The NEK Chamber Faces a Moving Experience 

I don’t want to exaggerate, but my to-do list is beginning to look like Santa’s naughty list … growing by the day. In addition to the myriad of pesky year-end projects that need to be done before the new year rings in, we have begun the tedious task of packing up boxes in eager anticipation of our move to the Green Mountain Mall the first week of January.

Having made four moves in the past eight years, I can speak from experience that moving is no picnic. It is with great relief I can announce the chamber has secured a long-term lease at the Green Mountain Mall and will be staying put for many years to come. The chamber is very appreciative for the efforts of mall owners Mark Healy and Bernard Healy for making us feel so welcome in our new home.

I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself, however, as we have not even moved from our current space atop the St. Johnsbury Welcome Center. There is an odd rhythm to our work flow as of late here in the office. Our daily routine has been to push some paper, pack a box, do more paperwork, shread old documents and repeat the process all over again the next day.

Having to go through so many boxes in the past weeks has been somewhat therapeutic, as we all have to make some difficult decisions on what files to keep. I remember, with fondness, the car shows we used to be a part of in the late 1990s, and who can forget the Lake Memphremagog serpent issue early in the millennium. It touches my heart to see the delicate handwriting of Dorothy Collins on so many of our tourism reports. While many historical files have been kept, even more boxes have been shreaded.

Being a lean, mean moving machine is not a bad thing, but it certainly adds a new meaning to Santa’s familiar refrain of “Ho, ho, ho” this holiday season. (My apologies to the newspaper proofreader who endured a misspelling and pun in that last sentence.)

As we leave our offices in the historic railroad station, we extend to the Town of St. Johnsbury our very best wishes as it takes over the operation of the welcome center upon our departure. We will still retain a presence on the Welcome Center Advisory Board and will work with our partners to ensure this very important regional welcome center remains the integral cog in our economy as it has in the past.

If you would like to keep abreast of the updates of our office construction, please check out our progress on the Northeast Kingdom Chamber Facebook page. We are posting new pictures every day, and even Santa is getting in on the construction work. He was up on a scaffolding yesterday, helping to frame our windows.

We certainly hope that you will come visit us in our new offices once we move to the mall. We are a great resource for any information you may need on business, whether it is on our many chamber benefits, networking and promotional opportunities or assisting you in finding a service you might need. You can also check out our web site at www.nekchamber.com.

Well, as much as I hate to say it, I have to go. That to-do list isn’t getting shorter, and there is much to do in the remaining hours of this work day. The Northeast Kingdom Chamber would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday and thank all of you for the support we have received this past year. This coming year promises to be exciting for the chamber, as we head in an entirely new and exciting direction. Stay tuned!

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber and a former newspaper editor. She would like to know whose bright idea it was to spell misspell the way it is, as it is one of the most common misspelled words.)

Is It Possible to Make Insurance Information Interesting?

The sun has not yet made an appearance, but I am up before the birds this chilly morn for a very important reason. While the rest of the world is pushing its first pile of papers on their desks, I will be slipping into a conference room chair in Montpelier, awaiting yet another interesting insurance meeting.

Some of you might think that what I just stated is an oxymoron, that there is no such thing as an “interesting insurance meeting.”Not so. With Vermont’s unique business climate and the recent sour economy, these chamber insurance meetings are among the most important meetings I attend as a chamber director.

As many of you know, just three major insurance players remain in the state, so securing a good deal for our chamber insurance plan for 2012 was nothing short of miraculous. I don’t have to tell you how much premiums have shot up in the past few years and how salaries have lagged in comparison, as you have lived through this phenomenon. Sure we all need health insurance, but isn’t it a rather cruel irony that have to pay an arm and leg for such services?

That is where those insurance meetings come back into play. I am one of just three chamber directors in the state who sits on a special board that meets bimonthly to discuss such premiums and how we can deliver lower rates to our chamber members. When it became apparent we could not accomplish that goal with our previous carrier, we changed to Blue Cross/Blue Shield Vermont, and the reaction thus far to the change has been very positive.

What we were able to accomplish with the Blues this past fall was pretty impressive; they offered no increase in rates from 2011 and offered a cap on premiums next year. In a time when double-digit increases are the norm, we have secured a plan that will increase no more than 10 percent over two years. How great is it that our businesses will actually be able to plan out their premiums for the next two years and have a great plan to boot?

What is nice, too, is that businesses who got off the plan in the past year used to have to wait 18 months to get back onto the program, but that regulation has been waived until the end of February. Chambers throughout the state, including our own, are experiencing a resurgence in members jumping back onto the plan, and that is good news, indeed, for our businesses and organizations.

After building up this health plan so, I would be remiss if I did not tell our business people where they can check out the program and rates to see if the plan makes sense for their companies. Folks can check out our web site, www.nekchamber.com, or contact me at 802-748-3678 or director@nekchamber.com for more information.

I cannot, in good conscience, admit that six-hour meetings on any topic are something I relish attending, but our chamber feels great satisfaction that we are part of the solution, not the problem, in improving the healthcare premium crisis in our state.

Well, the light has started coming in my kitchen window, the sign that I need to pack up my bookbag and head out the door to the big city. Please think of me as I wearily peruse mountainous claim reports this morning, as there is not enough tea in the aisles of Natural Provisions to make that tedious task interesting. I can, however, garner some satisfaction that these meetings really and truly help my members.

