Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Tuesday, October 8th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here.
In part two today at 430, it's Reality Radio with David Farmboro.
We're going to talk Real Estate, talk a little bit about AI in Real Estate and some other
fun stuff with David at 430 today.
Right now in studio, we have our good friend, Promise Backing and with us Marketing Communications
Director with our Heart of Wisconsin Chamber Commerce.
Promise, good to have you with us.
Good morning.
How you been?
Good, I've been really busy.
Not only a manager, you guys are always busy over there and especially I imagine what's
on your plate.
We got a lot to talk about today.
Let's dive right into some upcoming networking events.
Right, so our next upcoming networking event is on October 21st and that is our networking
at night.
It's from 5pm to 7pm and it's over at hotel meet this time.
So hotel meet is hosting networking at night and it's just an event that's great for networking
with other professionals in the area and just kind of make those connections outside
of working hours.
So we have that once a month and this month's at hotel meet.
And who is this open to, Promise?
It's open to, you know, the public in general but we are kind of hoping to have more people
that are interested in becoming members of the chamber or networking with other businesses
in the town.
This is a really good opportunity to kind of get an idea of what it's like to be a chamber
member.
And not only from other chamber members but from you guys yourselves to be able to ask
questions in person and a lot of that, along with all the networking that you were mentioning
before that, I don't know anybody that, well, I've had enough networking, like you can't
have enough chances to connect with people, to connect with your community.
And the best businesses are people that are in touch with their community and really
in the know.
And this is one of the ways you do that is by being out there in the community, along
with all that, the hotel meet, beautiful place to have a, you know, an event, you can't
go wrong, have an event over at the hotel meet.
So just a win, win kind of situation.
Again, that's coming up in just a little bit, October 21st from five to seven.
If people want more information, go to their website, Wisconsinrabbitschamber.com.
Women in Business Luncheon, another great opportunity coming up, Promise.
Yeah, we're really excited about this one.
So we had our women in Business Luncheon last year and we had like a full house and we
also had people that were, you know, after it was sold out, we still had people interested.
So we actually expanded the area that we're going to host it in this year.
It's still going to be over at Mid-State Technical College, but we're going to use a different
part of their building.
But this event is on November 15th and is sponsored by Mid-State Technical College,
Enbridge, Marshville Clinic, U.S. Bank, Ho-Chung Gaming, Nakusa, Security Health Plan,
Tom Tarr in NRG Media.
So again, November 15th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mid-State, registration is now open.
So if you're a chamber member, registration is $35.
If you're not a member, it's $45.
And then we are also opening it up to the MSTC students this year.
And that is $25 for those students and the event comes with a lunch and there's going
to be time to network with other people there.
And then our keynote speaker for the day is Dr. Shelley Mondike.
She is the president of Mid-State Technical College and she'll be discussing empowering
voices, you know, how to lead with purpose and passion.
And I'm really excited to listen to her.
I've heard some of her other speaking opportunities and she is a great speaker and she can really
engage you.
And I'm just so excited to see her at one of our events.
I'm also excited because there's going to be door prizes and a 50-50 raffle.
So register soon because we are closing on November 5th.
Excellent.
Actually, it's interesting.
I have had the Miss Wisconsin Rapids and Miss Wisconsin Rapids teen contestants on
the last couple of weeks.
And one of the things we've talked about on air and off air is they're just not being
enough opportunities for women to support women in society and showering that and championing
that.
There is an event right here that is designed for that and really does that.
Not only do you have a great location for this one and a great opportunity with this and
expanding that opportunity for not just chamber members but non-members and the MSTC kids.
I think that's a great opportunity.
Young kids getting be able to be involved in this.
A wonderful keynote speaker.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Dr. Shelley is a great talker and a smart talker.
She really is good at what she does, very charismatic as well as really getting good information
out there.
So that is wonderful in itself.
But all of these things and you're going to feed people like that's a great event.
That's a great event right there.
And again, women supporting women.
Something that this community does very well and that we look for more and more opportunities
up.
That's really cool.
It's a very fun opportunity, wonderful opportunity.
Make sure to spread the word about this one, everybody.
And again, we will tell you how to register before we wrap up with Promise Today.
But a wonderful event.
Thank you for bringing that to us.
