Events
Audra Shaneman, New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce
Chambers do a variety of events for a variety of reasons. In the end, according to a great chart by the
TwinWest Chamber of Commerce any or most Chamber Initiatives or events should be evaluated by the
starting following criteria:
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Fosters Involvement
Helps in recruitment and retention
Produces Reasonable revenue
Increases Chamber Size
Contributes to a greater Chamber/ business community voice
Strengthens business advocacy.
Coordinating events and meetings is a mainstay for local chambers. From providing educational
opportunities for members, networking events, by-law required annual meetings, galas to home shows,
the events sponsored, organized, and led by the Chamber should be consistent with the goals of a
Chamber as specified by a strategic plan or vision of the Chamber’s vision of their purpose in the
community.
All events should make money—or at the very least break even. When determining the cost of any
meeting or event, remember to include such expense items as gratuity, postage, staff time and staff, guest
and speaker expenses. Many chambers, when determining event budgets, add 15-20 percent to the
bottom line to assure that staff time is covered before determining a final cost. Most chambers allow nonmembers to attend their programs, however, it is very common to see a non-member price that is higher
than a member pays. Event pricing is truly a determination of “what your market will bear.” A member
may pay $10 lunch in New Ulm and Edina it may cost $25.00.
Whether it is you, staff or volunteers that are coordinating the event, the final product is a reflection of
your organization and it’s important to get feedback at all phases or the process. What is a great event to
one person, might not be for another and having these conversations well in advance will ensure a better
event in the end.
Staff members that attend an event as part of their work duties, do not pay to attend. Chamber executive
can determine on a case by case basis who pays what with other events. If a staff member brings a guest
and it’s a possible new member, it’s acceptable to have them attend compliments of the Chamber. Keep
in mind what precedent are we setting and that there is no illusion of favoritism in these decisions.
Ultimately, it is up to the discretion of the President to decide if staff and guests pay to attend events and
how much.
Events of all types seem to have a shelf life. What works one year may have a shelf life of 5 years or 35
years. To gauge the success of your events and where they are in this shelf life spectrum - they must be
evaluated after each event. Not just attendance, look at feedback, revenue, sponsors, excitement,
momentum, is the audience saturated yet, etc. Doing a short survey at the event or calling a few attendees
and asking for their feedback is a great way of engaging the membership and making small tweaks
towards continuous improvement.
Types of events:
Networking Events:
With networking events, the goal is to meet people, new clients and make new connections. These can be
weekly, monthly or quarterly. Keep in mind the goal isn’t the food or any education – but instead to
make connections. The venue should accommodate lots of moving around, networking and can be a
come-and-go event or a sit down meal but you must remember that people want to meet other people.
Local businesses make great venues for these events as they can offer tours or give a 3 minute pitch on
who they are and what they do.
Informational meetings.
Chambers should take the lead in bringing information and resources to their community. These events
can be at any time of the day but they should not be free. If you want to offer them for free, make sure
you have sponsors so that attendees can be reminded that the event isn’t free, and “someone paid so you
don’t have to!” If you don’t value what you are offering, neither will other people. Use your members or
a special committee to brainstorm on what educational needs are in your business community. To find
speakers, network with other chambers, contact the MN Chamber or higher education providers in your
area.
A chamber can have multiple information meetings styles for a variety of groups. We have Hot Topics
which includes meal and a presentation from local government, covers a community concern or brings in
a notable speaker, like the state climatologist or the current governor. We have hosted them in the
morning or at lunch time depending on the speaker and who we think they would attract. We also have
co – sponsored with another organization or speaker in town if a particular speaker comes with additional
costs. We have a Social Media Breakfast Club that is fully sponsored by area businesses and meets in
the morning. We find speakers through various friends and we are done by 8:30 a.m.
BUSINESS AFTER HOURS
Business After Hours are networking events held after work in a business or social environment. The host
business pays an amount to cover the chamber’s advertising and provide the refreshments. This type of
event can also be in a large banquet setting with rented tables around the perimeter and food and
networking in the middle.
This type of event is casual and will be attractive to new people in town and people looking to grow their
business. Some of these events are free to attend and some have a fee to attend. Judge you own market.
