I sent the chamber two emails which said as much, and more.  I received no reply.  Not even an acknowledgment.

They'll do it again this year.  A half hour set aside for the 1000 plus business people attending to chat a bit, an hour of chamber staff back patting, A half hour spent talking about the "grand vision" project (some folks who have "wonderful" ideas of what our community SHOULD be like) that the Traverse Bay Area citizens don't realize will be crammed down their throats, and an hour of seminar style "entertainment" with a made for the event movie and presentation by the sponsor.

Experience may have yielded one benefit to those who have attended however...  They had to lower the price of the event $25 a seat.  Apparently the only way to fill the place.  Funny...  Maybe they are learning a little about business after all.

But they still have a bit more to learn, ..and experience.  And the leadership of the Traverse City Area Chamber has missed the point of their existence, so the annual dinner failures come as no surprise to this entrepreneur.

During the first few days of the Obama administration, the chamber announced a seminar for businesses that would help those enterprises deal with a coming fact of life.  For $20, we could all go to compliance classes to learn how to properly handle administrative duties based on the assuredness of the passing of the Employee Free Choice Act; a mandate by congress that hardly meets it's colorful naming scheme.  While some might think that is the role of the chamber, some might also note the local chamber did NOTHING to argue the act was wrong, encouraged no letter writing by members, and offered no editorializing posture on the issue.

They said nothing but "hey its here, so shut up, and deal with it."  And I am really only paraphrasing my conversation with the legislative analyst at the TC Area Chamber, who I had talked with at the time.  I was told it was a fact of life, and that they had no way of stopping it, and were simply going to roll over accept it and prepare business with a seminar full of K-Y and stretch lessons. In fact the overly quick acceptance makes me question the leadership's ability to represent the best interests of its members.  Fortunately for business everywhere however, EFCA has not made any headway.  It seems though, that our chamber could have made a line in the sand.

I have made my own.

In any event, I am letting my Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce membership expire, and in a manner not unlike that of US Flag vessel owners ALL registering their ships in Delaware, am joining a chamber 50 miles away which might better represent my business both in its political and my own philosophical intent... and for a few less dollars.