Promise.
I have some upcoming workforce programs and events around the corner as well.
Business Expo every year seems to sneak up on me.
I know your guys is scheduled, but this one keeps it's such a good event.
And I always, oh yeah, that's coming up right around the corner.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
So our business Expo, well, I think the reason why it might be sneaking up on you is because
we didn't have it the last couple of years.
That's what it was.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
It's just the timing and everything.
It's so cool to have it.
It's the first time back after three years.
We're super excited about it.
We have about, you know, 40 booths participating.
It's going to be held over at the Elk Slodge.
It kind of filled up a little bit faster than we anticipated.
And, you know, the venue space is smaller.
We wanted to keep it smaller for the first time back after a couple of years.
We have some great sponsors for it.
It's the US Bank, Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Stamials Group, McCain's, Marshfield Clinic,
the Wisconsin Rapids Center, Quality Plus Printing and NRG Media, great sponsors for it.
And it's actually happening today.
And it is opened from business to business to business networking from two o'clock to
four o'clock for that one.
You know, just bring your business card to show us that you're there to network for businesses.
And then you can get in and then at four o'clock, we're going to open it to the general public
so that you can come in and explore what businesses have to offer in the area.
So that way our booths that have registered and are participating in the event have the
opportunity to showcase their products and services to other members of the community.
And it's also just great for networking with other area businesses and making those connections
again.
And we are also handing out bags so you can go around and collect goodies from each table.
So those bags are available until they're gone again today from was it two o'clock to six
o'clock at the outsludge in Wisconsin Rapids here.
If you need more information for that one, we can you can go visit our website at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com
or give us a call.
We might not be answering our phones frequently today because we are all going to be at
the business expo today.
Mm-hmm.
I love the idea of separating this business to business two to four and then kind of opening
it up to more four to six.
That two to fours time really gives opportunity for these businesses to really work together
hand and hand and maybe share a little bit more of a more intimate, more private conversation
or just to be able to hear each other.
When you open it up to the public, you bring everybody in.
You're giving so many more opportunities for those organic connections.
Those people that you just normally wouldn't maybe run into and your business as a chance
to get seen or heard by other people that may not hear it otherwise.
In years past, I had forgotten about the expo not being around as often in the last couple
of years because this was such a big event when it was going on.
It's great to hear the response, great to see it over at the outsludge, wonderful staff
from it, love our friends over at the outsludge.
This is again something that we've touched on already a couple of times, another opportunity
for networking.
This is such a integral part of being a chamber member in that networking part and the
opportunity for that.
I was recently, I was talking to not a recent chamber member, but somebody who joined in
the last year, Shiler from Relax Refresh and Reconnect, wonderful, wonderful lady.
She takes down good care of my hair and there aren't many people that can do that.
She is a genius with my hair.
I was talking with her and I asked her this and I told her, I was straight up, I'm like,
this is just between us.
I don't have to share this publicly, but how is it going being a chamber member?
I couldn't even finish the sentence.
She just immediately, I love the chamber.
The chamber has been so helpful to me and she just kind of went on and on about it and
everything.
She told me right away, she's like, you go ahead and spread the word about that.
I love the chamber.
When you are a part of this, you are not only getting those opportunities to network that
you may not have otherwise to have your business seen or heard by people that wouldn't otherwise.
Being honest, I was very honest with her.
I might not have seen her business if she hadn't been on the air with me and she was
on the air with me because she became a new chamber member.
These things connect and you just never know who might get turned on by your business
that wouldn't otherwise.
It's a wonderful opportunity with all of that.
The other thing that came up in the conversation with her is when you are a chamber member,
you are showing support to your community.
You are showing that you are on, you believe in local, you believe in buying local supporting
local.
That chamber membership shows that to the rest of the community.
When you show up to events like the business expo or these things, you are showing the community.
It's PR that you can't buy.
It's not only a great chance for you to be seen, but the people that see you as a part of
the community.
Right.
I totally agree with you on that.
I'm so excited for the business expo today.
It'll be my first one in my career, so I'm really excited to experience it myself.
Well, we don't want to keep it too long.
What you're doing down there and check it out.
You've got the network exchange also coming up.
I wanted to touch on this a little bit.
Yes.
