Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce
One of my small businesses joined the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce last year and I must admit I was highly impressed. We were encouraged by the membership person (Cindy Stewart who is no longer there) to get involved. She advised that joining the chamber will accomplish a listing in their directory but to realize the true value of our membership we had to get involved and attend the events. We did, and Cindy was right.
The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce offered countless opportunities to network last year and the 1st week of 2006 is no different. According to their weekly email newsletter, there are several ways to get involved:
- Ribbon Cutting - Wednesday, January 4 at 4:00 p.m.
- Ribbon Cutting - Thursday, January 5 at 4:00 p.m.
- Filing Your W-2's Seminar
- Annual Dinner
- Leadership Bowling Green Alumni Association Annual Meeting
- Leadership Bowling Green Applications
- 2006 Coffee Hour Sponsorships
I always try to make the ribbon cuttings. It's a great way to "be there" in the community. Admittedly, I was a little uncomfortable at first because I didn't know anyone. (Well that and the fact I was commonly in travel agency garb; flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt.) I just kept going and in doing so I began to recognize a few people. In a few short months I now know more people than I don't.
When we opened the travel agency, we received countless calls from B2B vendors, advertising reps, printers and so forth, but we were also exposed to the cult culture of BNI. I'm not a big fan of BNI and it's mostly due to their aggressive recruitment methods and the requirements they place on members. We joined several organizations like the Professional Marketing Association, the Builders Association and others, but BNI came off as almost a religion. I even attended a couple meetings (for friends mostly) to see if my suspicions were correct, they were. I've heard it called, "networking by spreadsheet." To my point, there are countless ways to network in the local business community, we selected the Chamber and a few others.
Currently, there are several opportunities to "get out there" through the chamber this month. They keep adding new information all the time so check their online calendar at www.BGChamber.com
January 3, 2006 to January 31, 2006
- January 4, 2006 4:00 PM Ribbon Cutting
- Nextel CELLULARWORKS of Bowling Green
- Nextel CELLULARWORKS of Bowling Green
- January 5, 2006 4:00 PM Ribbon Cutting
- Southern Kentucky Building & Remodeling
- January 17, 2006 4:00 PM Ribbon Cutting
- Total Fitness Connection E I use them
- January 18, 2006 10:00 AM Ribbon Cutting
- Professional Tax Service E I use them
- January 26, 2006 9:30 AM Ribbon Cutting
- Sam's Club E I use them
