The short answer: More. More events. More activities. More projects and more progress.

Each year we seem to be able to pile on more, even when there seemed to be no room left.

Not that this is a bad thing. I’ve said numerous times, it’s incredibly invigorating to be the chamber of commerce executive director in an area that has so many things going on.

However, it’s hard to imagine a year busier than the one we just had in the Midcoast region — yet as I look ahead, it decidedly will be. Here are a few observations, predictions and questions to look forward to in the Bath/Brunswick/Topsham/ Harpswell region over the next 12 months and beyond.

• Five networking events for women business leaders in 2018.

As we’ve alluded to in previous columns, the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber will be bringing back a women’s networking group with five events in the coming year. There will be a kickoff event in Brunswick in mid-February which will introduce the upcoming events for the first half of the year and we will gather input from those in attendance on what they want the group to become. April will have a speaker’s series event in Bath dealing with finding success as a businesswoman in Midcoast Maine. June will have a networking event in Topsham. Additionally, there will also be a September and November event for the group — the contents of which will be decided upon at the kickoff event in February. There is much left to iron out (including a name change) but more details should be coming out soon. If you would like an update at any point, email executivedirector@midcoastmaine.com.

• What role, if any, will bitcoin have on how we do business?

Chances are some of you may have heard of bitcoin, but aren’t entirely sure what it is. To be honest, I’m only getting up to speed with it myself, so take this with a shaker of salt, but as I understand it it’s a cyber-currency. The idea is that a ledger exists online, and bitcoins are the currency used. Individuals have a personalized login to their bitcoin account, and every transaction is recorded on the online ledger (called a block chain) which tens of thousands of people have access to in order to verify the legitimacy of other accounts. Think of it as a virtual poker table where everyone’s money is on the table, and all of the players can count what every other player has in their account. No one can add more money to their pot without everyone verifying it, thus everyone becomes the watchdogs of the service. It requires no single government control, accounts are anonymous (in terms of you see the other players but you don’t know what their names are necessarily) and it serves as a currency as well as a payment method.

Now that I have thoroughly confused many of you, know that this concept of “cyber- currency” is similar in spirit to online banking. If your traditional saving account says you have $20,563.56, do you ever really see that amount in paper bills and metal coins? Yet, if you wanted to withdraw it, you could get the metal coins and paper bills in exchange for the number stated on the online ledger — which is the difference with cyber-currency. With bitcoin, not being backed by any country’s treasury, the actual value of the currency and what you can exchange it for comes into question. If currency is just agreed upon value for goods and services then having the actual physical representation matters very little — or does it? What is the actual value of bitcoin?

Some of the smartest and most successful business people on the planet differ on what they think the impact of bitcoin and cyber-currency will be. A short list of bitcoin supporters include: Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Mark Cuban. Bitcoin detractors include: Warren Buffet, economist Paul Krugman and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. That is a rare list of smart business people to be opposed on matters of finance. Regardless, one group will be right and the other one will be wrong. If bitcoin becomes accepted by society, which businesses will be early adopters to accepting the payments and what could that do for their profits? However, if the value vanishes, who will be left with an online ledger full of coins with no value?

• How will the SMMC guest guide change regional tourism guides?

The answer to this honestly is I don’t know. It’s very exciting to be currently developing the new guest guide for our region. The content deadline is Feb. 1, so I literally can’t tell you exactly what will be in it, because it hasn’t all been created yet. What I can tell you is that from plans we have been discussing with our marketing team, this will have content rarely seen in many tourism publications. It will be designed to be less of a regional profile and more of a companion guide — something to take with you as you explore the region. More details on this during the May rollout — but it will be very unique.

• Here are a few more questions to think about heading into 2018:

What will be Gov. LePage’s final projects that he will try to complete before leaving office and what success will he have?

What will the Mueller investigation reveal and how will that change the national conversation, if at all?

What bills will be passed, or programs initiated to help Maine businesses with workforce shortage issues?

How will an increase to a $10 minimum wage affect businesses and employees, if at all?

What new businesses are coming to the Midcoast in 2018?

What new events are coming in 2018?

Hopefully, we will be able to help answer some of those questions in these columns as we move forward together in 2018. Happy New Year.