Welcome to the December  2007/January 2008
issue of the Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce Newsletter.

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 In this Issue



 Did You Know?

New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism (DTTD)
would like to gather your winter packages to promote on www.visitnh.gov. The following categories have recently been added: Ski & Stay; Stay, Sleigh & Snow Play; and The Holidays. To post your vacation packages, go to www.visitnh.gov, click industry members, and then login. Please call 603-271-2665 if you need assistance.


 Chamber Board Meeting Schedule

The next chamber board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 9th at 8:00 am at Sunapee Cove in Georges Mills. Chamber members are encouraged and invited to attend.

 
 Important Chamber News

To all chamber members and non-members alike, please send the chamber any business news relevant to the Sunapee Area. New Businesses opening up, help wanted, etc. Please send to chamberinfo@nhvt.net or call us at 877-526-6575 • 603-526-6575


The Chamber booth in New London is expected to be replaced before the Summer—the existing building, put up in the late 60’s will be a location for a controlled burn by the New London Fire Department this winter and that more details will follow soon.  More fund-raising is need but the continuing support of many businesses and individuals is most appreciated.  In the meantime, the Chamber mailing address, phone number and email remain the same and are temporarily located at no expense at the Angeli & Associates Real Estate Office, 41 Main Street, New London.  Winter hours are generally 8:30-3:00 M-F.  A phone call before dropping by would be appreciated.

The 2008 Map & Guide has gone to press and is expected to be ready by mid-January.  Members will be notified when ready.

The Chamber serves its members best when receiving comments, suggestions and support from them.  Follow with email: chamberinfo@tds.net, 526-6575.
A thank you to all members who have submitted their membership dues, (do you want an updated list?), have supported the chamber with their voluntary time, talents and a lot of effort.

Board Meetings are generally the first non-holiday Tuesday of every month at Sunapee Cove, Georges Mills from 8 AM -9AM.  All members are welcome but January’s will be Wednesday, January 9th since Tuesday, January 8th is primary day.  Call Rob if you would like to attend or have an agenda item that a member would like to address.

The Chamber’s web site will be undergoing an evaluation early in 2008 to continue to try to improve service to members and be even more user-friendly.


NEEDED AND WANTED VOLUNTEERS:

Your Chamber needs Volunteers for the annual Chocolate Fest scheduled for March 1, 2008.

We need folks who have great ideas to tie-in a full weekend of activities that will involve Dining, Lodging and Retail. We need help to set up and take down, help counting ballots, selling tickets etc. all on the day of the   event.  PLUS we need Chocolatiers and Chocoholics. The first to make, the second to partake (a person CAN be both).

The Chamber is all about promoting YOUR BUSINESS so please feel    free to sign up and help us make this the BEST Chocolate Fest and local business promotion ever!! You can call Ingrid at 369-3422 or email her at iseel@comcast.net. We are planning a meeting for December 17th at 9:00 (place to be announced).

Photos courtesy of Paul Howe Photography
Top Photos courtesy of H.K. Turner,
Scenes of Andover, NH

 Executive Director's Update
Christmas In our Towns

The Chamber of Commerce collaborated with many in organizing several events that  began with the 3rd Annual Christmas Party in New London on Thursday, November 29th in which more than 30 retail stores and businesses participated.  The holiday event provided late hours with many offering raffles or special discounts.  Santa came to the Ausbon Sargent Gazebo and again the next day.  Carolers were available both nights !  

Thanks to all the Sunapee Harbor businesses, residents and the Town Recreation Department, Sunapee also celebrated the holiday on Saturday, December 1st with the second annual  Sunapee Harbor "Magic", a great  success with a "Looney Lunge" into Sunapee Harbor by a few hearty souls, some very well-attended children's workshops  during the afternoon, Santa's arrival, horse-drawn wagons, the "lighting" of Sunapee Harbor, and again carolers, the tree-lighting at their gazebo, followed by beautiful fireworks over the harbor! The Sunapee Harbor team also placed donation boxes for "Toys for Tots" and Sunapee Food Pantry

Both Saturday and Sunday, eight inns decorated and opened their doors for visitors to have a chance to see wonderful places for visitors to stay when they are in the area.

Then on Saturday, December 8th, 35 runners participated in the 5K Reindeer Run in New London.

