Networking is definitely one of the core missions of any chamber of commerce. Wondering if chambers of commerce were adopting any 2.0 communication tools, I decided to look for answers on the web. I was afraid that I would eventually be disappointed by that kind of search but, the Americans came to the rescue.
The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce publishing videocasts is one example of how a regional chamber of commerce is establishing a new communication channel with local stakeholders.
Interestingly enough, the region is part of the Tech Valley. This 19-county region of eastern New York state, between Montreal and New York City has developed a strong business climate attracting large companies such as IBM, Toshiba and recently Hitachi which are all involved in the Center for Semiconductor Research at The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany. Could the use of web 2.0 tools contribute to position the region as a real hub of innovative players?
Another example is Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. In this case, members of the Chamber can post events and news. Launched last September, the blog is definitely active and we can’t wait to watch videocasts of public events.
On this side of the border, The North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce is taking advantage of its blog to recruit, share videocasts of events and address issues.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is taking baby steps towards web 2.0 as seen on You Tube. As for Toronto, don’t worry. Toronto’s Board of Trade blog will be back. It’s just that they are looking at using different avenues to build a strong 2.0 Media Center to maintain and reinforce their relationship with actual members and establish new ones with Generation X and Y entrepreneurs.
Hello Montreal, where are you?
To be continued…
