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May 29, 2007 No. 32 Vol. 85
This Week’s Program: John Long,
CEO, St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce
John T. Long III is a native Marylander
who graduated with a BS and MBA from the University of Baltimore as well
as the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware
and the Institute for Organization Management at the University of Notre
Dame. John was also a member of the inaugural class for
Transformational Leadership at The Aspen Institute and is one of only
ten executives nationally certified in both Chamber and Association
Management.
In John Long’s former life he worked as a
banker with the Federal Reserve Bank and major commercial banks in
Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland and Los Angeles.
As a Chamber executive, John served as
President and CEO of the Talbot County Chamber on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland. Talbot, under John’s leadership, doubled its membership,
established a campaign to bring NASA and Goddard Space Flight Center to
the region, co-founded the County’s Economic Development Commission and
the Chesapeake Leadership Foundation, developed the nationally
recognized eight county Shore Leadership Program and was honored in each
of eight years with 26 American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)
national awards.
John also served as President and CEO of
the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce from November 1999 to January
2006. The Kalamazoo Chamber is the largest business organization in West
Michigan, and under John’s leadership, was a major player in bringing
over $70 million from the State and Federal Government to the region,
increasing Chamber membership from 1150 to 3005 (five straight 20%
growth years and six straight 90% retention years), creating a Saving
Pfizer Jobs Program, a Poverty Reduction Initiative, Young Professional
Council, Campaign Academy, Dual Career Network, Small Business
Certification Program, Manufacturers Roundtable, and Regional Leadership
Program.
John is a past Chair of both the Maryland
and Michigan Associations of Chamber Executives and presently Treasurer,
board member and Chair of the Budget and Finance committee for American
Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).
John was hired in January 2006 as the
President and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
During 2006, the Chamber hosted the President of the United States,
launched a Young Professionals Program, initiated a Political Action
Committee (PAC), a not-for-profit Chamber Foundation and restructured
its Board Governance and staff. The Chamber became the largest business
organization in Tampa Bay reaching its highest membership (2303) in its
108 year history growing by 20%, including 91% retention.
John’s wife Cindy manages Special Events
for the Florida Orchestra and previously was a Tourism and Hospitality
college professor and Hotel General Manager certified in both
Hospitality Management Training and Meeting Planning.
Welcome, John! We’re eager to hear your
plans for your second year on the job!
Last Week’s Program: Henry Adams,
Associate Director of
Marketing and Communications for The Florida Orchestra
Kiwanian-of-the-Day Paul Renker introduced our speaker, Henry Adams,
from The Florida Orchestra. Mr. Adams immediately offered to donate four
tickets, valued at $160, to our Jim Fischer Birthday Bash silent
auction, for which we are grateful.
The Florida Orchestra is one of the
cultural gems of Tampa Bay, offering wide-ranging concerts and programs,
including 20 youth programs that reach, through concerts and musical
training 35,000 – 40,000 children a year in Pinellas and Hillsborough
Counties. For many children, it is their first introduction to symphonic
music and is both entertaining and inspirational for all ages. Other
programs include Morning Coffee Concerts, MasterWorks concerts and Super
Pops which covers Motown, Broadway and Latin favorites. The beauty and
variety of their performances brings them audiences of approximately
250,000 people a year.
The upcoming season marks the Florida
Orchestra’s 40th anniversary and an ambitious season of
everything from Mozart and Strauss, Bruckner, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and
Brahms and more will be featured. Think you don’t know symphonic music?
Mr. Adams suggested we think back to our childhoods in front of cartoons
– all the cartoons used symphonic music as background and Mighty Mouse
was all opera! And while we were watching cartoons, the 80 professional
musicians in the Orchestra had already begun training as musicians,
typically by age 4 or 5, going on to study at renowned music schools –
Eastman, University of Southern California, Juilliard and others –
before signing 34-week contracts, playing day and night for a starting
salary of $25,000-$30,000 a year. Top flight musicians make the playing
seem simple, but their lives are devoted to improving their musicianship
and fine-tuning performances.
