Paul Szmal: Joining us on a Monday, not her usual day, but hey, why not? Amy Fuller is here from the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce. Good morning. How are you this morning?
Guest: I'm good. How are you doing, Paul? Happy Monday.
Paul Szmal: Yes, it's not a bad Monday, actually, at least so far. I'm going to knock on wood when I say that, but you're, you're gearing up Amy for a busy month of August. We've got a few things we want to talk about here. Uh, first off is the next cocktail and connections event. And if I remember our previous conversations correctly, this is something that's kind of new, right?
Guest: Yes. We've been kind of toying around with our summer event, trying to see what works best for most people. So this year we came up with cocktails and connections on Cayuga. It's going to be at the Inns of Aurora and it's on the backside there. They have some tents and things and just a nice patio and just a beautiful view of the lake. So, uh, we're hoping to get, you know, some good, uh, people to come to that. And, uh, the registration is still open. It actually closes this Thursday. And this event is sponsored by Chemung Canal Trust Company. They're our event sponsor. So it's from five to eight on August 5th and it should be a nice, nice evening on Cayuga Lake. So, uh, if you haven't registered yet, you know, get on there and register or call the chamber. If you're having any trouble or not sure how to do that, we'll be happy to walk you through the process. But we hope to get a good crowd there that night. And, you know, making connections like this, networking is so important nowadays.
Paul Szmal: Oh, absolutely. I, you know, I say it to our members and potential members all the time that, you know, people remember talking face to face to someone versus a text message or an email or whatever it just, it does have to your point, more of an impact.
Guest: Yeah. And maybe that product or service that you offer is something that they're going to need down the road. And they're going to remember having that conversation from there it's off to the races.
Paul Szmal: Oh, we hear that all the time. Whether it's one of our main events or our, our monthly after hours events, you know, people call and say, you know what, uh, who was that guy that was there? I talked to him for a minute. I can't remember his name, but his company was this and we give it to him. And he said, I have a, I have a family member that needs his services. We, I hear that all the time. So yeah, those face to face contacts, you can't replace those. And again, the registration for that is on the Cougar County chamber website. We'll give that to you at the end of the conversation. Uh, Gwen Weber McLeod, a name that we've heard before is coming back for a workshop on August 20th.
Guest: Yeah, she's done a couple of workshops for us. And this one is August 20th. It's called thriving through change. It's from nine to 11 AM. Registration is open for that. We got a good crowd coming so far, but, uh, she's just an inspiration when, if you've ever been to any of her workshops, you know, she's just such a great presenter and just add some personal stuff to her, to, to her workshops. And, um, she's just a, you know, a great person to, you know, have do those workshops for us. She's wonderful.
Paul Szmal: And you know, that thriving through change theme really says a lot to me because so many things have changed, not only in the economic climate, but from a technology standpoint, essentially it's a year to year thing, right? I mean, you know, things change all the time, whether it's technology, whether it's staffing, whether it's your business plan, you know, it's whatever's going on, I, you know, Gwen prepares you for those and gives you the tools to move forward from that.
Guest: Yeah. I was having a conversation with somebody this weekend and I found myself saying, it's like, yeah, I remember when we had phones that only did phone calls, it seems like it was ages ago. Now. I remember our phone in my kitchen growing up in the cord was like so long. Cause everybody would walk around while they were talking.
Paul Szmal: Oh yeah. And you had to try to balance the handset between your ear and your shoulder and you throw your shoulder out and, oh, well maybe technology is good in some respects, so we don't do that anymore. We're talking with Amy Fuller from the Cuyahoga County Chamber of Commerce here on FLX morning. The next Leadership Cuyahoga class will start in September, but recruiting for that class is happening as we speak.
Guest: Yes, it is. And actually you have about two weeks left to get the a hundred dollar discount, which ends on August 7th. You know, if you, Leadership Cuyahoga, if you're new to the area or you have, you know, a different job now and you have different territories and you're wondering, you know, about Cuyahoga County, so many young people, especially think Cuyahoga County is Auburn. And we have such a long County and so, so many opportunities. Jessica Wrench, my education coordinator does a great job with this. The class starts in September. It runs through May. They meet one Thursday a month and, you know, they learn board governance. They learn so much and it's such a great opportunity. You know, I think the alumni class is approaching 800, actually. I mean, it's been going on for quite a while and it's, it's a great opportunity. As I said, you get a hundred dollars. If you register before August 2nd, you go to leadershipcuyahoga.com to apply. And if you have any questions, just call the office and ask for Jessica.
