Chamber Annual Meeting Sets the Stage for 2010

I have been to the annual meetings of companies in the past. Well, let’s be honest … for the most part, they’re boring, very boring. That’s why at the Chamber we try to change that by creating a festive atmosphere, one in which people leave and actually feel it was time well spent. We held our annual meeting last Thursday at the Performing Arts Center. We had more than 500 people in attendance. A lot of credit goes to Chris Schutte of the Chamber staff for the event planning. The business expo was such a success we sold out and had to turn companies away. For us, the annual meeting is a great way to review the strides made in the past year because we often tend to forget all that has taken place. It also gives us the opportunity to provide direction for the coming year, reminding the community where we’re headed and how we plan to get there. The evening was based on the theme “Miracles” and centered around the movie about the U.S. 1980 gold medal winning hockey team. Why? Because what is taking place in Springfield today may seem like a miracle. Is there another community in the state making the strides we are? What made it an even greater evening was it came on the eve of Code Blue’s formal announcement that it had finalized plans to locate an office downtown that would employ 150 by the end of 2011 and 300 within five years. A miracle? More on the annual meeting and Code Blue in future conversations. Meanwhile, see photos of both events at www.flickr.com/photos/greaterspringfield.
Have a great Chamber day!