Utilizing The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Website

Next week I will enter my fifth month of working for The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. In my short time we have made great strides improving the look, content and capability of our website. However, all that progress means nothing if our visitors and users don’t know what we have to offer. Whether you’re a Chamber member, resident of Bloomington, or visitor from out of town, The Chamber website can help you with many of your needs.

  • Business Directory- The Chamber sends out a print business directory once a year, but for a real-time directory, our website is the place to go. When you visit our site you can click one of the various links on the front page to take you to the directory, or search it directly with the Google Site Search located in the upper right hand corner. If you decide to go to the directory page you can search by organization name, category, or choose from a list of all of the categories.
  • Coupons- The Chamber website features an excellent coupon section. There is both a public and members only section featuring coupons that can be used for discount on great products such as a visit to Beams Health and Wellness Spa or Zumba classes at BloomZum Dance Studio. You can download the coupons by following this link, or visiting the Chamber Website and clicking coupons on the right side. For Chamber Members, you can also post coupons to your business. All you have to do is go into the members only section and click add coupon, or call or e-mail us here at the chamber with the information and we can post it for you.
  • Job/Internship Board- Another seldom used, but excellent resource is our job/internship board. Under the employment tab on The Chamber website, businesses can post open positions which anyone can see.  Just like the coupon section, businesses can either post the jobs themselves through the members only section, or they can contact us at The Chamber to do it for them. Many individuals looking for jobs view The Chamber’s site, and unlike other job posting services, ours is free.
  • Members Only Section- The final section I will detail is the Members Only section. As I explained earlier, this is a member’s portal to post coupons or jobs/internships. There are a lot of other capabilities through this section as well. You can sign up for events, update your profile information, and look at your referral report. A referral report is one of the most valuable tools for a Chamber member. It detail how many people have seen your companies listing in the directory, how many times it’s been clicked, and how many people have mapped the location. This is a great tool to use to make sure your maximizing your membership investment.

For more information, or help using any of The Chamber’s online features please e-mail me at drose@chamberbloomington.org. We’d also love for people to start using the comment section below, so if you have any ideas to improve our site and its functionality please post.

Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Returns

This Thursday, May 13th, the Monroe County Plan Commission will listen to public comment regarding the recently updated Comprehensive Plan draft from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse.

For the better part of this year, the Plan Commission has been reviewing and discussing public comments made on the initial draft as well as offering their own edits and ideas for how to address subjects such as the subdivision of rural property – one of the more contentious issues of the plan.

A new 182-page version of the document (not a red-lined version of the first draft) was made available to the public in late April, and a public open house was held May 5th to view and informally discuss the final draft. Continue reading →

Five Ways to Instantly Polish Your Stage Presence!

Everyone takes the stage sooner or later, whether to accept an award, make a presentation, lead a workshop, or speak at the microphone at a government meeting.  What can you do to look like a pro when it’s your turn?

Last month I attended more events and presentations than usual, including:

  • Four student presentations for the BHS North Senior Project Night
  • Bill Polian at a fundraiser/luncheon for the Boys & Girls Club
  • The MCCS Foundation fundraising kickoff event
  • SCIHRA’s April meeting
  • The SPEA Service Corps end-of-year reception
  • Tom Roman speaking to graduation coaches
  • My own presentation at the Dropout Prevention Summit and to the American Legion

That’s a wide range of public speaking talent.  Although many speakers were polished, each event included at least one instance of an easily preventable audience distraction during transition points between speakers.  I’m not talking about content, and my purpose here is not about how to write and deliver a compelling speech.  Rather, there are some little things that everyone can do to immediately improve their stage presence during transition: Continue reading →

Kudos to Business Expo 2010

It is an annual tradition with a 25 year history of offering businesses an opportunity to showcase their wares to Monroe County.  This year was no exception to the excellent one day, B2B trade show that Business Expo has always been known for.

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce vendor booth experienced steady traffic throughout the event.  It was great visiting with current and potential members, plus the general public as they strolled by.  Many attendees were pleased to learn of the new and extensive menu of programs and events The Chamber has scheduled this year.  They also had the opportunity to learn about the augmented benefits Chamber membership has to offer with the new Membership Investment Level model.

The BIRA sponsored Taste of Expo was a good example of “the best in local food”.  Plus it was tasty.  That was obvious with the plates of food being devoured all around.

