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Sunday, November 28, 1999

Chamber seeks return to networking form

Corpus Christi Online

Back in my college fraternity days, we had an effective system for generating and sustaining enthusiasm to attract new members.
   During rush week, if we wanted to ratchet up the proceedings, we'd announce a new member, hand him a bottle of champagne and make him chug it down as we chanted, "Go! Go! Go!"
   The excitement level of everyone in the room would rise. Often, the sight of another rushee pledging the fraternity, chugging champagne and enjoying the fleeting moment of being the center of attention would be just the push that other rushees needed to make the same decision. And then there'd be a crescendo of cork-popping, and word would spread among rushees that our fraternity was the place to be, which led to more cork-popping.
   Call it child psychology, or herd mentality. Whatever you call it, it worked.
   People like camaraderie and enthusiasm.
   This same psychology was at work the other day at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast. This breakfast was special to chamber members because it marked the return to a format that the chamber followed before it became part of the Greater Corpus Christi Business Alliance five years ago.
   The enthusiasm, the friendliness and even some of the silliness of the proceedings were reminiscent of the most positive aspects of the fraternity experience. The biggest difference was that there was no booze and plenty of coffee.
   The pledges
   About 20 new chamber members were introduced, applauded by the crowd of about 250, and ribbed good-naturedly by co-hosts Tony Bonilla and Richard Durham. Bonilla asked one young newcomer if his hair was the current style or if he just forgot to comb it. Then Bonilla pointed to his own hair, which is male pattern-impaired, and to the flat top that has been Durham's style since it was cool the first time around.
   Some of the new members were roped into an activity as silly as any fraternity initiation rite - a turkey-calling contest. Their dignity seemed a small price to pay for the fun they and the crowd had.
   In years past, before the chamber became part of the Greater Corpus Christi Business Alliance, the breakfasts were held nine times a year and each one featured a different, silly game, says Pam Arredondo, the alliance's membership director. Arredondo organized the Nov. 18 breakfast, as she used to do in the days before the alliance.
   "I assisted with them back in the old days and we tried to bring some of that flair back," she says. "Everybody got to network and it was a good, positive feeling and we all worked together to make that happen."
   A step forward
   It was a nice change after the disappointments that led to the decision to break up the business alliance and let the chamber, visitors bureau and economic development corporation go their separate ways.
   In recent months, alliance and other community leaders have been looking at the city's economic performance and how it has been lagging compared with the rest of the state. Their experience was similar to that of the title character in the movie "Little Man Tate." Tate was a child prodigy whose awesome intellect had a dark side effect. At a young age, he could understand the world's overwhelming problems, and he agonized over his inability to solve them.
   Planning a breakfast may seem like a small step toward improving the business climate, but chamber members see real power in those breakfasts.
   "If I as a small business owner can be at a function sitting next to the CEO of the fifth-largest organization in Corpus Christi, then that chamber is helping me network and sell myself," says Gene Guernsey, a member of the chamber's interim board.
   Growing still
   He remembers chamber breakfasts with crowds of more than 500.
   "I remember having 40 to 45 new members walk across that stage, and that's a goal, to make everybody want to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce."
   As of Tuesday, Arredondo said, membership was 1,633. And counting.


Tom Whitehurst

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