RCCIWA – Member Engagement

In the past fortnight we have continued to spend a great deal of time, one on one, with our members either in person or through online meetings – which is our favourite thing to do! We are constantly impressed by the work and projects all of our members are taking on to grow, support, inform and engage their business and broader community. Aside from the policy and issues conversations, some of the operational topics covered over the past fortnight have been:

• Different types of revenue streams
• Meeting agenda formats
• Operations templates for things such as event budgets, run sheets and newsletters.
• Newsletter implementation advice
• Business awards programs – categories and criteria setting
• How to plan and deliver different types of events
• Member engagement strategies
• Constitutional and governance advice

We have also:

• Visited Carnarvon to spend time with our member the Carnarvon CCI and attend their Rio Tinto co-hosted Business After Hours – a very valuable visit.
• Held our first monthly RCCIWA Online Members Meeting – we had 13 people in attendance, with 8 of our members represented.
• Took part in two facilitated online meetings hosted by our members the Onslow CCI and the Pilbara Inland CCI talking about working in collaboration, and the benefit of having an active and dynamic Chamber.
• Held our first RCCIWA Executive Meeting of 2023. Read here to find out more about our wonderful executive committee.
• Delivered our first #regionalvoice – which is a monthly brief update for our members to utilise in their communications to their members – so our members ‘members know what we have been working on and that they are part of a statewide regional chamber network. Great to see many of our members including it in their newsletter already – thank you!

RCCIWA Members Forum– June 22^nd and 23^rd 2023
We are planning for our two RCCIWA Members Forums this year and are looking forward to delivering valuable and relevant events and also of course, to being able to spend time with you over the two days (our favourite part!!).  Our June dates are:

Thursday June 22^nd – Advocacy Day at Hale House

Thursday June 22^nd – Business After Hours

Friday June 23^rd – Operational and strategic day – venue to be confirmed

We have not finalized the logistics yet, however as soon as we have more information, we will share it with you. For now, can you please save the dates – we would love to see you there. For those who have not attended previously, attached is some information we prepared for last year’s June Forum that may be helpful.

Can you also please send me any suggestions on speakers, topics or workshops you would like to see us include. All suggestions are keenly encouraged and very much welcome. Please let me know at ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au

RCCIWA Monthly Online Members Meeting
On the second Tuesday of each month at 10am we hold an online members’ meeting which usually runs for an hour to 90 minutes. We usually see between 6 to 15 members represented each month to give member updates, discuss common issues & possible solutions to these, as well as the opportunity to share and learn from each other. We also hear from experts from the SBDC and CCIWA, as well as others as requested. The monthly meetings are a great way of connecting with our members with each other, as well as working through common issues or activities. Calendar Invites for the year were sent to our members last month. If you do not have a calendar invite, please let me know and I will send you one. The agenda and a reminder will be sent out a few days before the meeting each month. Our second meeting for 2023 will be held on Tuesday March 14^th at 10am via MS Teams – we would love you to join us.

RCCIWA Share n Learn Online Workshops
Late 2021 we commenced our regular Share N Learn online workshops, covering areas such as  revenue streams, membership & sponsorship structures, marketing your organisation, shop local campaigns and business awards. They are proving to be very valuable sessions with lots of great information shared and very informative conversations. A big thank you to our President Simone de Been for suggesting the whole concept of the Share n Learn and for offering to facilitate sessions. Based on the very positive feedback from our members we will continue to hold these regularly, and we are planning these to recommence early this year. They are a fantastic way to share ideas, activities, processes, and ways of working as well as for picking up very relevant tips, tricks and suggestions. We are keen to receive your suggestions for any topics you would like covered – so please send them through to me ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au

RCCIWA Website Members Only Resource Portal
Just a reminder that as a RCCIWA Member you have access our resource library that contains a wide variety of documents from all of our members. This is a great reference point to refer to when planning events, setting up polices or updating your own collateral. Please email Emmi if you need access to the portal. We are regularly uploading documents however to keep it current, could you please email Emmi at  admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au any documents that you are happy to share with your fellow members. We will assume if you send it to us that you are happy for us to upload this on the members only access section of our website. Please send in pdf format (and in the smallest size you can), documents such as:

• Your Constitution
• Your Strategic or Operational Plans
• Membership Forms, Membership prospectus
• Member Benefits flyer
• BAH information
• Sponsorship information
• Directory information
• Business Awards Information
• Job and Position Descriptions, HR documents
• Events information
• Policies and Procedures
• Committee Induction pack 

Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) Information
Nikki from the SBDC attended our first Members online Forum last Tuesday and gave us a most valuable update. Below is some follow up information that Nikki sent through after the meeting.

"Great to speak with you and the RCCIWA members yesterday. I love hearing from the regions, and it always provides great insight for the Policy team so thank you for including us in the meeting.

As discussed further information on the Federal Parliament’s Inquiry into ‘Bank closures in regional Australia’ can be found here. The SBDC is considering whether it will make a formal submission and welcomes any insights from your members on this matter.

As I mentioned, here is the link to the training which is currently being offered to regional small business operators. Feel free to share with the Chambers. WA Leaders Connect program subsidy for regional businesses

Additionally, I was saddened to hear from a few of your members of concerns around the impact of a number of stressors (cost of living, skills and housing shortage) are having on their business community. I believe our Communications and Marketing team has previously shared this resource with you, but I just wanted to attach again (it has since been updated) as it may be of relevance to your members."

RCCIWA Administrative Items

• We are constantly updating our membership contact list. If you have any changes to your contacts or would like to add any people, please email Emmi at admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au The information we need is name, position/role, email address and mobile number.
• Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and share our page with your members, and in particular your elected committee or board members.
• Please also let us know about any activities, initiatives or events you would like us to include in our weekly newsletter. We love showcasing a great idea, program or event that one of our members is delivering. If you have something you would like us to share – please send through the details to Emmi at  admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au