Variety is the spice of life—and it’s surely one of the reasons the Napa Chamber of Commerce was voted Best Business Event this year. The chamber has not just one event, but a wide variety of major events that are designed to appeal to different segments of its membership.
Says President Kate King, “Our Annual Dinner always features a well-made, humorous theme-based video depicting the incoming chairman of the board as the main character. Our Business Expo is very well attended, and the trade booth spaces sell out way in advance.
“We’ve been told our Golf Tournament is the best value around. It sells out several weeks in advance. And, of course, our annual Economic Outlook is a must for professionals who want to hear the very latest in the global, regional and local economic trends. Every other year, we host a Nonprofit Fair, which is like a trade show for charities, where they can promote themselves and recruit volunteers, committee members, board members and donors. That’s very popular with the 501c(3) community.
“Our Foundation began a new event in 2007 that was very popular. It’s called the Napa Valley Community Awards Celebration. We took nominations from the community at large for several categories such as Outstanding Community Booster, Outstanding Teacher, Outstanding Nonprofit and so forth. We received more than 50 nominations and had more than 170 people attend.”
The chamber also has several new networking events. “The one that’s a runaway hit is our First Friday Business Development Luncheon. We’ve had to limit it to the first 50 people who register—and they begin registering online the minute they leave the last event! It offers a chance for business people to bring and display their marketing materials, but also, everyone gets to do a 30-second elevator speech about their business. One lucky attendee [as a result of a business card drawing at the prior meeting] gets 10 minutes.
“Our Mixpo is a combination of the traditional social mixer and a mini-expo, with tables for members to display their wares. We rotate Mixpos, Mixers and our intense 5-Minute Networking events on the third Thursday of each month,” says King.
Sounds like a little something for everyone.
