Creative chamber of commerce event ideas can do a lot for increasing attendance, attracting new members and building your revenue. If you feel like you’ve been hosting the same old event, here are four ideas from successful chambers of commerce that you can borrow, edit and make your own!
Creative Chamber of Commerce Event Ideas: Themes
When a chamber exec looked to the pros on the Chamber Professionals Group on Facebook for innovative ideas for events, she wasn’t disappointed. There were a number of great and creative chamber of commerce event ideas. We think someone has watched a lot of TV and instead of becoming brain-dead, they got inspired. There are also two great event ideas that are based on pairing things that normally don’t go together, like fancy and … not-so-fancy!
Retro TV
Choose a theme from an old TV show. One chamber did a M.A.S.H. theme with netting and other Army props and prizes for the best look-a-like. Love Boat would be fun as well with nautical decorations and a very easy song parody. (I know you’re probably humming it in your head right now.) Think “I Love Lucy” or even Nickelodeon shows that your millennial members may remember from their childhood.
Current TV
The Mitchell Chamber of Commerce is located in an area where pheasant hunting is very popular. They took their cues from the well-known television show “Duck Dynasty” and added their own twist to create their “Pheasant Dynasty” theme. If you need an idea for a new chamber event, just start flipping channels.
Carhartts and Cocktails
Carhartts is a working-class clothing brand and along with Dickies is the “uniform” of the farming community across America. So the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce leveraged the alliteration to create an event which exposed their community to the people who are the source of their food and fiber. The chamber invited their local farmers specifically to mingle with their business people at this event. It received great publicity and was a big hit with both the farming and non-farming business communities.
Expect the Unexpected
Several chambers chimed in with unexpected pairings like “boxers and bling,” “denim and diamonds,” and a sneaker ball. With the sneaker ball formal attire is required on everything but your feet, where you wear — as the name suggests — sneakers, tennis shoes, or gym shoes depending on your geographic location in the country.
Have you held a unique event that you are dying to tell us about? Join the conversation here.
