As the Executive Director of a growing Chamber there is a lot on my plate and much that could be placed there. One of my strongest lessons to date at The Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber Of Commerce is the importance of collaborating. This is true in organizational issues where I am fortunate to have a strong board and a strong Executive Committee to guide me. This is true when acting on issues in the community and I gain feedback by talking to Chamber members and by working with other groups interested in the issue. Finally, this is true of the events we plan. I thought I would walk through the planning of our Brew Festival, planned for September 17th in Casco, as a great example to follow.

Organizations, businesses, schools, most groups have a mission and vision that they follow. GBLRCC is no different. To sum ours up would be to say we exist to support and assist our members, towns and region in growth. Breaking that down gives us much ability to interpret actions supporting growth, thus different Chambers in Maine are involved in different activities. Our Chamber interprets the mission to partly mean creating reasons/activities to introduce visitors to the region. The Lakes Brew Fest came from that train of thought. When the idea was presented to my board, they had many initial concerns given the topic matter, cost to run and the human resources (volunteers) we would need. Through careful thought and discussion, a committee was created to oversee the event. To date this was a GBLRCC discussion. Given it was a community project it became time to reach out.

The Town of Casco was extremely supportive of the idea. While some businesses have shied away given the inclusion of alcohol in the day, the Town of Casco Board of Selectmen and town manager had the vision that it was a good use for their town land and would bring new people in. They saw that the alcohol was a small part of a bigger plan. Chamber members were informed of the idea and many offered staff to sit on the committee. This brought more ideas and a new look to the event that to date was a GBLRCC creation. We asked for sponsors and for vendors, this brought more help and vision. Through the ideas of bringing in great food, awesome musical performances and the Lake Region Community Theatre Artisan Show, we grew the event to have something for most everyone. The first year went very well and the feedback from neighbors of the event was positive. (Neighbors included a nursing home, a church and the town hall). We were asked to continue holding the event in Casco.

In 2005, we are now close to the second Brew Fest. Given our partnerships and collaboration, more options are coming forward for the September 17th event. We have more brewers attending including home favorites Bray’s Brew Pub and Blacksmiths Winery. We have more vendors including The Good Life Market of Raymond and Angel’s Flight of Bridgton. Local professional brew media has picked up on this and we are very pleased with the content of their reporting. Even the state is involved as the Maine Lottery Commission will set up a booth for the day.

All in all, the Chamber is very excited with the Lakes Brew Fest. In 2004, it drew people from as far away as Boston. We have e-mail communications with many “fans” of the event and they plan to come back. We are more pleased that the collaboration of the town and other partners has made this a healthy and growing event. We look forward to seeing you at the Brew Fest. For more information simply check out www.lakesbrewfest.com.

The first 1,000 tickets sold will get the official event souvenir glass and by prepaying, you can save money. We believe the glasses may sell out. See you there.