Your Business Connection for February 2012

The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) Network (MSBDC) provides free and confidential business advisory services. For more information on the MSBDC or to make an appointment to meet with a counselor at the NVCC Office, visit their website or call (508) 673-9783.

NVCC offers free SCORE COUNSELING at the NVCC office on Thursdays, by appointment.

To register call (781) 769-1126.

From the President

What's Your Game Plan?

Say what you will about the "easy" road to the Super Bowl taken by the New England Patriots and how they were handed the AFC Championship by the Baltimore Ravens. The fact is, this is their 0.85 fifth trip to the title game in 11 years (10 if you don't count the year Tom Brady was injured). By any measure, that is a remarkable feat that simply cannot be attributed to luck. To perform at such a high level of success for a sustained period of time requires much more than luck (or spying, but that's another matter).

While most readers of this column are Patriot fans hoping for a victory on Sunday, I'm sure that even their harshest critic would have to agree that what they have accomplished over the past eleven years must be attributable to several factors. So as a former football player and coach, here is my attempt to translate the Patriot formula for success to success in your business.

Leadership - From Robert Kraft to Bill Belichick to Tom Brady the Patriots are driven by a common vision for success that goes beyond the football field to how they treat their employees (coaches, players and other staff) to how they manage their public brand. They are not afraid to spend money on first class facilities and amenities for their team so that their player's only concern is doing their job on the field without extraneous distractions.

Teamwork - perhaps no better public example of team spirit was displayed when the Patriots appeared in Super Bowl XXXVI (months after the 9/11 attacks) by being announced as a team rather than individual players as had been the custom. The move captured the patriotic spirit of the country at the time, but also showed how the Patriots felt about each other. They were not a collection of stars but a group of players all working together as one to achieve their collective goal. That spirit of teamwork has been a hallmark of Bill Belichick's philosophy with his team. He trusts his players to do their jobs and they in turn trust each other. So while it seems odd to many that a player suddenly shows up in a different position, it's no big deal to the Patriots because of their preparation and belief in their coach and their system.

Patience - Patience in football can seem like an oxymoron. The point is to move the ball and score, quickly if possible. When things don't go as planned, it's easy to discard the game plan and make changes on the fly. However, the Patriots have been able in most cases to stay calm and stick with their plan trusting that they will make the necessary adjustments to turn the game in their favor. Doing this takes the pressure off the players so again they can focus on their tasks. The take a big picture view of each season and don't overreact to a bad play, a bad game, a key injury, etc.

Will - There's a difference between wanting to win or succeed and willing yourself to. Everybody who plays wants to win. However, the truly successful are those who have the will to win. That inner drive that compels them to do the behind the scenes work necessary to win. Tom Brady is of course famous for his will to win. However, what we see on TV is just the tip of the iceberg. The actual game is the end product for someone like Brady. It's the preparation mentally and physically leading up the game where the real will to win is shown. Again, the Patriots have leaders with that same will and by example, they spread it to others on the team. If the others on the team don't pick it up, then are not on the team very long.

None of what I mentioned above has anything to do with physical talent and skill. In fact, one-third of the Patriots current roster is made up of players who were not drafted by any NFL team. However, they will be playing in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday night. Certainly they are good athletes, but they also possess many other traits like those above.

So while it might seem trite to compare sport to business and business to sport, it's what we do. Therefore, I would suggest that we can all use the Patriots as an example of how to build a winning organization. For me, I look at Leadership, Teamwork, Patience and Will as four areas that can be extremely beneficial to any business.

Leadership - Do we have a common vision among our leadership team? Does leadership ensure we have the tools to be successful?

Teamwork - Does our staff work as a team? Do they understand the importance of each other's role in addition to their own? Do they see the benefits of working as a team?

Patience - Do we have the patience to be successful or do we react to every little change in the environment? Do we understand the big picture well enough to be patient? Do we trust our plan and each other enough to be patient?

Will - Do we attract people with the will to be successful regardless of their position? Do we display the proper will to succeed through our own example?

Patriots 24 Giants 20

Tom O'Rourke

President & CEO

Farewell from the Chairman

NVCC grows during 2011 despite stagnant economy

As I step down as your Chairman of the Board, I am pleased to report that the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce (NVCC) has done its customary outstanding job of bu 1.2093023255813952 ilding membership, stabilizing finances, strengthening its governance, and gaining significant recognition throughout the region as a proactive resource for small and large businesses.

