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Chambers of commerce will need to operate as strongly in the virtual worlds of commerce and community as they do in the physical world.

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W hat do you want to communicate today? Will you be able to convince a site selector that your city should make the first cut for a business relocation? Will your

newsletter be enough to sustain a powerhouse grassroots net-work? Can your news releases cut through reporters’ inbox clut-ter? What is your strategy for motivating young professionals to get involved in your chamber and community?

Chambers employ a variety of communications tools to do all this and more—but many times the chamber’s voice

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is drowned out amidst the hundreds of ads and consumer messages already reaching senior-level/C-level decision mak-ers, reporters, legislators, young professionals, and com-munity leaders. “Traditional” communications vehicles are not as effective today as they once were. So, more and more chambers are turning toward the so-called “New Media” tools, like blogs (online “journals”), RSS feeds (a way to publish frequently updated digital content), podcasts (audio recordings distributed over the Internet), and video distrib-uted through YouTube, to cut through the communications clutter and get their messages across.

And, these tools aren’t just effective in reaching the Milleni-als (born 1980-2000)—it seems that the tech-savvy and influ-encers of all generations are consumers of New Media. The rise in overall access to high-speed Internet services means that millions more chamber stakeholders across the country will have increased capacity to access online video and audio. More than 300 new communities nationwide plan to have wireless ventures in the next year, according to www.MuniWireless.com, a portal on city wireless Internet projects.

So how do you reach the people you need to and engage them in your message?

inTegraTed CoMMuniCaTionsThere are no shortages of communications channels avail-

able, and chambers must develop a plan and focus for each channel as well as each initiative based on their program of work. The most successful chambers continue to use tradi-tional outlets such as newspapers, magazines, radio, direct mail, email, speaking opportunities, and television—and supplement these efforts with carefully chosen and targeted New Media tools.

The key to using New Media tools, like any other commu-nications tools, is to integrate them into existing marketing and communications efforts—where they make sense. If your target audience is more tech-savvy (of any generation), like reporters, community activists, or site selectors, or in the young professionals category, using podcasts, blogs, and texting (sending text messages via cellphone) may make sense for your Chamber. A Yahoo/comScore research study indicates that “brand influencers” are 119 percent more likely to use instant messaging (IM), 40 percent more likely to listen to podcasts, and 25 percent more likely to conduct online searches. Chambers need to begin to own—or at least rent—this New Media space.

Bryan Derreberry, president and chief executive officer of the Wichita (KS) Metro Chamber of Commerce, says that his Chamber has implemented an overall strategy that weaves New Media tools, including podcasts, blogs, and v-casts (video-casts, or a series of downloadable videos), into its com-munications mix. The Chamber launched a second website, www.ventureboldly.com, which highlights the Chamber’s brand strategy to project an image of a dynamic and future-oriented organization. In addition to its own marketing efforts, Derreberry says that his Chamber has partnered with the area’s daily newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, to spotlight the topic each month and direct readers to the site.

The Wichita Chamber expects to reach multiple genera-tions with its integrated communications, says Ryan Entz, director of marketing and communications. “But even with-in this audience we are pushing to reach certain segments. For instance, we want young professionals to see that the Chamber is relevant to them; and we want small businesses to make better use of the resources we offer by bringing it to them on their time—rather than making them come to our event at a certain time around their busy schedules.”

The Chamber’s monthly podcast, “The Sound Chamber,” Entz says, is “One of the more innovative aspects to our new site. It’s a roundtable podcast of a dialogue between communi-ty leaders, focused on the most important community issues.

The Chamber has recorded two podcasts so far, one on the state of the arts community and one on diversity and cultural awareness. It plans to produce other podcasts as well, includ-ing discussions on downtown living and development, com-munity identity, technical training, what young professionals look for in the workplace, talent acquisition, and community building strategies.

