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Meeting Notices
Monthly Business Luncheon
November 7, 2012 noon Monthly Business Luncheon Ira’s at the Gibson Inn 51 Avenue C Apalachicola December 5, 2012 noon Apalachicola National Research Reserve 108 Island Drive Eastpoint Visitor Statistics September 2001 661 September 2002 680 September 2003 854 September 2004 758 September 2005 624 September 2006 1,125 September 2007 1,575 September 2008 1,357 September 2009 1,688 September 2010 1,002 September 2011 1,165 September 2012 1,882
Website stats September
Visits: 16,458Unique Visitors: 12,882 Pageviews: 56,978 Pages / Visit: 3.46 Avg. Visit Duration: 00:03:24 Bounce Rate: 42.58% % New Visits: 69.93% Chamber Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Donna Duncan 653-8976
VICE-PRESIDENT
Bud Hayes 927-3305 TREASURER Jerry Hall 653-9510
SECRETARY
Kristin Anderson 653-2249 BOARD MEMBERS Brenda Ash 653-8805 Kristy Branch Banks 670-1255 Mark Friedman 670-1253
Ginny Griner 653-8853
Bonnie Gomes 670-8450 Beverly Hewitt 653-9510 Mike Koun 653-2191 Michael Shuler 653-1757 Ouida Tartt 653-4687
Jean Ulrich 653-2900
Kevin Ward 899-0669
| New Members
Last Straw Beach Home Rental
Welcome Cliff and Denise Butler who joined the chamber with their beach home rental "Last Straw" located on 10th Street on St George Island. They also are members with their insurance agency Butler Insurance. Last Straw is a great family rental that is off the beaten on an interior one lot north of the Gulf Beach Drive, two blocks from the Gulf and one and a half blocks from the Bay. The house has four bedrooms (sleeps ten), two bathrooms, central open living/dining room and kitchen. The house has 1,624 square feet of heated and cooled living space, 224 square foot covered porch off two of the bedrooms (one has a king bed and the other has two sets of bunk beds for children), 792 SF deck facing the street which the third bedroom (queen bed) opens on and the fourth bedroom (queen bed) opens onto a smaller 112 square foot back deck. There is also lots of parking for a boat, several cars or even a motorhome. Check out their website http://www.vrbo.com/search/  2013 Official Visitor’s Guide & Map The Apalachicola Bay Chamber is producing the 2013 Official Visitors Guide & Map to promote businesses in our area. This is a professionally produced glossy full-color, 6” x 9”, 40+ page guide that contains professional photographs, brief histories of each area, text on things to do, dining, places to stay, and shopping. The map is 17” x 22” and includes an area map from Alligator Point to Mexico Beach, and detailed maps of downtown Apalachicola, St. George Island and Eastpoint. Both publications are mailed to everyone requesting visitor and relocation information (approximately 1,500-2,000 requests per month), given to walk-in visitors, included in press kits and distributed throughout the county at member businesses accommodations, vacation rental offices, shops and restaurants. The map and guide are also available as a downloadable PDF on our website athttp://www.apalachicolabay.org Golf Tournament The 8th annual Apalachicola Bay Golf Tournament was held October 10th. We had seven teams and a perfect day. We would like to thank our sponsors: Centennial Bank, Preble-Rish, Fairpoint Communications, Mason Bean C21 Collins Realty, Roberson & Associates, and Dodd Title. Thanks also to our Hole Sponsors: Boyd Brothers Printing, Marks Insurance Agency, and Bill Montford and Wefing’s Marine. We would also like to our prize donors and gift bags donors: Ace Hardware, Taylor’s Building Supply, Wefing’s Marine, Collins Vacation Rentals, Tamara’s Cafe, Dixie Theatre, Robinson Brothers Guide Service, Touch Point Branding/Graphic Solutions, Fairpoint Communitactions, and Alternative Electric. The winning team was Dodd Title with a score of 56, Robbie Johnson, Brett Johnson, Stacy Kirvin and Tyler Poloronis. Second place was the Roberson & Associates team. Thanks also to Donnie Gay, Joan Cleckley, Ginny Cole for helping to run the tournament and Steve Hatch, Nola Tolbert and the staff at St James Bay for planning and putting on the tournament. Events Oyster Roast Oyster Roast tickets are almost gone. Tickets are $50.00 each. Call or stop by to purchase yours today at the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce, 122 Commerce Street in Apalachicola (850) 653-9419. This year we will be at across from Riverfront Park in the lot next to the Grady Market in Apalachicola. Florida Seafood Festival The 49th annual Florida Seafood Festival takes place November 2nd-3rd, in Battery Park. The fun begins on Friday at 10:00 am when the park opens with some great food, arts & crafts, and entertainment. The Blessing of the Fleet takes place at 4:00 pm. This year’s King Retsyo is Smokey Parrish and the Queen is Christina Collins (that’s is Cindy Collins’ daughter!!!!). Saturday, the Redfish run kicks things off at 8:00 am. Don’t miss the biggest parade of the year down US 98 at 10:00 am. Battery Park will be buzzing with activity from 10:00 am -11:00 pm. There will be blue crab races, the famous oyster shucking at 1:00 pm, the oyster eating contest at 2:00 pm. This year's musical headline act for Saturday night is Lee Brice. Admission is free on Friday and $5 on Saturday (includes concert). For detailed information, go towww.floridaseafoodfestival.com Member News •Local massage therapist and yoga teacher Kathy Jansen has produced a DVD, “Hatha Yoga On The Forgotten Coast: Uniting Body, Mind and