Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
For decades, the W.A.C.E. Foundation has been hosting a silent and live auction at our annual conference to raise money. That money has been used for conference and workshop scholarships, keynote speakers, sending people to the Academy, and more. We raise more than $25,000 annually through this auction, thanks to the generosity of our peers and the hard work of the Foundation Board and others both prior to and during the conference.
For those involved who balance their own chamber work, conference attendance, and the foundation auction, sometimes it feels like pure insanity.
Positive Changes
Fortunately, contributors and volunteers—people like former longtime auction chair Nancy Hoffman Vanyek—forge on each year because that insanity meets purpose and creates such positive impacts in the lives of our colleagues. It can bring about incredible changes within chambers of commerce across the Western states. The effort strengthens the toolboxes of the people whose mission it is to champion business and community.
In just the last 20 years, the W.A.C.E. Foundation has provided hundreds of scholarships to chamber professionals from Canada to Texas and everywhere in between. The money we have raised together has helped our industry as a whole to become better.
In “The Chamber of Commerce of the 21st Century,” we learn about the value proposition of chambers—that the success of the business community and the community in which it lives are inextricable. And that the tools that chambers provide to help our local businesses succeed in turn help our community succeed.
Taking that one step further, if we, as chamber professionals don’t always strive to learn more, how will we ever stay current on the tools our businesses, and therefore our community, needs?
Helping Chamber Industry
Thanks to the support of our Foundation, thousands of chamber professionals have been introduced to the ideas this study presents and have been given the tools to grow their own organizations and become better catalysts, conveners and champions.
This year our emerging leaders have stepped up to volunteer their time and talents in support of not only this auction, but the betterment of us as an industry. We are asking you to join us in our insanity by donating to our annual auction. Your contribution, no matter the size, creates an insanely incredible impact.
There is a flyer in this newsletter with detailed information on what you can give and where to give it. I am available any time to answer your questions, comments or otherwise.
Derek Kirk is president and CEO of the Atascadero (CA) Chamber.