memo to american chambers of commerce: why your country shouldn't forget you
DESCRIPTION
Who helped build America while almost no one was watching? And why have we almost completely forgotten this? A new book helps explain what chambers did, why they did it, and why we shouldn’t forget them. The book is called: The Magicians of Main Street: America and its Chambers of Commerce, 1768-1945. An epilogue takes the story up to today. The author and our webinar host is Chris Mead, senior vice president of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). Mead will explain why chambers dreamed so much and reached so far – sometimes too far. But our country would be nothing like what it is if not for business organizations very much like yours. This is the very first webinar on this topic since the book was published and had its debut at the ACCE convention last month, where it was the talk of the attendees. Come learn about the pickup teams of business people who changed their communities and, occasionally, their nation and even the world.TRANSCRIPT
Who is WebLink?
• Leading SaaS Association Management Software Company
• Established in 1996
• 60 Employees
• Based in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Leading Software Provider to over 650 Association Customers; 5,500 Users; Supporting over 650,000 Members
• Several Employees with Association Experience
About WebLink
• Association Management Software
• Website Design & Development
• Non-Dues Revenue Programs
Memo to American Chambers of Commerce:Why Your Country Shouldn’t Forget YouCHRIS MEADSVP, ASSOCIATION OF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXECUTIVESSEPTEMBER 9, 2014WEBINAR FOR WEBLINK INTERNATIONAL
Chris MeadAuthor of The Magicians of Main Street
Senior Vice President, Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives
Executive Director, Community Growth Educational Foundation
BA in English, Oberlin College
MBA, Stanford University
A Race Through History
13 Reasons You’ve Been Forgotten
25 Things You Did
Four Things You Can Do Today
13 Reasons People Forget What Chambers Have Done
1. Shared credit
2. Shared achievements
3. Individuals get the limelight; Napoleon v. his troops
4. Starting but not always finishing things
5. “Rich boy makes good” seen as boring
6. Business people best known for their business successes
7. “It was inevitable."
13 Reasons People Forget What Chambers Have Done
(Continued)8. A sea of nonprofits
9. “Just local”
10. No clear ideology
11. Neither saints nor villains
12. Based on something you can’t touch
13. Sometimes overshadowed by the U.S. Chamber
25 Things You Did25 Things That Local, Regional, or State Chambers:
Thought up
Started
Funded
Helped get funding for
Sustained through years of lobbying and support
Or otherwise helped make happen.
Support of Washington and Hamilton in Effort to Avert War with England in 1795
Slight Mistake in the Mississippi Valley, 1873-78
“The Lion of the Vigilantes”
The Fight Against “Free Silver,” 1870s - 1896
New York City Subway System
Spreading of Commission and City Manager Systems of Local Government
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1912
Federal Reserve System, 1913
Community Chests and Reforming Charities
Miss America Pageant, 1921
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 1921
The Spirit of St. Louis, 1927
Bad for Business
National Cherry Blossom Festival, 1934
Hoover Dam, 1936
The First American Superhighway, 1940
Grand Coulee Dam, 1942
Hollywood Sign, 1948
Stars and the Walk of Fame, 1960
Civil Rights, 1960s
First Major Voucher Program for Schools, 1992
Setting Up Hundreds of Airports
Helping Site and Support Dozens of Military Bases
Starting (or Occasionally Snatching) Scores of Colleges and Universities
The Olympics
And that’s only the Cliff Notes version
Chambers are an indelible part of American life, culture, and history
Take out chambers from our past and the country would be almost unrecognizable
Four Things You Can Do Today1. Learn what your chamber has done.
2. Learn what other chambers have done.
3. Explore what this means for your chamber today.
4. Tell your members and the public.
Questions/contactsChris Mead, SVP
ACCE
(703) 998-3545
Magicians of Main Street available on Amazon.com ($29.95 plus shipping/handling).
More information at:
www.magiciansofmainstreet.com
Just 1 Question:We appreciate your feedback!
Thanks for joining us!