A common question for Chamber of Commerce people is, “What do you do to help businesses — specifically, what do you do?” The reflex answer involves me talking about our outreach programs, our network of businesses, our marketing pieces and our online presence.

The truth though is something much simpler; we are conveners. We bring together people, groups and businesses and help them connect with one another. The most important work we do is not work at all, it’s actually convening and connecting people with the people and information they need.

For instance, we don’t sell products for people, we connect people who sell items with people in the market to buy them. We don’t cook meals, we direct people to where they can find the meal they want. We don’t board guests, mow their grass, help them find the right sweater, or prick them with acupuncture needles — we give them the information to find all of that.

It’s the same way with tourism.

We get dozens of phone calls weekly, and emails, with people asking the best place to camp, or hike, or where they can see a show, or go dancing at night. People often think of chambers of commerce and information centers as the key cogs of tourism in the region, and we certainly are. However, of all of the visitors in our offices, and phone calls, and emails that we respond to every summer and fall, if you totaled it all up it wouldn’t add up to our biggest advocates — you.

I might get 100 phone calls a week on the busiest weeks, and information centers could get 200 people a day picking up information brochures, and that still pales in comparison to every server in every restaurant in the region who gets a customer that asks “where should we go hiking and shopping today?” If one server gets two customers per hour asking for local advice — a conservative estimate — then that server gives advice to 10 customers in a five-hour shift.

Now if that sever is one of five servers on that shift, and we assume the other servers got asked, now we have 50 from that restaurant. Now if it’s 50 pieces of advice given, per restaurant, per five-hour shift, and there are 15 restaurants open that day in just one town … you get the point. Our greatest advocates for tourism in our communities is all of you.

It’s not just restaurant servers who are essential, it is all of us. Mechanics, convenience store clerks, pharmacists, hotel clerks, tellers, grocery cashiers — you all do it every day and don’t realize how often you do it.

But even beyond frontline employees, it’s the citizens. How many friends come to visit every summer? And they ask you where to eat, or shop or visit, don’t they? You see, to make sure people have the best experiences here, it’s essential that we all become aware of what is happening in our own regions.

Lately, I have been promoting the 2017 Allure of the Coast, which is the chamber’s guest guide or visitor’s guide. I need to stop calling it that. I need to call it a regional information guide. It’s as much for us as it is for guests and visitors. I urge you to pick up the 2017 Allure of the Coast now and start flipping through it.

I guarantee you will find some information, or some businesses that you didn’t know about. Are you tired of going to the same restaurants? Then discover new ones inside. What about boat charters, or knowing what’s playing at MSMT this year? Find your answers in our guide.

Here are a few pieces you will find in the 64 pages of the 2017 Allure of the Coast:

• Directory of Business by Category: The last 18 pages are dedicated to listing out the various chamber members, broken down by category.

• Map of the Region: Typically, in the center of the book on the fold, it got bumped to the next page after the fold. Once you find it though it shows the entire 16- community region and the major roads to get where you are going — a very helpful tool for giving directions.

• Calendar of Events: Though not as robust as the master list the SMMC is currently finishing up with summer activities, page 42 and 43 have a list of several of the major events that happen regionally in the area, including events run by our friends at the Brunswick Downtown Association and Main Street Bath.

• Various Sections: About the beaches and parks, dining and lodging, careers in the Midcoast, a tide chart, community snapshots, culture and history pages and so much more.

Now, the Allure isn’t the only piece that will help inform you about our area, but it’s a great start. Also look for the new downtown map that Main Street Bath just produced which gives a detailed look at their streets, businesses and activities. The Harpswell Business Association also has just completed their Discover Harpswell map which includes a detailed map, business listings and a robust community calendar. Both of these pieces got printed in the past week and are now available and ready for distribution at your local information centers and businesses.

Be on the lookout too for the Midcoast Event Calendar that the chamber is finishing in the next week or so. It will be a master schedule of events, by day, from June 1 through the end of the year.

The next time you are in line at the grocery store, or using the bathroom, or at the train station and you see a stack of brochures, pick one up and take a look. Discover what you don’t know about the area and maybe you might just find a summer adventure of your own, right here at home.