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Chairman of the Board's Message

In January, the Board of Directors held our Annual Retreat at the new Oceano Hotel in Half Moon Bay. We were one of the first "guests" to hold an event in this beautiful, new hotel at Princeton Harbor.

This year¹s retreat was committed to developing a vision for the Chamber ­ a vision that will hopefully guide our program of work for the next several years. Facilitated by a group of consultants, the Board worked through a series of exercises to answer the question "what do we want to be when we grow up?" It was very clear that the Chamber has an excellent series of programs for our members: the Leadership program, our Annual Progress Seminar, our monthly mixers, the Wells Fargo Annual Benefit Golf Tournament (benefiting Kainos), and many more. These programs are an excellent foundation for the Chamber, but are they good enough?

Our facilitators, Jan and Neal Palmer of the Communications Excellence Institute interviewed several Board members before the retreat. They reported that they heard words like: prestigious, be more influential, be proactive on issues, be broader, be a stronger voice on more issues affecting our larger community. They also heard concerns about providing services to all of our members, especially local and small businesses.

With all of this information in hand, the Board developed a vision for the chamber that will guide our program of work for the next several years - "By 2015, the Redwood City-San Mateo County Chamber will be the leading, influential business organization driving the economic, public policy, and quality of life issues facing our community."

The challenge for the year will be to develop a program of work that builds upon our successes and does not compromise the quality of programs that we are recognized for. We need to take a look at who we are, what we are doing, strengthen our partnerships, be broader, but not forget that we must act locally. I look forward to working with the staff, the Executive Committee, the Board and our members to prepare us for the next decade.

If you have not signed up for our Annual Progress Seminar, space is running out quickly. This year¹s event is in Monterey at the newly renovated Hyatt Regency. The break out sessions have been set and keynote speakers are being contacted. Registration is quickly approaching a sell-out. For additional information, contact the Chamber office.

Thank you for attending this year¹s annual dinner at the Hotel Sofitel.
Unfortunately, several of our guests became ill the following day. It is regrettable that something like this occurred, however, I believe what is as important, is how we all react to events that come our way. I want to thank our Chamber staff, the Hotel Sofitel and the County Health Department for their prompt and diligent follow-up in the days after our dinner.

Jeff Gee
Chairman

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