Category Archives: Uncategorized

Say hello to Nicole Thompson this weeks Meet the Staff for the Chamber.  Three years ago in May Nicole Thompson joined the Chamber Staff as a Communication Specialist (TSI).

Nicole said that it is all of the people she gets to connect with everyday that makes her job here at the Chamber interesting.  Nicole has collected a few funny stories from her time at the Chamber, but her favorite is the River-Cade Carnival story.  One year, when Debi Durham was still here Nicole and Debi planned all week to go to the carnival in the parking lot right outside of the office.  The day finally came for them to go to the carnival, they rode one ride and got sick!  Nicole and Debi were both sick the rest of the day.  Looking back now Nicole is not sure why they thought it would be such a good idea to go to the carnival.

As the Communication Specialist Nicole works with the Members to plan ribbon cuttings and open houses and she also works on all of the annual events.  She wants to remind everyone that there are three events coming up.  The Business Builder Series in April and May, the golf event in June, and the Annual Dinner in September.

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

The Siouxland Chamber of Commerce in partnership with SCGO (Sioux City Growth Organization) is hosting the Small Business Builders Series sponsored by Iowa’s National Career Readiness Certificate.  The series is for business leaders and owners that want to improve their process to create consistent and predictable results.

The first event on April 19th is Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work & What To Do About It. At this event you will learn three main things; 1) Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it, 2) How to create consistent and predictable results in your business, and 3) How to add value and growth to your business.

The second event on May 17th is Key Strategies to Consistently Outperform Your Competitors. The three main things you will learn at this event are; 1) Where sustainability lives in most businesses, 2) How to make your game worth playing for your employees and your customers, and 3) The difference between delegating and neglecting your responsibilities, in order to achieve truly effective and consistent results.

For more information or to register visit The Chambers Website

Dianne Gampp is the Director of Finance here at the Chamber and has been working here for 17 years.   Before working at the Chamber Dianne was a one woman office, being the bookkeeper, the secretary, and just about everything else!

Dianne says that the most interesting part about working as the Director of Finance is working with the numbers and getting it all to work out.  Dianne likes bookkeeping, she always has since the first class she took.

When asked about the funniest thing that has happened to her while working at the Chamber Dianne just laughs.  In the mail one day she received a signed check for the amount of zero dollars!!  Wouldn’t that be a surprise!

Keep an eye out for more  of The Chamber Staff blogs!

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

We are trying something new here on the Chamber Blog.  Each week  we will have a blog about a staff member at the Chamber.

Mary Koster the Executive Secretary is the first person you see when you walk in the glass doors at the Chamber, she greats you with a big smile and a friendly hello.  Mary started at the chamber 23 years ago, when she first started she was working with the Siouxland Initiative Campaign (Economic Development). 

When asked what the most interesting part of working at the Chamber is Mary said “Getting to meet and great new people everyday.”  She has a lot of funny stories from working at the Chamber but her favorite is about a phone call.  One day Mary answered the phone, there was a woman on the line slightly hysterical saying “What should I do my Chihuahua is choking!?”  Mary put down the phone and laughed (wouldn’t you?), picked up the phone again and calmly gave the lady a number of vet.  She still wonders why the lady would take the time to call the Chamber instead of looking up a vet.

Mary wants you to know that we are striving to be a service organization and want to help the members however we can, we also encourage communication to our members.

Feel free to call Mary with any questions you have about the Chamber or Siouxland at (712)255-7903 or stop by the Chamber at 101 Pierce Street.

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

With so many different options for Social Media it can be difficult to decide what Social Media outlet will work best for you and your company.  CMO.com has come out with an updated Social Media Landscape, covering nine different outlets.  CMO.com rates each outlet based on customer communication, brand exposure, traffic to your site, and SEO (search engine optimization).  The most common outlets on the site are Facebook, twitter, flickr, Linkedin, and YouTube.  All five have something good about them and something bad about them.   This map will help you decide which outlet is best for you.

If you are using Facebook you will have good customer communication and brand exposure, but your SEO will be low.  The same is also true for Twitter, both Facebook and Twitter received “good” on customer communication and brand exposure.  However you will have a slightly higher SEO with Twitter.  Flickr, not the best social media site if you are wanting to communicate with customers or have brand exposure.  Flickr did rank good on SEO though.  LinkedIn is great for brand exposure, whether a company or your self LinkedIn will get you out there.  YouTube is different then the other sites because it isn’t really bad  in any of the categories.  Scoring good on 3 of the 4 topics.  Traffic to your site will be lower then Facebook and Twitter, but most likely will be more then Flickr and LinkedIn.

Visit CMO.com for more information!

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

What do Spongebob and Hockey have in common?  The Musketeers!   Spongebob will be at the Musketeers game this Friday as the Muskies play the Dubuque Fighting Saints (1st place).  In addition to Spongebob, the Musketeers will also be selling $5 tickets for anyone 21 and under both nights.  Saturdays game is against the Lincoln Stars, the Musketeers Division Rival!

So come on out for a fun weekend and support the Muskies!

Visit the Musketeers website for more information.

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

Facebook is making some changes.  The biggest change is the Static FBML.  Just follow these three easy steps to add the Static FBML Application to your page.

First, go to the page you wish to add the application to. Then, click “Edit Page” on the right hand side:

Second, choose “apps” from the left-hand toolbar.

Lastly, scroll down and choose “add app” next to the Static FBML application. If this option is not available for you, click “Browse more applications” and then search for FBML. From there you can add the application in the same manner.

Hopefully, this information is helpful to you as you manage your Facebook pages for your business or company! If you have any other questions regarding Facebook pages, feel free to comment here or contact us, and we will answer your questions to the best of our ability.

Claire Gibbons
Katie Brannen
Social Media Interns

Stop by the Daily Grind on Wednesday March 2 from 6am-5pm for your favorite treat, and support the June E. Nylen Cancer Center! The Daily Grind will be donating the day’s sales to the Cancer Center. WOW what a great way to donate and enjoy your favorite Grind treat. Plus there will be drawing for door prizes all day!!

The June E. Nylen Cancer Center is Siouxland’s Center for Hope and Healing. They strive to provide the highest quality, compassionate cancer care through prevention, treatment and research for the people of Siouxland.

See you there on Wednesday March 2nd!

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern

Mark your calendars it is that time of year again, time for the Garden Show! This year the show is March 18th and 19th at the Marina Center in South Sioux City.

There will be over 50 exhibitors, 12 educational seminars, and 18 ‘How To’ sessions led by local experts. The Garden Show will also be hosting four professionals from the industry. This is the perfect opportunity to transform your garden!

Stacey Hirvela, Senior Associate Garden Editor of Martha Stewart Living magazine (pretty cool!), will have seminars both days on various gardening topics. Jan Riggenback, newpaper and magazine columnist and author will have two presentations this year. Certified Nursery Professional, Joel Karsten, will present on Friday. Dr, Jennifer Bousselot (local lady!) of Iowa State University will present on Saturday.

Admission is $5 per person per day OR $9 for a two day pass, and children 12 and under are admitted FREE. So bring the whole family!

For more information call ISU Extension-Woodbury County at (712) 276-2157 or UNL Extension-Dakota County at (402) 987-2140.

Katie Brannen
Social Media Intern