational Managment at Loyola Marymount University. The institute was wonderful, the campus was beautiful, the ocean was mesmerizing and therapeutic. The most beautiful site I witnessed was the “Cedar City Next Three Exits” sign just south of town.

I lingered in L.A. for a day to visit with a friend and to contribute to the tourism industry there. My friend, Susan, having grown up in the Los Angeles area agreed to be my tour guide for the day.

“I want to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame!” I insisted. She begrudgingly agreed and I didn’t understand her hesitation. We whizzed off on a crammed L.A. freeway and eventually made our way into the heart of Hollywood. I would never have admitted it, but I inspected every car on the road carefully for movie stars traveling in cognito.

We arrived on the famous walk sprinkled with concrete stars representing the best of the best of Hollywood. I stared up and down the street in great anticipation and then gingerly stepped out onto the dirty street.

“Is this it?” I asked. Susan laughed.

“Where’s the glitz? Where’s the glimmer? Where are the fancy shops I assumed would surround this — the most hallowed of ground in movie land?”

Susan laughed again.

I’m a good sport so we toured two blocks of names on stars, crossed the street and toured two more. I stayed close to the street to avoid the adult book store, the bars and other questionable establishments that lined the famous Hollywood walk.

This, I thought, was a classic example of Hollywood at its best. It looked so good on television and not so great in real life. I can honestly say I’ve been there now. I can’t honestly say I’ll go back again.

As business owners and advocates, we need to remember it is just as important to deliver the products and services we advertise as it is to advertise them in the first place. Repeat business is the key to success. Think about these ways to increase your repeat traffic:

• Always under promise and over deliver
• Customer service is key
• Frequently ask your customers for a report card by providing comment cards in your place of business (or virtual place of business) or through direct marketing
• First impressions are lasting impressions — if you were a customer entering your business for the first time, what would be your first impression?

I’m sure you have great advice for other business owners. Please share some retention ideas with us by posting a comment.

When CNN Money honored Cedar City for having one of the fastest commutes in the country, I laughed.

Today I’m in Los Angeles, Calif. for intensive training at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management and — I’m not laughing anymore.

There’s something to be said for the simple life in Cedar City, Utah. I arrived here on Friday after slurping my way through a big, fresh bowl of freeway spaghetti. When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the Raddisson, I patted my hands on my shoulders, my head and sighed. I really had made it alive.

I drove to L.A. instead of flying for a variety of reasons. The least of which is not the fact that I was craving five hours alone to ponder the meaning of life and the miracle of a 125 degree afternoon in Bakersfield, Calif. The alone time was wonderful, the heat even felt great and it helped me to appreciate Utah’s splendor, Cedar City’s climate and Jiffy Lube for making sure my car was road ready.

It’s critical that people in management positions take time out for training. Training comes in many different forms and in the right setting affords you the opportunity to:

• Learn about new tools and trends in your trade
• Meet other people who share your line of work and can discuss specific work-related issues with you with a deeper level of understanding
• Give your brain a rest from the day-to-day grind and relieve stress that can ultimately lead to serious burnout
• Plant new ideas in your mind that will benefit your company or organization and inspire you to climb higher to reach your company or community goals
• Help you to create a network of advocates in the region, state and even nation depending on the scope and location of your training
• Create a knowledge base that you can share with your employees, clients, customers or members

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers the Institue for Organizational Management four times per year in different locations throughout the country for executives of organizations and associations. Institute is a four-year program that allows participants to earn a diploma in a very specific field of study.

During a full week of study I have learned and will learn:

• about hiring and managing employees and volunteers
• how to negotiate with different types of individuals in many different situations
• how to improve my memory and therefore improve productivity and my professional image
• how to add value to our chamber of commerce in order to retain valuable members and attract new members
• how to help keep chambers of commerce strong for the future
• how to project professionalism
• how to keep my organization financially fit
• how to govern
• how to massage the media (whatever that means, I’ll let you know)

If you haven’t brushed up on your managment skills for awhile, look for and enroll in a training program. Southwest Applied Technology College hosts a wonderful program called Custom Fit that will actually help pay for up to half of the cost of your training.

If you’re looking for training opportunities in a certain trade or profession or simply looking for skills training, leave a comment for me and I’ll help you find one.

Please be sure to indicate in your comment how much time you want to invest, whether or not you have a training budget and whether or not travel is included in your training budget.

There are many organizations that offer free training programs and others at ridiculously low costs. Many organizations and associations will actually help pay for your training through grants and scholarships. For example, I was able to secure a grant from the Utah State Chamber of Commerce for the entire cost of tuition because the organization administration is sold on the value this training adds to chambers of commerce throughout the state.

If your company hasn’t budgeted for training and/or travel, let’s talk about some ways you can negotiate this critical opportunity.

Want to learn more about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Institute for Organizational Management? Visit http://www.uschamber.com/institute/default today!

Want to learn more about the Custom Fit program near you? Visit http://www.swatc.org/programs/cfit/.

Want some guidance on getting specific training or scholarships and grants? Post your comments here.

You’re always welcome to ask questions that are or are not related to the days topics and I’ll be glad to try to answer them.

Bon voyage!

Donna

Welcome to the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce’s new “blog” feature.

The truth is, writing is my true passion and I believe this blog will give all of us an opportunity to convey ideas, share information and just “vent” if that’s what we need to do.  Some of this blog will be very serious.  Some of my posts will be remarkably silly.  Still other entries will be professionally personal.

I’ll be the “blogger” and the rest of you will be the “blogees.”  I can’t wait to get your feedback and to begin to develop closer relationships in the Cedar City area corporate community.

 This week I am on my way to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organizational Management — 2007 West Institute — at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif. for a full week of great instruction.  I plan to come back with fabulous ideas about creating a better organization and ideas to improve your membership value.

 Okay.  I confess.  I will most certainly stop by the ocean and search for a star fish.  Watch for news about 2007 West Institute right here!