I'm sitting in a hotel room in Orlando overlooking the fireworks at Walt Disney World. Just got my first look at an article that my local Chamber of Commerce president wrote about an idea I presented to them. The idea was different - rather than promoting myself as a speaker I suggested a "mall-like" environment for Chamber members to attend an event with multiple revenue generating ideas - and let them pick. Just as an auto mall gets the car buyers in one place, this would draw sales professionals, sales execs, and CEOs to focus on selling and revenue generation. See "President's Corner" on page 2 here....
The event was a couple of weeks ago. In addition to being a "success" by all involved, it was a lot of fun. If I was thinking conventionally, I would not have come up with this idea. Rather, I thought creatively - and based the event on the following premises:
1. Membership organizations (like Chambers) need to come up with new ways to retain members and find new ones.
2. People join a Chamber of Commerce most often to increase contacts with a larger market and grow sales - unless they are joining purely for community involvement. Since most Chamber members are less than 20 employees, the goal is typically to grow sales.
3. People like me speak in front of groups to gain exposure and potentially get new clients
What creative approach can you take to a conventional situation? Post your ideas...