All of this was only possible with the community support of too many individuals to list and all the participating organizations and businesses:  

Abercrombie & Bridge, Art of Nature, Artisan's Workshop, Back Room Art Supplies, Blue Acorn Inn, Brian's Carpet & Flooring Center,  Candlelite Inn, Chiarella Realty, Clarke's Hardware, Colby-Sawyer College, Colonial Pharmacy, Deck Dock, Echo Communications, Ellen's Interiors, 14 Carrots Natural Food Co-op, Dexter's Inn, Distinctive Floral Design, Ellen's Interiors, Faces by Lisa Gooding,  Flash Photo, Harborside Trading, Highland Lake Inn, Hubert's, Inn at Danbury, K-D's Teacup, Knit New London, La DolceVita Ristorante, Lake Sunapee Bank, Ledyard National Bank, Lemon Twist, LisAnn's, Little Brook Art Gallery, Mascoma Savings Bank, MV Kearsarge, MacKenna's Restaurant, MESA, MoRae Jewelers, Morgan Hill Bookstore, Mount Sunapee Resort, Natalie's of New London, New London Dunkin Donuts, New London Gallery, New London Hospital, New London Inn, New London Opticians, New London Police Department, Northcape Design, OMG Boutique, Pins & Needles, Pizza Chef-New London, Pizza Chef-Sunapee, Pizza Market in Sunapee, Radio Shack, Rosewood Country Inn, Serendipity Boutique, SpringLedge Farm, Subway, Sunapee Beautification Committee, Sunapee Gardners,  Sunapee Fire Department, Sunapee Harbor Cottages, Sunapee Harbor Riverway, Sunapee Highway Department, Sunapee Lions Club, Sunapee Mini Mart,  Sunapee Police Benevolent Fund, Sunapee Police Department, Sunapee Recreation Department,  Tatewell Gallery, The Banks Gallery, The Garden Spa, The Hair Station, Town of New London Manager and Selectmen, Town of Sunapee Manager and Selectmen, Twin Doors B&B, Vessels and Jewels, Video Shedd, Village Sports, Watermark Marine Construction, Whitcomb Construction, Wild Goose Country Store


Chamber Annual Meeting and election of officers

The Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, November 13th at The Tavern at Mountain Edge Resort in Newbury.  

Our thanks to the host and great appreciation to all the suppliers of raffle prizes for the evening.  Several offered multiple raffle items:  Argus-Champion; Artisan's Workshop, New London; artic dreams, New London; Bluewater Farm, Andover; Dexter's Inn and Dexter's Inn Trails by Norsk in Sunapee; Eastman Community Association, Grantham; Highland Lake Inn, E. Andover; Kayak Country, Andover; Lake Sunapee Bank, Newport and branches, Marshall's Garage, Elkins; Mount Sunapee Resort, Newbury;  New London Barn Playhouse, New London Inn; Newport Opera House; Northern Stage, Pine Hills X-C Ski Club, New London, Rosewood Country Inn, Bradford; Sugar River Bank, Newport and branches and Tatewell Gallery, New London.

The Chamber's Nominating Committee offered four names for election to the Board:  Peter Fenton. Jr. of The Appleseed Restaurant in Bradford and the MV Kearsarge/MV Mount Sunapee II in Sunapee Harbor, Lesley Marquis, owner/operator of the Rosewood Country Inn, also in Bradford, Zoie Parent of Sutton, owner of MoRae Jewelers and Natalie's of New London, and Kimberly Swick Slover, Director of Communications at Colby-Sawyer College.

The new members join continuing Board of Directors:  Susan Alexander, Newport, real estate; Marybeth Angeli, Sutton, Angeli & Associates Real Estate, New London; John Augustine, Dexter's Inn, Sunapee, Ingrid Braulini, ISee Consulting, Grantham, Debbie Campbell, Beyond Design, Newbury; Ella Casey, Newport Chamber of Commerce; Dave Hargbol of  Sunapee, Colby Real Estate;  Aryn Hoke, Echo Communications, New London; Peggy Holliday, Morgan Hill Bookstore, New London; Deb Markarian, Blue Acorn Inn, Sunapee; Bruce McCloy, Mount Sunapee Resort, Newbury; Francetta Raymond, Lake Sunapee Bank; and, Bernie Wesoja of Sunapee, Hubert's of New London.

Leaving in 2007 with our sincere appreciation for their service are Donna Gatnarek, Georges Mills of New London Hospital; Don Gobin, Grantham, of ProMania Event Company, Newport; Deb Sias, Newbury of Ledyard National Bank, New London and Heather Turner, Sutton of Forfeng Designs, Bradford.