Our network exchange for safety professionals is coming up on October 23rd from 11 a.m.
to 12.30 p.m.
This one's going to be located over at Irkall Worldwide in Port Edwards.
Chris Bartek and Irkall leaders will be discussing hazard recognition and reporting.
If you're in a safety role or a business owner and you need to brush up on some of those
topics, this is a great place to come and become get more educated to related to workplace
safety in your in your business.
This one registration does close on October 16th, and if you do plan to go to this when
I hear that you're supposed to wear long pants and close toe shoes because of the safety
issues requirements that Irkall Worldwide has, so that I think they're going to give
like a plant tour as well.
Dress safely for this event, yeah, that makes sense, that makes sense, and a good note
on that.
Thank you for mentioning that.
This is another one of those events that everything I was just saying about the chamber,
you add to this and are part of this because it's not just all those things I mentioned
but also getting information out there and connecting people that the chamber does so well.
You mentioned some really good points there as far as re, you know, re-upping yourself
rehashing some of these safety skills or requirements that there are.
There are people out there starting new businesses and looking to start new businesses that
also would be benefited, I think, by going to this and just updating yourself and knowing
what is OSHA required, what are some of the requirements for in my business, every business
is going to have different ones.
Here's a great opportunity not only to do that, but you don't have to throw it into a
search engine.
You could just talk to somebody, actually talk to a real person.
Somebody was like experienced in the area and that's what the intentions of these network
exchanges are meant to provide a resource for our members and people who own businesses
in the area.
So, you know, smaller businesses may not have like a department, a safety department, you
know.
So, where do you go to talk to other professionals in that industry and how do you know that
you're kind of like, you know, in line with the expectations for your, you know, your
business.
So, this is a great opportunity to get together with other safety professionals in the area
and ask them questions and then also, you know, get a little bit more educated on, you
know, hazard recognition and reporting for some of the bigger companies that are out there
as well.
You know, and these are all things that rising tide raises all boats and the more we share
information with other businesses and each other, the more we bring each other up, our
whole community gets brought up.
And our economy is better and et cetera, et cetera.
There's some other stuff we wanted to make sure to talk about too, like we have our member
of the month, a October.
Yeah, so our member of the month is Rapids Homes and it's owned and operated by David Farmbrough.
I'm a little familiar with his home's familiar.
Yeah.
So, I'm really excited about this.
He decided to open up his own business and he named it Rapids Homes and he became a Chamber
member so he's a new real estate agency in Wisconsin Rapids and the great thing about
him is that, you know, he's really customer focused.
He's really, he zones in on providing excellent customer service for both buyers and sellers
and he kind of goes a little bit above and beyond expectations to meet those needs of those
people that he's working with and what the great thing about him, you had mentioned him
earlier about like his AI and stuff like that.
But I had a chance to witness some of that and it's really fascinating.
And you know, if you're out of town or if you are looking at a location, I don't know,
in Alabama or something like that and there's the opportunity to potentially have virtual
tours now with him and I'm just super excited for him.
He's just been really, he's been a member for many, many years, but you know, now that
he has his own business, he's continuing his membership and I'm just really great that
he's in town and that he's offering these services to people in the area, you know, especially
with like the market out there, it can get a little tricky sometimes and he's just really
great with that.
He's, you know, when I'm looking to buy, I will definitely be using him in the future because
I had questions, you know, and I'm not even, wasn't even in the position to be buying, but
he was just very like thorough and informational and gave me a lot of like information that
I am using now when I'm just kind of like browsing the market.
So yeah, he's great.
Great to hear.
And we're looking forward to diving into this with David and just a little bit when he joins
us on the show here, but I agree with everything you were saying there and it shows something
that David continues his membership with the chamber, it shows the benefits of being
a chamber member and along with being able to, you know, highlight his area along with
his own business, you're able to do two things at once with that.
That's really good to hear in a great choice, great choice for October, member of the month
Rapid's Homes.
We'll be talking more about that with David Farmboro and just a little bit.
I did want to get into the legislative breakfast.
Remind everybody about this great event coming up.
Yeah, legislative breakfast.
This is a big one for anybody that's interested in, you know, answering or asking some questions
to some of our local representatives.
We did invite a big list of everybody.
You can check out that list on our website at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com.
