Top takeaways from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives conference

By Kristin Glass, Chief Strategy Officer

I had the privilege of joining three of my colleagues at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) conference in Long Beach, CA last month. This conference is known as one of the best in the industry for sharing of information and also provides the opportunity to connect to other Chamber professionals during the three day conference.

If you are like me, you get back to the office after a conference and want to immediately put all you’ve learned to work. It is easy for the normal course of business to get in the way of new ideas, but I find it important to always innovate and think of new ways to serve our members. It has been nearly two months since the conference, and some of the topics of conversation at the conference remain a focus of mine.

Three themes really stood out for me:

Theme #1: Workforce is a systemic issue in all communities

As we networked with other Chamber professionals over the three days we were in Long Beach, we consistently heard that workforce is a key challenge that chambers are faced within their communities. Nearly every breakout had a session on workforce.

I sat in on a workforce session where the speaker said, “It doesn’t do good to fix a piece if you do not impact the results of all.” This really hit home for me as the Quad Cities region continues to convene stakeholders, through Q2030, to discuss workforce challenges and solutions. From the time a child is born to the time an individual retires, we must work together as one Quad Cities to ensure we are recruiting and developing the best talent to meet the needs of our employers.

Theme #2: In order for our Chamber to be successful, these three things must be true

One of the morning keynote speakers showed a diagram that reinforced the work the Quad Cities has been hard at work on in the last decade. While the Quad Cities Chamber works in business services, economic development, downtowns and Q2030, the following three things must be true in order for the Quad Cities to hit a home run:

1. Diversity and inclusion must be a priority across all

2. Regionalism must be a common understanding

3. As many businesses as possible must be engaged in the work of the Chamber

If any one of these falls apart, we are no longer set up for success. This session reinforced the important of the daily focus on these priorities. The Quad Cities Chamber remains committed to diversity & inclusion, regionalism and engagement of a diverse group of businesses.

Theme #3: We don’t have to recreate the wheel

My colleagues and I had the opportunity to go to dinner with another Midwest Chamber of similar size. We sat around the dinner table for over two hours sharing ideas and inspiring one another. In the Chamber industry, innovation is key. However, innovation comes in the form of sharing ideas and best practices amongst Chambers.

The Quad Cities Chamber InternQC program is a best practice in the Chamber industry that was created years ago. Other Chambers have taken this idea and adapted it to fit their community. I enjoy going to this conference mostly for the idea sharing with peers.

I am proud to work for a Chamber that prides itself in developing its employees through webinars, on the job training, and conferences like ACCE. These themes have stuck with me and will remain a focus as we continue to evolve and work on ways to better serve the region.