Joining the Alameda Chamber isn’t all about business. There are many incredible friendships that are created in the coming together for the economic betterment of our community. Don’t overlook the potential of deep, meaningful connections with your group at the chamber.
We’re all just looking for that spot where we belong, aren’t we? Abraham Maslow thought our desire to belong was so important that he incorporated it into his hierarchy of needs as a major human motivation. Individuals join groups because of perceived commonalities like similar ways of thinking and similar motivations.
Finding Comradery at the Chamber
While there are probably a lot of other reasons why a business person joins the chamber—including networking, marketing assistance, advocacy, and volunteerism—comradery is one of the hidden benefits. Where else can you find a group of people who are dedicated to the economic success of Alameda? Here are some reasons comradery should not be overlooked as an important part of your business’s growth and your professional development.
People Don’t Sit on the Front Porch Anymore
Do you know your neighbors? Most of us don’t. We’re all so busy. We pull into our garages or if we do park in the driveway, our heads are generally buried in our devices as we walk into our homes. We might acknowledge our neighbor with a half wave but few of us do much more. Porches and front stoops are no longer community congregation sites.
The Chamber helps you make friends with local people who have similar goals and challenges in business. You can find people in the same industry, complementary organizations, and those who can help you solve your problems. You can get to know them in a way that is hard to do elsewhere because you have a common desire–to improve your business.
It’s Hard to Make Friends as Adults
Ever notice how easy it is to make a friend as a child on a playground? Most young kids can spend long periods of time playing with strangers, introduce them to their mom as their new “friend,” and cry when it’s time to leave. All that connecting in such a short time. Adults, on the other hand, can know someone for years and still not consider them their “friend.”
It’s harder as you get older. Where do you meet people?
When you do meet them, say maybe a parent of one of your children’s friends, you quickly realize you have little outside of that mutual relationship in common. Not so, with chamber membership. You probably know many of the same people, have the same professional challenges, and want the same things for your business and community. Those types of relationships, built on mutual interests and concerns, tend to last past the situational friendships you establish because you have kids the same age or in the same sport.
What Friends Can Do for Your Business
Networking is important to any business but the relationships where people go above and beyond are friendships. You can make incredible connections through chamber membership. These friendships can lead to referrals and event invitations. They may lead to learning about employment openings before they’re posted. These new relationships may start with networking opportunities, which are great, but friendships are enduring no matter what business stage you’re in.
Business Friends Understand
If you don’t have business friends, your friend group may not understand the pressures of owning a business. They may think it’s silly you can’t get away when you are the boss. There are pressures that come with business ownership that non-business owners may not understand. Your friends at the Chamber will and they’ll commiserate with you.
There are many reasons to join the Alameda Chamber & Economic Alliance but the one that is most often overlooked is its ability to bring like-minded people together, people who are concerned with the business community and the success of our area. It’s nice to make friends while doing something as important as increasing economic development and opportunities in Alameda.