The Northern Kentucky Cham-ber of Commerce is also focus-ing its New Media efforts on its community’s top business and civic priorities. The Cham-ber is using ACCE’s National Chamber Image Campaign tagline, “Leading Business-es. Leading Communities,” throughout its marketing plan, and has recently launched a television series. The show is hosted by Chamber President Steve Stevens, CCE, and is a half-hour, interview-style cable TV program aired to the 98,000 households in Northern Ken-tucky. It is cross-promoted monthly on eleven differ-ent cable channels, including ESPN, The History Channel, HGTV, Fox News, A&E, Comedy Central, and the Weather Channel. The show is also produced for online “airing” as a v-cast, available at www.NKYChamber.com.

10 ChamberexecutiveSummer 2007

Can you hear Me now?Reaching young professionals is a challenge for most

chambers—not only in understanding what message to send about the chamber and community, but where and how to broadcast that message. This becomes a bottom-line and eco-nomic growth issue for chambers seeking to lure or retain this important and growing segment of their workforce.

Martha Willits, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Des Moines (IA) Partnership, needed to find a new way to persuade some of the hundreds of university graduates each year to stay in Des Moines. Her Chamber launched the cam-paign, “Des Moines. Do More,” in November of 2006 to do just that—and to recruit new businesses, retain and grow the busi-nesses and workforce already there, and increase understanding of the Partnership’s programs and services to the community.

The Chamber’s key message to these groups resulted from its work in community focus groups and surveys. The message is that you can “do more” of just about anything in Des Moines. “We chose ‘Do More’ to reiterate the ‘DM’ in Des Moines,” says Willits. The image campaign materials can be found on www.desmoinesmetro.com under the tab, “do more.”

Amanda Steward, media/marketing director of economic development at the Partnership, worked closely on efforts to reach out to young professionals. “We know these new col-lege grads are a very tech-savvy bunch,” says Steward. “We decided to go with high-tech viral marketing techniques to reach them in media they were already familiar with. And, just by using tools like YouTube and blogs, we think it por-trays our image as young and hip.”

The key, says Steward, is the complete integration of all of the Chamber’s marketing efforts, from direct mail to viral video, for the Campaign. Every touchpoint with the Chamber’s key audiences, from young professionals to C-level executives, relates back to “do more.”

The campaign includes:1. Posters for the affiliate chambers.2. Notecards with pictures of the metro.3. Downtown banners reaching the 77,000 downtown workers.4. Three viral videos to show the Des Moines area in a fun

and unexpected way to potential workers.5. “Stick it To Ya” sticker books that have fun messages to

be stuck to friends’ things and poke fun at them.6. “Do More” t-shirts, including six designs that can be pur-

chased in the Chamber’s online store.7. Sponsorships with the Iowa Stars, Iowa Cubs and Des

Moines Radio Group, where the winners get to “Do More” in the metro area.

8. Three e-cards that speak to the area’s attributes and can be forwarded with a personalized message.

9. A song titled “Home” by the local band, Nadas, that instills local pride.

10. A complete web site redesign.11. Images on Clear Channel’s new digital billboard.

n Blog: a single-writer, online “journal” where entries are displayed in a reverse chronological order; a blog may contain links to websites, podcasts, pho-tos, music and more. See technorati.com.

n Linkedin: a virtual professional network/community. See www.Linkedin.com.

n mySpace: a virtual social network/community. See www.mySpace.com.

n New media: a collective term that may encompass blogs, podcasts, v-casts and virtual communities.

n Podcast: an audio recording, or a series of record-ings, distributed over the internet, for playback on portable media players and personal computers.

n RSS Feed: short for “Really Simple Syndication,” a family of web feed formats used to publish fre-quently updated digital content, such as blogs, news releases or podcasts.

n Second Life: a three-dimensional online world. See www.SecondLife.com.

n texting: the practice of sending text messages via cell phones.

n V-cast: a video recording, or series of recordings, distributed over the internet, for playback on por-table media players and personal computers.

n Viral marketing: ads created to be forwarded by the viewer to his/her own network.

n Youtube: a popular video-sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips.

Adapted from Wikipedia and other sources.

NeWMeDIa101

We want to demonstrate through this technology and our topics that the Wichita Chamber does ‘Venture Boldly’.

