Leader to Leader: Chambers & AI

W.A.C.E.’s “Leader to Leader” column poses timely questions to Chamber leaders across the Western region to provide valuable insight and ideas to our readers.

This month, we asked:  Share a brief synopsis about a specific application/use case of implementing AI tools that has improved your Chamber's efficiency and/or increased member value.

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"At the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, we’ve started using AI tools to help with one of our biggest events of the year—our Women’s Leadership Luncheon, which this year is expanding into a full day-and-a-half summit for its 10th anniversary. What used to be a single luncheon has grown into something much larger, and with that growth came a need to rethink how we approached sponsorship levels, speaker outreach, and marketing language.
​Using AI, we were able to review past attendee data, survey responses, and panelist demographics to help reshape our sponsorship tiers and refine the messaging in our sponsorship prospectus. It helped us save time, bring more clarity to our offerings, and ensure everything was aligned with what our audience actually wants. It’s been a great way to increase internal efficiency and also improve how we communicate value to our members and partners."
- Bridget Dixson, President & CEO, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce

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"At our Chamber, we’ve embraced innovation by integrating AI into our communications and event planning processes. Fondly named Andi, our Virtual AI Assistant has become a support tool, helping us refresh our content, generate creative event themes, and brainstorm logistics like marketing strategies, décor ideas, and volunteer coordination. By feeding Andi with prompts based on our previous messaging and events, we’ve been able to streamline brainstorming sessions and reduce time spent on content creation.
​While Andi doesn’t replace our human insight, especially when it comes to the local nuances and institutional knowledge that only our team possess, it serves as a great way to get that first draft written, enhancing our productivity and creativity. Our team always carefully reviews and edits AI-generated content to ensure it aligns with our tone, mission, and community values. The result: more efficient workflows, fresh ideas, and stronger engagement with our members. P.S. Andi helped edit this write-up for me!"
- Rachel Roy, Executive Director, Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce

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"We are using AI in a number of ways. Most recently, we used AI to develop a drip campaign for an online fundraiser to support our workforce development program, the Women Rising Leadership Academy. The campaign ran throughout the month of December, and every email was generated (then edited) by AI. We also use AI for social media posts, and most recently we used AI to generate a business plan for our workforce development program to win a grant, which we did win."
- Lacy Schoen, President & CEO, Brea Chamber of Commerce

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"At the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, I’ve used ChatGPT to write weekly email newsletters, brainstorm grant proposal ideas, draft job descriptions, and create social media content for events like our Business Expo and Salute to Public Safety. It’s helped me quickly generate polished drafts and refine messaging, saving several hours each week. That extra time lets me focus on building relationships with members and executing programs that drive real community impact."
- Zeb Welborn, President & CEO, Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce

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