COMMUNITY EVENTS—FESTIVALS ETC.
Your chamber may play a significant role in coordinating a local festival or community event. Large
events are often sponsored with the assistance of other local organizations. These events have a strong
appeal in the community, and may or may not directly benefit the business community. If your members
perceive the event as valuable, the Chamber’s role will typically remain strong. It is important to make
enough money to cover the Chamber’s expenses, including staff time. The Little Falls Art Fair is an
example of a strong successful chamber sponsored community event. The larger the community the less
likely the chamber will be involved in these types of events.
ANNUAL MEETING
Chambers of Commerce are required in their bylaws to hold an annual meeting. Chambers hold them
either at lunch or in the evening. Luncheon meetings tend to be matter-of-fact, short and to the point. For
some communities the Annual Meetings are a major social event and a significant source of non-due's
income. In either case annual meetings are a wonderful opportunity to recognize volunteers and
businesses for their support of the Chamber …or anything else for which you feel someone deserves
recognition.
Many chambers have a speaker or some form of entertainment. The business portion of the meeting can
be formal with committee chairs presenting reports or as informal as announcing that copies of the reports
are available at the office for anyone who would like to stop in and pick one up. Annual meetings should
represent the current culture of your organization and your community. Bylaws may dictate that we hold
annual meetings, but they can be fun!
TRADE FAIRS
Trade Fair, Business Expo, Home Show—call it what you will they are a great way to showcase local
business. The focus and duration of the event depends on your community and your audience. Some are
one evening, others are one day (weekday or weekend) and still others are multi-day. In addition to the
standard Business Expo format, types of shows have included a manufacturers’ trade fair, an economic
development expo, agricultural shows and career and job fairs. These events are usually significant fundraisers based on sales of display spaces. Be cautious about charging a fee for admission. It can
significantly decrease the traffic at your event.
Your budget for the event and your reason for hosting the show will dictate the format you use. For a fee
you are providing a space for exhibitors, but how big is the space? Is that space piped and draped? Do you
provide tables and chairs or can they rent them from you? Is electricity available and is there a fee for it?
Is the Internet hook up available and is there a fee for it? What is your member and non-member pricing
structure? In some communities the show is a great membership recruitment tool because of the
substantial differences in this pricing. All of these things need to be considered when planning your first
show.
These events can be significant sources of revenue – so budgeting is worth the time and effort. Many
times, Chamber Members will get discounts on the booth rentals and there may have other benefits for
these events.
Fundraisers
Non-dues revenues are becoming ever more important in chamber budgets. Let us begin by once again
stating that ALL EVENTS, WHETHER OR NOT YOU CONSIDER THEM FUND-RAISERS,
SHOULD GENERATE ENOUGH INCOME TO COVER ALL COSTS INCLUDING STAFF TIME.
Many chambers host one or more fund-raising events annually. Examples include: gala events with firstrate entertainment and a silent auction; golf tournaments (summer and winter); sweepstakes; booths at
special events and theme parties. Depending on the type of event, be sure to check to see if you need
special licensing (gambling, or food for example) and if the non-dues income is taxable. I am not going
to spend the time discussing each of these events because the themes, methods of operation and cultures
vary wildly from community to community. If you would like assistance or more information about the
benefits or pitfalls of most types of events, including many of those mentioned above, please check the
Resource Guide in the MCCE Annual Directory and contact other Execs that have experience with
specific types of events.
One of the great challenges in fund-raising for the Chamber is the lack of a compelling story or need.
Face it, it is easier to raise money for sick children and puppies that need a home. If your chamber
struggles with a fundraiser connect it with something that is already happening and raise money, but don’t
call it a Chamber fundraiser. Operate a food stand at a festival or sponsor a special music event in town
that requires ticket sales. Another possibility would be to dedicate the funds raised to a particular function
of the Chamber that has a compelling story. Examples would be: leadership programs, scholarships or
Junior Achievement.
Things to remember:
Morning events usually start before 8 so people can get to their work at a decent hour. Although events
are important, it’s even more important to be mindful of people’s time and their work schedules.
You are the host of the event – if it’s a committee meeting to plan the event or the shindig itself, start on
time! Do not punish the punctual by waiting until everyone has arrived or is ready to start. You’ll be
respected and remembered for it.