I know that my boss yesterday, Stacey Keevy had mentioned that she had a really big name
that confirmed that they're coming.
I can't remember it at the top of my head, unfortunately, but she was pretty excited about
it.
This is on October 18th from 7 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. over at Midstate Technical College.
And we have some great sponsors for this one as well.
Midstate Technical College, of course, U.S. Bank, Fendorf, and Dom Tar.
Looking at the website, I haven't seen who has been confirmed yet, but I do see that
all the big names have been invited.
Every senator and representative and candidate and our own governor along with local government
leaders have all been invited.
So I think that it's pretty fair to say if, and I know this just from talking to them,
and them being a part of the event in years past, Senator Teston, Representative Krug,
if they're available, they will be there.
I'm very confident of that.
And certainly some of our others will be hoping to be there.
In this day and age where we are constantly, especially in this medium that we're in right
here, promise that we're constantly fighting misinformation and how to help, how people
can have more trusted news and trust the news that they're hearing.
And giving people an opportunity to talk face to face to these individuals, there's nobody
in between.
It's just you and this individual.
That's one of the ways we're able to do that, is having moments like this, having opportunities
like this.
I think the chamber very much for hosting this event, for having an event like this, giving
our community and our constituents, for these representatives, an opportunity to ask these
questions.
And really put your vote where you're mouth is, you know, and I mean, be informed, vote
or be smart voter and get out there and vote and take in this event beforehand.
Right.
And you know, with the chamber being a bipartisan organization, we still like to offer, you
know, the opportunity for the community to ask, you know, our leaders, you know, questions.
So we do have some prepared questions that we're going to ask, but at the end of the event,
we're going to open the floor for any other questions that the audience might have.
But registration is now open and it will close on October 11th.
So that's pretty soon here.
And it's 35 for members, 45 with nonmembers and it comes with a breakfast.
And then, oh, let's see here, it's, again, it's over at Midstate Technical College at
on October 18th from 7 a.m. to 9 30 a.m.
And registration is open online at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com or you can give us a call at 715-423-1830.
You guys do a great job of feeding people at these events, too.
Yeah, I always hear good things about the food, I always hear good things.
And I do want to send a shout out to your moderator, Craig Tim, for this event.
He does an amazing job with this.
It's not an easy gig.
He does a good job with them and a shout out to him.
When it comes to all of these events that Promise and I have been talking about, if you'd
like to register, you'd like to find out more, how can they do that promise?
Yep, you can always visit our website at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com.
And the best place to look is to click the events tab and then right on our calendar there,
you'll be able to cruise through month to month and see which one, which event you would
like to go to and just click that day.
And then you'll open up the event and you'll be able to register from there.
It's really simple.
They have a fantastic website.
It's so easy to navigate.
Even I can do it.
It's a really good website.
And I mentioned a website in part because while Promise and I have filled these 20 minutes
with a lot of jam packed stuff and a lot of great events, we've only scratched the surface
everybody.
There's so much that our Chamber does.
If you're interested in how the Chamber could be beneficial to you, encourage you to go
there.
You can find out more information about that.
If you're looking for advocacy opportunities, there is more information there about that,
volunteering in your community.
There's a lot of information there about it.
If you are looking for work or looking to hire people, there are opportunities right there
with the Chamber and being able to do that.
The Chamber is a resource that is just waiting for you.
Just go ahead and make sure to tap into that resource and use that.
If people want to contact you and have more follow-up questions for you, how can they
reach you?
You can always email me at marketing at WisconsinRapageChamber.com or give my direct line a call at 715-422-4856.
And remember, not only is the Chamber's website something you should bookmark, but encourage
you to follow them on social media as well.
It's such an easy way to be able to not only find out what's going on in your community,
but to share this information on your pages.
And you just never know who might see it that wouldn't otherwise, and it's a great
way of buying local, supporting local, and something we can all do very simply.
It's just hitting that share button and making sure that other people might see some of
these events.
Again, find out more at WisconsinRapageChamber.com, WisconsinRapageChamber.com.
Always a good time talking with you, promise.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Say hi to the team over there, and we will talk with you all soon.
All right.
See you.
Our midday magazine coming up for you right here at 97-5 FM 13-20 AM, WFHR.
We are locally grown radio.