Shifting the gears at a chamber of ccommerce Sunday, August 07, 2005 Chambers of commerce are facing a challenge to shift their focus from product-oriented organizations to solution-based organizations. Chamber value creation has traditionally been focused on a relatively set array of standard products: networking events, seminars, a membership directory, some data. These offerings have been marketed with "inside out" strategies that focus on making businesses aware of these offerings. As we recognize the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic development, chambers confront an exciting opportunity to change their orientation to "solution-based" marketing. These strategies call for a new approach to marketing and communications. (The strategy becomes more "outside in".) The chamber becomes a designer and enabler of open innovation networks. Database marketing and social network mapping become critical to this approach, as the chamber learns more about how networks form in their local economy and the steps they can take to facilitate these networks. Personalized marketing becomes a critical component to the chamber's new value proposition. One-to-one marketing becomes the norm. Few chambers have made this shift, but this is the direction in which competitive chambers will be heading. The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Georgia appears to be starting to make this shift. Read more. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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