This is the part of the Expo that really draws a crowd.

I met new contacts, potential business members and was able to re-connect with others that I have not seen in awhile.  That is what the Expo is all about.  Again, kudos to Business Expo 2010 for a job well done.

10 Things You May Not Know About The Chamber

As I approach my ten year anniversary with The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, I find myself reflecting on the last decade of my professional life and the many experiences I’ve had working for a Chamber of Commerce. Heather Robinson One of the most important lessons I’ve learned, is that once you’ve seen one chamber you’ve seen just one chamber.  Chambers are some of the oldest organizations in the world and are connected by the name “Chamber of Commerce”, and are typically an association of business people.  That’s about where the similarities end.  Chambers are a uniquely diverse group of independent, membership organizations that serve their communities in a variety of ways.   I have also learned that such diversity can lead to confusion about what chambers do.   I have often heard the phrase “I’m not sure if you can help me, but I thought to call the chamber first.” Continue reading →

What’s Going On With Water?

Last night, the City Council heard the first reading of the proposed water ordinances that would expand the City of Bloomington Utilities water treatment capacity, and install much needed water infrastructure, such as the redundant water line from the treatment plant to the City. As many of you know, this has been an ongoing discussion for several years, and recently two ordinances were brought forward to seek water rate increase approval from the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC), and to obtain bonding authority to fund the $42 million dollar project. Continue reading →

Marketing, Advertising, and Measuring Your ROI

Just yesterday, I was emailing a brand new Chamber member of only a few of weeks. I decided to attached their referral report – a handy-dandy report that details how many times their business information was viewed on The Chamber’s on-line directory, how many times their website link was clicked, and how many times people mapped their business location.

As a marketing person, I was really excited by what I saw in their referral report!

This brand new Chamber member’s listing had already been viewed 212 times!  Of those views, 14 people actually clicked the link taking them to the business’s website and 12 people mapped how to get to the location!

Real-numbers, measured in real time.  A marketing person’s dream-come-true, and something that every business should look at.  Thanks to the referral report, this Chamber member can easily quantify the results of their Chamber membership investment in terms of marketing because, “numbers don’t lie.” Continue reading →

Volunteers Form the Backbone of the Franklin Initiative

The Franklin Initiative is very lucky to have sponsors and donors that value the role of education in the business community. However, without all the help we receive from community volunteers none of our fantastic programs would be possible.

During this busy time of year, we rely heavily on our dedicated group of volunteers who assist us in implementing our programs and events.  Our volunteers come to us with many areas of expertise and help us provide Monroe County students with a variety of creative educational opportunities that otherwise might not be available to them. Continue reading →

Better Schools Mean Better Business and Better Community

This column by Travis Vencel, chairman of the board, and Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO, of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce appeared as a guest column in The Herald Times on April 12, 2010.

“Better Business. Better Community.” A simple statement that reflects The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s belief that a strong business climate leads to a higher quality of life for everyone.

But as we all know, it takes many components to build a “better community.” That is why, through The Chamber’s Franklin Initiative, we work daily in our schools to make a difference in young lives, with particular attention paid to at-risk youth. This is a focus area for The Chamber because we also believe that better education creates better business and a better community. Continue reading →

2010 Graduates: Get a (Good) Job!!!

This May, about 1,000 high school seniors will graduate from Monroe County schools.  An estimated 750 of these will go off to college next fall.  Many of the remaining 250 will stay close to home and will need a good job as a new member of the full-time workforce.

The Chamber’s Franklin Initiative connects qualified young adults with entry-level jobs in the local economy.  We also teach them about the job search process and about what it takes to become a successful member of the workforce.  Franklin Initiative Graduation Coaches at each area high school work one-on-one with students to prepare them for life after graduation.

On Wednesday, April 29, the Franklin Initiative is holding the 3rd annual Employment Fair for Graduation Seniors.  At least 20 local employers from a wide variety of industries will be present to meet with soon-to-be graduates, tell them about their company, and accept applications.  Representatives from life sciences, manufacturing, banks, food and retail services, construction apprenticeship programs and others will be in attendance.  Ivy Tech and WorkOne will also be on hand with advice about continuing education and support for job seekers.  The event is open to seniors from surrounding counties as well, including schools in Morgan, Owen, Greene, Lawrence, and Brown Counties. Continue reading →