Memorial Day is for remembering

The Memorial Day weekend is meant to remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for each of us. They each played a role in the freedom we enjoy today throughour our land and beyond. Take some time this weekend and reflect on the veterans in your family, living and dead who have served their country. Talk with your relatives who are veterans and learn more about what they endured and their experiences. Talk to your children and explain the significance of Memorial Day. Visit a local cemetery and show them the flags on the graves of those who served in the armed forces. Take a flag and flowers to the graves of loved ones who served their country. Help your children understand and appreciate their sacrifices.

Plan on joining the community at this year's Memorial day parades throughout the County. Adrian's parade begins at the National Guard Armory on West Maumee Street at 11 am and proceeds to Momument Park on East Maumee Street for a formal presentation ceremony. It is a very moving experience at the Park and causes you to think about the meaning of the day.

Have you visited the World War 2 exhibit at the Lenawee Historical Museum yet? Don't miss it. It will be up through the summer and depicts what life was like during the war at home and abroad. There is a large sign that lists the Gold Star Mothers in Lenawee County - the women who lost sons during the Great War. I can't describe the feeling I get when I see the names of my Grandmother, Dora Johnston and my uncle, Judson Johnston who was killed when his plane crashed into the side of a mountain in Bala, Wales. My dad, Harold Johnston served four years in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I can't imagine what those experiences were like. For all the hours I spent listening to my Dad's war stories, he never told me about the bad stuff - the fighting and dying.

Say a prayer for the veterans of all our wars this weekend and when you see a vet, thank him or her for what they have done for all of us!

It's all about communication

We may be communicating differently, but letting others know about your business, developing relationships and being known and visible is still all about communication. While we used to communicate via typewriters, land lines, the postal service, and the telegraph, we now reach out through e-mail, fax, and social networking options. Have you noticed how impatient we become when the computer is slow or an e-mail doesn't come through when we expect it. We have gotten so used to instant communication and I often hear people wonder aloud how we ever managed earlier when we had to rely on snail mail! Think about the days when letters were delivered by Pony Express riders who had to contend with indian attack and highwaymen!

It's important to keep current with the new technologies for communicating and knowing how to make using these tools relavant to our businesses and organizations. The biggest challenge I face with social networking, including our blog, Face Book, Twitter, and even our website is making the time and remembering to write frequently and keep everything current. We just launched a new website this week at http://www.adrianareachamber.com/ and it is easier than before to update and put photos on the home page. And I am relying on an old-fashioned form of communication to remind me to keep this log, Twitter and Face Book current - I have a 3M sticky note posted on my computer screen!

Connecting Points

Each month our Board of Directors opens their meeting with an exercise called "Connecting Points". The Chair poses a question and individuals respond with their thoughts. Sometimes the questions are funny, sometimes more personal and often deal with community issues. This past week, the question was, "If money was not a problem, what would you do to improve our community?" I wanted to share the responses with you today: Upgrade the facades on the downtown buildings and make the entire downtown more attractive; build a parking garage; financially sustain local agencies in crisis; create more public transportation; have really free parking; train service to Ford Field and Comerica Park; fill stores downtown and throughout the community with really good businesses; convince more people that Adrian is a great place to live; and give people more reasons to shop here. What would you do for the community if money was not an issue? Let us know.

All About Women

I hope many of you will be attending All About Women this Saturday at Adrian High School. The Health Fair and EXPO runs from 9 am until 4 pm - come for an hour or spend the day. It's a great activity to enjoy with family, friends and co-workers! Health screenings compliments of Bixby Medical Center, classes, fashion, pampering, shopping and lots more. $10 gets you everything but lunch and shopping.

Events like these are important for all of us. For the vendors and exhibitors the event brings increased exposure to persons who, if not right now, may later be in the market for their services and/or products. And for those who attend, the benefits are many: education, networking, learning what's available right in their own backyards,as well as an enjoyable day.

Networking WORKS!