It’s good to spread the wealth when planning events. Unless it’s a tradition to always hold your Annual
Meeting at a specific location, move events around to highlight the variety of members that you have and
to get a sense of what events work best at each location.
When possible – provide nametags! For attendees, it’s an easy way to break the ice. For staff, it’s good to
help put a face to the name and add to your list of contacts at certain employers, etc.
When you bring in a speaker:
Be sure to treat them like a star. They are your main attraction and if you are positive and excited about
having them, you will get a better presentation. Find out if they are eating, are they bringing someone
with them, will they require AV equipment, what time are they arriving, where are they going from here,
will they have time for media interviews after their presentation.
Make sure to have them send you a short bio for promotional purposes and for their introduction that
morning.
If there is a payment to be considered, ask them if you should mail it ahead of time or can you give it to
them when they arrive.
When you host elected officials:
Get on their calendar super early! Most are very eager to get in front of business leaders but especially
during session they are hard to schedule on short notice.
Do not show any partisanship. They are elected by the majority and whether or not you agree, they
represent your area. Your respect and professionalism is good for your organization’s image.
There are sometimes landmines or people that can monopoly a Q&A time with elected officials. Have
small sheets of paper and pens on the tables for people to write their questions out and then give them to
the moderator. Moderator then can monitor time and content of the presentations without getting off
course.
Event Promotion
How do you tell your audience about your upcoming event?
First of all define your ideal attendee and then work from there to determine your marketing budget.
Social media has changed many things but in order to get your message to the right audiences, you will
need to utilize a variety of venues. Social media will reach a certain group. Print, radio, television, flyers
and posters will all reach different groups and hopefully overlap with the same message.
Send out a press release with a photo of the speaker to area media outlets. Put signs all over town and on
reader boards. Use direct mail for your gala types of special events. Email blasts can work for a variety of
more casual networking types of events. Contact local tv or radio stations for guest spots.
It’s good to have a team or committee session on promoting your event. There are lots of opportunity to
get your message out that you may not even be aware of that can come to light and be perfect for your
event. Again, if you don’t have a committee, pick your ideal attendee and call them for suggestions. “I
know you really liked this event last year, where and how did you hear about it.”
The keys in promoting are know your audience and how much money you have to spend. You can spend
hours and hours planning a super event but at the end if you can’t get the word out, it won’t meet your
goals.
Last Topics:
I touched on this earlier in this paper but DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EVALUATE YOUR EVENTS!
Define success for each of your events. Define and communicate what the goal of the event is and why
you do it. At the end of every event – commit to doing some sort of evaluation or at the very least debrief
with the committee that planned it or with your staff. What worked? What didn’t work? What would have
made this event AH-mazing!? Distribute short survey cards for attendees to fill out and ask for their
feedback on this event and ideas for more. Evaluation says that we want constant improvement and
refinement in how we meet our member’s expectations and work to be relevant in our work.
What do you do when it’s time to stop doing an event? Evaluate like crazy. Are you losing money,
attendees, momentum, sponsors, etc? If after evaluation, you come to the conclusion that the event’s life
cycle is over or your organization is not the best fit for the event, you need to be the catalyst to having the
right conversations about it. This is called leadership or calling out that there is an elephant in the room.
Too many times the conversations about an event that needs to go become about the muck and mire of the
details “should we raise the cost of a beer by $.25?” instead of dealing with the real issue of a dying
event. In many cases, you need to state the obvious and people will be relieved that you did. I caution
you to not declare that you are shutting down an event. I encourage you to have serious conversations
about the event and let the group be a part of the decision making process.
If there is enough support and a compelling case to keep it, having that conversation will clarify the
purpose of the event and give it a few more years. But after conversations, the event needs to go, you
now have the opportunity to guide that process and how it’s communicated to others.
Every move we make affects the perception of the organization. You want to control how the story is told
and to let the event go in a healthy way. If the event has value, someone may want to pick it up and run
with it and they will be more inclined to do so if you haven’t piled a bunch of negative mojo and baggage
on it.
In closing, events should be a reflection of your organization and your niche or position in the
community. Use them wisely and they will be an asset and not just a drain on your resources.