Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce Relocates ... Online
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/070209_goleta_valley_chamber_of_commerce/
By William M. Macfadyen, Noozhawk Publisher
Recession pressure and high-tech solutions point the way to a virtual office for the 63-year-old business group
Some people run from change, others run toward it. Count the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce in the latter group.
In a bold move, chamber president and CEO Kristen Amyx announced Thursday that the organization is shuttering its traditional bricks-and-mortar office and taking its operation into a virtual new reality. The decision is intended to turn the most challenging economic climate in the chamber’s 63-year history into an advantage.
“With the downturn in the economy, companies are retooling and evaluating their priorities,” Amyx said in an e-mail to the chamber membership Thursday afternoon. “When advising our members on how to strengthen their businesses, we recommend focusing on core strengths and products, elimination of any under-performing lines of business, and positioning the business to take advantage of the recovering economy.
“Now we have decided to take our own advice.”
Amyx told Noozhawk the move will enable the chamber to provide more of the resources that members say they want.
“Our members say networking is more important than ever before,” she said. “Our most popular programs are our new Business 2 Business Breakfasts, our Business After Hours, and our Issues & Policy Roundtable. We already hold two of those events off-site.”
As of Monday, the chamber staff — Amyx; vice president Valerie Kushnerov; and Max White, director of business development and volunteers — will work remotely, too. With the assistance of business partners Citrix Online, Cox Business Services, movegreen, Synergy Computing and Traffic Solutions, the chamber’s 500 members won’t see much of a difference; there just won’t be an office to visit.
Amyx said more and more members have been using the chamber’s expanded Web site, goletavalleychamber.com, for communication, information, reservations and payments. As a result, walk-in traffic has dwindled at the 4-year-old office at 271 N. Fairview Ave., Suite 4.
“For most of our members, nothing will change,” Amyx said. “The chamber will continue to offer all of the benefits and services it always has. The phone number (805.967.2500) and Web site will still connect you to the chamber staff.
“Meetings that were previously held in the Jean Blois Community Room will be moved to the conference rooms of our members throughout Goleta, and the Jean Blois Room itself will be recreated online.”
Amyx said the chamber is working with Fred Barbaria, president of Santa Barbara Signs & Graphics and a chamber board member, to create information kiosks that will be hosted at convenient locations around the Goleta Valley. Ameravant Web Studio has been adding more features to the chamber Web site and Media 27 is developing tools for more targeted e-mail communications.
Karen Ramsdell, director of the Santa Barbara Airport and a chamber board member, said the state of the economy has forced everyone to look at their operations a little differently.
“Going virtual will allow the chamber to respond responsibly to the economy’s impact, while continuing to support and advocate for local businesses,” she said.
Ramsdell said an added benefit is the broader perspective that will result from bringing events and meetings into members’ businesses. Such visits can provide important insights for other chamber members, board members, elected officials and municipal staff, she said.
Joanne Funari, president of Business First Bank and the chamber’s board chairwoman, agreed.
“At our bank, we go to our customers more and more and ask them to come to us less,” she said. “It’s great to see the chamber offering to do the same thing.”
Michael Kramer, founder of Ameravant Web Studio, has helped chamber officials evaluate the pros and cons of going virtual. In the end, technology and the modern business culture pointed to a new way of doing things.
In addition to the financial relief from “the money pit” of rent, Kramer said, there are more and more tools available to communicate and gather online. Many of these tools, like Citrix’s GoToMeeting Web conferencing product, were perfected along and in the vicinity of the high-tech Hollister Corridor.
“It is easier for people to meet from their own desk than it is to drive to the chamber office,” Kramer said. “We may experience more participants in meetings and be able to meet more often, if needed.”
A reduced environmental footprint is an increasingly important business consideration, he noted, and a virtual office can play a big role in trimming commuting costs — directly and indirectly.
But for Kramer, the move helps the chamber live up to its “back to basics” commitment.
“Chambers are community-based organizations,” he said. “Going virtual forces chamber staff to meet in the community they serve.
“For committees I’m on at the chamber, I’d love to host a meeting at my office, and expose my business to other members and to chamber staff.”
— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen is a former board chairman of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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