Chamber 2020

How'd we do?

I will be out of the office for the rest of the week without ability to post anything.  I'd like know to know what your thoughts are of the Chamber's 2020 workplan? 

Until next week...

Why Should a CEO Step Aside?

This was taken from the Chamber's September Current

As you all know, I have made the decision to retire from the Chamber at the end of this year. A lot of people have asked me why I decided to do that since we have had some degree of success (thanks to all of you our Members) since I came here eleven years ago. A couple of life lessons came into play when I was thinking this whole thing through and I thought I might share them with you.

The Rubber Meets the Road

I’m happy to report that for the first time in 10 years the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce has a new strategic plan.  At the Chamber’s Board of Directors meeting on July 9, 2007 the Chamber 2020 strategic plan was adopted. When I began my Chamber career in 1996, the Chamber’s board had just undertaken a strategic review and now as my time in the Chamber world comes to a close (insert link to press release), it’s fitting that we have just undertaken the process again.

I’d like to take a moment and share with you part of a letter that our 2020 Chair Brad McGuire wrote to the Chamber’s Board yesterday:

An Important Announcment

For those of you looking for more information on my announcement today at the Chamber's Board of Director's meeting, you can read more information here.

My New Year's Resolution

In the event that any of you reading served on the Board of Directors of the Chamber or are practicing for chamber jeopardy you know that tomorrow, June 30th, brings a close the Chamber’s fiscal year. Since it’s about to be our “New Year’s Eve,” I thought I’d write on a resolution for FY 2007-8.

Some of you might have read my column in the Naperville Sun in May  in which I quoted Newt Gringrich about his leadership maxim, “real change  requires real change.” Not that I’m a Newt-o-phile, but I think his maxim fits  what your board of directors and the Chamber are trying to do with our strategic plan.

If we are going to change the effectiveness of our Chamber to impact where are in 2020, we need to change what we do on a daily basis. In a world where you can be an active participant in a committee meeting from your laptop while you sit and have a frappuccino, we’d be doing a disservice to you, our Members, and to our community if we expected a different outcome by just on our laurels.

We’re looking at everything we (myself, the staff and your Board) do on a daily and annual basis, trying to figure out if what we do can be better aligned. The better we are structured, the more the Chamber can accomplish on your behalf.

So this year I will resolve to be open to changing everything. I’ll close by asking you a question (you can answer by clicking the comments section below): What’s the single biggest change you think our Chamber needs to make?

A New Discussion...

Well we at the Chamber have finally done it, we’ve taken the plunge and attempted to enter the world of “blogging.”  I can think of no better reason for starting a Chamber blog than to enter a discussion about the future of our Chamber.  I asked my staff to help me set this up and we're not experts in blogging so if you have any suggestions, please send them here and let us know your thoughts.