Spirit”. Filmed at Bob Sikes Cut, the video presents the Forgotten Coast as an unforgettable place to visit, to find rest, relaxation, and healing through the ancient art of Hatha yoga. For more information contact Kathy at (850) 653-6719 or click •Welcome Coombs House Inn Resident Inn Keeper Laina Hamelton. •Apalachicola Bay Animal Clinic is offering 5% to 20 % discount off all services and products business owners and their employees. To be eligible, you must have six employees including the owner. The program will be good for a calendar year starting in 2013, and the amount of discount will be determined by the number of employees you have and the level of participation. Our clinic offers full service veterinary care and we now have another doctor, Dr. John Duncan. We provide routine wellness care, surgery, boarding, advanced dentistry and have a complete line of pet health care products and diets. Contact them at drhffulmer@yahoo.com or call (850) 670-8306. •Members Gill and Lane Autrey have published a book, "Gone With the Tides and Other Southern Stories". The book is a collection of humorous southern stories and reflections from escapades on the Suwanee River, Apalachicola Bay and other places written by Capt. Gill Autrey with photographs by Lane. There will be a reception on Thursday, November 1st, from 6:00-9:00pm at the Green Door, 32 Avenue D. •Big Bend Hospice of Franklin County invites you to the 2012 Service of Remembrance Saturday, November 10th at 10:30am. The service will be held at the Three Servicemen Statue, 230 Market Street in Apalachicola. Call Pam Albritton at (850) 926-9308 for more information. | Directors ColumnWorkshop & B2B Counseling Christine S. Urban, Business Analyst, MBA from the Small Business Development Center at FAMU will be coming to the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce on November 7th, and will be available by appointment for one to one from 1:00-3:30pm. At 4:00 pm she will teach a workshop on Best Management Practices, a class is designed for small businesses that are already in business. Entrepreneurs often get help at the start of a business but fail to get help from outside sources after the business has been running. Take an outside critical tour of your business, and uncover your strengths and weaknesses. During the class we will go through the best practices and some financial benchmarks. Recommended to bring financial statements (that will only be seen by you) and a calculator. Register for this class at https://clients.floridasbdc. Hospitality Coursework and Certification Gulf Coast Community College will offer a Customer Service Specialist Certificate and Hospitality Supervisor Certificate program. Coursework will include: -Hospitality 101 – Introductory course for all new hires and returning frontline employees. Develop an understanding of customer satisfaction and loyalty. (2 hours) -Communications Basics –Discover the fundamentals of customer service communication and the importance of being an ambassador for your organization. Skills learned: Characteristics of excellent customer service and helpful techniques for difficult situations. (4-hours) -Customer Service Skills – Build a solid foundation of service to positively impact your customer’s perception of the organization. Skills learned: six common errors when dealing with customers and how to better manage stress and emotions in the office. (6-hours) -Exceeding Customer Expectations – Discover how to be more proactive and build rapport(4-hours) -Tele-Sales Skills from A to Z – Identify techniques for being an effective listener while asking targeted questions to determine caller’s needs. (4-hours) They hope to offer the course at the Gulf Franklin Center and want input from local businesses on what time of year would be best. Contact Melissa Strawser at Gulf Coast State College mstrawser@gulfcoast.edu or(850) 872-3818.
Anita Grove, Executive Director
    
Press
-Patricia Harris and David Lyon wrote a pair of Apalachicola stories in the Boston Globe Travel section on October 27th. The chamber recruited them to come down last spring.Main story:http://www.bostonglobe.com/ IF YOU GO: http://www.bostonglobe.com/ Oyster "Food Find":http://www.bostonglobe.com/ -Charolette Crane was given information for a story to appear in the January issue of Florida Trend. -Jessie Ammons with Southern Living Editorial was sent information on the Apalachicola Holiday Celebration. -Margie Menzel was sent information on the situation with our bay and our issues with the ACF water flows. She writes for the News Service of Florida. The Jacksonville Times-Union, Florida Today and Southeast Ag picked up the story. Got Ideas? Suggestions? How can the Apalachicola Bay Chamber better serve you? Is there something that we can do better to help your business? Is there something you would like to see us add or change on the website, at the visitor’s center or in the visitors’ guide? Ideas are always welcome. Feel free to call or email us with your ideas at info@apalachicolabay.org. Volunteers Needed The Apalachicola Bay Chamber Visitor Center seeks volunteers to help at the visitors center and with special projects. Duties include giving our visitor information, answering questions about places to stay, restaurants and things to do. If you would like to help, we’d love to have you. It can be a fun and rewarding. Contact us for details(850) 653-9419 or email us atinfo@apalachicolabay.org | ||
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