In preparing this second part of my three-part year-end series, I stumbled on two polar opposite ideas which are both uniquely correct: 2021 went by incredibly fast, and 2021 went by painstakingly slow. On one hand, it’s hard to believe how drippingly slow some days were as we got stuck in this social distancing/work from home/ limit your gatherings mindset where there were some weeks going to the grocery store substituted for an actual noteworthy event. On the other hand, once summer hit, time flew by as many tried to cram as many experiences into their days as possible.
I suppose this speaks to the disorienting effect a pandemic can have on time and how we view it. Or maybe it’s just because I’m getting older, and that my own schedule seems to go in leaps and lurches depending on the project du jour. Regardless of how you have viewed this year, as fast or slow, take solace in the fact that either way, you are right.
In looking at our communities and our chamber it has been an incredible year. I’ve been crunching numbers for my end-of-the-year reporting, and I wanted to just share a few of those first, before wrapping up with some final thank yous for 2021.
Let’s start with our communication and connections. A key aspect of a chamber is to both recruit people to the region, and also keep the business leaders informed of what is happening both regionally and statewide. Though it’s very difficult to quantify just how many tourists we brought to the area as we receive literally hundreds of phone calls and e-mail inquiries for information, we do have some benchmarks we look at.
For instance, we have a rolling list of guide requests that we mail out and in the last eight years of the list we have sent to all 50 states and at least five different countries. This year we had 16 different states we got requests from, including many states with dozens of requests like Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. In all this year, between rest area information centers, mail outs, and local distribution we have distributed over 91% of the 15,000 2021 Eat Play Stay guest guides we have printed (we have about 1,300 left to get us through spring).
In terms of communications, our chamber has become a valuable resource for information as we have sent 73 e-newsletters in 2021 to our membership giving them the latest updates on what’s happening locally, at the state level, and federally. Some of this information has helped businesses apply for PPP, get up to date on new policies, or simply reminded them about a local event or chamber networking opportunity that they can utilize to get more business.
The national average open rate of e-newsletters, according to Mail Chimp and Constant Contact, ranges from 17%-22% depending on industry, with the overall average being between 21-22%. Our weekly SMMC News & Notes e-newsletter has an average open rate of 27%, and since reformatting it three months ago our open rate has ballooned to 35% (which is 50% more than the national average)! That means more people, on average, open up our content and read it, which means there must be some very valid content there.
Here’s a few other numbers that jumped out to me:
6: Cornerstone Member Businesses supported everything the chamber did in 2021 with annual sponsorship. Thank you to: Priority Real Estate Group, Mid Coast-Parkview Health, Darling’s Brunswick Ford, as well as REMAX/Riverside, Bath Savings Institution and Sitelines, P.A.
31: Covid Heroes were recognized at our Awards Recognition night that we held in May as citizens nominated those businesses and people who helped then get through the pandemic
$1,075: the average value of a tree space at the 2021 Midcoast Tree Festival, twice the minimum required
Over 1,000 families attended the 2021 Midcoast Tree Festival, and purchased over 40,000 raffle rickets
118 gift cards alone from 90 different businesses accounted for over $8,400 in gifts at the 2021 MTF. The holders of those cards will likely spend even more when they redeem them at local businesses generating even more money in the economy from this one event
I could go on with the numbers, but I want to give a few thank yous to those that made 2021 such a success. I need to start with the Chamber members who continue to see the value in membership and support our organization. Your support this year, combined with the added revenue from the Cornerstone membership program and the successful chamber events, allowed us to grow our staff for the first time in five years.
In late May, Claire Papell, our chamber coordinator began with us and she has been an incredible addition to our organization. Her hard work, organizational skills and creative problem solving have allowed me the time to pursue more activities to help our organization grow. In next week’s column I will be highlighting some big activities for 2022, and to be sure, I wouldn’t have the time to pursue these projects if Claire wasn’t taking some of the other chamber work off my plate.
A thank you goes out to our partner organizations in the region, and though you are too numerous to mention individually, know that we appreciate your friendships and collaboration. Nobody speaks of it much, but one of the reasons our region of the state is so successful is that there is a true sense of community here, and we’re all pulling in the same direction- that’s huge.
Finally, a thank you to my board of directors who have supported me and Claire and continue to show that support by doing things like forcing us to take a paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s to decompress. Thank you for always looking out for our needs too as we continue to work for those in our community.
Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.
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