We have done a solid job of recruiting new members while simultaneously retaining membership at a higher level than anticipated a year ago. The economy has been a challenge, but clearly more and more business owners recognize the importance and value of supporting the Chamber. By making Chamber membership a priority, each business enhances its visibility throughout the region, which, in turn, gives our organization a stronger voice on the many issues that impact the Neponset Valley region.

Bank of Canton practices what it preaches. James Egan, former President and Chairman of the Board of Bank of Canton, and Stephen Costello, current President and CEO, have both served as Chairmen of the Board of the NVCC, and I am proud to follow in their tradition in my 14^th year as a Chamber member to ensure that Bank of Canton is well represented both at the Chamber and in our communities at large. In addition, I feel that our banking expertise has helped the Chamber stand on a more solid financial footing.

We have brought new staff on Board during 2011. Cristoff Shay has done a fine job as Director of Programs. Denise Flynne has joined us as Financial and Office Manager. Our President, Tom O'Rourke, has ensured that the staff meet the changing needs of the NVCC in addition to demonstrating leadership on major issues impacting the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, particularly health insurance for small businesses, transportation and economic development.

The Board of Directors has formed a Governance Committee that is focused on identifying and anticipating the roles and responsibilities of the members of our Board. In its charge to create a stronger Board, the Governance Committee is enhancing the quality and future viability of the board by focusing on the following six areas:

Board Role and Responsibilities
Board Composition - ensure that current and future members have a diverse mix of expertise and influence
Board Knowledge
Board Effectiveness
Board Leadership
By-Law Review

Maintaining a proactive Chamber has been a high priority of mine. As businesses, industries and organizations face both setbacks and opportunities in this uncertain economy, our Board and staff have positioned the Chamber to provide assistance and resources in a variety of areas, including economic development, healthcare and health insurance, transportation, housing, culture, recreation, natural resources, senior services, and local, state and national legislation.

Because of the Chamber's tireless work over many decades, the Neponset Valley has grown as a "brand" as well as a thriving region in Greater Boston. Business and industry ranging from retail and restaurants to technology and life science continue to locate and grow here, while our communities maintain a high quality of life. To that end, we were proud to welcome John Harthorne, CEO and founder of MassChallenge, a magnet for entrepreneurs and innovation, as the guest speaker at our recent Annual Meeting.

Like the Chamber, Bank of Canton continues to expand its services to meet the needs of a diverse audience of customers and support a wide variety of community organizations in need. We apply this philosophy at the Chamber and embrace the diverse audiences that we support throughout the Neponset Valley.

In closing, it has been my privilege to serve as Chairman of the Board during 2011 for an organization that continues to make a positive difference in the lives of so many businesses, industries, organizations, and residents. Thank you for the opportunity to do so!

Anthony Caruso

Senior Vice President

Branch Administration

Bank of Canton

Upcoming Programs

Thursday, February 2

HR-Council - Hiring the Right Employee

NVCC Office

190 Vanderbilt Avenue

Norwood, MA

8-9:00am

FREE for all to attend

Thursday, February 16

Business After Hours
Blue Hills Bank

111 Lenox Street

Norwood, MA

5:30-7:30pm

$10 Members, $20 Non-members

Wednesday, February 22

Membership Drive

Bar Louie

Patriot Place

Foxboro, MA

5:30-7:30pm

FREE - Members must bring a non-member guest

Tuesday, February 28

Social Media Marketing Series - Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn and Facebook for Business

Holiday Inn-Dedham

55 Ariadne Road

Dedham, MA

12-2:00pm

$20 Members, $30 Non-members, $15 Facebook Fans (Members only)

Easy registration for these beneficial programs

The NVCC Kicks off its Annual Membership Drive February 1^st

0.7733333333333333 "Prime the Visibility Pump" for your business with the 2012 NVCC Membership Campaign. It will begin February 1^st and conclude on March 16^th.

This year's event is highlighted by two "Get Acquainted" After Hours Wednesdays on February 22^nd at Bar Louie at Patriot Place in Foxboro and March 7^th at TGI Friday's on Route 1 in Norwood. Reservations are required by contacting Brian at 781-769-1126 or brian@nvcc.com and members are only admitted if they bring a prequalified candidate who is interested in participating in the NVCC.