Paul Szmal: And this doesn't just apply for like, you know, the corporate world or the business world. But also if you're looking at doing like community oriented work, nonprofit oriented work, knowing how board of directors operate in those circumstances, that's good knowledge to have walking in.
Guest: Oh, absolutely. We have so many nonprofits that look for board members and stuff. And, you know, you could find kind of what your niche is and, and, and help that nonprofit move forward. So absolutely. And they also do take high school seniors. So the, you know, there's some, you know, room for them also. And, you know, my daughter is a senior, went through it and she loved it. You know, it's just, it's a great opportunity to learn more about where you're from in the whole County.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And again, uh, that information is on the Cuyahoga County chamber website. I'll get that to you here in a couple of minutes. Uh, we have the date now for the chamber annual dinner. So you want to bookmark this one on the old calendar?
Guest: Yes. It's going to be a Wednesday, October 7th. Uh, once again at the Emerson park pavilion, um, it'll be a great, a great evening. We are just wrapping up our strategic plan. So that's going to be rolled out that night also, but it's, it's my favorite event of the year. And, and it's, you know, it's an evening event, a sit down dinner. And, uh, we have our virtual auction, which will start the, start the Friday before and end the Friday after the dinner on October 9th. Um, we'll have some auction items or some raffle items at the event just for the attendees. So make it lots of fun. And, you know, uh, Andrea, Mary, and the staff up there at the pavilion do such a great job. Uh, we have wonderful sponsor opportunities for this event from event sponsor to some very affordable ones. We'll be rolling those out shortly. And, uh, if you haven't been before and you're a new chamber member, you got to attend this event because, you know, pre COVID we were, we were over 300 people and we're getting to that over 300. Last year we were in the 200. So we really want to get close to that 300 mark and I think we can do it.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. I want to get that 300 batting average. There you go. And if you haven't been to one of these chamber dinners before, Amy mentioned the fact that they go over their strategic plan, uh, this is a good way to find out what the chamber does. And then in turn, what the chamber is planning on doing over the next calendar year. Right.
Guest: That, I mean, the strategic plan that, uh, we're going to be rolling out as a five-year plan. Um, you know, I know the county in the city of Auburn are doing some similar things, but you know, to your point earlier, things change all the time and we got to keep up with those things and it's really good to take a second look at, you know, your processes, your events, all the things that we're doing to make sure that we're ready to move forward with that. And the half price membership deal that's still going on, right?
Paul Szmal: Yes.
Guest: That started July 1st and it goes till the end of November, uh, half price memberships, if you're not a chamber member, Curt, you know, if you've never been a chamber member, this is a great way to test the waters. You know, we have a couple of good networking events coming up. I think one in September is at Xylem, you know, so there, you know, it's a great way to see, you know, is this what I want for my business? Will this help me grow? Or is this good connections for me? You know, it's, it's a no brainer, just try it out. And if it works for you, move forward with it. But we all offer this every year, especially, you know, we got a lot of little new businesses opening up here in Auburn and it's a great opportunity to, to try it if you've never been a member before.
Paul Szmal: Now, if you want more information on the cocktail and connections on Cayuga event on August the 5th, the Gwen Weber McLeod workshop on August 20th, uh, registration for the forthcoming leadership Cayuga program, anything you want to know about the chamber, Amy, what's the website people can use?
Guest: It's Cayuga county chamber.com. And all that information's right on the homepage. You click on it to get more information. If you can't find something that you're looking for, you're always welcome to call the office directly. And we'll look for it and get you the information that you need.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah. It's actually a good idea to pick up the phone and call somebody once in a while and actually talk to a person. You know what I mean?
Guest: Yeah. Five minute phone call saves about 20 emails.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And we all know how much we have to deal with emails.
Guest: Yes, exactly.
Paul Szmal: Amy, as always a pleasure. Thanks for joining us. We'll check in with you next month.
Guest: All right. Sounds good, Paul. You have a good rest of your day.
