News from The Weatherford Area Chamber of Commerce

If you don't like Oklahoma's weather just wait a little bit was certainly proven this past weekend! But if you don't like Weatherford's future, then there's still time to make a difference! Circle the dates of April 9 and April 23 and make plans to attend the community wide strategic planning.

Your Chamber continues to grow and improve thanks to the involvement and support of its membership. Community and economic development and legislative advocacy are the cornerstones of the Chamber's 2009 Business Plan. The steps may be small but they are steady and sure. Why legislative advocacy, because every cent spent by government is initially generated by a business!

Chamber members recently received their 2009 Chamber Membership Investment Statements and the response has been excellent. Membership Investments are the lifeblood of any Chamber. Thank you for your past and future support!

What's Happening!

All events are subject to change! For complete details go to www.weatherfordchamber.com

Monday, April 6

Executive Committee Meeting - 12:00 PM - Chamber Office

Tuesday, April 7

Retail Trades Committee - 8:00 AM - Chamber of Commerce

Wednesday, April 8

Weatherford Economic Development Foundation - 7:00 AM - BancFirst

Thursday, April 9

Community Coffee @ BancFirst - 9:30 AM - BancFirst

Thursday, April 9

Board of Directors Meeting - 4:00 PM - Chamber Office

Thursday, April 9

Building on the 2020 Vision - 5:30 PM - Pioneer Center

Thursday, April 9

SWOSU College Rodeo - 7:30 PM - Don Mitchell Rodeo Arena

Friday, April 10

SWOSU College Rodeo - 7:30 PM - Don Mitchell Rodeo Arena

Friday, April 10

SWOSU College Rodeo - 7:30 PM - Don Mitchell Rodeo Arena

Contacting Customers

Looking for a great way to electronically stay in touch with clients or customers? Then take a look at "Constant Contact", the online program used by the Weatherford Area Chamber to stay in touch with its members. Chamber members receive an increased pre-payment discount. A 6 month pre-payment is 20% and 12 month pre-payments receive a 25% discount.

Franklin Covey Workshop

Bendure & Associates, Western Techonolgy Center, and the Weatherford C of C
Invite you to attend the one-half day
FranklinCovey Leadership Workshop:
The 4 Imperatives of Great Leaders
Facilitator: Bill Bendure
8:30-12:00 - April 15, 2009
WTC- Weatherford Campus
Contact the Chamber to register

The Workshop will present a new leadership paradigm and give you a skill set and tool set to lead the knowledge age worker. It addresses the 4 chronic problems of organizations:

Low trust
Fuzzy and unclear purpose
Wasted talent and potential of staff
Bureaucracy, rules that are not aligned with purpose

Each participant will complete the 360� Leadership Inventory prior to the workshop, and receive a personalized report-you will use this in the workshop to create your own plan of action to improve in four areas. (Register by April 8 so that you can complete the leadership inventory via computer. You will be sent instructions by email as soon as you register).

This workshop's regular cost is $195/person. The Weatherford Chamber of Commerce has arranged the special rate for Chamber Leadership participants or graduates of $100 per person. Contact the Chamber to register, 772-7744. Make checks payable to Weatherford C of C.

Don't Be Left Out

Don't miss your opportunity to advertise on the only Weatherford map distritbuted by the Weatherford Area Chamber of Commerce! Your chamber is working with Brent Reed, owner of Weatherford Press, to develop and distribute the map. Reed is handling all the advertising sales for the map. Contact Reed at 772-5300 to secure you space. Advertising prices and sizes are listed below.

Business Card Size - $350 Full Panel - $1,000

Publicity for Your Business or Event

The 2009 State Travel Guide and Events Guide have just been released, but work is already underway for the 2010 publications. If your business is tourism related or your part of an organization which sponsors a project or activity which the traveling public would like to attend, contact the Chamber about how your event can be included in these publication.

Building on the Vision

Next meeting for Weatherford's

community wide strategic planning process is April 9. All meetings will be held at the Pioneer Center and start at 5:30 p.m. with a meal, before the planning process begins at 6:00 p.m. Remaining date is

April 23rd

The meetings will build upon the information gained from the community wide survey and each meeting. It does not matter if you miss the first meetings to be able to attend future meetings.

Goodie Bag Items

2008 Calendar October 20th and 21^st, Weatherford will host approximately 80 OSU Extension Office Secretaries from across the SW District . Radonna Sawatzky is aksing interested businesses to provide coupons and other promotional items to be included in the goodie bags. Don't miss this opportunity to get your name in front of these visitors. They'll have plenty of free time to take advantage your offers. Deliver your items to the Chamber.

Community Coffee

2008 Calendar

BancFirst

122 North Broadway
Weatherford, Oklahoma 73096

Thursday, April 9

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Good Seat

Even though the weather is cold, Spring is just around the corner and with it comes great weather, outdoor activities, and beautification efforts. As you make your plans for Spring, consider adding a park bench to your outdoor beautification efforts. The metal benches provide a great place for shoppers to sit and enjoy the weather! The bench also features a medallion recognizing the business sponsoring the bench.

To order your park bench contact Linda in the City's Parks and Recreation Department, 774-2450, wfordparks@cityofweatherford.com . Place your order before April 1.

Share this email with your co-workers!

Sincerely,

Marie Hanza
Weatherford Area Chamber of Commerce