Although some people say that the term "networking" is overused, I am constantly in awe of its power to build relationships for individuals and the businesses and organizations they represent! The Chamber offfers multiple opportunities for our members to network because we believe in the necessity of people coming together to converse about business issues, services products, and experiences.

To be honest, there are very few times when our members come together, whether it is for a formal program or a simple committee meeting that business doesn't get done, So, I encourage you to actively network at not only Chamber events, but wherever you find yourself in a group of people. It's just good business!

Scams abound

Recently, the Chamber found itself the potential target of two scam attempts. The first dealt with the yellow pages (not to be confused with Yellow Book). The caller said he was contacting us to confirm our listing in the yellow pages and once he did so, he went on to explain that our advertising rate would remain at the 2008 level of $431 for this year. When I told him we had never paid to have information placed in yellow pages. He said we had to have paid since he had our information. We went round and round until I simply told him we were not paying for the space and he could remove us from the book. He then asked if we closing our office and assured him we were not but we were not paying. End of conversation! Advertising pages are known for sending official looking envelopes with pretty realistic invoices inside. Many of these are not legitimate bills and should not be paid. Only pay for advertising for which you have a signed contract in hand.

The second instance involved a call from Credit Recovery International on behalf of Progressive Business Publications. They claimed that we owed $240 for a 12-month subscription, that we had received five issues and five invoices as well. They has the first 2 numbers of my birth date and said that proved I had taken out the subscription. They offered to settle for only $100 - the cost of the five issues we were supposed to have received. She accused us of throwing out the invoices, not recognizing the mailings to be ordered publications and pretty basically of lying.

I asked her for a day to check out the claim. We then contacted out attorney who prepared a
letter to both parties indicating that no payment would be forthcoming as we never ordered the publication. Susan Bays in our office Googled Progressive Business Publications and found numerous complaints against them which described the exact same numbers and information given to me on the phone. Our attorney included a reference to the claims as well as copies in his letters. We have not heard from either since.

You know, the thing that bothered me was that even though I knew I had not placed the order, after being harangued for 10 minutes on the phone, I started to doubt myself. I imagine that this is an usual response and the sad thing is that when that happens, I bet some people write the check.

Anytime you have questions about phone solicitations, letters or "invoices" you receive in the mail or any other promotion of which you question the validity, call the Better Business Bureau at 1-800-743-4222 or go their website at www.adrianbbb.org. Their office is in Toledo and serves northeast Ohio and southeast Michigan. Report any attempted scams to the Chamber office as well, so that we can we make others aware.

I'm learning that it takes time to keep up with all the opprtunities afforded by technology. For example, keeping blog posts current. We will keep trying. One thing I do know is that not seeing new information on a regular basis turns off people's interest whether it is a blog or a website. I can't speak to other on-line social networking activities because I haven't ventured there yet!

We have been busy with the recent HAPPY DAYS FUNdraising event held last Saturday at the Country Club. What fun! Great food, great friends and a successful event for the Chamber. Everyone's hard work was rewarded. Thanks to each person and business who made the event great!

This week, as we work to wrap up that event, we are dealing with the fallout from the announcement of CertifiChecks ceasing operations and their plan to file Chapter 7. Information was sent to all Chamber members today in an effort to provide answers to any questions. If you would like a copy, it will be on our website late tomorrow.

Other projects being attended to as well include our Annual Meeting on March 26th, Wine About Winter (we'll be open this Friday from 6-8), and getting ready for the LCAHB Home Show at the Siena Heights University Field House. Stop and see us at booth 31. We'll be there all weekend!

This is an especially busy weekend in Adrian as we have the opportunity to attend Escanaba in Love at the Croswell, check out the Home Show at Siena, stroll through Downtown Adrian Friday evening during Wine About Winter and celebrate with Zonta of Lenawee as they celebrate their 50th anniversary at the Lenawee Historical Museum on Friday evening as well. What a great community in which we live!!