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She has been on this insurance committee almost the entire time she has been at the chamber and can spout obscure insurance facts at the drop of a hat.)

Chamber Made Column

December 3, 2011

‘Get Smart’ Takes On a Whole New Meaning

There was a moment in time this past fall when the Earth shifted for me. While I have been long singing the praises of technology in our chamber, the point hit home at this year’s Business Celebration when emcee Maurice Chaloux read a presentation from an absent speaker off his I-Phone.

I was surprised to learn that in my home alone there are 10 different pieces of technology that connect to the internet, between laptops, game systems, tablet computers, hand-held devices and cell phones. My 87-year old father has become so reliant on the information I can quickly Google on my smart phone that there is nary a question I can’t answer, even dating back to personalities and news stories from his generation.

One of the recent applications that Welcome Center volunteer John Horvatich encouraged me to download on my phone was a translation feature. Now, I can translate and answer any question from any visitor from around the world at the touch of a finger, quite a helpful tool for a chamber. An 8-megapixel camera on my phone has made carrying my heavier camera to and from work almost unnecessary, allowing me to download photos to our Facebook page faster than it took me to type this sentence.

To give you the potential of these small, technological beasts, I have the chamber’s complete 28-page “Business Survival Tool Kit,” detailing our many chamber benefits, downloaded on my phone. That means in any given aisle of the White Market, I can speak intelligently on our phone plan or bulk-mail services. I’ll be honest here though; anything I can use to make myself look more intelligent is a big plus in my book.

I have never been a big believer in getting technology just for technology’s sake, buying every single gadget that hits the market, but I do believe in using such technology smarter. So far, this technology, allowing me to access the internet and my benefits and services that much faster, has resulted in me doing my job better. To give you a sense of how important such a focus is, consider the fact that 95 percent of the visiting public now uses some method of technology in making their travel plans.

Our push in the next five years is to offer all that we do in the office on our web site, everything, so we truly become the 24-7 chamber we have always sought to be. We, as chamber employees, may not be able to staff our offices at 2 in the morning when a pipe breaks, but our web site is there for you, as you blearily look for a plumber to save your basement.  The same goes for the German traveler considering a visit, checking out our attractions, restaurants and lodging while we all slumber.

We are already halfway to our quest, but there is so much more we want to put on our web site, www.nekchamber.com, in the months and years to come, whether it is all the information necessary to start and grow a business to an online restaurant menu guide for the Northeast Kingdom. We welcome your input and suggestions, as well as constructive criticism, on what you would like to include on this very important site.

Just so you know, in our quest to be the state’s most cutting-edge chamber, we will not lose the personal touch that is so important, whether it is keeping Don Mullally as the voice on our answering machine or heartily welcoming you to our new offices in the coming year. You are truly using a smart phone and technology wisely if you blend it with the personal touch and customer service that is so needed. 

(Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. She just discovered the Charles Dickens “Great Expectations” book on her smart phone.)

A Center That Offers Everything Except the Bathrooms

For a long time, I was the woman who had to be dragged into this millennium to embrace technology. Just as we bought our DVD, Blueray became the next best thing. I no sooner got an I-Pod when the I-Touch became the latest rage.  Let’s face it, I am a middle-aged woman who writes with fountain pens and still embraces the notion of penning hand-written thank you notes. I may not quite be a dinosaur but I am pretty close to being on the endangered list.

Thank goodness for our children, however, as they have a great way of making parents tackle technology, if only to keep in better touch with them. There were no cell phones in my youth, no satellite radio, no computers, and let’s not even talk about television. We had three channels; that was it.

It was not that many months ago that my children and I were at the Wireless Zone in St. Johnsbury, upgrading my daughter’s and son’s phones. Upon learning I had an upgrade possible, my children encouraged me to get a smart phone, a device offering internet access as well as telephone services.

Since getting my Droid Incredible in May, I have been quite surprised at how much I have used my phone, for business and personal use. When I was lost in Connecticut recently, the phone mapped me a route home. It updates me on Red Sox games and even has an application where I can use my phone as a flashlight. I would be lying if I didn’t say I have really enjoyed having the world at my fingertips.

At a recent chamber board meeting, Rabbit Hill Inn’s Brian Mulcahy talked about what this technology means for our chamber in the coming years. We are coming to a point, the proverbial fork in the road, when technology will replace bricks and mortar, brochures and our handy, dandy printed membership directory.

The time is coming, mark my word, when visitors will expect, actually demand, a virtual welcome center, where everything they receive from a building now will be found on the web, minus, of course, the restrooms.

Our chamber has already begun work on what this virtual center will look like, what we need to do to beef up our already fantastic web site to make this happen. Yes, we have a mobile web site, but do we need to start looking at establishing a chamber app for smart phones? The answer is an emphatic yes! We cannot be left in the dust; there is too much at stake.

More than 10 years ago, a very smart computer guru advised a gathering of chamber directors that absolutely everything we do within the structure of our organizations should be found on the web in the years to come. Back then, that very statement created quite a stir at our conference, but she was right on the money.

As this chamber goes forward, we will look at each and every technological upgrade that benefits our members and region in the years to come. While there still remains a place in the world for wonderful welcome center buildings, we must also acknowledge that the times are changing and we must not only be clear on what this technology means to our organization but be poised and ready for such times.

 (Darcie McCann is the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. While she has yet to find an app for a restroom, she can, at least, find one on her smart phone.)