With nearly 5,000 members and 26,000 customers, the Chamber’s web page generates a significant amount of traffic. Not the backed-up Interstate-405, watching O.J. Simpson roll by in a white Ford Bronco, pull your hair out, Los Angeles kind of traffic, but about 600 unique visitor hits a day to our home page traffic. Members are encouraged to post their press releases and to submit a Member Spotlight to our site. Both may be done at no charge by being our beloved member.
 
Press release announcements regarding company milestones, new products or services, prominent new hires or community involvement, may be submitted here.
 
Additionally, the Member Spotlight gives you two weeks on our site to tell your company’s story and to promote your products and services.
 
Not a member? Contact Tom James at tjames@indianachamber.com or (317) 264-7539 to learn more about membership benefits.

Indiana Chamber members and others are invited to Lunch with Brinegar at Conseco Fieldhouse at 11:30 a.m., June 9, 2010.  Chamber President Kevin Brinegar will provide an update on membership benefits and current legislative issues facing Hoosier businesses. The Chamber played some killer defense for business in the 2010 Indiana General Assembly, and Kevin will update you on the session’s outcome.

The event is a great opportunity to network with other Chamber members from central Indiana. Kevin might even show off his mad dunking skills.

The lunch is free for members and $19 for non-members. To RSVP, contact Tom James at tjames@indianachamber.com or (317) 264-3793.

We hope to see you at Conseco Fieldhouse.

When times are tough, many members turn to the Indiana Chamber for unique membership benefits and discount programs to help their businesses. ChamberCare, our discount health insurance program with Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, is available to businesses outside of Marion County with 2-99 employees. Over 2,200 member companies currently enjoy a significant discount on their Anthem insurance as a result of our partnership. (Read about the benefits here.)
 
Members also have three free resources available with just one quick phone call or e-mail. The HR Helpline answers employment law and HR questions. The Business Research Center provides customized business lists, quarterly new/expanding business reports, demographics and wage information. The Communications/PR Resource Center provides the ability for members to post press releases on our web site, answers questions on press releases and social media and gives updated media list information.
 
As 2010 begins, we’d like to remind our members that our dues are 82% tax deductible. To join the Indiana Chamber, please click here.
 
Have a prosperous year!

Beyond individual attributes and abilities, what’s one of the keys to being a good salesperson? The no-brainer answer is a good product to sell.

Well, the Indiana Chamber has that. The list of benefits is long and powerful. Add in the almost 90 years of history and accomplishment, the nearly 5,000 member companies with 800,000 Hoosier workers already on board, and the recognition that businesses can’t do everything on their own and must utilize available resources for ultimate success.

But you still have to be at the top of your game to get the job done. We’re in the market for a new membership development manager, with this dynamic salesperson joining a team of five other awesome membershipians (I know that’s not a real word, but give me a break).  To be successful, this position requires hitting the phone and hitting the road to convince business owners and CEOs that the Chamber can and should be part of their game plan.  Go get ‘ers should e-mail me (tbrewer@indianachamber.com) to learn more and to submit a resume.  Sleepy heads need not apply.

Olympian runner, Indiana University grad and Indianapolis business owner Bob Kennedy recently visited the Indiana Chamber as part of the Chamber’s ongoing wellness program speaker series. 

Kennedy believes the best way to include exercise in one’s life and to maintain an exercise program is to be very specific with goals and to always block time in your schedule for exercise. Kennedy is still the American record holder in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter distance events. He no longer runs the trails of Eagle Creek Park on Indianapolis’ northwest side to prepare for races, but he does maintain a very busy life. 

Now, he balances his life between his family and his business, The Running Company. After some time away from the sport in recent years, when asked what drove him back to running a few miles a day, he simply replied, “my kids.”

If you’re walking around downtown Indianapolis the next few days, you might just bump into a wizard, a warlock or an enormous gathering of average Joe’s with comic book heroes on their black t-shirts and backpacks full of gaming items. Gen Con Indy is one of the many massive conventions in Indianapolis’ growing convention market. 
 
Gen Con Indy claims the top spot at the sorcerer’s round table as the original, best attended and longest running gaming convention in the entire galaxy. In 2007, over 26,000 gamers attended Gen Con Indy. This is another example why Indianapolis must offer the best facilities available in Lucas Oil Stadium and the expanding Indiana Convention Center. The tax revenue generated from Gen Con and other conventions is very important to downtown’s economy, not to mention the boon to local restaurants and hotels.
 
Here’s a list of upcoming events at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center. The expected attendance numbers are critical for Indiana tourism.
 
If you do bump into one of our visiting gamers, be nice, ok? They might have horns or claim to have powers to place a spell banishing you to the planet Zog, but they never cause any trouble and they go about their own business. 

Welcome back, Gen Con folks!