—bryan derreberry

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ChaMbers “To go”The Manatee (FL) Chamber of Commerce has created

what Carey Noll, office administrator, calls “CliffsNotes for our seminars and economic forecasts” for its members. “We run our podcasts in a blog format, and it’s increased our search engine placement dramatically. In addition, we’re

getting more site visitors and members are happy with the services,” she says. Members and the public can easily locate the blog and podcasts by clicking on “blog” from the Chamber’s homepage (Manateechamber.com). According to Noll, about 50 podcasts are downloaded each week, and the Chamber plans to upload new podcasts every three to four weeks. Once downloaded, the listener can play them on a

personal computer or MP3 music player anywhere—in the car, at the gym, or at work.

In addition to providing links to the podcasts on the Cham-ber website, Noll says members or other interested podcast lis-teners can subscribe to the recordings via RSS feeds (a service that automatically updates subscribers when new recordings

are posted). The podcasts are also available for free on the popular Internet-based music website, iTunes.com.

Susan Rak-Blanchard of the Mobile (AL) Area Chamber of Commerce says her Chamber is going to follow suit, and believes that “…podcasts will help small business owners who can’t leave their business to attend continuing educa-tion seminars.”

virTual news FeedsRSS feeds can be used for more than just podcasts. More

and more, reporters are asking for direct feeds of news items because they are SPAM-free, says Steward of the Des Moines Partnership. This is a plus for both the reporters and the Chamber, because its news release will get through to news-makers without landing in a junk mailbox.

Christina Donegan, director of communications for the Greater Seattle (WA) Chamber of Commerce, agrees. “Our local media asked us for RSS feeds,” she says. So, when she posts news releases on her Chamber’s website, they are automatically updated on the RSS feed for subscribers like the reporters.

An added bonus for Donegan is the ease of using RSS feeds to post her Chamber’s news. She uses FeedForAll, a $25 pro-gram that allows her to type in a short description and link to the full news release on her website, without using HTML. Once complete, the new item is automatically sent out to all subscribers. “We decided to implement this technology now,” says Donegan. “We want to stay a step ahead of how people might want to receive email from us.”

Chambers are also using RSS feed programs as a tool for posting news on their own websites, because these programs are much easier for non-technical staff to use to make site updates. “We upload news and highlights in addition to our weekly newsletter links through RSS Builder. They are on our homepage, Indychamber.com, under ‘Chamber High-lights’ and ‘Member News’,” says Melissa Mann, director of communications at the Greater Indianapolis (IN) Chamber of Commerce.

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virTual eConoMiC and CoMMuniTy developMenT

A 2002 article in Economic Developments Now magazine, published by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), stated that a good website was “key to gain-

ing site selectors’ attention.” Now, in 2007, many chamber executives involved in economic development are experienc-ing the effects of ever-increasing virtualization, thanks to

the rise of a trend among site selectors, real estate brokers, and C-level execu-tives, who are increasingly using the Internet to make the “first cut” in selecting which commu-nities to further investigate.

Incentives, available busi-ness sites, community ameni-

ties, workforce characteristics, industry information, maps, and so much more are becoming stan-dard in chambers’ online econom-

ic development arsenal. Websites like SouthCentralKy.com, which

won the 2006 general-purpose economic development website award for its population category (50,000–200,000) from the IEDC,

are becoming the new standard. James Hizer, CEcD, president and CEO of the Bowling Green (OH) Area Chamber of Commerce, says, “We aspired to design an innovative

research tool that goes beyond a simple database of available buildings and sites.”

David Brown, president of the Greater Omaha (NE) Chamber of Commerce, has also forayed into the virtual world with his quarterly economic development discussion

podcasts, available at Omahachamber.org in the chamber news section. The Chamber focused its New Media efforts on these podcasts, and has dozens available on its website. In addition, the Chamber has made it easy for listeners to get the latest recording via RSS feeds.

Now, increasingly, the “softer” side of economic devel-opment—“product” (community) enhancement such as education, healthcare, and transportation—is going virtual. Chambers play a key role in shaping and influencing public policy, and New Media tools support those efforts.

