 Four months … a blink of an eye – or an eternity, depending on your perspective! From my perspective, the four months I’ve served you as the WACE CEO has been a blink, but an incredibly busy and fast paced blink. I thought it might be interesting to share some of the highlights. Based on some of the questions I’ve gotten from members, it might also be helpful to touch on what is changing and what is not with WACE! So, here it goes … WACE Annual Conference
Thanks to the leadership of Patrick Ellis (Murrietta-Wildomar Chamber) and Jennifer Johnson (CalChamber), plus the large number who pitched in as members of the committee or as last minute voluntold helpers, the 2024 conference was a huge success. Almost immediately after we said goodbye to Garden Grove, the 2025 Conference planning got underway. Led by conference chair Candace Carnahan (Grand Junction Chamber), the planning team met in Henderson to preview the 2025 conference facility and to set the framework, theme, and vision for what is going to be an incredible event. Work is underway to identify speakers, respond to member input about workshop topics, and to raise the bar on the overall attendee experience. Many more details to come, but make sure February 5-7, 2025 is blocked on your calendar! Executive Workshop Colin Diaz (Tempe Chamber) stepped up to plan an insightful workshop exploring ways Chambers can address challenging barriers to ensuring your community has a strong workforce to build on. Those who joined us in Austin went home with practical examples about ways to think about moving the needle on issues ranging from transit to homelessness to childcare. Make sure to read David Key's Commentary for a great recap of the program. Board Meeting/Strategic Planning As we launch into the second century of WACE, the board, led by Board Chair Whitney Diver McEvoy (Yountville Chamber) gathered a little over a month ago to spend time thinking about how to best serve our profession and industry. B Gorman, former Chamber CEO and strategic planning consultant, facilitated almost two days of intense work reimagining the business model and key imperatives that will drive WACE programming over the next 2-3 years. We are working now to refine the details of the plan and look forward to sharing it with everyone following the Board’s August meeting. Academy and Academy-Plus At the heart of WACE is professional development and one of our bedrock programs is the WACE Academy. Chris Romer (Visit Vail Valley Partnership) has stepped up as the Academy Steering Committee chair this year and he and the committee have put together another stellar faculty roster. Registration is still open and I encourage anyone who is looking to really invest in their career to join us August 5-7 in Sacramento. The material you will take away – and perhaps even more importantly – the peer network you will begin to build – are invaluable investments. The natural extension of Academy is the Academy-Plus, led this year by Wendy Laros (Kona-Kohala Chamber). Designed for chamber professionals who have graduated from Academy or a similar professional credential program, Academy-Plus is a one-day (August 5) recharge. This year’s program features two interactive sessions looking at how you can be a more effective individual leader and how your Chamber can actually use AI tools to improve your work. Registration is still open for this program as well. Membership Model As you no doubt know now, WACE has made a significant change in how membership works. Rather than asking each executive and staff member at your Chamber to be an individual member, membership now sits with your organization. All staff can be added to the database to receive WACE information, access programs, and attend events. If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s the way you structure membership in your Chamber! As your Chamber’s membership renewal data approaches, you’ll receive more details about the Tier that we believe is the best fit for your organization based on your historical involvement in the association. Obviously, we’re available for conversations about upgrading (or right-sizing, if appropriate). Membership committee co-chairs Lorraine Clarno (Visit Kalispel Chamber) and Mike Neal (Tulsa Regional Chamber) and I are working to make sure we find the right fit for each Chamber. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if we reach out to try and clarify our records about past billings that may or may not have been sent, paid, or recorded – or to ensure we have the right staff members listed for your chamber. As you can imagine, in transitioning files, records, and systems, some items have slipped through the cracks and we’re working to clean everything up so we can focus on providing the best service to your Chamber possible. What’s Not Changing As we work through the transition, the vast majority of the programs and services you associate with WACE are still available. Obviously, the big items like the Conference and Academy continue, but so do many other services including, among others:
Connect with WACE If we can help … get you into the member-only section of the website, register you for an event, share information from the Resource Library, connect you with peers, or whatever else you need … don’t hesitate to reach out. I can be reached at: [email protected] 559.909.1012 PO Box 6585 Santa Maria, CA 93456
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