Brandon Chamber Nets Members With Incentive-Rich Networking Drive

Incentives were the order of the day for the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 11, with new members receiving a paint bucket filled with incentive deals.

Two sessions were held for the one-day only incentive drive, with the first session alone attracting about 60 incoming members. A second session was expected to draw a crowd of at least 40 new members.

"Last year we held a membership drive and every person we were able to bring into the building, to see the full scope of everything the chamber offers, fell in love with what we do," said Darren Dennington, the incoming chamber chairman. He succeeds current chair Bob Bivins, whose one year-term ends in February.

"There's so much behind the curtain," Dennington added. The one-day drive Oct. 11, with an incentive draw, "was a way we could showcase the entire membership benefit."

Tammy Bracewell, the chamber's president and chief executive officer, agreed.

"We wanted to do something different," she said. "We wanted to give new members something to take home."

That "something" was a paint can, donated by Lowe's, a chamber member, on which chamber staff pasted labels depicting a view of the chamber building at 330 Pauls Drive in Brandon.

Attached to the can was a series of free offers from the chamber itself. Inside were offers from chamber members, including free advertisements from Focus Magazine, the Tampa Bay Times and the Osprey Observer; a free general pest perimeter service from TNT Termite & Pest Control; a $15 customized T-shirt from Big Frog; and free business cards, valued at $40, from Alpha Graphics.

Chamber offers included leads group dues for one year (based on category availability); a membership list on a disk; a membership luncheon ticket (buy one, get one free); a Brandon Business Expo and "Taste of Brandon" ticket (buy one, get one free); a Biz Ed 101 Seminar Ticket (session of choice); and a free color upgrade in the 2013 Brandon Area Directory.

To open the paint can, a key was attached to the outside, designated as "the key to your business services." The brush and sponge inside represented, "The perfect coverage for your business needs."

At the first session Oct. 11, Dennington said he was pleased by the turnout, which included members who brought to the event prospective members.

"Normally at a networking event you may know three-quarters of the people who show up," he said. "Here, I look out and I see so many new faces."

For information about membership options and benefits, visit the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce online.

The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce building is at 330 Pauls Drive in Brandon, south of Oakfield Drive and the Brandon Post Office.

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