May Issue
Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce Membership Spotlight
Joe Woolley
We usually use this space that Out and About so generously gives us each issue to spotlight one of our incredible members and what they are doing with their business. This month we are using it to spotlight membership in the Chamber itself and the new reality that we face with the coronavirus pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it would have been hard to talk to a member business about what they do, because everyone is uncertain about their old business model and what their new one will be, or whether they will even have a business going forward.
The Chamber created a COVID-19 resources page where we shared all the news and information we felt our members need to know about. We put all that information on our social media as well. A webinar section was created to connect our members to the countless webinars our community partners were putting out. We reached out to all our members and asked them if to share their information with us to help specifically reach the LGBT population, and our news section quickly filled up with important information.
Businesses, from our corporate members down to our small businesses and gig-workers, are affected in major ways. To be sure, COVID-19 will be a factor to consider for every business, going forward. Businesses will talk about how they responded, and how it changed what they do and who they employ. We at the Chamber are no different: every program we have has had to adapt and deal with a COVID-19 world.
Directories were created that highlighted members that were offering takeout, or members that had changed their business to sell their product in a new way. Our Hot Deals section was promoted and soon filled up with specials to other members and the community, on a number of items.
When the outbreak started and the city went into quarantine, we went back to our core principles of advocacy, education, and connection. We had just done this with reference to the tornado response and recovery but even that refocus was nothing compared with the challenges we would face with COVID-19 and continuing forward. We needed to take care of our members before anything else. A Chamber is nothing without the members it represents, so we set forth to work for them in any way that we could. The Chamber has adapted to make sure we are serving our members and the community and will continue to do so when we get through this (and we will get through this).
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May 2020
o u t a n d a b o u t n a s hv i l l e .c o m
We know these are tough times for everyone, with the financial impact of the tornado, followed by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses and people across Nashville are looking for ways to lower expenses. We want to do our part to help. The Nashville LGBT Chamber decided to suspend all membership billing until this crisis is over. No member will need to pay any dues or fees. We will also be extending all memberships for our networking members, adding additional time to their membership for all months that we have had to cancel our networking events. After the announcement of the pause in membership, we heard the thanks from members that really appreciated it, but we also saw continued and increased support from other members that could continue to give.
