Was dead set against Chamber of Commerce memberships until last month

I rolled my eyes when a referral partner pushed me to join the Phoenix Chamber in March, but after they got me 3 qualified leads at their speed networking event on 4th Street, I'm eating my words. Has anyone else had luck with those mid-tier membership levels or is it just the basic $300 one that works?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.barbara1mo ago

Dead set against Chamber of Commerce memberships" - I get it, I really do. But I've gotta respectfully disagree on the mid-tier thing. I tried the $600 level with our local chamber last year, and it was basically the same speed networking and leads as the basic $300 tier, just with a fancy table at their luncheons nobody showed up to. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience, the only real value I got came from the entry level and actually showing up to the mixers, not paying more for extras that didn't deliver.

laura_black311mo ago

My own chamber experience was a bit odd. I remember one year they had a "business after hours" event at a local carpet store, of all places. The owner spent twenty minutes trying to show us the difference between Berber and plush pile. I stood there holding a plastic cup of warm lemonade thinking I could have been home finishing my taxes.

the_riley1mo ago

Okay that's actually a fair point. I used to think you had to go mid-tier or you were wasting your money but after reading your experience and @murphy.barbara's take I'm rethinking it. My local chamber kept pushing the upgrade hard and I almost bit, but now I'm glad I stuck with the basic $200 membership and just focused on hitting up the free mixers. The carpet store story really sealed it for me too, some of those events are just weird and not worth the extra cash.