ARTICLE
As we close out 2022 and look forward to a brighter positive 2023, I have read numerous articles, columns and posts (very well written I might add) by leaders in all sectors who are reflective about the past and leaning toward the new year. So I did a deeper dive into why reflection is important in the classroom or the board room. Reflection— a process where students describe their learning, how it changed, and how it might relate to future learning experiences — is a skill that often goes undervalued in classrooms that are packed with content. However, reflection is an important practice for students (and business and nonprofit leaders) to make sense of and grow from a learning experience, and it is a practice backed by scholarships. A 2014 study by Harvard also confirmed that reflecting on one’s work improves job performance. Although often situated in the humanities and social sciences, reflection is an important practice across academic disciplines including medical, engineering, business, the sciences, and more. As a result, reflective writing is one great method for students to reflect on their learning experiences. Students — as well as business leaders— should be exposed to continuous reflective writing practices so that they become “producers' ' and not “consumers” of knowledge. There is an old saying — if you are looking in the rearview mirror you can’t see where you are going in the future. Reflection is often prompted by uncomfortable or negative situations where individuals need to determine what went wrong and how they can improve or fix it in the future. However, it can also be initiated with positive experiences where individuals want to understand exactly why something worked so they can repeat the success. For the Santa Cruz County Chamber — reflective analysis of the challenges and past achievements in 2022 will lead us to a brighter, economically vibrant 2023 — at least that is the Chamber strategy going forward. 2022 was a year of adapting to the pandemic, COVID-19 protocols, wearing a mask or not wearing a mask, getting your vaccination shots, and other medical protections against the dreaded viruses. In a sense, the past year plus has established a new normal in operating our chamber. What did we accomplish and where do we need to improve? We accomplished a return to more in-person events, increasing attendance, and providing valuable content to our members and the community. We held over 40 events in 2022 - from zoom only participation, hybrid events, in-person Business After Hours, Ribbon Cuttings, a book signing event, breakfast, lunch and dinner events, our 34th annual Business Expo, our 103rd Annual Gala Recognition Dinner, the Golf Tournament and the return of the Community Leadership Visit. Our monthly committee meetings continued to be productive and organized in establishing a process that ensures member value is top of mind. In a “rebuilding” the Chamber brought in 45 new members and our member retention was 81%. The membership retention was close to 400 members including for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations and members with in-kind trades. We recovered nearly 35% of the members lost during the 2020-2021 pandemic years. Reflecting on the past year can be summarized — we are on the road to recovery. In the Chamber world as with any business or non-profit organization which is dependent on member retention and recruitment and event funding support as the primary revenue sources, we have weathered the storm and see 2023 as a year to grow membership, increase in-person events and community leadership in advocating for the business community. The Santa Cruz County Chamber is proud of our past achievements by meeting challenges head-on. 2023 will be the Chamber’s 134th year as we actively advocate as the voice of the Santa Cruz County business community. A few years back in celebration of our 130 years of service to the community, we produced this video: Celebrating 130 Years of Service to Santa Cruz County. To those of you who are Chamber members, I say thank you, and to those readers who are curious about the Chamber — come join us at our upcoming Annual Members’ Breakfast meeting on January 25 @ the Dream Inn. Annual Members Meeting.
As we close out 2022 and look forward to a brighter positive 2023, I have read numerous articles, columns and posts (very well written I might add) by leaders in all sectors who are reflective about the past and leaning toward the new year.
So I did a deeper dive into why reflection is important in the classroom or the board room. Reflection— a process where students describe their learning, how it changed, and how it might relate to future learning experiences — is a skill that often goes undervalued in classrooms that are packed with content. However, reflection is an important practice for students (and business and nonprofit leaders) to make sense of and grow from a learning experience, and it is a practice backed by scholarships. A 2014 study by Harvard also confirmed that reflecting on one’s work improves job performance. Although often situated in the humanities and social sciences, reflection is an important practice across academic disciplines including medical, engineering, business, the sciences, and more. As a result, reflective writing is one great method for students to reflect on their learning experiences. Students — as well as business leaders— should be exposed to continuous reflective writing practices so that they become “producers' ' and not “consumers” of knowledge.
There is an old saying — if you are looking in the rearview mirror you can’t see where you are going in the future. Reflection is often prompted by uncomfortable or negative situations where individuals need to determine what went wrong and how they can improve or fix it in the future. However, it can also be initiated with positive experiences where individuals want to understand exactly why something worked so they can repeat the success. For the Santa Cruz County Chamber — reflective analysis of the challenges and past achievements in 2022 will lead us to a brighter, economically vibrant 2023 — at least that is the Chamber strategy going forward.
2022 was a year of adapting to the pandemic, COVID-19 protocols, wearing a mask or not wearing a mask, getting your vaccination shots, and other medical protections against the dreaded viruses. In a sense, the past year plus has established a new normal in operating our chamber. What did we accomplish and where do we need to improve?
We accomplished a return to more in-person events, increasing attendance, and providing valuable content to our members and the community. We held over 40 events in 2022 - from zoom only participation, hybrid events, in-person Business After Hours, Ribbon Cuttings, a book signing event, breakfast, lunch and dinner events, our 34th annual Business Expo, our 103rd Annual Gala Recognition Dinner, the Golf Tournament and the return of the Community Leadership Visit.
Our monthly committee meetings continued to be productive and organized in establishing a process that ensures member value is top of mind. In a “rebuilding” the Chamber brought in 45 new members and our member retention was 81%. The membership retention was close to 400 members including for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations and members with in-kind trades. We recovered nearly 35% of the members lost during the 2020-2021 pandemic years. Reflecting on the past year can be summarized — we are on the road to recovery. In the Chamber world as with any business or non-profit organization which is dependent on member retention and recruitment and event funding support as the primary revenue sources, we have weathered the storm and see 2023 as a year to grow membership, increase in-person events and community leadership in advocating for the business community.
The Santa Cruz County Chamber is proud of our past achievements by meeting challenges head-on. 2023 will be the Chamber’s 134th year as we actively advocate as the voice of the Santa Cruz County business community. A few years back in celebration of our 130 years of service to the community, we produced this video: Celebrating 130 Years of Service to Santa Cruz County. To those of you who are Chamber members, I say thank you, and to those readers who are curious about the Chamber — come join us at our upcoming Annual Members’ Breakfast meeting on January 25 @ the Dream Inn. Annual Members Meeting.