Both events are free of charge and run from 5:30-7:30pm. There will be a cash bar and complimentary appetizers. Candidates who elect to come on board at the "Get Acquainted" After Hours Wednesdays will receive an additional $135 in incentives and will be entered into a drawing for two tickets to The Flavors of Neponset Valley Gala to be held on March 22^nd. All candidates who choose to join during the "Prime the Visibility Pump" will be entitled to $635 in NVCC incentives.

All existing member referrals that result in a new member will be awarded $25 in Chamber Dollar Certificates and will be entered into a drawing to win a pair of Red Sox tickets. Furthermore, cash prizes for Most Dues Revenue and Most New Members will be presented in both categories.

1^st place $200
2^nd place $150
3^rd place $100

*Certain minimums are required - please contact me for details.

If you were willing to provide just one referral of someone, you know who would benefit from NVCC participation, it would help tremendously. Please contact Brian at 781-769-1126 or brian@nvcc.com to find out how you may be of assistance.

Join us on February 22

Social Media Marketing Series - Part 2

Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn and Facebook for Business

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With over 400 million users, Facebook and LinkedIn have taken the business world by storm. These popular social media outlets are not trends, but powerful business tools with over 5 billion pieces of information exchanged each week. The question is, are you fully taking advantage of these

game-changing sites?

Join MSBDC Counselor, Trish White for an overview of social networking, setting-up personal profiles, identifying business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) uses, building business profiles on each network, and getting the results your business desires.

Don't let the Social Media revolution pass you by!

Holiday Inn

55 Ariadne Road

Dedham, MA

Tuesday, February 28

12-2:00pm

$20 Members, $30 Non-members, $15 Facebook Fans (Members only)

Easy registration

Sponsored by

Business After Hours

Get the most out of your Chamber Membership and expose your business to new markets at the Business After Hours at the Blue Hills Bank in Norwood (formally Hyde Park Savings)

Enjoy food from Off the Vine Catering, drink , great networking, and enter a chance to win a Kindle Fire!!!

Bring a lot of business cards.

Blue Hills Bank

111 Lenox Street

Norwood, MA

Thursday, February 16

5:30-7:30pm

Easy registration

Food * Fun * Friends

NVCC invites you to experience food, fun and friends at the

13th Annual Flavors of Neponset Valley Gala.

Experience the im 0.6285714285714286 pressive culinary and local flavors of over 60 food and beverage vendors while enjoying the smooth jazz of the White Heat Swing Orchestra. Plus, take a chance to win big in the exciting silent auction.

Tickets make great gifts for family, friends, employees...everyone!

Just some of our delicious participants:

Bar Louie

Becketts

Bertucci's

Blue Hill Country Club

British Beer Company

Colonial Wholesale Beverage

Chateau

Christina's

Davio's

Easton Country Club

Edible Arrangements of Foxboro

Hannafords

Harpoon Brewery

HESSCO

And many more!!!

Christina's

2 Washington Street

Foxboro, MA

Thursday, March 22

5:30-8:00pm

$45 per person, $350 for 10 (Early Bird)

Buy tickets

Sponsored by

Member Spotlight

CONSTITUTION ADVERTISING , INC - SHARON , MA

WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO HELP PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

Promotional Products are proven to help you connect with your customers, prospects and employees. Constitution Advertising helps create brand recognition with wearable and p 1.1454545454545455 romotional products. These products are an essential investment to your marketing programs.

A recent study found:

84% of individuals remember the company of the promotional products they have received.
62% have done business with the company printed on that product after receiving the item.
81% of promotional products are kept because they are considered useful.

It is not up to you alone to make your brand a success; we will work with you in suggesting ideas and products based on your budget, target audience, timing and other specifications. Every client and brand has different needs: your company should not look like your competition.

In the average day you will look at over three thousand media messages, fifty-two are noticed and only four are remembered. Let us help make sure that your message is one of the four!

Constitution Advertising has been in business for over sixteen years working with businesses and consumers to get their message out there. As we always say we want to make sure that you are the first person your customers or prospects call.

