Brooklyn's Progress
August 2003

By Mark Kessler

July was a busy month for seminars at the Brooklyn Chamber.  On Wednesday, July 16, 2003, the new Small Business Seminar Committee produced and hosted its first session: Marketing Your Business in Today’s Economy.  More than 65 Chamber Members and friends attended the morning presentations at the Callahan Center at St. Francis College.  Susan Martin, from Business Sanity, spoke about positioning or repositioning your business; Ken Hochman, from American Media Concepts, Inc., suggested a number of valuable guerilla marketing techniques, and Dan Vaccaro, from Business Boomerang, Inc., reviewed cost effective ways to use technology to market your business. 

The presentations were well received. One attendee said that the morning provided a “continual flow of useful ideas and concepts.” 

Susan Doban, the Chair of the Small Business Seminar Committee, was pleased with the group’s first effort, “The turnout was terrific, and the presenters responded to the audience’s enthusiasm.  This is why we formed this committee.  The idea is for small businesses to present to other small businesses so that we can share our experiences and expertise.  We are excited about putting together a series of seminars for the fall.” 

The Small Business Seminar Committee has conducted a survey to identify topics of interest to their fellow Chamber Members.  The Committee is analyzing the results of that survey and will issue Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) for seminar presentations on the most requested topics shortly.

The next evening, Thursday, July 17, 2003, the Brooklyn Chamber hosted an encore seminar at Gage and Tollner Restaurant.  Executive Director Mitch Zaretzky and his staff presented information about Health Pass, a surprisingly affordable and flexible health insurance program for small businesses.  Mr. Zaretsky says, “Health Pass is about freedom of choice for small business; an affordable plan that offers 26 different benefit choices from four top name plans.”  The evening included a detailed presentation, an informative and entertaining question and answer session, and a gourmet buffet dinner prepared by Joe Chirico’s talented staff at Gage and Tollner.  More than 30 Chamber Members attended this repeat of a sold-out seminar conducted last March.