The Chamber Has a New Website!

Written by Sean Chambers - Director of the Cascade Area Chamber of Commerce:

I began working as the new Chamber Director in August of 2023. Since then, I've had a few upgrade projects I wanted to take on, but at the top of my list was setting up a database to hold all of our membership information in one spot. 2nd on my list was to update the way the Chamber and our members were represented on the internet. I recently found a company called Locable that could help with both of those items at the same time, plus a lot more! There are several other membership organizations in our neighborhood that use the same company, and they had good things to say about their experience. I presented the idea to the board, they agreed to go for it, and for the last month I've been working to build this new site, and I'd like to dedicate my first blog post to sharing some of the upgrades and new features with you. 

 Here are some of the features of the new site that I'm most excited about -

• A True Membership Directory - On our old site, we had a spreadsheet with a list of member names with their contact info. Our new site has all of our members listed on a page that can be filtered to search by category. If you click on any of the listings, you'll see a new page dedicated strictly to that member. Their logo is displayed, along with a description of the business, a map with a pin on their location, and hyperlinks to their website, social media pages, and contact information. These listings will boost the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of BOTH sites, the member's and the Chamber's. We also have several members that do not currently have a Website or Facebook page. Having a listing on this site now gives those member businesses the opportunity to show up in Google searches, and to have solid representation on the internet. 
• Event Management - Not only can we post upcoming community and member events on our new site, but the Chamber can also use the new site to manage RSVPs for some of our bigger annual events. The Annual Dinner, for example. Not only can we set up the site to take names for RSVPs, but we can also create reports to track RSVPs with the click of one button. We can also accept CC payments and accept nominations for the Business of the Year on our site now as well! For this year's Sunset Street Markets, we'll be able to use the new site to accept vendor applications, to accept payment, to track everything, and to help promote the event.
• Event Calendar - Our new site features an Events page, which can display events hosted by the Chamber and the City of Cascade, as well as any events that our members are hosting at their own business. If you have any events you would like listed on the Chamber's Event page, you can send the details to me and I'll be happy to add them, or you can claim your own FREE Locable account, and events that you post on your account will AUTOMATICALLY be posted on the Chamber's Site as well. 
• Job Postings & Volunteer Opportunities - We now have a job posting page that is prominently featured with a header at the top of our new site. Any member is allowed to post information about job openings. Please send those details to me and I'll be happy to add information about your job openings to our site. You may also activate your own free Locable Account, and jobs that you post there will also show up on the Chamber's Job page AUTOMATICALLY. As volunteers and volunteer opportunities are identified, we will be able to post those details in this new section as well. 
• A New Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Database - In the past, membership details were updated and tracked each year using excel spreadsheets. Some details were not filled in, some contained errors or mis-spellings, and worst of all, each year the slate was wiped clean as members renewed and a new spreadsheet was started to track details. With our new CRM Database, all membership details can live in one place. We can track business info, profile info, and contact info all in one place, and easily update as needed. When July rolls around, I can send renewals via email to all of our members with the click of one button. Those emails will have invoices attached for membership renewals, and a button you will be able to push if you'd like to make an online payment at that time and just take care of it quickly. This is going to be a huge upgrade for the Chamber and for our members!
• Continuous Updates - As new information and new needs arise, we will now have the ability to make additions and adjustments to our new site to reflect the specific needs and nuances of the community. The site we launched has all the basics included, but I'm already thinking of new pages we can add to help internet users better find local businesses that can deliver what they're looking for. If any members have suggestions about new pages or updates that should be considered, we'd love to hear them! Please let us know what you are thinking! Either contact Sean Directly, or fill out the form below to submit your suggestions.

There is more to all of this than I can mention in one blog post, but I hope this post helps you get a sense of what an upgrade this is over what we used to have, and how this helps us better follow our mission of promoting our Members. 

Better Business. Better Community.