About IACCE - President's Message

September 25, 2009

Last year about this time, I wrote a President’s message that is more timely than ever.  I said previously the chambers are affected by the economy as much as or more than business.  How can I say that?  Because when business feels threatened that they will not make ends meet at the end of a month, they start looking for ways to save money.  One common way is to cut professional or business organizations out of their budgets.  We have all watched what is happening in our business communities and now is the time we must raise the bar.  Remaining the same is not an option, but rather to evolve into the next generation of chambers and what the business community needs.  You can survey your members and see what they think they want, but we all have experienced a program or seminar that people said they wanted but no one showed up to.

As we quickly approach the 2009 IACCE Fall Conference on November 4 – 6 in Lisle, it is yet again my recommendation to listen to your peers.  You have mentors waiting to be discovered at the conference or maybe you’ll become a mentor.  We are all in this industry together…  rather than looking at one another as competitors, look at your neighboring chamber as your ally.  A trend, program or idea that is working elsewhere may be the idea that you bring home from the conference and implement in 2010.  Mark your calendars now, register, and plan on attending the Fall Conference in Lisle.

As our industry evolves, we must be willing to learn from one another and come together…  IACCE Fall Conference will give you the opportunity to network, learn, and share.  You’re not alone in your community, we’re in this together and IACCE is here to help as we move forward and raise the bar ever higher to show that we are progressive…  we are survivors!

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Liz Kerns, IOM

President

July 10, 2009

Growth and Survival is the theme for 2009 for IACCE.

Growth
Believe it or not, I am in my 6th year as President of IACCE.  I look back at the past 5+ years with amazement in how much I have grown with the association.  We...  together...  have taken a sleepy little association full of passionate and dedicated professionals to the next level and raised the bar for state executive associations across the country.  Katie Davis, IACCE's Spring Intern, looked at the web sites of the other state executive associations throughout the country and benchmarked where IACCE was in relationship to benefits, content, programming, etc.  She came back to me and cited very few (if any) have the depth of content on their web site or the benefits we offer.  As a single state association, we hold our own in the strength of our membership.  Comparable associations are the multi-state groups like WACE on the west coast (6+ states) or ACCE which serves all 50 states.  I am so proud of where we are as an association, and more importantly, where we are going. 

Survival
If you haven't noticed, the Fall Conference committee has picked a theme and we wrapped the Learn from the Masters and Webinar themes around this idea of Survival in 2009.  As a play on words, IACCE is looking to help chambers survive in this tough economy and thrive into the future...  but playing with the theme for the fall conference as "Survivor:  Chamber Island" (like the TV series, Survivor).  While the theme is light hearted with a luau/tropical island feel, the overall topics are very serious as we ensure you understand the future of this industry we all know and love.  Times are changing, technology is changing, competition is heating up and we are expected to do more with less.  IACCE has been challenged to raise that bar again for ourselves and prove that your membership dollars and registration costs for the conferences are worth every penny.  With the help of our webinar sponsor, WebEx, we are able to provide free webinars in 2009 to our membership.  Have a topic you want to hear or want to speak for an hour?  Let us know.  We need your help in making these webinars more beneficial, timely and "survivor" worthy!

Personal Note
On a personal note, many of you have watched me "grow" and "survive" through my personal life with a wedding in 2006, birth of our son Caden Matthew in 2007, and most recently, the birth of our 2nd son Grant Thomas on April 16, 2009.  I took a short absence from IACCE and the Illinois Chamber for 8 weeks but am now back in the proverbial saddle and ready to hit the ground running.   

IACCE Intern, Katie Davis, will be wrapping up her internship this week but is training a new intern as we speak.  You'll all be hearing from Amie Suter this fall.  As we grow, IACCE needs all of our members and volunteers to step up and work together along side with the staff.  This association is only as great as what you put into it and I sincerely hope each of you get something special out of IACCE. 

Finally, a big thank you to Katie as she leaves IACCE and finishes her communication degree from Springfield College in Illinois/Benedictine University.  Katie started with IACCE in January 2009 and was brought on to help with a number of projects including cleaning up the web site, launching our first photo membership directory and conducting a number of surveys.  Watching her bud into an aspiring chamber professional has been an absolute pleasure.  IACCE wishes her the very best in the future and hopes to watch her career in the chamber industry flourish. 

Be sure to apply for scholarships, awards, and start thinking about accreditation for 2009.  The deadlines are coming quickly and we hope to have a large amount of support in 2009 as we have in year's past. 

Liz Kerns

IACCE President