The Detroit (MI) Regional Chamber recently supplement-ed its global and domestic business attraction and retention efforts with a renewed focus on a particular aspect of eco-nomic development and public policy—education. In April 2007, the Chamber launched an integrated communications campaign and community call to action centered on prepar-ing Michigan’s future workforce today. The event was a live TV town hall meeting with parents, students, educators and business leaders. The program focused on what 21st century job skills are required of current students and how the com-munity can support and create the workforce of the future.

“Taking advantage of the many communication technolo-gies, such as podcasts on the Internet, is an effective way to deliver a chamber’s message to a wide and diverse audience,” said Detroit Regional Chamber Chief Operating Officer Tammy J. Carnrike, CCE.

Originally broadcast live and commercial-free on ABC’s Detroit affiliate, where 85,000 households tuned in to watch, the Detroit Regional Chamber has also made the town hall meeting available as a podcast for downloading and has shipped DVDs of the program to community organizations. In addition, a virtual panel discussion was available on the Web after the show. The Chamber has additional plans to continue using new media tools to keep the dialogue and progress moving forward.

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ChamberexecutiveSummer 2007 15

step at a time. Chambers are easing into the New Media arena by adding an online, interactive component to existing events, or marketing existing events using New Media tools.

Many chambers take their community leadership strat-egy on the road using community-to-community leader-ship exchanges, or intercity leadership visits, to learn best practices from communities successful in areas like transportation, workforce housing and attraction, and arts and entertainment. “Intercity visits can be one of the best strategic tools a chamber can use to bring focus, energy and commitment to the future of its region,” says Joan L. Mobley, president of JTM Consulting, Inc.

The Adirondack (NY) Regional Chamber of Commerce has added a virtual component to its intercity visit to strengthen and widen its eventual impact on the community. “We have 18 [people] going on our intercity visit,” says Todd Shimkus, president of the Chamber. “Our blog and videos will allow us to share the sights and generate discussion in a collaborative manner” with others besides just those individuals. “Using the Web in this way will strengthen the Chamber’s position and image as the business and community leadership orga-nization for our area,” he states.

Shimkus believes that plans to add commentary from all of the trip participants, photos and videos of key examples of innovation and success to the blog, will help sustain a con-versation not only among the trip participants, but with key community and political activists whose support for com-munity change will be crucial in the future.

aTTraCTing young proFessionalsEvent promotion is another area that is a good match for

using New Media tools. The chamber in Columbia, Missouri, has created short, quirky videos for its Emerging Profes-sionals in Columbia (EPIC) events marketing plan. “We are targeting our Young Professionals group with the YouTube videos, and it seems to be working quite well. They are famil-iar with the technology and have adapted very quickly,” says Sherry A. Wohlgemuth, director of communication services for the Columbia (MO) Chamber of Commerce. The videos target members’ employees aged 22–40.

And, a partnership with a local technology partner made the logistics a snap. “The videos were filmed in-kind by one of our local TV stations, that also happens to be a part of the University of Missouri School of Journalism,” says Wohlge-muth. “They often have eager students that will assist us with projects and production. We had no cost involved with producing the spots. Our young professionals steering com-mittee wrote, directed and produced the videos, and one of the staff at the TV station cleaned up the spot and uploaded it to YouTube. He then simply provided me with the ‘web wid-get’—the HTML code that YouTube automatically generates when a file is uploaded—and I dropped it into the website.”

Fundraising and advoCaCy: The aMeriCan CanCer soCieTy Case sTudy

Can New Media tools like blogs, MySpace profiles, and v-casts support existing grassroots advocacy efforts? Abso-lutely. “Volunteers and donors are flocking to MySpace for

personal pages, Flickr.com for photo sharing, and YouTube.com for viewing and uploading videos and social networking in general,” reports Tom Pope in The NonProfit Times.

