Exploring how to make Chamber more value-add for YOU!
At the end of the last year, we sent out a “What’s In It For Me?” survey to all chamber members because as the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce continues to evolve and develop as the prime representative forum of business in Dundalk and County Louth, it is critical that your individual voices are heard and your needs are met as a participating member. On January 23, a dynamic collection of Chamber members representing small local businesses and multinationals as well as academia, local government and consulting services, gathered at the Prometric offices to take on the following activity for the evening:
- Listen – Review Results from Survey
- Discuss – Work in Cross-Sectional Break-out groups to explore one idea recommended in the survey results
- Act – Experiment with a few of the ideas and have concrete plans for implementation
The evening was facilitated by Holly Dance, Vice President of the Chamber at the Prometric offices in Finnabair Technology Park and the evening was catered by Belles Tea Rooms from Blackrock.
Time to Act
As a result of the evening’s working session, we have some tangible results for 2014:
- B2B Showcase – a series of events to promote each other’s businesses –led by Mark McCumskey from Belles Tea Rooms supported by a team of four other chamber members.
- “This is my Business” – a series of trade fairs with Keynote Speakers about how to succeed in Business – led by John Kerr from Cathedral Financial Consultants Ltd. supported by a team of three other chamber members.
- A series of seminars facilitated by experts within the Chamber to share “how to” on a variety of day to day business topics – led by David Forrester from ActionCOACH business coaching supported by a team of five other chamber members.
Each of the working groups are creating implementation plans which will outline the agenda, timing , owner and cost of the initiative. The first progress report from each working group should be available by mid-February.
Join us and Make a Difference
While you may not have been available to join our first working session, come and join one of our initiatives! The collaboration that took place in just over an hour made a huge difference in identifying and planning value-add activities for Chamber members. Here’s what some of the Chamber members had to say about the experience:
- “It was an excellent evening which focused on outcomes and was not just talking shop with little or no actions as many of these things have become”
- “ I felt [our working session] was effective in what it was set out to do, and there were refreshing proposals coming from the floor with the hope of bringing some exciting new activities to our chamber’s future”
- “An air of enthusiasm was evident at the end of the exercise which was great to see. It’s now about harnessing the enthusiasm and turning it into outputs that work for all”
- “Each suggestion from the survey was given equal importance and we democratically decided what we could collectively do to meet the needs of the current and hopefully future members”
Business to Business Networking
If you are no longer a member of Chamber but considering returning or you are considering joining for the first time, here are some quotes from Chamber members about what they took away from the experience:
- “I have not attended a Chamber event for a few years, but I felt a real energy from the people that make the effort to attend last night”
- “It was great to meet new people and to come up with some great ideas of how we can benefit more from a combined effort”
- “It was the first Chamber meeting that I have attended in over 2 years and I will certainly be going to more. I got to meet some new people I hadn’t met before and this is always useful from a business point of view”
- “Just by attending the session, I learned how to turn what could have been a meeting to analysis feedback into a workshop to act on feedback – a very useful new skill for my own business”
- “Now there is something in [The Dundalk Chamber] for everyone!”
Dundalk Chamber of Commerce – Together Everyone Achieves More!