We are looking forward to being part of the NVCC as a returning member. We were members quite a few years ago and realized at the start of this year what a great organization it is. With that said we rejoined in 2012 and look forward to reconnecting with past clients and meeting new ones.

Please give us a call for any promotional needs you have. We want to become your marketing partner for 2012 and beyond.

We are offering a 20% discount on your first order of 2012.

Kim Locke

Constitution Advertising, Inc

781-793-8900

Sharon, MA

Facebook Likely Rolling Out Timeline for Business Pages Soon!

By Pamela Vaughn

Hubspot

Earlier this week, Facebook announced it will finally be rolling out Facebook Timeline to all users in the next few weeks, replacing the design of existing personal 0.4659090909090909 profile pages. While Timeline won't directly affect the look of your Facebook business page (yet), the rollout does have some powerful implications for marketers. You can read more about those implications here.

Timeline Design Likely Coming to Facebook Business Pages

But, notice how we said yet? That's right, while Facebook business pages aren't affected by the current Timeline rollout, we have good reason to believe that, in time, business pages will be clothed in a similar Timeline-esque design, too.

In an article from Co.Create yesterday, Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson discusses how Facebook is seeking to better align users' personal and brand experiences:

"The goal has always been to have your personal experience on Facebook not be so different than the brand or page experience. And right now, it is different. You have Timeline and you have a page-brand profile. So we are absolutely moving in the direction to sync those up. We believe that brands want to be able to curate how they're represented in a more visually pleasing way, and we're in the midst of trying to figure out how best to do that."

The Status of Open Graph Applications and Brands

According to Everson, Facebook is also in the early stages of bringing brands on board with Open Graph applications, emphasizing that the rollout of these branded apps has been slow so Facebook can ensure brands are building high quality application experiences for users. Facebook is encouraging brands and developers to build apps that fit and appeal to users' 'lifestyles.'

Marketing Takeaway

While Everson's remarks do make it sound highly likely that Facebook will eventually convert the business pages we currently use into a more Timeline-esque design that better aligns with the experience on personal profiles -- err, Timelines -- we can only speculate what future changes will mean for marketers. Or you can get a glimpse at Mashable's take on what the future Facebook business pages might look like in the mockups here and in the image above.

The good news is that it sounds like brands will be able to achieve a more visually attractive and engaging experience for page visitors and implement a more curated and organized view of their page. For Facebook, this visual emphasis may help it compete with Google+, which is known for its ability to cater well to visual content.

Futhermore, because Facebook is placing such a big emphasis on the impact Open Graph applications will have on Timeline, we might also assume that brands that create their own Open Graph applications will have a leg up on competitors who don't.

Again, while we can only speculate about what's to come for marketers, the best advice we can share is to start getting comfortable with how the new Timeline design works for your own personal profile. Doing so will help you better understand how Timeline affects a user's overall Facebook experience and will enable you to be prepared for the changes for businesses on Facebook to come.

What do you think about Facebook's new Timeline design? How do you think future changes to brand pages will impact your Facebook marketing strategy?

NVCC Welcomes New Board Members

0.7464788732394366 The Chamber is pleased to welcome Rebecca Schofield, Needham Bank and Rob Ferrini, The Murphy Insurance Group to the Board of Directors.

Both we 0.847457627118644 re elected at last month's Annual Meeting. Rob is a member of the Chamber's Governance Committee and participates in a Referral Exchange Network (REN). Rebecca serves as an Ambassador and on the Flavors, Golf and Annual Meeting Committees.

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Click here for more information

2012 Member to Member Guide and Community Information Books Have Arrived!

The 2012 Member to Member Guide and Community Information books have been mailed to all Chamber members this week. Please look for yours in the mail as it also includes your 2012 0.8103448275862068 Membership decal.

If you have more than one location and would like additional decals, please contact the Chamber and we can send them to you. You may also download a virtual Member Decal online that you can use on your own website or marketing materials. To do so simply click here.

Also if you would like additional copies of the Member to Member Guide, let us know and we can deliver them to you. You may want to share them with employees and customers.

The Chamber thanks The Wizard of Adz for producing this year's Guide and Grant's Printing for printing it!

Reach thousands of business owners by advertising with the Chamber.

Rates and information

Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce

190 Vanderbilt Avenue

Norwood, MA 02062

(781) 769-1126