At the December Board Meeting, the officers for 2008 were elected and include Bernie Wesoja, President; Peg Holliday, Vice-President, Francetta Raymond, Treasurer and Aryn Hoke, Immediate Past President.

The Chamber will continue to move forward with all of this support and input.
 Other Chamber News

 Workshops and other Business Events

It’s that time of year again -- SBA is seeking nominations for our 2008 Small Business and Champion awards.
If you’d like to nominate an individual or a business, please complete the attached form and return it to me along with a nomination letter outlining why the nominee should be considered.  If you’d like additional award guidelines to assist with completing the letter, please let me know.
Once I receive the completed form and the letter, I will then contact the nominee to collect any remaining documents that SBA needs to complete the package.
Please share this information and feel free to contact me at amy.bassett@sba.gov   (603) 225-1606 or via fax (603) 225-1409 or via email.
Amy Bassett
NH District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration

Business NH Magazine is seeking to recognize the best businesses in NH! Business NH Magazine and the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives are accepting applications for the annual Businesses and
Business Leader of the Year awards. We will name a Business of the Year in eight industry categories as
well as one Business Leader of the Year.

The industry categories are:
Manufacturing/Technology
Real Estate/Construction/Engineering
Tourism/Hospitality
Health Care
Retail/Wholesale
Financial Services/Insurance
Business Services
Education/Nonprofit

If your company is a leader in its industry as well as in the
community, we want to hear from you! The application for the Business of  the Year and the Business Leader
of the Year awards is below Applications are due Jan. 14, 2008. Don't miss your chance for statewide recognition as one of the top companies in NH. Winners will be featured in the May issue of Business NH Magazine and recognized at the Business of the Year Awards Ceremony,
one of the most well attended business events in NH.

Cordially,
Matt Mowry, Editor, Business NH Magazine
603-626-6354 ext. 214


 Don't Forget!
The Chamber provides Information Booth Coordination
between Newbury, Sunapee & New London
The seasonally-manned booths provide a FREE venue
for members to leave brochures and business cards
for public acquisition. The New London Information Booth will be hosted at a local business for the winter. Please stay tuned for updated information!
 Internet Business Scams and Warnings

Post-Beacon, Facebook Still Snooping
Even though Facebook has backed off its Beacon advertising system which many people called invasive, a recent Computer Associates study finds Facebook still snoops into user's affiliate site activity. Computer Associates PestPatrol Research Engineer, writing on the company's blog said, "Facebook is collecting information about user actions on affiliate sites regardless of whether or not the user chose to opt out, and regardless of whether or not the user is logged into Facebook at that time."

Facebook's Beacon system, through partnerships with other sites, would collect people's purchase behavior on those sites and then report those activities in the person's Facebook newsfeed. Previously and opt-out system, it's now opt-in but according to Computer Associates, Facebook is still collecting the affiliate site activity even if a person has opted out.

Facebook isn't denying the practice, writing in a statement "When a Facebook user takes a Beacon-enabled action on a participating site, information is sent to Facebook in order for Facebook to operate Beacon technologically. Facebook does not use the data and deletes it from its servers. Facebook Separately, before Facebook can determine whether the user is logged in, some data may be transferred from the participating site to Facebook. In those cases, Facebook does not associate the information with any individual user account, and deletes the data as well."

Courtesy of Adrants


 Ad Rates

Chamber members may advertise in the
chamber newsletter.

Business Card ad (31/2" w X 2" h) $35.00
Quarter Page ad (31/2" w X 41/4" h) $60.00

Online ads can link to the person's website if they have one, Please provide your website address.
Advertising ads run for a month in the main
monthly newsletter then run online in the
newsletter archives.
Ads will have underneath (this is a paid ad).
Ads need to be print and digital ready and submitted by Email or on Disk in JPEG format
in at least 300 DPI.
Deadline for submitting ads for the chamber newsletter is the 22nd of every month.

EMAIL US! or please bring your ad on CD to the Chamber Booth and give to Executive Director Rob Bryant

Please make checks out to
Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce


Help your website and the
chambers get more traffic:
Reciprocal relevant links help your website rankings.
add a link and/or logo back to:

Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce

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  JPEG       GIF

 Newsletter Deadlines

Deadline for submitting things for the chamber newsletter is the 22nd of every month. If you are a chamber member and you have news for the newsletter or you would to write an article or submit a photo, please EMAIL US!

Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 532, New London, NH 03257
877-526-6575 • 603-526-6575


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