Chambers can selectively use these tools to supplement face-to-face communications, issue summits, e-newsletters, and PAC donor letters to shape public opinion and frame dis-cussion and debate around important community and busi-ness issues. Again, the key is to strategically integrate the use of these new tools into your existing communications plan. Although, it doesn’t always begin that way.

“If you search for ACS [the American Cancer Society] on YouTube, you’ll see the cartoon The Flintstones appear-ing to change directions after smoking. You’ll also see that $100,000 was raised during one event at Michigan State University,” reports Pope. “News regarding colorectal cancer is in one video, and the Relay for Life details are shown in another video. But Marty Coelho, national managing direc-tor for marketing and communication at ACS, isn’t using YouTube for Relay for Life. Volunteers took to the net and uploaded more than 120 videos.”

The article goes on to say that Coehlo’s volunteers are very receptive to coaching, guidance, and training material from ACS. Coehlo hasn’t had to respond to incorrect or negative informa-tion on any of these websites, and he strongly believes that the nature of YouTube and other social networking tools offers some buffering against incorrect information or negative comments.

Randal Moss, the manager of futuring and innovation-based strategies for the American Cancer Soci-ety, agrees. In his blog, he states, “There is something to be said about what happens when you turn the power of content creation over to those who care the most about your organization.” ACS volunteers “…have created a visual art project in [the three-dimensional online world] Second Life, called the Can-cer Survivor’s Wall of Fame. It is a tribute to those who fought and beat cancer, created by those same individuals,” says Moss.

ACS has embraced these efforts by volunteers to generate video and other online content about its association online,

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and Moss cites bottom-line results for ACS. In just one volun-teer fund-raising effort—a virtual walk-a-thon named Second Life Relay For Life—annual revenue has grown from $5,000 in 2005 to over $41,000 last year. Moss is expecting to raise $75,000 for the American Cancer Society this year.

a growing reFerral eConoMySecond Life is not the only virtual community nonprofits

and other companies are using to engage and nurture brand enthusiasts. MySpace.com is a popular service that allows users to create a profile of their interests, upload photos, videos, and

music, sell goods, and collect donations. Social networking sites like MySpace.com,

LinkedIn.com, and Friendster.com are the lat-est tools chambers can use in strengthening the referral economy for their members and for building the chamber brand. We all get refer-rals from friends, relatives and colleagues for products or services, but now the Internet gives brand influencers audiences of hundreds rather than just a few.

Ethnic chambers like the Filipino American Chamber, and smaller chambers like those in Jenks, Oklahoma and Jackman, Maine have embraced MySpace to lengthen their brand’s reach and promote their members. Many young professionals’ groups, including several local chapters of the U.S. Jaycees, have MySpace pages with engaging photos, videos, event calendars, and quirky off-the-cuff commentary.

Though many chambers or their young pro-fessionals groups don’t yet have MySpace pages, some chamber members—and staffers—do. And they’re talking about chambers. A new member of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce in Brit-ish Columbia created a MySpace entry about the virtues of its new membership in that Chamber. A member of the Savannah, Georgia chamber similarly touts its involvement in many aspects of the Chamber, as do members of the Birming-ham, Alabama chamber. Many businesses hosting after-hours events and entertainers performing at chamber events mention their chamber connec-tion on their MySpace pages. And, a quick search for “chamber of commerce” on the MySpace search engine yields a fair number of chamber employees with profiles.

brand-building and FundraisingMySpace isn’t just about social networks. It’s

been a powerful tool for building the brand—and fundraising—for The Humane Society of the United

Just over half of MySpace visitors are aged 35 or older, according to a comScore Media Metrix report. And, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is behind an effort to hold a MySpace presidential primary in January.

ChamberexecutiveSummer 2007 1�

States, The Nature Conservancy, The American Red Cross, and many more nonprofit organizations. MySpace is also providing a powerful platform for candidates and politics—though not for many chambers of commerce at this time. Candidates like John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John Edwards all have MySpace pages designed to appeal to the young voter and push them over to their main campaign websites.

Joshua Levy, author of Rules for Using MySpace in Politics, says “Using MySpace for politics doesn’t only involve developing profiles and campaigns, but discovering those political uses where they already exist.”

