Is your Internet running slowly due to all the video content and advanced applications straining your provider? Does it have you angrier than a surly fishgator? Well calm down, fella. The government might be here to help.

But is that a good thing? The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council says they’d rather let the private sector handle this one.

Robert McDowell:

"If we choose regulation over collaboration, we will be setting a precedent by thrusting politicians and bureaucrats into engineering decisions. Another concern is that as an institution, the FCC is incapable of deciding any issue in the nanoseconds that make up Internet time. And asking government to make these decisions could mean that every few years the ground rules would change based on election results. The Internet might grind to a halt in such a climate. It would certainly die of clogged arteries if network owners had to seek government permission before serving their customers by managing surges of information flow."

From a very early age, most of us were exposed to corporate sponsorships, usually in the form of sports. We proudly wore the name of a local business across our chest as we played tee ball or flocked after a soccer ball like ducklings following their mother.

Though we might not have considered the ramifications of what we wore, we served as tiny advertisers for the business community and owning an “Iggy’s Ice Shack” T-shirt undoubtedly reminded us where we had to go to get that snow cone for which we longed.

Off the baseball field and in the business world, sponsorships of conferences and seminars are a great way to hit your target audience. You sell safety products? Why not grab the attention of an entire conference of safety enthusiasts by sponsoring registration bags for the 2009 Indiana Safety and Health Conference and Expo?

You’ll be surprised how a room full of adults will clamor over a tote-bag with your company’s logo on it like children for a lump of sugary ice.

If you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities with the Indiana Chamber, contact Jim Wagner.