The Orchestra operates from an $8-$10
million dollar budget, receiving just 44% of its revenue in ticket
sales. The rest, as is the case with most cultural organizations, comes
from annual giving, grants, federal and state money and the endowment.
Mr. Adams told the story of seeing
yellowed manuscripts with blue marks on them, only to discover that they
were Shostakovich’s original scores, the marks on which were actually
Shostakovich’s own notations.
The Orchestra was supposed to have been
moving into a building across from the Mahaffey Theater, but the City
discovered drain problems that proved too great a barrier to the
organization. Now they will be moving into a portion of a St. Petersburg
College building in December.
For information on the Orchestra and its
upcoming season, go to
www.floridaorchestra.org.
Guests and Visitors
55 members and four guests dined with us
Tuesday. In addition to our speaker, Marissa Koch, Dick Koch’s
granddaughter joined us as did JC Russell’s daughter Rachael Russell and
Al Karnavicius’ guest Vicky Viebrook. Come see us again soon!
Boys and Girls Committee Awards Grant
to Mt. Zion Human Services
Bob Byelick presented a check for
$1,000 to Kathie Johnson, Assistant Director of Mt. Zion Human Services
for use in the literacy program in their child care division. Mt. Zion
serves children from preschool through middle school and great emphasis
is placed on literacy and school success. Kathie expressed her gratitude
and said the funds would be used exclusively for books and reading
software for the children in their care.
Jim Fischer Birthday Bash
Big Al reported great success in
securing silent auction items for the upcoming fundraiser and thanked
the many Kiwanians in our Club who’ve contributed to that effort. Still,
the more items, the more money raised, so if you have not already done
so, please donate an item, product, service or gift basket toward our
Bash.
What’s Happening?
Isn’t That Golf Tournament Over Yet?
Do you know who in 1923 was:
- President of the
largest steel company?
- President of the
largest gas company?
- President of the
New York Stock Exchange?
- Greatest wheat
speculator?
- President of the
Bank of International Settlement?
- Great Bear of Wall
Street?
These men were considered some of the
world's most successful men. At least they found the secret of making
money. Now more than 80 years later, do you know what became of these
men?
- The President of
the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.
- The President of
the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, is insane.
- The President of
the N.Y.S.E., Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at
home.
- The greatest wheat
speculator, Arthur Cooger, died abroad, penniless.
- The President of
the Bank of International Settlement shot himself.
- The Great Bear of
Wall Street, Cosabee Rivermore, died of suicide.
The same year, 1923, the winner of the
most important golf championship, Gene Sarazan, won the U.S. Open and
PGA Tournaments. Today he is still playing golf and is solvent.
Conclusion: Stop worrying about
business and start playing golf. See Lorin or Weyman.
May 31st, the Vinoy, 1:00, shotgun scramble start.
TODAY’S QUIZ:
-
Reporter John Cameron Swayze was the
front for this product brand for many years. Can you name it?
-
Where does the world’s most expensive
coffee come from and what makes it different?
-
Which NFL team played the Super Bowl on
its home field?
-
What are the three most common elements in
the universe?
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
- In a string
orchestra, the viola is not the only instrument with a C string.
The cello also has a C string, but the
cello's C string is lower.
- There is only
one “Q” in a Scrabble game.
-
Any month that begins on a Sunday
will contain a Friday the 13th.
- “Karaoke” means
“empty orchestra” in Japanese.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Dear God, I thank You
for the gifts You have deposited in me.
I do not take them lightly, but commit to using them responsibly and
well.
Give me a fresh supply of truth and beauty on which to draw as I do my
job.
May the work that I do and the way I do it, bring hope, life, and
courage to all that I come in contact with today. And even in this day's
most stressful moment, may I rest in You.
In the mighty Name that is above all Names. Amen.
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