“Rather than creating profiles on MySpace, using the site as a window into what the opposition is saying about a chamber position may be much more valuable,” states Levy. In Florida, for instance, an anti-growth group is promot-ing—and gaining traction—on a “hometown democracy” bill. If passed, it would require certain land use changes to be voted on not by a planning commission, but by the com-munity. Supporters are using blogs and MySpace pages like blog.myspace.com/wildwoodpreservation to garner support and dollars to pass the bill.

Chamber executives who want to dig deeper into using MySpace for grass-roots advocacy or fundraising should take heed. Levy asserts that “A MySpace profile is not a replace-ment for a campaign’s homepage. Instead, it is meant to be part of a participatory ecosystem that campaigns must set up. Homepages are important because they contain details about who runs the campaign, how to contribute money, white papers, and other necessary but less than thrilling informa-tion. MySpace profiles are the equivalent to canvassing on the street or in a mall; they are part of a larger outreach effort. Just as it’s a mistake to think that the web will itself replace other media, it’s also a mistake to think that MySpace or Facebook profiles are simply lazy or trendy ways of gain-ing an online footprint. That said, it’s becoming increasingly clear that a campaign without a social networking profile will be taken less seriously in the coming years.”

reaChing The inFluenCersConsider these assertions by Dave May, vice president, chamber

of commerce relations, United States Chamber of Commerce:1. The information “franchise” that chambers used to have

is gone. The chamber is no longer the only place for small companies to get help and for people to get infor-mation about the community.

2. Chambers have also lost their “community” franchise. Operating in a physical world, chambers have defined community in the context of geography. It’s now pos-sible to have Internet-chambers that are serving certain online communities. For-profit companies, including both traditional and virtual, are attempting to create a “community of customers” because it builds value to the customers and loyalty to the company. The Internet lets everybody be in everybody else’s business.

A consequence is that new competitors can mean a loss of traditional sources of revenue, loss of membership, and loss of relevance.

When today’s business leaders need support or advocacy, they have many options to choose from, including trade organizations, local business groups, Internet-based resourc-es—and the chamber of commerce. To effectively stand out among the ever-increasing number of choices, the chamber must clearly communicate the role it plays and value it adds to businesses and the community at large.

New Media tools like blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, v-casts, and more are helping organizations raise brand awareness, motivate volunteers, and strengthen their networks. The growing, but still nascent in many cases, influence of Gen X and Millenials in the community and business arenas will require chambers to move more confidently into the world of social networks, adding New Media tools to their traditional marketing mix.

Cathy Lada is the vice president of communications and marketing at ACCE and is editor-in-chief of Chamber Execu-tive magazine. She can be reached at clada@acce.org or (703) 998-3560.

1.reachOuttoPeopleWheretheyCongregateWilliam upski Wimsatt: using mySpace for politics doesn’t only involve developing profiles and cam-paigns, but discovering those political uses where they already exist. (Gi-Net has found this to be true—by the time we got to Facebook, there were already dozens of groups self-organized.)

2.MyspaceIsn’tLocal(exceptWhenItIs)Scott Goodstein: Friendships on mySpace aren’t based across geographical lines. You are friends with people all over the country. ...He likes to use the example of the local bartender with a mySpace pro-file. that bartender—who is in contact with hundreds or thousands of people linked to a physical space—could be an influential mover in mySpace, with thou-sands of friends who live in the same area and go to the same bar.

3.LetPeopletakeOwnershipZack exley: messages are more effective if you let people develop the stories themselves, in their own words, using their own experiences. ...the newsletter turned out to be an incredibly powerful organizing tool because it showed people being a union, not just talk-ing about one. it allowed the workers who were lead-ing the union campaign to express a fully-formed tone and attitude of what the union was all about.

4.Fundraiseelsewherethe primary goals of a mySpace page are to [create allies], generate awareness, and take action, not nec-essarily to make money.

This is a summary of a presentation by Joshua Levy at the Personal Democracy Forum, written by Ivan Boothe.

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